Category: Easter week
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Coloring eggs
My wife got upset with me yesterday because, in my eagerness to keep Easter going, I came home from the grocery store with a dozen hard-boiled, colored eggs. Now admittedly, eggs and bunnies and little chicken peeps are not what I’m talking about when I’m talking about keeping Easter going, but they are a part…
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The conspiracy of the cross
I want to keep Easter going. I want to stay focused on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I want to keep having the Lord’s Supper every night so we can remember Christ’s death until He comes back. I want to hang around the empty tomb for as long as possible, and remember the…
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Rent-a-tomb
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. (Matthew 28:2) I’m unwilling to leave the Easter theme just yet. Think about that stone. The authorities were worried about the disciples stealing the body of Jesus…
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View from the cross
We dare not judge anyone that Jesus gave His life to forgive. And today is the day Jesus gave His life to forgive us all. Today is Friday. Good Friday. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
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The worst exchange
The worst exchange of all was thirty pieces of silver for the life of Christ. Thirty pieces of silver for the creator of the universe. Thirty pieces of silver for the savior of the world. Thirty pieces of silver for the only begotten Son of God. It was a bargain to say the least. Thirty…
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Another kind of exchange
I’m thinking of another type of exchange today — it’s the exchange of my right to self-serving thoughts and actions for the privilege of thinking about and serving others.
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The Great Exchange
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor … to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in…
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A Friendly Reminder
On a bench just inside our front door is a small basket with a piece of paper lying on it upon which Marti has written in her beautiful flowing cursive, “A Friendly Reminder.” It’s hard to believe that this basket, and its accompanying sign, has been there for a full year now. The friendly reminder…
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A Good Friday Prayer in a Pandemic
Our Father who art in heaven: Here on earth it’s gotten pretty rough. Your name is still hallowed, but we have lots of questions. It’s hard to find You when there’s so much suffering and death going on. We know Your kingdom is come, but it’s hard to figure out how Your will is being…
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The Last Supper
It had all been arranged. The first ones there had found everything just as he had said, so they prepared the Passover meal, but with an undercurrent of unrest.
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This is it
This is the day the earth shook. The sky turned dark. Graves opened. The fulcrum of history twisted and groaned on its axis. Sacrifices would be no more. We are now on the other side of this. Christ’s death shattered the Old Covenant. This was history’s continental divide. The final death. The last sacrifice.
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A night to remember
It had all been arranged. The first ones there had found everything just as he had said, so they prepared the Passover meal, but with an undercurrent of unrest. It was the beginning of the end. But it was not the end of the status quo that they feared. They had known no status quo…
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Working the Deep Magic
Yesterday’s Catch really got me going. I’ve always wondered about the passion of Christ. Every time it is acted out in film or theater, everything seems so drummed-up and confused. Pilate thinks he’s crucifying Jesus. The Jews think they are crucifying Jesus. The Roman soldiers think they are crucifying Jesus, and the disciples think they…
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Pilate before Jesus
The whole exchange between Jesus and Pilate, the Roman governor to whom the Jewish authorities brought Jesus, is a revealing one. In it, Pilate — a representative of the ruling government of the Roman Empire under the rule of the king, Caesar — meets up with another king, Jesus, supposed King of the Jews. Pilate…