You’re watching a favorite movie with friends who are seeing it for the first time. When it gets to the tragic scene (followed, as you well know, by an amazing turn of events), it’s all you can do to restrain yourself from spoiling it for your friends and shouting out to just wait for what’s about to happen. This, in J.R.R. Tolkien’s coinage, is called eucatastrophe. The restraint is particularly hard if your friends have begun audibly grieving the inevitable outcome (your smirk is a dead giveaway, too, so, you know . . .). Tolkien also employed the term dyscatastrophe for a tense situation that, as you might imagine, ends in total tragedy in the final scene (i.e. the hero dies). If a film does this, it rarely becomes a favorite. If a book does this, it might be thrown in the trash.
Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, a celebration of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Or maybe the word ‘triumphal,’ is too strong? too naïve? Like a much-watched movie, we know the text, the happenings, the betrayal, the danger in the air, the fickleness of the crowd, the burning hatred of the religious leaders. But this is our perspective gained in hindsight, which the crowd that day wouldn’t have had.
It might be helpful to think of those who were present, in considering the event in question: for Jesus, himself, the amassed crowd, Mary, Jesus’ mother, the disciples, Judas, particularly, Lazarus, his sisters, Martha and Mary, the Pharisees. For each one, the answer is clear. For each one, there are many things to ponder. As we insert ourselves into the scene, there is much for us, too, to ponder. Looking forward to seeing you deep ponderers tomorrow, 10 AM, 3 PM UK, 4 PM ES. PD
