Isaiah 42:1-7; Psalm 26(27):1-3,13-14; John 12:1-11
Yesterday was Palm Sunday - a day of contrasts as we welcome Our Lord into the heart of our community singing praises, and then suddenly we are hearing the Passion, and leaving church in silence. It was in Jesus' day the day on which the Lamb to be chosen for the Passover was selected - no coincidence that this day was the day our Lord entered Jerusalem, and the significance would not have been lost on the jews. Choosing this day was in itself a provocation to them, as it would be the right day for the messiah to appear amongst them.
The passover lamb had to be unblemished, young, pure white (no black patches!) and was kept in the house for the next 4 days living with those whom it would symbolically be saving though its death, consumption at the passover meal, and its blood used to mark the door to let the angel of death to pass over that home (Exodus 12:5)
So over these 4 days before Good Friday, let us remember that Christ is in our homes and travels with us in all we do, say and feel.
The first readings for the next few days, come from Isiah and contain poems about the Lord. They are titled as written by the servant of the Lord - which to pre-christians might mean almost anyone who serves, but to those who know Christ could only be pointing us towards Him. Each has its own character. Todays is a poem of praise about the chosen one - which links with yesterdays selection of the Lamb.
‘to open the eyes of the blind, to free captives from prison, and those who live in darkness from the dungeon.’