There is a very important backstory to our text. In John 9, Jesus opened the eyes of a man born blind. It was a wonderful, gracious miracle of healing! Who wouldn’t be thrilled about that? The religious leadership! You see, the day on which Jesus performed this miracle was a Sabbath Day. No work was to be done on the Sabbath. And the leadership had a graceless and merciless interpretation of this. They were incensed that Jesus would do such “work” on a Sabbath! They interrogate the man Jesus healed. When the man would not say a bad word about Jesus, but instead continued to give praise and glory to Jesus, the leaders threw the man out. They “excommunicated” the man, if you will. These leaders hated Jesus and they hated any “sheep” who followed Jesus.

Peter had quite the Easter Sunday. It began early with the return of Mary Magdalene from the tomb of Jesus. She breathlessly reported to him and John, They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him! (John 20:2) Peter and John race out to the tomb. John was faster than Peter and got to the tomb first. He paused at the entrance. Peter caught up and blew by him right into the tomb! He saw the strips of cloth lying there. Later, at some point on Easter, the risen Jesus makes a one-on-one personal appearance to Peter! We don’t know anything about it except that the risen Jesus appeared to Peter alone. In the evening, Peter is with the rest of the disciples in that upper room when Jesus appears to them all. Can you even begin to imagine Peter’s emotions on Easter?

The Service of Darkness centers on a series of lessons, psalms, and liturgical texts that reflect on the Lord’s crucifixion and our repentance. As the service progresses, the candles of a sevenfold candelabrum are extinguished until only one remains. This candle is not extinguished but is removed from the chancel, leaving the church in darkness. The service is closed by a loud noise (known as the strepitus) that foreshadows the rending of Jesus’ tomb on Easter. After the strepitus, the last candle, still burning, is returned to the chancel. It thus anticipates the light of the paschal candle. The service ends without a benediction. We exit in silence to reassemble on the Festival.

Something feels different about today. I don’t mean that just from the standpoint of how Palm Sunday “feels” in contrast to the quieter days of Lent. I also mean it “feels” different from the tone of Jesus’ whole ministry. Here is what I’m driving at. Early in Jesus’ ministry, he heals a man with leprosy. The account is in Mark 1. After healing the man Jesus gave him a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone.” (Mark 1:43-44) Jesus very sternly told this man to keep a lid on things! A similar event takes place in Mark 9. Jesus heals two blind men. Again, we are told: Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” (Mark 9:30) This has sometimes been referred to as “the Messianic secret.” Jesus carefully “curated” how and how much information about himself he wanted proclaimed.