Unwavering Love – Today is Palm Sunday, and through Lent we have been reading episodes in Luke 22-23 leading up to Palm Sunday and Holy Week.  In today’s scripture, Jesus is in the custody of Pontius Pilate.  We know Pilate from the Biblical accounts, and although he appears as a major player in the Bible, there is barely any non-Biblical mention of him.  He was sent by Rome to keep order in Judea, to stamp out any attempted rebellion.  In this familiar story, Pilate tells the crowd that he sees no reason to sentence Jesus to death – he declares Jesus to be innocent.  But the crowd continues to call for Jesus to be put to death.  We know that some of those close to Jesus have abandoned him, like Peter’s denials, Judas turns him in to the authorities, members of the Sanhedrin have accused him.  The stories and we all press for whom to blame for the crucifixion.  In the midst of all of this, Jesus, however, often shows his love, as, for example, when he addresses one of the thieves crucified with him telling him that today that fellow will be with Jesus in Paradise.  Further, another of his sayings from the cross was, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  Underlying all of this is that the love of Jesus/God is at the heart of everything, and if we, ourselves, feel blame we need to remember that the love of Jesus is unwavering.

(NOTE:  Emphasizing the importance of the Word, the video begins with the scripture reading, but if you want, you can scroll back to the beginning of the service in the video – the entire service is available.)