It was not what anyone suspected. The crowd, many of whom had never seen him and only knew him by reputation, gathered on the road between the Mount of Olives and the city gates of Jerusalem.
What were they expecting? A king? A conquerer? One to rally them against their occupiers and oppressors?
Let’s face it. On that first Palm Sunday, it’s a good bet that many—if not most—were expecting a war to begin.
Instead, they got Jesus riding into town on the back of a borrowed beast of burden. Symbolic, perhaps, of his solidarity with those on whose labors empire and its cronies capitalize.
This week at New Wineskins, we continue our Lenten collaboration with Justice & Jubilee by taking a fresh look at the familiar story of Palm Sunday from Matt. 21:1-11 and considering what it means to view the text through the lens of justice and liberation.
Join us this Sunday, April 2, in the New Wineskins Virtual Theology Pub powered by Zoom for a discussion about the ways our work for liberation defies our expectations…even (or maybe especially) our religious ones. Our discussion video from The Work of the People invites us to see ourselves in the crowd shouting, “Hosannah!” … and to consider what we really mean by it.
📺 Click here to watch this week’s video
For the full experience of our collaboration, see the schedule below…you’re welcome to participate in any or all of the following:
5:30pm ET: Justice & Jubilee Message & Music (YouTube livestream)
6:00pm ET: New Wineskins Happy Half-Hour (informal meet & greet time…link below)
6:30pm ET: New Wineskins Presentation & conversation begin (link below)
Join us for Holy Week with Justice & Jubilee!
Our Lenten collaboration with Justice and Jubilee wraps up next week with our celebrations of Holy Week and Easter Sunday. On Maundy Thursday (April 6) and Good Friday (April 7), we’ll release visual liturgies from The Work of the People for you to view and reflect upon (we encourage you to engage in conversation in our Wineskins Workshops Facebook group).
On Easter Sunday, you’re invited to join us in our New Wineskins Virtual Theology Pub powered by Zoom at 8:00am EDT for a Sunrise Service where together we’ll watch a sermon from Justice & Jubilee founder Rev. Jenny Williams and hold a brief conversation afterward. We’ll open our Zoom connection at 7:50am and plan to wrap up by around 8:30am.
Holy Week, Easter Sunday, and beyond:
- Apr. 2: Palm Sunday: Justice & Jubilee YouTube live premier at 5:30pm, New Wineskins Happy Half-Hour at 6:00pm, Conversation at 6:30pm (all times Eastern)
- Apr. 6: Maundy Thursday video: Water to Wash Feet (video available starting at 6am EDT)
- Apr. 7: Good Friday video: Hung On A Tree (video available starting 6am EDT)
- Apr. 9: Easter Sunday Sunrise Service, 8:00am EDT, New Wineskins Virtual Theology Pub powered by Zoom
- Apr. 16: Quarterly Community Sabbath (No Gathering)
Join us for our first-ever New Wineskins book study!
Starting Sunday, April 23, we’ll be reading Josh Scott’s new book, Bible Stories for Grownups: Reading Scripture with New Eyes, together as a community. Order your copy now and be ready to engage a remarkably insightful, contextual view of some of the Bible’s best-known stories.
- Click here to order from Amazon
- Click here to order from Abington Press
- Click here to order from Cokesbury
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