Holy Week

In the gospel of Luke, Jesus entered Jerusalem and “the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

I envy Black churches for the way joy moves through their gatherings. Joy has been their protest for generations. Joy says, “You can bind my hands. You can bind my feet. But, you cannot bind my heart.” When the world diminishes your worth and shackles your agency, joy rises up as power.

Heather Cox Richardson, political historian from Harvard, emphasizes that authoritarians need despair, fear, and anger to rise. Joy is a form of resistance. Strong communities with people acting with joy undermine the foundation of authoritarianism.

The Pharisees are threatened by the joyful noise of the crowds. Off to the side are the soldiers with their sharp swords and their rounded shields, representing the full weight of the Roman army. Behind that army lay the power of the emperor. The emperor could do whatever he wanted to whomever he wanted, including crucifying rebels, murdering all the two year olds in Bethlehem, and burning entire cities down. The crowd’s chant, “Jesus is King”, challenged the sovereign authority of the emperor. Jesus also challenged the authority, status, privilege, and superiority of the religious leaders. They had reason to feel threatened.

Fear is the awareness of something in the present moment that is threatening. Anger attempts to neutralize the threat by pushing back. Scared and angry, the leaders tell Jesus to silence the crowd. Jesus refuses to silence them. He tells the Pharisees that if he silenced their joy, the stones of the city would cry out.

Meanwhile, Jesus had his own emotions. This passage ends with Jesus weeping. As he looked over the city, he saw the joy of the crowds, he saw the whispering of the Pharisees. He saw the Roman soldiers getting restless in the corner. He sensed what would unfold. He would be put to death. His death wouldn’t silence the violence. The people would rise up. The Roman empire would descend. The city will be burnt, the people slaughtered.

“Oh Jerusalem. If only you knew what would bring you real peace.” There is a certain pain that comes from watching a person, or a nation, on a path that will lead to destruction. It is like watching a train wreck in slow motion.

This gospel reading contains a lot of emotion—Joy, fear, anger, grief. None of it silenced. All that emotion is allowed to take up space. Religious
spaces can often be unsafe places for emotions. Some churches teach that emotions are suspect; they lead us astray and undermine our commitment to truth. Yet, Holy Week is not a journey we make with our head, but with our heart.

Deep peace,

Anne

Rev. Anne Baxter Smith
Pastor, Southpoint Church

**If you would like to read the article I referenced in my sermon regarding the perceived danger in empathy (and women in leadership), here it is The Sin of Empathy.