St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Port Royal, VA
We are a small Episcopal Church on the banks of the Rappahannock in Port Royal, Virginia. We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Port Royal, the Nandtaughtacund, and we respect and honor with gratitude the land itself, the legacy of the ancestors, and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do.
Palm Sunday straddles Season 4 and 5 in “The Chosen”. In 2025, Season 5 has only been released to the theaters
1. “He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey” – The Chosen Season 4 Ep 8
2. Jesus Prepares to Triumphantly Enter Jerusalem & the Crowds Prepare to Welcome Jesus- Season 4, Episode 8
3. The Chosen Season 5, Episode 1. Preview
Lectionary, April 13, Palm Sunday
I.Theme – “Strength is concealed in humility, pain is hidden in triumph, victory, in defeat, life, in death, God, in human form” -Diedrik Nelson
“Palm Sunday” – Giotto (1305-06) “Betrayal & Arrest of Christ” – Fra Angelico (1450)
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Isaiah 50:4-9a Psalm – Psalm 31:9-16 Page 623, BCP Epistle –Philippians 2:5-11 Gospel – Luke 22:14-23:56
“Borg and Crossan (The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’s Final Days in Jerusalem) imagine not one but two political processions entering Jerusalem that Friday morning in the spring of AD 30. In a bold parody of imperial politics, king Jesus descended the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem from the east in fulfillment of Zechariah’s ancient prophecy: “Look, your king is coming to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Matthew 21:5 = Zechariah 9:9). From the west, the Roman governor Pilate entered Jerusalem with all the pomp of state power. Pilate’s brigades showcased Rome’s military might, power and glory. Jesus’ triumphal entry, by stark contrast, was an anti-imperial and anti-triumphal “counter-procession” of peasants that proclaimed an alternate and subversive community that for three years he had called “the kingdom of God.”
This week has two liturgies – Liturgy of the Palms and Liturgy of the Passon.
“The church is called to reckon with paradox on this week: triumph and rejection, death and rebirth.” So writes Melinda Quivik in Working Preacher. The week begins with Jesus triumphant arrival and by the end of the week he is killed. Next week we trace the path day by day. God is sacrificed by those he brings life.
“Strength is concealed in humility, pain is hidden in triumph, victory, in defeat, life, in death, God, in human form” -Diedrik Nelson
The theme is established by the first lesson. The servant is disciplined by suffering so he may bring strength and refreshment to the oppressed, but there are those who oppose him. Willingly he submits to those who torture and humiliate him. But God is his helper, so he is not disgraced or shamed. God vindicates him, no one can convict him.
The servant willingly suffers humiliation at the hands of his adversaries. He is not disgraced or put to shame because Yahweh vindicates him and helps him; no one can declare him guilty.
The servant of the Lord is opposed (Isaiah), is obedient to death (Philippians). He is betrayed, tortured and crucified by those who should have listened to him, and is seen as an innocent man by a centurion (Luke). He will be vindicated (Isaiah), exalted by God (Philippians), and honored by the unexpected one of the criminals- (Luke).
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We are nearing the end of Lent. Lent proper began on Ash Wednesday and ends on Palm/Passion Sunday, a day that in turn inaugurates Holy Week.
While Palm Sunday marks Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the events of that day set in motion Jesus’ death 5 days later before the Passover begins. Zechariah had forecast “Zion’s king” coming “righteous and victorious” on a donkey. It looked like Jesus was proclaiming himself King of Israel to the anger of some of the Jewish authorities.
Palm Sunday has two liturgies – the Liturgy of the Palms where we consider Jesus arrival in Jerusalem from Galilee and the Liturgy of the Passion, a foreshadowing of Holy Week.
Palm Sunday is the hinge between Lent and Holy Week. Lent has been the 40 day season of fasting and spiritual preparation intended to understand in practices, ritual and disciplines critical to living in the way of Jesus and Holy Week. Holy Week is a time of more intense fasting, reading and prayers in which we pay particular attention to the final days, suffering, and execution of Jesus.
From Killing Jesus – Bill O’Reilly, Martin Dugard
It is Sunday, April 2, A.D. 30. Pontius Pilate has just returned to Jerusalem and taken up residence in Herod the Great’s palace. Herod Antipas, the tetrarch, arrives in the city and stays just a block away, at the Hasmonean Palace. At the same time, Caiaphas prepares for the biggest festival of the year at his palace home in the Upper City.
Passover week is now about to begin.
The purification process is vital to properly celebrating Passover. It creates a physical and emotional state of mind that prepares a worshipper to embrace God’s holiness—thus the need to arrive in Jerusalem almost a week before the holy day
Anticipating the smell of roast lamb that will hang over Jerusalem as the Passover feasts are being cooked in ovens, the pilgrims count their money, worrying about how they will pay for that feast and the inevitable taxes they will incur in the city. Despite their sore feet and aching legs from walking mile after rugged mile through the wilderness, the travelers feel themselves transformed by the magnetic pull of Jerusalem. Their thoughts are no longer set on their farms back home and the barley crop that must be harvested immediately upon their return, but on holiness and purity
“We are going up to Jerusalem,” Jesus tells his disciples as they prepare to depart for the Passover…
I. Theme – The celebration of new life on the road.
“Christ in the House of Mary and Martha" – Jan Vermeer (1654-55)
"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."
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm – Psalm 126
Epistle – Philippians 3:4b-14
Gospel – John 12:1-8
Today’s readings celebrate the new life God grants through Christ. Isaiah speaks of the “new thing” God will do—life-giving, restorative, renewing. Paul asserts that all his personal achievements are worthless compared to the new life to be gained in Christ. Jesus reveals that his death and resurrection not only invite judgment but call us to compassion, forgiveness and conversion—that is, to new life!
Over the past weeks we have been looking at the pattern in the readings of the Lectionary during Lent. One aspect of that pattern has been the recurring notion of pilgrimage – an active journey to a holy site, a journey from tyranny into freedom, an interior journey into our own faith, or the journey from spiritual moment to spiritual moment, such as the Stations of the Cross.
What can you do to show your journey in the cause of freedom or betterment ? Give someone a gift of flowers, a home-cooked meal, or an unexpected note of appreciation. Use your hands and heart to their fullest, trusting that God can use even the smallest actions to unbind life and set it free. As you become the change you seek, let your goal be to participate in the many resurrections God unleashes all around, today and tomorrow
In Judaism (as well as in later Christianity) we hear of such journeys.
The Bible sees the journey of Abraham and Sarah from the Ur of the Chaldeans as not a mere relocation, but a journey guided and informed by God. Similarly the journey of Israel from Egypt to the promised land is not only a political reality but is peppered with spiritual moments of learning at various points along the way. With the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the people saw an opportunity to make a pilgrimage to a holy place, learn and experience there, and to return home. Even before this Temple, shrines and holy places in ancient Israel drew pilgrims to experience God on the journey. The Psalms of Ascent (Psalm 120-134) literally give voice to the sacred journey of people to the Temple and worship.
Since Luke 9 in the Gospel Jesus has "set his face to Jerusalem", his final pilgrimage. He has been tested after his baptism in Lent 1 by the devil. In Lent 2, Jesus reminds his audience that, as a prophet, his destiny awaits him in Jerusalem after being warned that Herod wants to kill him. During Lent 3, continued his teachings on repentance and confronted his critics with the Prodigal son in Lent 4. The hope of Christ gets connected in the resurrection and the life.
Christians began their own journeys; Paul’s being the most notable as he moved from place to place honoring the Gospel. Early Christians traveled back to the source as we read about the journeys of Origin, Helen, and Jerome. During this season, it might be interesting to read about the pilgrimage of Egeria, a Gallic woman, to Jerusalem during the Holy Week of (ca.) 381. Later Christians would journey to not only Jerusalem but to Santiago de Compostela, Canterbury, Rome, and many other places. The journey is the heightened human experience, often written down for the benefit of others. Let us continue our journey during this Lent.
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“To grow up in Christ is to be able to face loss. We learn this at a dinner party. Jesus is there. Lazarus is there. He was dead, now he’s alive and eating dinner. Judas is there. He is a tragically conflicted man. Martha hosted and served. That’s what Martha loves to do. Mary is there. She’s at Jesus’ feet. Her devotion to Jesus makes people uncomfortable, then and now. She rubs Jesus’ feet with perfumed oil, because she knows in just a few days Jesus will be dead.
“All the attendees knew Jesus didn’t have long to live. Still, each avoided the reality of this imminent loss in their own way: Lazarus with nostalgia. Judas with business. Martha with busyness. But not Mary, she acknowledged and faced the coming loss- it literally brought her closer to Jesus! Fear, denial and refusal to acknowledge and accept loss is all around us. It’s in our politics, how we run our organizations and how we do family. We say we don’t want change, but it’s not change we fear, it’s the loss that change represents.
“Growing up in Christ is hostile to fear, denial, and the refusal of reality. And growing up in Christ is hostile to “suck it up-ism,” too! Growing up in Christ acknowledges loss and grief because without its acknowledgment we aren’t engaged in real life. And if we’re not engaged in real life, the possibility of Christian maturity stalls, healing and innovation plateau and hope is anemic. To attempt to fend off reality is ultimately a foolish endeavor. Some things need to be fully relinquished. Besides, real life is where Jesus does his best work.
“At the close of this dinner party, with a lynch mob assembling outside the door, what Mary embodied, Jesus now gives voice to: “…you do not always have me.” With those six words Jesus confirms the inevitable and sets his face toward the unavoidable. With those six words he invites the dinner party guests then, and us now, to walk with him through his loss of friends, certainty, dignity and even faith as a learning lab for our life.”
The Scripture this week is John 12:1-8. The Chosen (Season 4, Episode 8) covers this scripture as well as the Sheep and the Goats from Matthew 25:31-46 heard on Christ the King Sunday in Year A.
John’s Gospel is a collection of signs and symbols. In particular, John 12, Mary Annoints Jesus at Bethany, in this week before Palm Sunday and Passover concentrates on life and death. Take four seemingly unconnected words – Tomb, Perfume, Feet, and Devil within this scripture and their meanings are intertwined:
1 Tomb – Passover is near, and so too is Jesus’ “hour” (see 13:1). He spends time with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus soon after the pivotal scene of Lazarus’s revivification (11:1-44). That is the “sign” that brings many to believe in him (11:45; 12:9-11), many to flock to him (12:17-19), and others to plot his death (11:47-53). When Jesus mentions his burial in 12:7, this confirms that his end is coming. Yet Lazarus’s presence at the table confirms that death does not speak the final word.
2 Perfume. Jesus forges the connection between the anointing and his burial in 12:7 Jesus suggests that Mary’s keeping the perfume in her possession and using it on him now have consequently achieved a greater, more meaningful purpose that she perhaps intended: announcing the nearness of Jesus’ death and preparing for his burial.
3 Feet – Mary’s wiping of Jesus’ feet prefigures the time when he will wipe the feet of his disciples (13:5). This reveals her as a model disciple, for the washing and wiping of feet expresses a unity with Jesus (13:8) and reflects his command (13:14-15).
4 Devil – Readers know from 6:70-71 that Judas is “a devil,” but John chooses this point in the narrative to reveal him as a thief (compare 13:29).
Back to the words. You can connect the following-
Tomb and perfume – The sweet smell of Mary’s perfume counters the stench of Lazarus’s tomb (11:39). Life and death, wholeness and corruption remain contrasted throughout both scenes.
Feet and Devil represent the contrast between Mary and Judas This creates a clear opposition between him and Mary. He is false; she is true. He is greedy and self-serving; she is generous and ebullient in devotion.
John 12:1-8 tells of the anointing at Bethany. In John’s version, this is Mary, of Mary and Martha (in Mark and Luke the woman is unnamed, and in Luke she is a “sinner”), who chooses to anoint Jesus. This is Mary who witnessed Jesus raise her brother Lazarus from the dead.