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.
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We’ve entered Monday of Holy Week. Jesus is just days away from his death.
Appropriately, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus extended a dinner invitation to the Lord, thanking him for all he’s done in their lives, most notably for raising Lazarus from the dead!
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Each person shows their gratitude differently.
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 heart-filled message: thank you.
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Holy Week will teach us many things about the Christian life. But the first lesson on Monday morning is this: be grateful.
In particular, be grateful as we journey with Jesus from Calvary to the empty tomb. Be grateful for his love, his example, his unrelenting obedience to his Father, grateful for what his death and resurrection promises:
Eternal life.
As the Psalmist says, “Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, for his love endures forever.”
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Set aside a quiet moments today to thank Jesus who has, “loved us and given himself for us,” and ask for the grace – in some small way – to pay that love forward.
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Image credits: (1) Deb Mills, Blog, Palm Sunday (2) Mary Magdalene Washing Jesus’ Feet, Etsy (3) hiddentreasuresandriches.com
Jesus stood before the governor, Pontius Pilate, who questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?” But he did not answer him one word, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
Now on the occasion of the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd one prisoner whom they wished. And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them, “Which one do you want me to release to you, Barabbas, or Jesus called Christ?” For he knew that it was out of envy that they had handed him over. While he was still seated on the bench, his wife sent him a message, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man. I suffered much in a dream today because of him.” The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus. The governor said to them in reply, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They answered, “Barabbas!” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” But he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” They only shouted the louder, “Let him be crucified!” When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. Look to it yourselves.” And the whole people said in reply, “His blood be upon us and upon our children.” Then he released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified.
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him. Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat upon him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him.
As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon; this man they pressed into service to carry his cross.
And when they came to a place called Golgotha — which means Place of the Skull —, they gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall. But when he had tasted it, he refused to drink. After they had crucified him, they divided his garments by casting lots; then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And they placed over his head the written charge against him: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left. Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, and come down from the cross!” Likewise the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. So he is the king of Israel! Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.'” The revolutionaries who were crucified with him also kept abusing him in the same way.
From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Some of the bystanders who heard it said, “This one is calling for Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge; he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink. But the rest said, ‘Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him.” But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit.
Here all kneel and pause for a short time.
And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many. The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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On May 27, 1992, hundreds of people gathered outside of a bakery in Sarajevo to buy a loaf of bread. Suddenly, several grenades were lobbed into the unsuspecting crowd, killing 22 people and wounding over 100 more.
The tragedy became known as the “bread line massacre,” yet another example of the senseless violence that enveloped the former Yugoslavia during a ten-year civil war.
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The following morning, while news of the attack spread around the world, a young man got out of bed, put on his tuxedo, grabbed a folding chair and his cello and made his way down to the marketplace – now covered with flowers and candles.
Without saying a word, he sat down and played.
For 22 days straight, he returned to the crime scene, even in the line of sniper fire, playing“Adagio in G Minor,” honoring each person who was killed.
For two years thereafter, the man’s white shirt and black coat tails were spotted around his besieged city as he played his cello in the streets, inside ruined buildings, or at the graveside of children as their parents grieved inconsolably.
Music became his weapon. A sniper, a grieving parent, a random stranger his audience.
His message simple yet profound – he proclaimed beauty in the midst of brokenness, the violence stopping with him.
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We see a similar message in today’s Gospel as Jesus freely gives himself away for us.
Throughout his life, Jesus healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, imparted hope to the hopeless, and forgave sinners.
He won the acclaim of crowds while drawing the ire of the religious authorities, knowing all along where his ministry of love – and his message of truth – would lead him.
Just before the tide turned irreversibly against him, Jesus took – not a cello – but a towel and a water basin and he knelt down, washed his disciples’ feet, then fed them with his very Self.
Shortly thereafter, he was betrayed, arrested, beaten, and led off to Calvary.
His sacrifice complete only after taking every insult, every lashing, every ounce of spittle people could muster – in loving, forgiving silence.
Like the cellist of Sarajevo, Jesus won that day because the violence and the hatred stopped with him.
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Both stories reveal what human beings are capable of – anything from bombing innocent people standing in a bread line, to worse, killing God in the flesh.
Yet, there are also those among us who play their cello in defiance, bringing light where there is darkness, love where there is hatred, beauty where there is brokenness.
As we begin Holy Week, we will all be confronted with the grim realities of evil, suffering, and death. Yet we will also witness unimaginable love – a love, which Saint Paul says, “has been poured into our hearts.”
May Jesus firm up our spirits, arming us with our own cello and chair, as it were, inspiring us to play a song of defiance, of divine love and forgiveness, in a world desperate to hear a different tune.
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.
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When watching a scary movie, one sign that something is about to go awry is the music. Suddenly, the tempo changes; a high-pitched note begins ringing in the distance; drums start pounding at an increasingly loud and rapid rate until… BAM!
A villain strikes; somebody is dead.
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For the last week, the tension has been building in John’s Gospel. The religious authorities have been plotting Jesus’ death. Now they’re closing in on him.
The Lord just gave them all the ammunition they need to build a capital punishment case against him as he openly claims to be the Son of God. “The Father and I are one,” he says.
According to Jewish Law, claiming to be equal to God was blasphemy, an offense punishable by death – and Jesus knows it. But he will not deny the truth.
Still, he disappears from their midst before they can stone him, returning to the place where it all began – the banks of the Jordan, where John once baptized.
There Jesus is greeted with warmth and faith, unlike his reception in Jerusalem. Only when he is ready will he mount a donkey and ride back into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, willing to offer his life for us.
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What’s the point of this lengthy dialogue between Jesus and the authorities?
John is urging us to make a decision about who Jesus is before he dies. In the words of CS Lewis, “Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.”
However we answer that statement makes all of the difference as we approach Holy Week. The rest of Jesus’ life either becomes like a scary movie, or the greatest love story ever told.
What role might we play in it?
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Image credits: (1) logos.com (2) Holy Week in Art, Ray Downing (3) Christianity.com
