Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?” He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.
The Gospel of the Lord.
***
***
We’ve entered Monday of Holy Week. Jesus is days away from his death.
So, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus extended a timely dinner invitation, thanking him for all he’s done in their lives, most notably for raising Lazarus from the dead!
***
Each person shows their gratitude in different ways.
Lazarus opens his home. Martha prepares and serves the meal. Mary spends all she has on a costly bottle of perfume, pouring it over Jesus’ feet, wiping them with her hair.
Three different gestures with the same message: thank you.
***
Holy Week teaches us many things about God, human nature, and the Christian life. But the first lesson on Monday morning is simple: Be grateful.
Think of the Lord, the people, and the blessings he’s brought into your life.
Then, in your own way, give thanks.
***
***
Image credits: (1) America Forever Flags, WalMart (2) Ordinary People Extraordinary God, The Alabaster Jar (3) iStock
The elders of the people, chief priests and scribes, arose and brought Jesus before Pilate. They brought charges against him, saying, “We found this man misleading our people; he opposes the payment of taxes to Caesar and maintains that he is the Christ, a king.” Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He said to him in reply, “You say so.” Pilate then addressed the chief priests and the crowds, “I find this man not guilty.” But they were adamant and said, “He is inciting the people with his teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to here.”
On hearing this Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean; and upon learning that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod who was in Jerusalem at that time. Herod was very glad to see Jesus; he had been wanting to see him for a long time, for he had heard about him and had been hoping to see him perform some sign. He questioned him at length, but he gave him no answer. The chief priests and scribes, meanwhile, stood by accusing him harshly. Herod and his soldiers treated him contemptuously and mocked him, and after clothing him in resplendent garb, he sent him back to Pilate. Herod and Pilate became friends that very day, even though they had been enemies formerly. Pilate then summoned the chief priests, the rulers, and the people and said to them, “You brought this man to me and accused him of inciting the people to revolt. I have conducted my investigation in your presence and have not found this man guilty of the charges you have brought against him, nor did Herod, for he sent him back to us. So no capital crime has been committed by him. Therefore I shall have him flogged and then release him.”
But all together they shouted out, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us.” — Now Barabbas had been imprisoned for a rebellion that had taken place in the city and for murder. — Again Pilate addressed them, still wishing to release Jesus, but they continued their shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate addressed them a third time, “What evil has this man done? I found him guilty of no capital crime. Therefore I shall have him flogged and then release him.” With loud shouts, however, they persisted in calling for his crucifixion, and their voices prevailed. The verdict of Pilate was that their demand should be granted. So he released the man who had been imprisoned for rebellion and murder, for whom they asked, and he handed Jesus over to them to deal with as they wished.
As they led him away they took hold of a certain Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country; and after laying the cross on him, they made him carry it behind Jesus. A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.’ At that time people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall upon us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ for if these things are done when the wood is green what will happen when it is dry?” Now two others, both criminals, were led away with him to be executed.
When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” They divided his garments by casting lots. The people stood by and watched; the rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.” Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out, “If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.” Above him there was an inscription that read, “This is the King of the Jews.”
Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.” The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun. Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle. Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”; and when he had said this he breathed his last.
Here all kneel and pause for a short time.
The centurion who witnessed what had happened glorified God and said, “This man was innocent beyond doubt.” When all the people who had gathered for this spectacle saw what had happened, they returned home beating their breasts; but all his acquaintances stood at a distance, including the women who had followed him from Galilee and saw these events.
The Gospel of the Lord.
***
***
Joseph Schulz was drafted into the German army during World War Two.
Early one morning, his commanding officer ordered him and seven other soldiers to grab their rifles and to follow him. Suddenly, Joseph found himself standing on top of a hill.
Looking down, he saw an entire row of villagers standing blindfolded, visibly terrified.
Then he realized what he would be asked to do. The commanding officer ordered him and the seven other soldiers to raise their rifles.
But Joseph refused.
Remembering the sacrifice our Lord made on his behalf, he paid it forward.
Walking solemnly down the hill, Joseph turned and faced his brothers, locked arms with one of the blindfolded villagers, and waited.
Then the commanding officer issued the order:
“FIRE!”
***
Found inside Joseph’s bloodied coat pocket was a verse from Saint Paul:
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
What is often recited at weddings – “love never fails” – made its way into a young man’s coat pocket as he endured the heated passion of war. Joseph believed it, and gave his life for it.
Love never fails.
***
While marching back to their barracks, Joseph’s peers – some, perhaps, once his friends – must’ve wondered, “Why must we fight? Why is there evil? Where is God in all of this?”
Questions which the disciples must’ve also asked themselves after Jesus was crucified.
***
Although an incomplete answer, part of the reason why there is evil in this world is because of the abuse of human freedom.
That commanding officer could’ve changed his order.
Those seven other soldiers could’ve dropped their rifles.
They could’ve stood in solidarity with Joseph and those blindfolded villagers at the bottom of the hill.
But they fired at them, instead.
***
As we begin Holy Week, we journey with Jesus through the final days of his life. And like the disciples, we will wrestle with the reality of both good and evil.
Some moments may leave us with more questions than answers, including why innocent people – even God in the flesh– taste death.
But the words found inside Joseph Shultz’s coat pocket point to a truth that cuts deeper than doubt; a truth that is stronger than death.
“Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
May Christ Crucified, pray for us as we strive to pay his sacrifice forward.
The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, ‘You are gods”‘? If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came, and Scripture cannot be set aside, can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me; but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Then they tried again to arrest him; but he escaped from their power.
He went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained. Many came to him and said, “John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” And many there began to believe in him.
The Gospel of the Lord.
***
***
Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, “You may be the only bible a person ever reads.”
Christians are the living witnesses of God’s power and mercy in this world – not only through our speech, but also through our actions.
This, of course, begs the question, “Is there enough evidence to convict us?”
It’d be a humbling exercise to ask a friend, neighbor, or colleague, to explain how they know we are God’s servants in this world.
But this is exactly what Christ asks of his contemporaries in today’s Gospel.
***
Jesus is surrounded by men seeking to stone him.
“I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?” he asks them.
Throughout his ministry, the Lord fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “Thus says the LORD: The eyes of the blind shall see, the ears of the deaf shall be opened, the lame shall leap like a stag, and the mute tongue shall sing for joy.”
His miraculous works were what set Jesus apart from the rest of his contemporaries, including John the Baptist.
Whereas John could diagnose a situation, seeing the need for Israel to repent, Christ had the power to do something about it. He not only healed people’s bodies; he also healed their souls.
As he says multiple times in the Gospels “Your sins are forgiven.”
***
This is the case for Christ. He fulfilled his Father’s will in word and in deed. But that power has now been handed on to us through baptism. As the Lord says elsewhere, “Go and do likewise.”
So, if you were the only bible a person ever read, what evidence would there be to convict you?
