Reflection // Passion Sunday

We are finding ourselves in very different places than ever before. There is a huge amount of uncertainty and fear, and it is probably true that we have seen every aspect of our lives in some way touched by  COVID-19.

It is perhaps not too surprising that many Christians have found room for reflection on the verse that reads  ”the doors were locked for fear [of the Jews]” (john 20:19) being told to stay at home especially as Spring and lighter nights are beginning feels very strange, but add the sense of fear amongst people in relation to close (not even just physical) then this is against all that we have previously been living.

We have recently celebrated the feast of the annunciation. The time that an Angel told Mary that she was going to have a child. The greeting on that occasion was “Do not be afraid” and this is in fact a common greeting in the Bible when God encounters people, “Do not fear!” As the disciples find Jesus on the inside of the locked doors the greeting is similar, “Peace be with you”

As we begin to look towards Holy Week again this year we know it is going to be very different than we have experienced before. Holy Week for me is wonderfully central to my Christian faith, and how I will encounter it this year is puzzling me, and to be honest,  I still don’t know how I will mark it. Perhaps the suffering of Jesus (his passion) will be more meaningful, I wonder if the fear of all the uncertainty in the story unfolding will have more meaning this year?

One thing I do hope for is that sense of Peace which somehow unfolded in the disciples as they faced the sufferings and fear. It cannot have been easy for them, it might not be easy for us in the coming weeks.

Pentecost might this year be more meaningful than ever before, for hopefully it will be around then that we can get together again. When we do get together again, let’s be with ears fully opened to hear the stories (languages) that are spoken and let us give thanks to God for all that he means for us. We will all have different stories to tell and we may all learn new things when we finally get together. (Hopefully Pentecost)

Neil (Passion Sunday 2020)