hope in Him

I am one who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; against me alone he turns his hand, again and again, all day long. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me sit in darkness like the dead of long ago. He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me; though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; he has blocked my ways with hewn stones, he has made my paths crooked. The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall! My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24, NRSV)

I am in darkness with no light.

I am left alone and all my bones are broken.

I am encircled by tribulation and filled with bitterness.

He has left me here…

Yet when I find myself here, I remember:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

There is always hope!

Always Hope in Him!

True Discipleship

After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. (John 19:38-42, NRSV)

The scheduled reading for today is John 18 – John 19:42 the whole scene of Jesus being arrested and put on trial and beaten and crucified.

There is was too much to look at in a simple devotional. So I look at the last part.

Because this portion of John is the third appearance of Nicodemus. First he comes to us under darkness seeking out Jesus in John 3. The He kind of defends Jesus in the Jewish High Council meeting in John 7. And now here helping to remove Jesus’ body from the cross. He went from going to Jesus under darkness so no one could see him and he could hide his search for Jesus. To speaking up for Jesus in the High Council meeting, to publicly displaying his love for this criminal.

That is the truest progression of faith I have ever seen. From seeking to displaying love.

Nicodemus is a model for us all to follow.

blessed if you do them

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 supper Jesus, 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 you are 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 14 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, servants are 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. “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.” (John 13:1-17, 31b-35, NRSV)

Not all of you are clean! Judas gets a bad rap in John. But notice it says that not all of you are clean, before it says, “After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table,”

He as their master served them. And that is what we are all suppose to do, serve each other.

And if we serve each other we will be blessed.

So go and keep His new commandment and show the world that you are His disciple.

paradidomi

On 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?” So 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, and 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?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And 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.” They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, “Surely, not I?” He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. (Mark 14:12-20, NRSV)

One of you will paradidomi me…

Doesn’t quite work does it. Jesus at the last supper said one of you will betray me, is the translation we often here and have learned.

Judas betrayed Jesus. Does that mean Jesus didn’t know what was going to happen? In another gospel in the garden, Jesus asks Judas, “Do you betray me with a kiss?” That is not the question of one who does not know what is happening.

So if Judas didn’t betray Jesus what did he do?

paradidomi is the Greek word used in all the gospels in this moment, and it means to give over, hand over, deliver up… Not betray in the sense that Judas was doing something that Jesus did not know was going to happen.

Jesus knew. Judas did his part.

Not betrayed. Handed over.

Alle…oops

Alle…

Oops. Hold on…

As you are reading this article it is still Lent. But it is April and Spring and it should be Easter!

And yes that celebration is coming. The end of this week we will gather to celebrate Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and then finally Easter! The resurrection of our Lord and Savior.

We are in that already but not yet, we already know that Jesus will rise from the dead, or has risen. Even though now we are in the waiting of Holy week.

And isn’t that really the life of the Christian, the disciple of Jesus. We are already living eternally with God through our baptism, yet we are still here stuck in our sinfulness.

Already, but not yet.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known, Paul tells the Corinthians. (1 Corinthians 13:12) We are there but can’t see it all around us, and yet we are not quite there yet. We know that we are a part of the kingdom, but we can’t fully understand it yet.

So hold on, and know the promises are true, just as we know in a few days we can again say Alleluia!

Christ is Risen!