From the Heart of Pastor Jacqueline A. Thompson
April 16, 2025
Good Evening Allen Temple Family and Friends,
Have you ever considered the power of your vantage point?
In 2008, a movie was released by Columbia Pictures called Vantage Point. The movie sought to unravel the truth of an attempted assassination of a U.S. President by re-enacting the events from the various perspectives of eyewitness. While the reviews were not stellar, it was enlightening to see the how the same event was perceived so differently. Your vantage point keenly impacts how you recounts and ascribe meaning to a particular event. The witnesses were in the same place, sharing the same experience and came to very different conclusions.
April 15, 2025
It's Tuesday! No more Palms and Praise...No Figs for Food. The mood is changing as we draw closer to the Cross.
April 14, 2025
Good Evening Allen Temple Family and Friends,
The journey to the Cross continues. After the events of Palm Sunday, Jesus spent the night in Bethany. With sunrise, he left the hometown of close friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus and headed back to the Temple. According to the 21st chapter of Matthew, Jesus grew hungry and noticed a fig tree by the side of the road. He went over to it looking for figs but the text says, he found nothing except leaves. Jesus curses the tree and it immediately withers.
Scholars continue to debate and offer commentary about why Jesus cursed the fig tree. But for some reason, the phrase that sits with me this Holy Monday is simply Nothing Except Leaves. Resisting the urge to exegete, I can only imagine the frustration and disappointment of his unmet expectations. This seems to be the sentiment of the season. For the Pharisees and even the disciples, Jesus did not meet the expectations of a their desired Messiah. For many of them, he was the fig tree falling short of their ideal. It caused me to reflect on how to handle unmet expectations.
April 13, 2025
It's Palm Sunday!
If you are like me, you worshipped today and waved your palm in commemoration of what Christians refer to as the "Triumphant Entry". This is the day where shouts of HOSANNA rang out as Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey. The people laid their cloaks on the ground and waved palms as Jesus comes to town for what would be his final passover and eventual crucifixion. This day is believed to be the fulfilment of messianic promise by prophet Zechariah where it is written: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey". (9:9)