“[Like the people of Jerusalem,] we are in a time when we need to draw on courage to call into question the structures that uphold systems of oppression. We are in a time when we need to subvert the powerful and protect the vulnerable. The crowds close in on Jesus. Some lift their hands in praise, others point accusingly. I hope this image serves as a reminder to call upon God for the courage you need, to rest and recharge for the work ahead. But I hope it also heartens you to move forward in courage, even in the midst of great resistance, toward the work God is calling you into.” —Rev. Lauren Wright Pittman
April 13, 2025
Again & Again: A Lenten Refrain
“We Draw on Courage”
John 12: 1-19
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
John 12: 1-19
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus. The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—the King of Israel!”
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him. So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify. It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him. The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”
We Draw on Courage John 12: 1-19
This week, we are taking a look at the Gospel of John’s version of the Palm Sunday story. John only references the palm parade for about three verses which tells us that we should be paying more attention to what is happening in the text around the palm parade rather than the actual palm parade itself. Because as always, in the Gospel of John, more is happening than we realize, and it is not always what we assume.
When we look at the previous chapters, we realize that there have been continuing confrontations between Jesus and the Jewish leaders, even to the point in Chapter 10 where the Jewish leaders picked up stones ready to stone Jesus. This comes about because the leaders had been questioning Jesus on whether he was the Messiah or not. Jesus refused to answer them or at least answer their question in a way they deemed appropriate. When their questioning didn’t work out like they liked, the religious powers tried to arrest Jesus, but he escaped from their hands.
Then in Chapter 11, these confrontations are followed up by Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, an incident which solidifies the plot to kill Jesus. After all, we can’t go about having people raised from the dead! What would that look like? How would that even work? The very act disrupts the systems designed to uphold power and might. Now, not only is Jesus overturning tables in the Temple, he is now overturning the order of things, the order which is designed to keep everything and everyone in their place.
Simply put, the powers that be cannot allow the raising of Lazarus from the dead to stand. One reason is that they see people are beginning to believe in Jesus and fall away. And secondly and probably, even more significant is that this incident could very well get Rome involved. If Rome hears that people are claiming that Jesus is the Messiah, that Jesus is their king because he raised Lazarus from the dead, Rome could come and destroy their temple and their nation. Now, not only is Jesus a threat to their religious institutions, Jesus is a threat to Roman’s power. All because the people are starting to see Jesus as a king ushering in a kingdom which has the power to bring down Rome. And who could blame Rome and the religious leaders at that time for being worried? For weeks, for months, Jesus has been teaching, preaching and healing. For weeks, for months, Jesus has been challenging the status quo. For weeks, for months, Jesus has been inspiring a movement which promotes a different way of doing things. And now Jesus has raised someone from the dead, what is to stop Jesus from ushering in a kingdom which turns everything upside down?
All of this is background for our text today. And then the author of John gives us the most important piece to this power puzzle. The author of John tells us that Passover is drawing near. Stop and think about that for a moment…What does Passover celebrate? It is the festival which celebrates how God liberated the Israelites from Egypt, how God saved God’s people from the Empire. It is the festival which essentially celebrates life over death.
And in the midst of these confrontations and the plotting, in the midst of everyone being on edge, in the midst of all this tension, Jesus enters Jerusalem, riding a donkey while the people wave palm branches and shout Hosanna which literally means “Save Us”. It doesn’t take much of a scholar, biblical or not to know this isn’t going to sit well with the powers that be.
Which is why in the midst of all the confrontation, plotting and everyone being on edge, in the midst of all that tension the author of John issues an invitation, an invitation for the disciples, for us, to not be afraid, to draw on courage and remember that God is here.
You see, the author of John is not the first to share a “Do Not Be Afraid” message in the midst of tension and strife. Just think of Jesus’ birth stories found in the Gospel of Luke, the angels bring to Mary, bring to the shepherds a message to not be afraid, to know that God is doing a new thing. Think of the prophets and their messages of hope to the people in exile, reminding them that God was them, that God remembered them. This particular Do Not Be Afraid is just one in a whole line of messages where the people of God are reminded that this world does not have the last word. Like all the other “do not be afraid” messages before, this one continues to remind the people that God is at work in our world, bringing about healing and wholeness. It reminds them that God is breaking in, breaking through, bringing about God’s Beloved Community here on Earth for all of God’s people. This Do Not Be Afraid comes to the people not as platitudes or empty words of false hope. Rather they are words which have shaped, transformed, honed the people of God from generation to generation because they remind the people of who their God is, who our God is…our God is faithful from generation to generation, our God is steadfast, our God has named us and claimed us, our God who brought this world into being, our God whose strength on which we can rely.
Or let me say it this way…This week is the beginning of Holy Week, a week filled with transforming moments. It is also a week which is filled with moments which bring us to our knees in sorrow. It is a week where we are confronted with our humanity. It is a week where we come face to face with the reality that this world would rather choose power and might over love and grace.
With these few verses, in those moments of holy and hate, in this moment of humanity’s best and worst, the author of John is calling us to not be afraid. He is inviting us to draw on God’s strength, to draw on the courage, which is grounded in the very character of God, courage which we will need as we gather around the table at the Last Supper, courage which we will need as we gather beneath the cross at Golgotha, courage which we will need as they lay Jesus in the tomb. In the coming days, as Jesus’ followers, we are invited to draw on the courage to trust that plotting and confrontations, courage to trust that empires and systems, courage to trust that death is not and will not be the last word. We are invited to draw on the courage to know that God is here and that love and light will overcome. May it be so. Amen.
See also: Theology Tuesday for Sunday, April 13, 2025 – We Draw on Courage John 12: 1-19.
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