Sunday - Witnesses

Sunday: “You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter)

Witness. It is a powerful experience. To be there when it happens. To see with our very own eyes. To feel and touch history itself.

In my life I’ve been fortunate to see a bit of history. We were as near as the public is allowed for a space shuttle launch. I met, shook hands with, and interviewed a future Pro Football Hall of Fame Quarterback. I have witnessed a annular solar eclipse in Japan and a total solar eclipse in Nebraska. I can describe them to you, but it won’t be the same as being there. But I’ve never encountered someone dead, entombed for parts of three days, then appearing before me for a visit and lunch.

Thomas the follower of Jesus was faced with a problem. He knew Jesus was dead, yet here were his closest friends excitedly and joyously telling him that Jesus had been with them in that very room. It was too much, more than he could handle. Yes, the tomb was empty. Yes his friends had seen for themselves their risen Messiah. But, the dead just don’t come out of their graves, alive and standing before you. 

Thomas needed more. He hadn’t seen nor touched his Jesus. The others had (in fairness, had they really believed before Jesus showed up, risen and alive in the room with them?), and Thomas wanted that opportunity, too. Just to see and touch the evidence that Jesus really had been crucified and was alive again.

And eight days later Jesus gave Thomas the evidence. Jesus stood before Thomas and invited him to see and touch the wounds himself. Thomas could no longer doubt the impossible. The Messiah, who was once dead and buried, now was alive and talking right in front of him. His life was changed because he witnessed the risen Jesus. Tradition tells us that experience was such a life changing one that Thomas traveled as far as India to tell others what he had witnessed about who Jesus is.

I mentioned earlier a few events of history I have been fortunate to witness. Many of us have had similar experiences. We have been to places where history happened. Walked the fields of great battles, stood in the ancient buildings where great people have been, stooped our heads and entered the cave where a promised child was born, and another cave where this same promised Messiah was buried.

All of these experiences were moving. But none necessarily changed our lives. 

Our lives are changed because of witness of others, a message we believed, a Savior sent from the Father. We’ve never seen him, but we love him, we trust him, we rejoice in him. He has changed us.

Saturday - the in-between day

Saturday - the day in-between:  “As his body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw the tomb where his body was placed. Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint his body. But by the time they were finished the Sabbath had begun, so they rested as required by the law.” (Luke 23)

“The next day, on the Sabbath, the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate...they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it.” (Matthew 27)

“On Sunday, two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing him.

“He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?”

“They stopped short, sadness written across their faces...Our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel.” (Luke 24)

Dreams are dashed. Hope dies. Sadness is written across our faces. We look back on the past few days, maybe just the past few hours or minutes:  “How could things have changed so quickly?” “This wasn’t what I expected when I woke up this morning?”

We don’t have much to read about the day after Jesus died.  We read of the enemies of Jesus, not content with killing him, they conspire to make sure he stays in the grave.

Luke tells a bit about the sadness of the followers of Jesus. They had hoped that in Jesus their dreams would be realized. Now they don’t know what to hope.  Luke also tells us of the women, having just watched Jesus die they set about to help prepare his body for the grave.

Dreams were shattered. Hope was gone. Yet, they still walked. They still talked. They still rested. They still did what needed to be done for the one they loved.

We can look back and think, of course. Look what’s coming tomorrow. But they didn’t have a tomorrow to look back to.

They only had a sunset to face with dreams gone and hopes faded.

But after this sunset, the same questions would come once again:  “How could things have changed so quickly?” “This wasn’t what I expected when I woke up this morning?”

Good Friday

Good Friday:  “As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women.” (Luke 23:26-27)

On our visit to Jerusalem in 2017 we had the opportunity to walk the Via Dolorosa, the way of suffering. It is the traditional route Jesus took from judgement before Pilate to the place of crucifixion, the place of his execution. No one knows the actual path he walked - the city of Jerusalem has been destroyed and rebuilt since then, changed hands in bloody wars, and archaeology has improved our understanding of how the city once looked when Jesus was there. And Luke’s brief description above of Jesus’ journey through the city is the most detailed one we have.

What did the streets look like on that day before the Sabbath, the day of the execution of the King of the Jews? Did it look like today’s lanes, crowded with markets, shoppers, pilgrims?  Luke said a crowd followed, but to those they passed by - what did they see? Just another execution procession that they may have seen before? Soldiers,  a man compelled to carry a cross, another beaten and barely able to carry himself along, weeping women and others following along. 

Did they understand what they were witnessing? The lamb of God was being led out past them, through their midst, to be a sacrifice for their sins, for the sins of the world. Did they look up, take notice, then return to their business briefly interrupted? 

I hope each day that I will not be unaware to the events surrounding me, events orchestrated by my Father to bring me closer to him.  I pray I will take notice to what in the world God is showing and doing for me.

Thursday of Passion Week

Thursday of Passion Week:  “As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it, for this is my body.”

“And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And he said to them, “This is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many.” (Mark 14:22-24).

In June of 2017, a group of us shared a Sunday memorial meal of bread and wine. Keeping with our own traditions, it was a small meal - a handful of unleavened bread baked that morning in Jerusalem, and a small olive wood cup filled with the fruit of the vine.

It is our way of remembering Jesus and honoring him for his death and sacrifice for us all.  The Passover, the sacred meal Jesus was sharing with his disciples, memorialized the meal eaten by Israel in Egypt on the night death came to the Egyptians, before the children of Abraham were set free from slavery. In the same way, our shared meal symbolizes the death of the Messiah, the blood shed that protects us from death, and points toward our freedom from the slavery of sin, because Jesus the Messiah conquered death.

We have been adopted as children of Abraham through Jesus. We have been set free. I pray I may live like one who is free and grateful for what the Father has done for and given me.

Wednesday of Passion Week

Wednesday of Passion Week:  “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.”

On our trip in June 2017 to the Holy Lands, we visited a shop in Bethlehem. Not a typical tourist shop, for they carried not only inexpensive tourist trinkets but also high-end hand carved olive wood, jewelry, and artifacts. One item we were drawn to was a Roman-era Jewish lamp and oil vase.

It reminded me of the parable of the bridesmaids that Jesus taught during the Passion Week. Of the ten bridesmaids, all had lamps but only five had prepared for the unexpected and brought extra oil. So when the groom finally arrived, they were ready to keep their lamps lit.

Over my life and even in just the last few days, I have experienced and in some cases suffered the unexpected. I have been let down, the simple things became hard to accomplish, muscles ached, I have been frustrated. Perhaps my expectations were set too high, sometimes they were reasonable but others’ priorities superseded. In all cases, my lamp was drained. 

For me, my extra oil is what I fall back on when my lamp is empty. Or more accurately, who I rely on to fill me with new oil when my lamp runs dry.

Jesus is coming and he will keep me prepared.

Tuesday of Passion Week

Tuesday of Passion Week:  “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:27-28)

In June of 2017, we visited the southern steps of the Temple Mount which date to the time of Jesus the Messiah. It is very likely Jesus walked these steps and taught from these steps.

From these steps, you can see across the valley to the slopes of the Mount of Olives. Now, as then, covered with tombs and graves.

It doesn’t take much effort to visualize Jesus gesturing across the valley as he spoke these words.

But the more difficult and challenging effort is to look at my life and into my heart to see if they are aligned. Is my life a life that gives glory to my Lord, and is my heart as dedicated to my Father as I want my life to be?  I want what is inside of me to give as much glory to God as what others can see.

Monday of Passion Week

Monday of Passion Week:  “Jesus stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”  

We visited the Temple Mount in 2017, when this picture was taken. 

An area dedicated for non-Jewish followers of God to worship was being used for selling of animals for sacrifice and exchanging foreign currency for Temple currency. 

While the intent may have been well founded - easy access to a market to help the pilgrims to serve God - the result was a hindrance to the worshipping the Lord.  So Jesus cleared them out. 

What in my life may be created around good intentions, but is actually preventing me or others from approaching the Father?