Palm Sunday Reflections


This Lenten season I have been reading Henri Nouwen's book, Show Me the Way - my second time through this book, and I think this book will become an annual journey for me. Among the many ways that I have been challenged by Nouwen's words, I have been particularly affected by his reflections on how suffering and joy can mingle - and how we are transformed through all this, becoming more like Jesus himself. I love how Nouwen is affected by the arts - sculpture, painting, etc. - as I am, and today's entry in his book led me to look for this statue, a fourteenth-century sculpture originally intended to be pulled on a cart in the Palm Sunday procession. What strikes me personally about this statue is actually how, other than some nicer garments than I usually picture on Jesus, Jesus is depicted as barefoot. This does not seem very regal to me, but maybe the point is more that this is holy ground (e.g., reminds me of Moses taking off his shoes in the presence of God)? Jesus' hand is raised in what seems like a holy gesture often used in art, but I agree with Nouwen that Jesus sees beyond this moment of earthly celebration to what lay before him. Suffering and glory at the hand of his Father.

What was this moment like for the disciples? Perhaps, "Finally! The recognition that Jesus (and we) deserve! This is just the beginning of our triumph and the fall of the Roman rule!" How disappointing for them, how confusing, would Jesus' next week be for them. Instead of the victory, power, and recognition - a prostitute pours out a year's wages over Jesus' feet, religious leaders plot in rage and fear, Jesus washes his own disciples' feet and shares final words during a last supper, and finally, the Cross. I am learning that Jesus often does, not what is expected, but with a vision that goes far beyond my own and that of those around him. His own surrender to his Father is with a complete trust in his Father's love. And, though Jesus' time in this world seems to end in a brutal death, the Father intends this death as the gateway for all of us to eternal life. Not life as we see it, as we picture it or experience it - who would want such an eternal life? No, far better. Everything good that we see in this world is but a shadow and shade of the joy that the Father has in store. Life Eternal...and Jesus will be the first to welcome us, I am sure of it.