Sunday 13th April, Palm Sunday, Sunday next before Easter

“Meek. Mild. As if.” That was the tagline for an Easter advertising campaign by the Churches Advertising Network in 1999 which has become (in)famous as the “Che Jesus” campaign because of the poster artwork, which referred back to a famous image of Che Guevara. The poster was criticised by some for politicising Jesus, but a quarter of a century on, the image still has impact and can remind us of the way our images of Jesus can easily become over-familiar. This Sunday, we remember Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem at the beginning of the last week of his ministry. In a country occupied by a brutal empire of violence and economic dominance, whose emperor was celebrated as a god, Jesus’ triumphal entry on a donkey at the head of an excited crowd was a deeply satirical, prophetic and provocative act. Worse, he and his followers took over the temple courts, upsetting business and disrupting the sacred places. Jesus was not a passive victim in the events of holy week – he made it impossible for the authorities to ignore him. When the backlash came, though, as he intended it should, he accepted it as God’s will and suffered without complaint. What kind of King does that make him, and what kind of Kingdom are we called to follow him into as we seek to live by his law?

Every blessing,

Roger.