On the Road to Emmaus

13Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. 18Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” 19He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” 25Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. (Luke 24:13-27, NRSV)

Here is another example of people who should know what Jesus looks like and recognize Him when He walks up to them, but they are so distraught that they are weighed down in grief and despair that Jesus is some random stranger.

But these two, Cleopas and the other are walking to Emmaus a village 7 miles from Jerusalem on the night Jesus rose from the dead. They really haven’t figured this out yet, because they left before Jesus appeared to the disciples, but He had to the women. And they are wondering what will happen to all of them. And Jesus comes along and opens the scripture for them, which is the Hebrew Scripture or the Old Testament.

What would you do if someone made your heartburn as the opened the scripture for you?

Would you know it was Jesus?

Have you been on the road to Emmaus?

Dejected and filled with despair?

Jesus might be walking with you…

Mary and Jesus

11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12and 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. 13They 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.” 14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” 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.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus 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.’” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:11-18, NRSV)

Have you ever seen someone and not recognized them?

I mean we all probably wonder how is it that Mary saw Jesus but didn’t know who he was? I mean she had been with him for a long time and knew him.

But also remember that she is in deep despair and anguish. She has just lost some she loves deeply and then only to discover that his body is missing. You might not recognize yourself in that mess.

But the moment Jesus says her name.

She knows Him. It is the most wonderful sound you can hear. Jesus calling you by name.

Jesus calls you name, are you ready to respond. To hear the sweet sound of God calling you by name and sending you to go.

Know that God loves you and died for you, and is alive now and calling you by name. Listen and hear God calling, and follow where God leads.

Running to the Tomb

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. 2So 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.” 3Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes. (John 20:1-10, NRSV)

Now had how does Mary Magdalene know Jesus’ body is gone? It says she went to the tomb and saw the stone had been removed. And upon seeing the stone missing she ran to tell Peter and the disciple Jesus loved.

But the disciples run to the tomb, racing each other like they are saying I’m going to beat you. And the other disciple wins but doesn’t go in and Peter just runs in, kind of like, ha I beat you!

And they see that Jesus is gone, but the wrappings are still there. They had no clue what had happened or what was happening, but they knew that Jesus’ body was gone.

And so they went home.

Seriously? If someone came and told you that your beloved friend was no longer in the tomb where you had placed his dead body, you would probably go and check it out, and if it were true, what would you do? Go home and act like nothing happened?

I would be looking for the body or trying to discover what had happened. I wouldn’t just go home.

How many times do we just go home, when we really should be looking for Jesus?

The Empty Tomb

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” 8So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. (Mark 16:1-8, NRSV)

This is the end of the Gospel of Mark. Most of you might go look at your Bible or know there are still 12 more verses. Most Bibles put those verses in [brackets] because most scholars believe and agree they were added later because who ends a story with, “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” That is no way to end a story. But really is Mark a great writer? I mean he does start almost every sentence with and immediately.

But back to the end. Mark ended his short gospel by telling that the man who was laid in a tomb was no longer in the tomb. And the women that came to take care of the body fled in fear and told no one anything. Which we know isn’t true otherwise we would not have known about it, or Mark would not have heard and been able to write about it.

So why is this the end? Because the beginning of Mark says it all, Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This is the story of Jesus Christ and what he has come to do and has done and is doing. So the women leaving in fear really isn’t the end, it is only the beginning.

Jesus being laid in the tomb is not the end, it is only the beginning of Him rising from the dead and giving us new life.

So walk out of death and claim the life that Jesus gives us all.

And go and tell the world, what Jesus Christ has done for you and for all!

The Burial of Jesus

40There 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. 41These 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 Jerusalem. 42When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, 43Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time. 45When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. 46Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid. (Mark 15:40-47, NRSV)

Joseph was a respected member of the Jewish High Council and yet was there to offer his grave and to help take the body of Jesus off the cross. This would mean that he would not be able to participate in Sabbath rituals for having been in contact with a dead body. But yet he did it. He did it knowing it went against what most on the council thought. We do not know why he did it, but he did.

Would you have done it?

Risk your place in society?

Do something for someone who can no longer do anything for you?

Would you risk your life for Jesus?

Jesus came to show us how God had intended for us to live. He came showing love to all and forgiveness and He was killed for it. Do you stand with Jesus?

Are you ready to lay Him in the tomb?

The Death of Jesus

16Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. 17And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. 18And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. 20After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. 21They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. 22Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). 23And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. 24And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take. 25It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. 29Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him. 33When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34At 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?” 35When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” 36And 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.” 37Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. 38And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39Now 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!” (Mark 15:16-39, NRSV)

Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani. This seems a weird thing for Jesus to say from the cross. Why would Jesus cry out, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

Well, it could be because Jesus feels like God is nowhere near Him and He has been forsaken or left by God. Saint Teresa felt this in her life and often commented on it as the dark night of her soul. Is that it?

I don’t think that is why Jesus says this. If you know your Hebrew Scripture, you would know that My God, My God, why have you forsaken me is the first verse to Psalm 22. And in my understanding in Jesus’ time when a person wanted to pray a psalm they only needed to say the first verse to call all of at that psalm to cover them.  And Psalm 22 starts out dark and like the writer had been left by God, but then becomes light and talks of God’s ruling over the world.

27  All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD,   and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
28  For kingship belongs to the LORD,   and he rules over the nations.
29    All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;   before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,   even the one who could not keep himself alive.
30  Posterity shall serve him;   it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
31  they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

They will proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn, that He has done it!!! Jesus died to complete something that none of us could have done. And it is something we will not understand until it doesn’t matter.

But know that God never left Jesus and God will never leave you.

Prayer in Gethsemane

32They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. 34And he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.” 35And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36He said, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” 37He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? 38Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him. 41He came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.” (Mark 14:32-42, NRSV)

Have you ever fallen asleep while praying? I have. I have been in such a state of sheer peace that my ramblings to God became snores of praise. And while Jesus was not happy with Peter here, I would think that God would be moved to cradle us in arms of love when that happens.

I have also been intently in pray and would not be able to sleep, for the adrenaline was flowing through the power of the connection with God and others I was praying with and for,

Prayer is a communication with God and there is no right or wrong way to do, the only thing that God asks is that we do it.

Be in prayer. Communicate with God.

Virtual Easter Vigil

This has been an interesting year. I resigned from my call at the end of November 2019 and started looking for a new place that God had in store for me. God had a super cool adventure in mind as God placed me at the ELCA Campus Ministry of the Brazos Valley. And I still have to look that up every time I have to type it or say it. I know this ministry as Treehouse Ministries. It is the ELCA campus ministry to Texas A&M and Blinn College. And I have truly been blessed since arriving here on March 1. And just about that same time, we were hit with COVID-19. And took everything from in-person to online. And this being Holy Week, we need to have a vigil.

Well, some of my friends have created an online streamed Easter Vigil. It starts at 6 pm EST on April 9 and goes until 12 am EST on April 12. I will be on this live stream at 6 pm EST on April 10.

I am also taking part in The Triduum Role Playing Game which is happening at 8 am EST 4/10, 1 am EST 4/11 and 5 am EST 4/11.

Below are the graphics of the schedule and the link for the whole event is thetriduumproject.com

 

The Last Supper

22While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. 24He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 26When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27And Jesus said to them, “You will all become deserters; for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 29Peter said to him, “Even though all become deserters, I will not.” 30Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31But he said vehemently, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And all of them said the same. (Mark 14:22-31, NRSV)

Even though I must die I will not deny you.

How many times each day do we deny Christ?

Maybe not in our words, but in our actions?

And how many of us are just like Peter? Vehement that we will die for Jesus, but when the time comes we don’t?

Jesus just gave the disciples the meal we celebrate weekly, well we used to celebrate weekly, and some of us still are, while others are waiting to be together again. But aren’t we all together in this? We are all a part of the body of Christ and therefore connected to God and to each other. We are in this together, and we are always together.

Know that even when we deny Christ that Christ is always with us.

Passover Preparations

10Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him. 12On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” 13So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, 14and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” 16So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. 17When it was evening, he came with the twelve. 18And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 19They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, “Surely, not I?” 20He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. 21For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” (Mark 14:10-21, NRSV)

Judas went to the chief priests to “betray” Jesus.

Betray is a word that is interesting to me. We can only betray someone if we have power over them, and did Judas have power over Jesus?

Do any of us have power over God?

While Jesus may not have had all the answers, i.e. when the end of the world would come, Jesus said only the Father knows this, he was not under the power of Judas. Jesus knew what was going on and who was going to “betray” him.

I looked up the Greek word here, and it is the word παραδοῖ the third person singular aorist active subjunctive version of παραδίδωμι which means hand over, deliver over.

So Judas made plans to hand Jesus over, which was really all part of the plan.

How do we do what God wants even when we may not understand it?