“But they will do all of these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.”
John 15: 21
March 20, 2024
Crucifixion Reframed
The Lenten season is a time when we pause and reflect upon Jesus the Christ on his journey to the Cross of Calvary. Often, we focus on and frame the death of Christ as a sacrificial offering made by Jesus. However, because of the ongoing attempt at genocide of the Palestinian people, the culture of Jesus’ descendants, we must focus on the real implications of what Jesus’ journey and death reveals for us and the world.
In our own context, the assassination of Jesus mirrors that of Medgar, Malcolm, and Martin. It reveals the lengths evil will go to silence the truth and the spirit of the people. It reveals how voices of hope and progress, love, and justice, are often at odds with the status quo and the cultural elite. Nevertheless, it is in this time leading up to the crucifixion that we ought to sit with what we’re up against. From there, we must make the decision to journey on despite hatred, dysfunction, and even death. We press on knowing that God hears us, sees, and will transform our experience into something far more impactful than temporary physical death.
Reverend Kendall McBroom
Ministerial Staff
Prayer: God of our weary years and silent tears, help us to stand in solidarity with the downtrodden, the forsaken, and the annihilated. Aide us in our efforts for freedom and justice. Allow us to come to resolute spirit, so much so that no matter what we’re facing, by speaking up and out we realize that it is better to live free than die in bondage. In Jesus our Liberator’s name, we pray, Amen and Asé.
Lent 2024
We invite you to join us in reflection, meditation and prayer for a season of renewal, repentance and rejoicing from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.
Each day is a reflection representing the thoughts and aspirations of the members and friends of Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church expressing what the season of Lent means to them. Their wide range of perspectives describe how this time of renewal, repentance and rejoicing has been and will be used to focus on Jesus’ life, crucifixion and resurrection.
Read along with us each day or download the book to read and write along with us offline.