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     Lent is a period of preparation for the climactic events of Holy Week, but it is easy to get lost in the demands of everyday life and miss the connection between Holy Week and the weeks before it.  Does Holy Week have anything to do with what we "give up" for Lent or the money we put in the little rice bowls in the back of the church?  One way to counter this tendency is to pay attention to the scriptures in the lectionary during this time, or even to pick up our New Testament and slowly read each of the four passion accounts, beginning with the entry into Jerusalem.  But we can start even before that point, as the gospel scripture for today illustrates.

     Jesus was controversial before he ever got to Jerusalem to die and rise.  The debate in the crowd as well as among the religious authorities indicates that Jesus was touching some raw nerves.  On the one hand, there is the strictly religious debate about Jesus' origins.  As Nathaniel says in the very beginning of the gospel, "Nazareth?  Can anything good come from there?"  Galilee was considered an almost pagan territory.  Messiahs don't come from places like that.  On the other hand, Jesus' controversial preaching could attract the attention of the Roman authorities who were ever vigilant about any public disturbance.  

     As we follow the build-up of dramatic tension leading to Holy Week, we might ask about our own religious tensions.  How do we understand Jesus? How do we express that understanding?  Are we reluctant to share it because we want to avoid conflict or misunderstanding?  The guards who return to the religious authorities without arresting Jesus put it well:  "Never before has anyone spoken like this man?"  In following Jesus can we make the same claim?  AMEN