Palm Sunday 2021: Hidden Figures in the Gospels

Opening Prayer

O Lord open our lips.
That our mouths may proclaim your praise.

O God, come to our aid.
O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

In her book 'Hidden Figures' Margot Lee Shetterly tells the story of the human computers, in this instance black women mathematicians whose work helped put the first men on the moon. (The word ‘computer’ in the mid-1950s-60s referred not to a machine, but to someone whose job required them to compute complex mathematical equations.) She described them as hidden figures because they had been for the most part written out of the history of the Space Race, yet without their work man would not have been able to leave the upper atmosphere, let alone orbit and land on another celestial body.

Similarly, the gospels are filled with hidden figures; men and women who followed Jesus, and yet whose names get barely a mention, that is if they get mentioned at all. In John we meet Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, in Luke the group of women who support Jesus's ministry*, and in Mark the owners of the donkey that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. There is also the young man carrying a water jar, and the other young man who escapes from the garden of Gethsemane naked, both of whom we will meet on Maundy Thursday. All of them have their part to play in the story of Jesus.

 

These figures are important to us because they show that the followers of Jesus were not limited to the inner 12 disciples, or even the 70 or so who were sent out on missionary journeys. There are others, who are hidden in the text, yet without whose presence the story would grind to a halt.

 

Of particular interest today are the owners of the donkey. It is clear that they had been forewarned of what Jesus intended to do, and had the donkey prepared, along with what seems like a codeword and response, presumably to ensure that the donkey was not taken by someone other than the disciples of Jesus. These people remain firmly off the page, and yet without them the story would have ground to a halt with the disciples being accused of 'grand theft donkey!' Not the best way to start Holy Week.

 

Similarly, on Maundy Thursday we meet a man carrying a water jar. This would have been as incongruous for the disciples as us seeing David Cameron and Boris Johnson campaigning for the Socialist Workers Party. Men in first century Palestine simply did not carry water jars, only women did. The presence of this man and water jar are clearly then a pre-arranged sign; an insurance policy ensuring that the Last Supper could take place in safety (and in secret), so that the betrayal and arrest could take place at the proper time and location. 

 

If there are hidden figures in the story of Jesus, then there are hidden figures in the life of faith today. Those whose ministry's go unacknowledged or unremarked upon, and yet without them the life of the church would collapse into dust. (We may even see ourselves as being one of those hidden figures.) However, hidden they may be, we should give thanks for and pray for these people; we pray often for our priests and bishops, how often do we pray for those who clean the church, make the coffee, welcome the stranger? My father taught me to get to know the secretaries and receptionists at his place of work, because they were the gate-keepers, those without whom you would get nowhere, and without whom nothing would happen as it should.

 

We should remember, pray for and celebrate these people. Giving thanks to God for them, because without them the story of the gospels would quickly grind to a halt. Whilst their work may be hidden from our eyes, or we may not notice their faithful service, the God who numbers the hairs on our head, and care for each sparrow that flies watches over them, rejoices in their faithful service, and bids us also to remember them.

 

* Luke 8.1-3: ‘Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.’

Closing Prayer

Almighty, ever-living God,

  you gave our Saviour the command

  to become man and undergo the cross

  as an example of humility for all men to follow.

We have the lessons of his sufferings:

  give us also the fellowship of his resurrection.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, for ever and ever.