Easter begins in the worst place—amid death, loss, and the full weight of sin—because the Bible refuses to deny reality. But from that place comes wonderful news: not advice about what we must do, but the announcement of what God has already done in Jesus—victory over death. This good news is for the whole world, calling all people into a restored family who gather week by week to hear the Word, join him at his Table, and remember who they are in him.

This Palm Sunday, Bishop Paul reminds us that we are the crowd—crying “Hosanna” one moment and “Crucify him!” the next. We want a savior, but often on our own terms. Yet Jesus comes knowing this, loving us before we are faithful, committed to rescuing us from ourselves. We realize how radically and deeply Jesus loves us when we walk with him through Holy Week.

At Lazarus’ grave, we see our own stories. Jesus has stood before our graves and called our names: “Come out.” God is not indifferent to death—he is angry at it, and he has come to defeat it. In Jesus’ resurrection, that call to come forth from the grave and be unbound extends to us all. The question now is: having been called out of death, how will we now live?

In John 8, the woman caught in adultery stands exposed—vulnerable and guilty. In truth, we are all her, for all have sinned and deserve punishment. Yet Jesus, the only one without sin and with the right to condemn, instead offers mercy. He reminds the accusers of their guilt and frees the woman from condemnation. When our sin is laid bare, God’s mercy meets us there—lifting us up and empowering us to walk in new life.

Israel’s wilderness story shows us a failure that we would do well to remember and avoid in our own lives. When hunger and hardship came, the Israelites forgot God’s goodness—failing to be grateful and to have faith in him, evidenced also by their failure to pray. But where Israel failed, Jesus prevailed. In his own hunger in the wilderness, he trusted the Father and refused to test him. The season of Lent reminds us that faith is sustained by remembering who God truly is—and trusting him even in the wilderness.

“So Abram went.” This simple statement marks a turning point in history. After generations shaped by loss and stalled journeys, God called Abram not to improve his circumstances, but to entrust his future to a promise. What God offered was bigger than security, bigger than family legacy—it was participation in redemption itself. But the promise required departure. The life God gives always involves leaving something behind. Faith is not clinging to what we know or what we want; it is living as if God’s promises are actually true today.

Lent is not about good advice to help us do better, but good news that Jesus succeeds where we fail. Jesus was tested as we are—40 days in the wilderness echoing Israel’s 40 years—yet he triumphed. Temptation reveals what is truly in us. We cannot excuse our sin as mere humanity, for Jesus shared our humanity without surrendering to sin. The hope of Lent is this: our salvation rests not on the strength of our resolve, but on the sufficiency of our Redeemer.

On this last Sunday of Epiphany, we stand with the disciples on the mountain of the Transfiguration as Jesus reveals his glory before leading us toward Lent and Calvary. On the mountain, he shows us his divinity, reveals our destiny, and points to his departure—the new and final Exodus that brings salvation from sin and death. May our lives mirror this ascent, as we are transfigured into his image.

Bishop Paul preaches on what it means to be salt and light in the world for the sake of Jesus. While the call to be salt and light can feel overwhelming, and our inadequacies in fulfilling this call can feel burdensome, there is no condemnation in this call. In fact, we know that the salt and light come from Christ himself—and in him, we preserve and restore the world he loves.

Bishop Paul invites us to ask ourselves if we are “blissful”—not as a passing mood, but as a deep posture of the soul, rooted in the reality of the kingdom God has given us. To be “blessed” is to live with an unshakable joy that comes from receiving the kingdom of heaven, which stands at the center of the gospel. When this bliss is missing, it means we have lost sight of the kingdom—but the good news is that it can be found again through the promise and perspective of God’s reign.