A busy, bustling city is going about its day with people on the move, living out their daily lives, when, seemingly from nowhere, though actually from everywhere, a great crowd descends upon it, a sea of humanity too large to be ignored or avoided.

Those in the crowd bring a different kind of energy to the streets. They have a cause that unites them, a message to convey, slogans to proclaim, items to wave, and a task to fulfil. The city is suddenly even more awash with sound and colour than usual. There’s music and dancing, singing and shouting, conversation and kindness. Spirits are high.

The cause is an essential one – people brought together by the conviction that those who would spread hatred, fear and division to further their own ends must be opposed. The message is clear. Love is stronger than hate. Hope is stronger than fear. Unity is stronger than division. We can and must do better that all might flourish, together.

It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch of the imagination to see the events of the first Palm Sunday in the picture I have just attempted to paint. But, in fact, the picture I was seeking to paint was that of London the day before Palm Sunday this year, as trade unionists and environmentalists, community activists, members of faith communities, musicians, athletes, entertainers and elected representatives came together to stand against the rise of the far right and to march for unity against division.

It was a good day, an encouraging day, a hopeful day. At different times we walked alongside teachers, actors, technicians, NHS workers, Palestinians, Jews, Muslims, Quakers, refugee groups, Stop the War Coalition and Stand Up To Racism members, firefighters with a Pride flag, descendants of holocaust survivors, and people with seemingly no affiliation to any group but who just wanted to be there because they know and believe that hatred and fear grow when good people do nothing.

As we were addressed by several speakers from a stage on Whitehall, we were urged to commit ourselves to the hard work of nurturing our democracy, building relationships across divides and working together to tackle the problems we face as a country.

For all the clever and witty placards on display, the one that struck me most powerfully was one carrying a Biblical text. Quoting the Book of Leviticus it read, “’When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself…” (Leviticus 19: 33-34)

People of faith need to be involved in the important work highlighted and deemed essential by those on this march. For followers of Jesus, it’s a central part of our calling.

Telling us that he came to fulfil the Law and the Prophets, Jesus implores us to love our neighbour as we love ourselves (and he makes it abundantly clear that our neighbour is anyone, even those, especially those who are foreigners, who don’t look the same or believe the same things that we do). He teaches us to do unto others as we’d have them do unto us and – not long after entering Jerusalem and disrupting the corrupt and exploitative practices operating in the Temple – says that we’ll be judged on the quality of the welcome that we offer to the stranger.

The first Palm Sunday teaches us that after all the euphoria of such a glorious occasion – when a community gathers around a single purpose and common cause to great effect – the hard work begins. The events of Holy Week and Easter show us that the path towards a better world (the world as God always intended it to be) is a difficult and costly one to tread, that the price you pay for following Jesus’ sacrificial way of love could well be the ultimate one.

But still he says, ‘Take up your cross and follow me.’

Easter blessings

Paul