According to Dr. Audrey West, we who prepare to worship on Palm Sunday "live on this side of Easter," a place where we find ourselves "between welcome and rejection, between acclaim and denial, between life and death."

Dr. West continues: "From that vantage point, we might recognize Jesus as the one who rescued Lazarus from the bonds of death, while we also wait in hope that he will deliver us and the world from forces that seek to destroy and kill."

May God's love enfold us as we live through our own "between places," trusting that we are treasured in every moment, whether we face welcome or rejection, acclaim or denial, life or death.

Dr. Audrey West is Associate Professor of New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Her full reflections on John 12:12-16 can be found in Connections: A Lectionary Commentary, Year B, Volume 2, 2020, pages 114-116.