The Good News is found in the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Today, as we begin Holy Week, we begin to see. On the major Sundays and holy days of the church, the greatest challenge for any preacher is to stay out of the way of the day, and to let the Gospel bring its own message to the hearer.
Today is, in many ways, the greatest example of that axiom.
Rather than a lengthy sermon in which I might attempt to stress the importance of the Passion narrative, and, more importantly, the fact that this is the most holy week of the Christian year, and the Triduum the Great Three Days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Vigil of Easter are our highest holy days, let me focus our thoughts, meditations, and reflections for the week on what you are about to hear. Today, we will hear the Passion according to St. Luke. It opens with the scene of the final Passover meal that Jesus and the disciples share. We hear Jesus announce the new covenant the covenant poured out in his blood, which will be shed on the cross in a matter of days. It is this new covenant into which we are baptized.