if you stay right here...




Palm / Passion Sunday
Preparation for Holy Week:

Palm / Passion Sunday:
Combination of Palm Sunday and The Passion
Done for folks who can’t attend Holy Week Service
PLEASE TRY TO ATTEND AS MUCH OF THE SERVICE AS YOU CAN, THOUGH

Almost feels “Schizophrenic” 
but it’s actually, combining these two moments, makes a similar point Matthew is trying to make in his Gospel…

Now onto Matthew:
Matthew’s Passion is the most “ordinary,” or all too ordinary…
Leaders stir up crowd (control crowd)
Ignore Prophetic Dream (how Joseph warned)
Sham trial
Crowd gets swept up in the drama
“Crucify Him”
Sports crowds…

Consequences / outcome of all this:
Betrayal (kiss)
Deception
Boasting
Denial of Friendship
Desertion
Arrest
Mocking
Suicide 
Murder 
That all is at the heart of our faith…
It’s heart-breaking, but Matthew won’t look away from this reality…

So, where’s God in all this?
“This took place to fulfill scripture…”
Assertion that somehow, even in our darkness places God is at work
This is the central claim of Christians

with this reading so begins Holy Week, the holiest week of our year: 
I can promise you’ll make it through, but can’t promise you won’t be changed…

Blessings

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