March 20, 2024 Weekly Update
Happy Wednesday!
This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday. For the last few weeks we’ve been reflecting on God’s covenants with God’s people in the Hebrew Bible. God desires a close and loving relationship with God’s people, but it seems that the most consistent theme of scripture is humanity’s inconsistency and lack of faithfulness.
As Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey just a few days before his betrayal, arrest, and execution, there’s a lot of expectations and assumptions about his arrival. The poem I’ve included here captures the human perspective of this moment. God’s people – then and now – are inconsistent and struggle with faithfulness. But we also long for peace and freedom and our own flourishing. We cry out “save us!” to Jesus riding into town, only to forget him or betray him just a few days later.
Spend time with this poem over the coming days. How would you have felt in the crowd on that day long ago? Jesus enters the ancient city to show us the depth of God’s love for us. God, the promise maker, will keep the covenant promises of long ago.
Lenten Blessings,
Pastor Jared
* This poem was written by Retired United Methodist Clergy Rev. Steve Garnaas-Holmes. Visit unfoldinglight.net to learn or read more.