by Rev. Herbert Nichols

There seems to be a very abrupt change in attitudes between the singing of the Hosannas and the cries of Crucify Him -- events historically separated by five days. But there is a thread of continuity between the events of this Holy Week.

From the very outset we can see that Jesus is not only aware but is in control of all that is about to happen. He exhorts the apostles to go and fetch the colt. They are not to steal it; simply to use it and return it. All of God's creation was made for God's use and pleasure.

But even nature can be rebellious. What poetic imagery the evangelist uses when he says "The sun hid its blushing face and the earth quaked like a woman in labor to give up its dead - that they might be born to new and eternal life."

Ever tried riding an unbroken colt through a screaming crowd? The colt, never having been ridden, unbroken and wild, allows itself to be used by the Master. The animal kingdom can be rebellious but it is the human kingdom that is most treacherous.

The pattern continues when Jesus tells them where to find the place for His last supper -- "a place that has already been arranged." In fact everything that is to unfold in these final days has been arranged. Everything in His life and everything in ours; all has been arranged if we are willing to accept it.

The Breaking and the Handing over of the Bread are linked to the prophecy of handing over in betrayal, denial, and desertion. As they go out to Gethsemane, Jesus speaks of their falling away but they are unable to comprehend. Their minds are dulled; perhaps too much wine, or an ominous spirit of darkness.

Alone in prayer, Jesus is again tempted to seek another solution, anything but His Father's will. But Jesus is well aware that it was in the Garden of Eden that disobedience was born. In this garden, obedience will be re-born.

The soldiers come and arrest him. False witnesses are brought in to testify but they cannot weave their lies together. It is Jesus own words of truth that enables the council to render its desired verdict. Though his enemies get what they wanted, He is still in control.

When they send him to Pilate the Procurator, who alone has the right to execute, Jesus boldly says: "You would have no power over me at all, were it not given to you from above."

Hanging on the cross, with the crowds beneath wagging their heads and challenging Him to prove Himself -- to save Himself by coming down, Jesus knows that His power is not in coming down but in being raised up. Remember his words to Nicodemus.

This crowd who knew him well, who received many blessings from Him, now taunts and jeers him; while a Roman centurion who perhaps had never met him looks upon the one he has pierced with his lance saying: "Truly this man was the Son of God."

For Mark, this is the climax of the gospel-none of its most significant verses. It answers the question that every one of must answer: "Who do you say that I am?"

Our attitudes may answer very differently than our lips and that is why Jesus had to do what He did for us--that by His example and grace our attitudes might be changed--not by our own strengths and weaknesses, but by the power of His sacrifice. Only in Him and through Him are we saved.