Palm Sunday and COVID
This Sunday, I like many pastors, will be preaching a Palm Sunday Message. I always look forward to this, and though we preach of the same event, it is fresh every year.
As I approach Palm Sunday this Easter, it is with an awareness of God’s purpose and sovereignty over all that appeared to be happening.
We recall Jesus entering Jerusalem with a sort of “rock star”celebrity following. People had heard of Jesus and his miracles. Days earlier, he had raised Lazarus from the dead, and it appeared that He and his movement were unstoppable. Even the Pharisees, who for the most part opposed him acknowledged of their efforts, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!” (John 12:19).
The term, “Triumphal Entry” is not found in Scripture. It is a term coined by Christians to describe his entrance to Jerusalem. Perhaps this is an unfortunate term. While the mob gathered welcomed Jesus with shouts of “Hosanna,” and laid palm branches before Jesus – a king’s welcome, Jesus was on a mission – a mission that He alone understood among all those present.
Even his disciples believed that this was their moment to “cash in” on all their sacrifice in following Jesus. From jockeying for favoured positions in His Kingdom to themselves enjoying “insider”status as they were approached by those wanting to see Jesus, they believed that this would be their moment.
We have the advantage of hindsight, and know that the mob’s shouts of “hosanna” would turn to “crucify him” over the course of the week. The disciples, so proud to associate with him at his entry, would all abandon him at his arrest, sham trial end execution.
It would be on the cross that Jesus calls out, “It is finished.” His mission in coming to earth, and indeed that of entering Jerusalem on that day was to die upon the cross – for you and for me.
As Jesus was in Jerusalem, he stated,
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” (John 12:23-28a).
Passion Week’s events do not reflect a change of plans, a Plan “B” or anything unanticipated for our Lord. While the characters acted of their own free will, their actions were foretold by the Old Testament Prophets and the week unfolded as God had long before intended. In the words of Jesus, “…He came to this hour.”
We know that Christ’s death was not the end, but only the fulfillment of Christ’s mission, and that three days later He would rise again, as proof positive of his person and work as the Son of God.
In reflecting on all this in this second Easter Season of COVID, I am again aware that we as people see the current circumstances and base our hopes and future on this. Perhaps we join the “mob,” in the sense that we are influenced by the “group think” and mood of the day. Many are focused on little else than the latest stats and news.
Christ, however sees the big picture, and will accomplish His purposes through COVID. Our faith is not in our knowledge, expert opinion or circumstance – it is in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
In this second COVID Easter, we will again miss gathering physically together, but let’s encourage one another with the double assurances of “It is finished” and “He is risen.”
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The Resurrection is the central theme in every Christian sermon reported in the Acts. The Resurrection, and its consequences were the “gospel” or good news which the Christians brought: what we call the “gospels,” the narratives of Our Lord’s life and death, were composed later for the benefit of those who had already accepted the gospel. They were in no sense the basis of Christianity: they were written for those already converted. The miracle of the Resurrection, and the theology of that miracle, comes first: the biography comes later as a comment on it. Nothing could be more unhistorical than to pick out selected sayings of Christ from the gospels and to regard those as the datum and the rest of the New Testament as a construction upon it. The first fact in the history of Christendom is a number of people who say they have seen the Resurrection. C. S. Lewis, Miracles, Chapter 16
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BC COVID-19 Policy Updates:
This week, two announcements were made to announce that some restrictions are being eased for worship gatherings, both indoor and outdoor. These can be for groups of up to 50 people, meeting indoors or outdoors, masked, social distancing and not singing or interacting.
Indoor Services: Thursday’s directive from Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry stated that, between March 28 and May 13, churches can gather for worship with up to fifty people, on up to four days, and are required to follow strict COVID Protocols. Here is a link to the government order, given Thursday, March 25. covid-19-variance-one-time-indoor-worship.pdf
Outdoor Services: Tuesday’s directive from Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry stated that churches can gather outdoors with groups of up to 50 people meeting outdoors, masked, social distancing and not singing or interacting covid-19-variance-outdoor-worship.pdf
While these steps are small ones, they are steps. I do not see that these will practically allow churches to physically gather for live Easter Services instead of online, but churches might want to consider supplementing online services with an outdoor Easter Sunday “Sunrise Service,” a “drive in” service or an outdoor gathering.
As always, we are glad to assist with forming current COVID Policy for your current needs.
