Many of us will be going to Maundy Thursday services. If we listen to one of the accounts of the Last Supper as shared by Matthew, Mark, or Luke, will be listening in to the Passover Meal Jesus shares with his disciples. (If we listen to the account of John – from which we get the...
38. Mark 15:40-41
posted by DJL
There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to...
Denying the Resurrection
posted by DJL
It’s Holy Week, and so are thoughts are naturally drawn to Jesus’ cross and resurrection. We will listen to scenes from the Passion of our Lord read in church and meditate on our Lord’s suffering and all that it means for us. And on Sunday we will gather to hear, like the first disciples, the good news of Jesus’ resurrection. Gathered together we will pray and sing and give thanks for all this means for us and, indeed, for the world. This is, to borrow the old words, “meet, right and salutary,” for as the Apostle Paul writes, the confession of Jesus’ death and resurrection is “of first importance,” that is, stands at the...
37. Mark 15:39
posted by DJL
Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” What are we to make of this centurion? Some see him as a foreshadowing of the “mission to the Gentiles” that will take place in earnest with the ministry...
Re-Imagining
posted by DJL
Adam Walker Cleveland writes a thoughtful blog about theology, ministry, and technology called “Pomomusings.” Recently he’s been collecting the essays of folks from a variety of corners of what’s sometimes called “the Emergent Church” to answer two questions: 1: What is one belief,...
36. Mark 15:37-38
posted by DJL
Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Mark’s description is again brief, even terse. But I suppose most deaths are like that – a last word, or prayer, or goodbye, or cry, and then a final breath. That’s it. So...
Greener Pastures
posted by DJL
Seth Godin recently pointed me to the following pictograph that depicts the difference between the way people think professional photographers spend their time and the way they actually do. (Godin, in turn, found it from SwissMiss, who found it on a photography blog, and so on. That’s the...
35. Mark 15:33-36
posted by DJL
When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” There is some debate in Christian circles about Jesus’ cry of despair from the cross. Some, recognizing it comes at the beginning of Psalm 22, point to...
Monday/Sunday
posted by DJL
So here’s a suggestion that I think would almost instantly reverse the church decline we’ve all heard about, read about, experienced, and are tired of. I think Sunday is on the wrong day. You see, Sunday is on the weekend. And we’ve gotten pretty used to the weekends being, well, you...
Palm/Passion Sunday
posted by DJL
Dear Lord, Keep us with you as you enter the gates greeted by cheers. Keep us with you as you teach and talk and debate and overturn. Keep us with you as you sup and pray. Keep us with you as you give yourself and hurry the others away. Keep us with you as you stand accused with none to defend...
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