March 24, 2013

This Sunday, we will review the whole Passion drama, from the time Jesus road into Jerusalem on a donkey, to throwing the money changers out of the temple, through the Last Supper, to his garden prayer, betrayal, arrest, trail, crucifixion and resurrection.  The scriptures will be (1) Philippians 2:5-11, which is a hymn of the early church asking us to have the Mind of Christ within us (Christos nous), and (2) Luke 23:32-49, an event that has a most unusual mystical symbol, namely, the tearing in two of the curtain in the temple.  This curtain separated the outer court from the Holy of Holies.  With any Passion, through suffering, crucifixion tears the curtain and dissolves any separation between God and people, a separation that seems deeply ingrained in popular thinking.