Passion can describe a lot of different things: an emotion, an excuse, a hobby, a fruit even! But it can also describe the experience of Jesus as he went from beloved hero entering the city of Jerusalem to shouts of “Hosanna” on what we call Palm Sunday to angry mobs shouting, “Crucify him!” at his trials on what we call Good Friday. In this series we are looking at the journey of Jesus in his final days during our Lenten season.
Passion
Passion – Easter Doubts
Everyone has some questions from time to time..wondering if what we are hearing is too good to be true. Thomas struggled with believing the Good News of his friends saying that Jesus was actually alive…but his doubts gave rise to clarity and ultimately to belief upon his experience of the resurrection.
Passion – The Cry of the Crowd
When Jesus stood before Pilate, Pilate gave the religious leaders a choice: choose the way of violence and power personified by Barabbas or choose peace and surrender personified by Jesus. We still have the same choice today and many religious leaders still choose political power and control rather than Jesus. The Gospel calls for us…
Passion – The Power of Love
We often confuse the love of power with the power of love. Jesus stood between two political powers that pulled him in the direction of power and yet he refused to take on political power to instead show the power of sacrificial love.
Passion – Warmed by the Enemy’s Fire
Following Jesus’ arrest, Peter followed at a distance until he got to the courtyard fire pit. There, he denied Jesus 3 times and didn’t even realize what he had done until a rooster woke him up. Following Jesus from a distance generally makes denying him easier, but Jesus always provides a way back, for Peter…
Passion – Not My Will
It was hard for the disciples to stay attentive and attune to Jesus praying in the garden and yet we see Jesus not wanting to do the thing God wanted for him to do. Jesus’ response was to go forward and say, “…nevertheless, not my will but thine. ” Join Reverend Rachel Billups in this…
Passion – Betrayed By a Kiss
We often want to be the hero of the story, we see ourselves as the one who does the right thing, that does the noble thing. In the tragic story of Jesus being betrayed by Judas we would like to think that we are the ones who are always betrayed, we are the ones who…
Passion – Jesus Eats with Everyone
At his final meal with he disciples, Jesus displayed patience and understanding, eating with even the person who was about to betray him. Jesus eats with everyone…who we exclude from our table says more about us than it does them. Join Sean Lennon as he challenges us to invite all to the table.