Introduction
For Jesus all roads would seem inevitably to converge on Jerusalem. His disciples were worried about the clashes with the authorities that his preaching will bring. And yet it was the very act of crossing those in authority that led to the world discovering who he was and in whose name he had come.
This week's news
In the continuing crisis in Ukraine, the UN warns Russia not to cross any more boundaries. There is the looming danger that further clashes between Russia and the Ukraine could escalate tensions on a global scale. Are there any similarities between the Roman Empire two thousand years ago and Russia today?
Oars clashed, hands slipped and one rower lost his seating in the annual boat race between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It seems one person’s mistake had devastating effects on the rest of the team. In such events do we glimpse the Pharisees’ worries about how Jesus might upset things for their team, against the Romans?
It was all clash but no crash for Formula One motor racing fans who were treated to a most interesting race on Sunday in Bahrain, with exciting wheel to wheel battles going on throughout the field of racers, even between teammates. Despite many leading lights in Formula One exclaiming how cross they were with the raft of new rules, and others saying that racing would become more dull than ever, it seems the contrary was true last weekend. No team orders (aside from instructions not to crash!) allowed for spectacular racing between the two lead drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. This event, in contrast to the boat race, begs the question of where we would be now if Jesus hadn’t clashed with the authorities – an event that led to victory over the cross?
Divergent, released at cinemas last week and based on the trilogy of books by Veronica Roth, is set in a future world where the population is controlled by being selected to fit into one of five ideological social groups. The film tells the story of a teenage girl who does not does not conform by fitting into one group and is therefore labelled ‘Divergent’. Her quest to find belonging inevitably leads to crossing boundaries and deadly clashes with the authorities.
Reflection
In this week’s Gospel passage we see Jesus carefully and cleverly play out time-honoured prophecies to get everyone’s attention. He found the prescribed means of transport; he entered by the delegated gate. He conformed to the rules of society, but only up to a point. When he diverged from those rules, clashes with the authorities were inevitable in a fragile Jewish province of the great Roman Empire. In a world where conforming was the expected norm, Jesus’ divergence would take humanity to places it had never been before: exciting, but dangerous places!
Two thousand years ago the people of Israel had to deal with the problem of maintaining their identity, whilst living in occupied Roman territory – an experience they seem to have overlooked in relations with their Palestinian neighbours more recently. In clashes between Ukraine and Russia we see echoes of numerous internal and cross-border conflicts throughout history. What should the rest of the world do? There might be an urge to interfere and thereby change the rules of the game. Or, should the world stand back and let these combatants fight it out, as was witnessed in last Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, which received great acclaim?
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of a pivotal week when many reflect upon all Jesus’ teachings, supported by historical Scripture, converging upon a single momentous point in history. Up to that moment Jesus had more or less stayed within the rules of his society. Now he was to become divergent, which would lead him to the cross and beyond. It is an act of divergence in the midst of a city and people in turmoil, which begins to answer the question: Who is this man? ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord’ (Psalm 118.26a and Matthew 21.9).
Prayer
A reflective prayer, with a response, based upon the turning point in Jesus ministry described in Matthew 21
Converge.
All roads lead to Jerusalem?
Well they certainly did for you, Lord.
An arrival well staged;
prophecies fulfilled; boxes ticked.
When people ask:
Who is this man?
We shout:
‘This is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Diverge.
With what agenda did you enter the Temple?
Whose house is this anyway?
An event designed to challenge;
authorities upset; tables turned.
Then leaders shout:
Who is this man?
We whisper:
‘This is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Emerge.
Where will you go from here?
If we didn’t know already,
we might wonder where this next week would take you.
An end to upstage all ends;
a city in turmoil; cross purposes.
And many wonder:
Who was this man?
An unexpected lone voice speaks up:
‘Surely, this is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’
For we admit that, once again, we have forgotten that:
‘Here is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’
This Holy Week, help us to both remember and honour our wonderfully divergent Saviour.
Amen.
Questions
- How might we sympathise with the Jewish authorities of Jesus’ day in their worries about him upsetting things for the rest of their team?
- Where might we be today if Jesus hadn’t been divergent from the rest of Jewish society? Reflect on the qualities or factors that made him different.
- If the Ukraine were a pastoral situation in one of our churches, what would we do about it?
Action
Palm cross
Create a community/congregational piece of art in the form of a palm cross made up of people’s hand prints. During worship invite people to put paint onto the palm and fingers of their hand, then make a print onto a large piece of paper/card/canvas within the outline of a cross. Using several different, brightly-coloured paints, you will notice the hand prints clash, cross and converge to create a whole image. If this is successful, why not frame your collective work of art and display it?
Young People
If possible, arrange a trip to go and see Divergent (certificate 12A), or look at a summary of Veronica Ruth’s book. The teenage lead character, ‘Tris’, lives in a society where everyone has to fit in somewhere. She does not conform. Discuss experiences that young people have of feeling like they don’t fit in. In what ways did Jesus conform or not to the rules of his society? Continue reading on through Matthew 21. What made him a divergent?
Tim Lowe is a minister for the United Reformed Church, serving churches in the north west of Coventry, and is particularly interested in varied visual art forms as expressions of faith.
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