“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself…..]. “Therefore, God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-7, 9-11.
“So if I, your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you should do as I have done to you….]” “ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 5:14-15, 17
Imagine if the full focus of Palm Sunday/The Sunday of the Passion and Holy Week was focused on the message of these two lessons. The first is the Epistle Reading from Palm Sunday, a lesson that is often lost to the sweeping drama of the Passion narrative. The second is the Gospel lesson for Maundy Thursday, which, to be honest, is not likely to be heard by as many listeners as the Passion narrative on Palm Sunday and Good Friday. But what if these lessons were in the spotlight rather than some supporting role? What if we really took to heart and gave purposeful meaning to Holy Week in the message in these texts rather than the bitter, gory, cruel, and terrifying images of the crucifixion?
Rather than greeting Easter Day with a sigh of joyful relief that an angry god who demands death—even the death of his son, has spared us his well-deserved wrath, might we, instead, hail the festival day of Easter as the day that self-giving love—LOVE, triumphs over all, even death.
Love wins. That is the message of Easter. God’s love, incarnate in Jesus, is consistent, it is not the way of wrath but the way of life, healing, community and communion. As Easter people we are called to live—to LOVE that way. To confess that Jesus Christ is Lord must be more than spoken words–more than lip service. To confess Jesus Christ is Lord is to have his mind and his heart within you. Easter people confess Jesus is Lord by living a life of self-emptying love, a love that reconciles us, unites us, and binds us together in bonds that are stronger than death.
