Fanfare and Hidden-ness
The noise of the city during Passover: will anyone hear a new mandate?
H and I went to Palm Sunday service, and were handed palm leaves. As usual the children are lead in during the first hymn, and everyone lifted the branches.
The climax of Benedictus obliterates me, and I hear a ringing note: Not I, Not I. But…
What did Jesus make of this fanfare? What was the point of riding on the donkey? There was a Roman garrison not far away. Would they have stopped him if they had known?
Jesus and his people find a place to have a Passover meal. The wine, shared bread and a whispered new commandment: Love one another.
There is a hidden-ness to Christ that seems to contradict this fanfare. The intended quiet entry into Jerusalem, the silence before Pilot, the meal and new mandate, the conversation with Mary at the tomb. Things said to one person, or a few. Silence in key moments.
I love the choir and the horns and the bells — for me it is a sonic bath. But there is something also in the silence.