Lent Readings

[Tuo]

In previous years I've posted a prayer a day for Lent. This year I thought I'd try to do the same thing but with Bible readings. I'll be using the Anglican lectionary for this year, but will choose just one passage, and may only post part of it - just to keep the length manageable. Come and join in (add thoughts, comments, prayers, whatever) if you'd like to.

Day 1: 10th February - Psalm 103, 8-14

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
He will not always accuse us,
nor will he keep his anger for ever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so is his mercy great upon those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our sins from us.
As a father cares for his children,
so does the Lord care for those who fear him.
For he himself knows whereof we are made;
he remembers that we are but dust.


'Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return'. The psalmist reminds us of our weakness and frailty, but only in order to remind us that God's love for us is always greater than our ability to mess up; that just as a parent loves her or his children - not despite their vulnerability but because of it - God loves us and forgives our mistakes, and that whenever the fragile edifices of our lives and our selves seem to be about to crumble to nothingness, God can rebuild us and make us whole again. May this Lent be a time of rebuilding. And, in refashioning ourselves from the dust, may we also try to find ways to support those around us as they too work to reshape themselves anew.

[QofF]

Thanks so much tuo for this thread. I have found it really useful

[Tuo]

Oh Oma, what a bittersweet post: grief and loss never really go away, I think - you just learn to live with them to some degree. Sending love to you, and to anyone who's feeling the pain of loss this Easter.

So, we've come to the end. Thanks to anyone who read all or part of the way through Lent with me. It has been a really lovely thing to do - sometimes hard, especially when I have been very busy, and when the readings didn't immediately speak to me... but I have always found something to reflect on, something that has helped me in some way - cheered me, comforted me, made me think...

I'm going to comment on today's passage briefly before posting it, as I think that the text really speaks for itself. As Oma says, it's the moment when the risen Jesus calls Mary by name that is always so striking on reading this passage. She recognises Jesus because he calls her by name, but he was there all along, and she just didn't know it. I know that this describes the journey to faith of many of us: Jesus never went away, but we became, for whatever reason, unable to recognise him, unable to see him for who he is. And then, miraculously, unexpectedly, amazingly, joyously, problematically, he called us by name, and, however tentatively, in that moment of recognition there was something that couldn't be ignored and that was hard to resist. May we all, today and always, know ourselves to be known by, called by, loved by the risen Lord.

27th March: Easter Day - John 20, 1-18

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” ’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.


Christ is risen! Alleluia, alleluia!

[Hallelujahheisrisen]

hugs lovely oma. May the God of love enfold you in his arms and you know his peace and comfort today. I shall be thinking of you lovely.

[Dutchoma]

It's been an emotional waking up - feeling earlier because of the clocks going forward:

So may I post one referene this morning, from John 20 where Jesus, risen Jesus, meets Mary and calls her by her name so that she recognises Him. She has not come out of her grief, no more than I have come out of my grief but He is risen and lives for ever. Hallelujah.

[EdithSimcox]

That's another lovely interesting passage tuo, thank you. Job, another part of the Bible that I've hardly read at all... But I have finally finished 'the Bible from scratch' this week which means that at least I now know how it all fits together, and the bare bones of what is what. Next task to finish my 'most important bits' reading plan...

It's been such a good experience reading this thread, and thinking about these passages with you (and with everyone else who's been reading them); thank you for doing it, and for keeping it up all Lent. It seems like yesterday that I was stressing over whether I'd get to church on Ash Wednesday, and here we are at Easter eve. It's my first real Easter (not counting when I was a child) - because I date my (re-)conversion to Pentecost last year - so this Lent has been really important for me, and this thread has given me so much to think about.

[Tuo]

That is fascinating, Oma - beautiful and thought-provoking. Thank you for the link.

26th March: Easter Eve - Job 14, 1-14

A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble,
comes up like a flower and withers,
flees like a shadow and does not last.
Do you fix your eyes on such a one?
Do you bring me into judgement with you?
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
No one can.
Since their days are determined,
and the number of their months is known to you,
and you have appointed the bounds that they cannot pass,
look away from them, and desist,
that they may enjoy, like labourers, their days.
For there is hope for a tree,
if it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
and that its shoots will not cease.
Though its root grows old in the earth,
and its stump dies in the ground,
yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth branches like a young plant.
But mortals die, and are laid low;
humans expire, and where are they?
As waters fail from a lake,
and a river wastes away and dries up,
so mortals lie down and do not rise again;
until the heavens are no more, they will not awake
or be roused out of their sleep.
O that you would hide me in Sheol,
that you would conceal me until your wrath is past,
that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
If mortals die, will they live again?
All the days of my service I would wait
until my release should come.


I was intending to go on today with the story of the Passion, but Oma's link has encouraged me to post this less obvious passage from Job. It builds on the image of the tree, which is such a vital biblical image - perhaps the central image of salvation history, from the Tree of Knowledge which represents human disobedience, to the tree as an image of Mary's fruitfulness, to the tree as an image of the Cross. The passage's imagery also reminded me of the imagery we've seen in other passages that I've posted this Lent (from Jeremiah and from the psalms) of trees growing by the water, nourished by God's love. And it adds to all these the idea that a tree, even when it seems to be utterly dead, may yet embody the possibility of regeneration. Here this possibility is contrasted with the lives of human beings who, as we (think we) know, once they are dead, tend to stay dead. The passage asks who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? We might rephrase this (in line with earlier discussions on this thread) to ask how a mere human being can be made perfect. And we might answer, in hope, that through God all things are possible. And, as we wait and watch and hope today, we might pray to somehow pick up the scent of God's life-giving water, so that we may be roused from our sleep, given a second chance, reborn...

[Dutchoma]

here
I found this link in the iBenedictines' blog this morning, a fascinating article about the Annunciation (Christ's conception) and Good Friday (his death) falling on the same day, today, 25th March. It doesn't happen often and there is a lot of symbolism around beginning and end falling on the same day.
Talk about circularity

[Tuo]

March 25th: Good Friday - John 19, 28-37

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfil the scripture), ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘None of his bones shall be broken.’ And again another passage of scripture says, ‘They will look on the one whom they have pierced.’


In this passage the awfulness of the events commemorated on Good Friday emerge with horrific clarity: the simple human need expressed in 'I am thirsty'; the casual violence of the way in which the soldiers break the legs of the crucified men in order to expedite their tidying-up before the Sabbath (...and, yes, I know that breaking their legs also hastened their death, which might be considered kindness rather than cruelty in the circumstances, except that the motivation is clearly not to relieve suffering); the simplicity and finality of 'it is finished'.

As Oma noted the other day, there has been a circularity about these readings, a returning again and again to the same themes. So I remember when I wrote towards the beginning of Lent about the idea of being 'perfected', linking it to the linguistic meaning of 'perfection' as 'completeness', and I wonder if we could turn that on its head today and translate 'it is finished' as 'it is now made perfect' - that is: 'I have done what I came to do, and have done it fully and completely'. Understood this way, 'it is finished' is not a signal of defeat or giving-up, but of victory, fulfilment.

Except, of course, that it doesn't feel like that at the time, to Jesus' disciples. Good Friday feels like an ending, like completion in a negative sense - the end of everything that Jesus had seemed to represent. And it seems to me that it's important to recognise this and not to 'fast forward' mentally to Easter Sunday, in the knowledge that it'll all work out OK in the end, because we will all (probably) have times when we feel as if it's all over, when we feel hopeless and helpless and even useless. Knowing this makes Easter Sunday all the more meaningful, while contemplating desolation and hopelessness is not comfortable or enjoyable, but it is real... and what Jesus' death shows more than anything else, perhaps, is his engagement with our human lives in all their reality... even to the point of death.

[Tuo]

Yes, absolutely BES and Edith: there's hope even for the worst and weakest of us, and Peter, in the end, is so far from being either of those things.

March 24th: Maundy Thursday - John 13, 1-17; 31-35

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supperJesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God,got up from the table,took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’Jesus answered, ‘You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’Peter said to him, ‘You will never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.’Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’Jesus said to him, ‘One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet,but is entirely clean. And youare clean, though not all of you.’For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you?You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am.So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.Very truly, I tell you, servantsare not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.If God has been glorified in him,God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, “Where I am going, you cannot come.”I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.


Maundy Thursday seems to me to be about a paring back to essentials, ready for what is to come. In many churches altars are being stripped and the churches themselves are being pared back to essentials. Everything is being taken away, only to be restored in a great chorus of alleluias on Easter Sunday. But for now that seems impossibly remote... and instead what we are offered for comfort here - played out in a different way through the symbolism of washing the disciples' feet - is a reiteration of the two greatest commandments: love God and love one another. Love God by loving one another. And let that love be known and visible so that everyone who sees it will see in it Christ's example and God's love. May we let ourselves be washed by that love tonight. It strikes me that there is humility in accepting the act of washing as much as in doing the washing; even that (at least in our colder climes) there's a banal parallel of the stripping of the altars in the stripping off of shoes and socks and the baring of feet to be washed.

And when everything else has been stripped away one thing remains... the body and blood of Christ. (In my church, at least, I know that people are contemplating the body and blood of Christ in silent prayer even as I type.) What remains, then, is Jesus himself, visible to us in the Eucharist, but also in one another, and above all in love. Let us love one another so that everyone will know that we are Jesus' disciples.

[EdithSimcox]

And third, and fourth, and fifth....

[BlackeyedSusan]

well, I would not have denied Jesus in the courtyard, Oh no... I would have been so far on the way back to Galilee you would not have seen me for dust and I would not have had chance to deny him in the courtyard.

Peter was pretty brave to go into the courtyard in the first place.

good job people are forgiven and given second chances.

[Dutchoma]

Amen to that TUO

[Tuo]

23rd March: Wednesday of Holy Week - Luke 22, 54-62

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, ‘This man also was with him.’ But he denied it, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know him.’ A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, ‘You also are one of them.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I am not!’ Then about an hour later yet another kept insisting, ‘Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I do not know what you are talking about!’ At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.

Peter, ah Peter.... I chose this passage, although it's uncomfortable, because Peter's denial of Christ feels so much like something I would do: not cynically, sure, but out of fear or discomfort or a desire not to draw attention to myself. It's a reminder of the importance of speaking honestly about my faith: one of the ways in which Peter is recognised is by the way he speaks, his Galilean accent, and this prompts the question of how far what I say (and do) would identify me as a Christian. But I also take heart from the knowledge that Peter is forgiven, and given another chance to get this right, not least when the risen Christ asks him three times to reiterate his love, and tells him to feed his sheep. Tonight, then, I pray for the courage and faith to express my love for God (and to translate that love into good actions) and never to turn my back on Him.

[EdithSimcox]

Power struggles at home . That's never me.

[Tuo]

22nd March: Tuesday of Holy Week - Luke 22, 24-27

A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest.But he said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors.But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves.For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves'.

Long day, lots of travelling, and typing on phone so forgive brevity tonight. I chose this snippet from today's lectionary reading because it picks up some of the contradictions we felt on Sunday: the king who rides a donkey is also the servant of his subjects, and the inscription, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews", that we will see placed above the cross on Friday is intended to be ironic but actually doesn't go anywhere near far enough in expressing the extent of Jesus' kingdom. When we (when I) get caught up in petty power struggles at home or at work may we (I!) remember his example and remember that it's about being where we can do the most good, not where we can garner the greatest glory.

[Tuo]

21st March - Monday of Holy Week: Luke 22, 1-23

Now the festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death, for they were afraid of the people.

Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was present.

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.’ They asked him, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for it?’ ‘Listen,’ he said to them, ‘when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, “The teacher asks you, ‘Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ” He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.’ So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!’ Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this.


Yesterday was all hosannas and acclamations. Today it's all about betrayal. It all goes so wrong so fast. But I'm also struck by the parallels between today's passage and yesterday's. Jesus sends two disciples ahead of him to get what he needs for the next stage of his journey to the Cross, whether that's a donkey colt or a Passover meal. In both cases the disciples are instructed to tell those who will provide these things that 'the Lord needs it...' or 'the teacher asks you...' and in both cases that simple statement is enough. Everything is happening as it is meant to happen, and that includes Judas's betrayal. Yet it's not only about betrayal today; it's also - and far more importantly - about giving, sharing, remembering, sacrifice. The words of the last paragraph are so familiar, and yet reading them today, with the rest of the week still to come, is a bit like hearing them for the first time - a bit like being in the room with the disciples, then. Everything is happening as it's meant to happen, but there's still anticipation, tension, a bit excitement, a bit of fear, a bit of hope.

[Tuo]

Thank you, Oma. That's lovely.

20th March - Palm Sunday: Luke 19, 29-40

When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” just say this: “The Lord needs it.” ’ So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ They said, ‘The Lord needs it.’ Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,

‘Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!’

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, order your disciples to stop.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.’


And so we arrive at Holy Week, perhaps (certainly, in my case) with a mixture of emotions: so much to do before the holidays, stress, tiredness, but also anticipation of rest and joy ahead: not long now, Lent is nearly over. I have been thinking, reading this passage, about what the disciples must have been feeling on this day. They knew, by now, how dangerous it would be to enter Jerusalem with Jesus. They must have been frightened. Yet even in their fear they must also have had a thrill of anticipation. What next? Where now? And in that anticipation is also joy: they praise God joyfully as Jesus enters the city and can't help but cry out - their joy is stronger than them. Did they think about the incongruity of their acclaiming Jesus as king and Lord while he sits not on some noble steed but a humble donkey? And what of Jesus, knowing, on some level at least, what lay ahead? Did he engage with the crowd and welcome their acclamations? It may be fanciful, but I imagine him riding through it all in a sort of a bubble - part of it, yet detached from it, focused now on the end of the story...

[Dutchoma]

I think we may be coming back to the perfection that you spoke about at the beginning of these readings: we are 'on our way' to the Kingdomn, a little bit of heaven on earth. Every time we try for justice, for forgiveness, for the things Jesus asks of us, the Kingdom does come a bit nearer. And yes, we are asked to try, knowing that we shall only be 'made perfect'' through the One Who is perfect: Jesus Christ our Lord.

[Tuo]

Thank you, both. I liked that too.

Saturday 19th March: Isaiah 11, 1-19

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. This image, this whole prophecy, gives us an image of a perfect world - a world at one with itself, a world at peace and in harmony - which feels infinitely far off, forever out of reach. And I am guessing that, rhetorically, that's what the prophet was aiming at here: a description of something that feels 'too good to be true', something that must be godly or heavenly because it certainly isn't anything we can recognise.... But might it be that in the first part of the passage, even though it's ostensibly describing the promised Messiah, there is also a lesson for us? If I do not judge at first sight, or believe everything I hear; if I judge fairly, and try to make equitable decisions; if righteousness and faithfulness are the qualities that I take with me everywhere; if I try to work towards wisdom and understanding in all things; if I try to do all these things in the limited way that I can in my own life, do I then help to create not a perfect world, but at least a better one? Should I, at least, try...?

[QofF]

Lovely post tuo thanks

[EdithSimcox]

That's lovely :)

[Tuo]

18th March: John 12, 35-36

Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’

I went for a walk at about 5.30 this evening. It was light when I set out and almost dark by the time I got back an hour later. Here Jesus is talking about his own imminent arrest and death, of course, but his words remind me to hold onto his example and to (try to) walk in its light always.

I also want to share this poem by the medieval Persian poet, Hafiz:

Even after all this time
the sun never says to the earth,
“You owe me.”
Look what happens with
a love like that,
it lights the whole sky.

[Tuo]

17th March: Psalm 42, 1-7

As the deer longs for the water brooks,
so longs my soul for you, O God.
My soul is athirst for God, even for the living God;
when shall I come before the presence of God?
My tears have been my bread day and night,
while all day long they say to me, ‘Where is now your God?’
Now when I think on these things, I pour out my soul:
how I went with the multitude
and led the procession to the house of God,
With the voice of praise and thanksgiving,
among those who kept holy day.
Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul,
and why are you so disquieted within me?
O put your trust in God;
for I will yet give him thanks,
who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

Feeling very tired again tonight... dragging myself to the end of a long week. The metaphor of thirst feels very apposite: craving refreshment, needing energy. Yet I know that tomorrow is another day and that I will yet give thanks to the God in whom I trust.

[Tuo]

16th March: John 14, 1-7

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’


'I just want to go home!' It has been a busy week and I've probably said or thought this any number of times in the last couple of days... Ditto: 'I don't know where I'm going' - literally and metaphorically, and sometimes both at the same time. It is so easy to feel lost and directionless, cast adrift and scared or confused. Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life. He is the way out of our lostness and confusion. In him we can find a place, the place where we belong, our rightful place. This passage is often read at funerals, but it gives me hope also in the here-and-now: Jesus is not only there at the end of our journey, he is the journey, the way, and even one step in the right direction is a step closer to the place where we belong.

[Tuo]

Haha! The text would be nice, wouldn't it? Let me try that again! I hit 'post' by mistake.

15th March: John 11, 38-45

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.


There is a closeness to death in many of ther readings for today and the coming days: a clear sense that the closer Jesus gets to Jerusalem, the more inevitable his death becomes. The account of the raising of Lazarus prefigures in so many ways the death of Jesus himself, but one of the striking things here is the emphasis on how really dead Lazarus is... the body has been there for four days (in a hot climate) and already stinks. This is not a sanitised account of death. And yet, like Jesus himself, Lazarus is raised. We are prepared for the pain that is to come (Jesus almost seems to be preparing himself: he's deepluy disturbed at the start of the passage), but we also see its ending. The faith of Martha (seen in the earlier passage) and the deep love of Mary (ditto) are repaid with the restoration of their brother. And they are repaid too in the instilling of faith and love (and hope too - may as well complete the group!) in the others who witness what has happened.