Wednesday of Holy Week

To have an idea of the happenings on the Wednesday before Jesus' death, read Mark 14: 1-11. 

It is Wednesday.  The plot thickens.  The religious leaders, afraid of the large crowd that supported Jesus, are looking for a way to arrest him.  They need to a traitor to emerge so that they can find and arrest Jesus away from the crowds, without their knowing.  

 

In the meantime, Jesus gathers with his disciples in Bethany, at the house of Simon the leper, where is he anointed with expensive oil by an unnamed woman.  She is scolded by the others for wasting money that could have been given to the poor.  Jesus stands by her and claims her act is one of love, for he will not be with them much longer.  Furthermore, he tells them that she has prepared his body for burial.  If we read closely, we will see that she poured the oil over his head, in the same manner that kings were anointed in those days.  Jesus says to them, “Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.” 

 

I find it interesting and unfortunate that this woman’s story is not as well-known in our faith sharing as Jesus asks it to be.  In other Gospels, we find the woman to be Mary, the sister of Martha; another consideration is that the woman was Mary Magdelene.  For whatever reason, Mark (the earliest written Gospel) does not name her.  I think this fact helps us to consider the people who are unnamed in the important, world changing stories of our past.  It opens our perspective to look beyond the familiar and into the unknown people and groups who helped to prepare for a great change, or who participated themselves in the larger story of saving acts and heroic deeds.  

 

It takes not only the forerunners but also the people who live behind the scenes to make the world turn in extravagant love, grace, and kindness. 

 

May we remember today the unnamed woman who showed that kind of love to our Lord on the Wednesday before his death.

 

As the day ends, Judas – one of the twelve - makes his way to the religious authorities to betray Jesus.

 

Let us pray:

Lord.  Have mercy on us.

The week is beginning to boil and soon an eruption will occur.

We know what is coming. 

This is where your story heats up.

We wish we could change things here.  We wish we could get ahold of Judas and stop him.

But then we remember, he was not the only one to betray you.

Too often….so do we.

And yet, you keep us in the fold and call us to remember and to commit

Acts of extravagant love.

For you.  For those around us.

For the sick and suffering and dying.

Prepare us, Lord, to meet the coming days with courage.

Forgive us when we want to turn back.  

Don’t let us betray you again. 

Have mercy on us, Lord. And help us to see you through this day.

Amen. 

Tuesday of Holy Week

To know what Jesus did on the Tuesday before his death, read Mark 11:20 through Mark 13:37.

Holy Tuesday

Things seem to get a little tricky, a little twisty on Tuesday, as our Lord teaches and is tested in the Temple.

 

“What about taxes to Caesar – should we pay them?”

“What about the woman with seven husbands, whose wife shall she be in the resurrection?”

“Which commandment is greatest of all?”

 

Jesus does not hesitate with his answers.  And, if we notice, his answers are ones that open up God’s realm by widening the door, lengthening the table, and stretching the circle of the Kingdom.

 

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

“Life in the resurrection will be so different than life on earth, for God is a God, not of the dead, but of the living.”

“Hear O Israel, the Lord is God; love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength…and your neighbor as yourself.”

 

To trap someone is to limit them, to place their footing in the middle of a rock and a hard place.  Jesus wiggles his way through these tests by opening up another way, offering a new perspective, challenging the status quo and removing the rock that keeps us stuck.

 

On this Tuesday of Holy Week, where do we find ourselves stuck?  The day is long and the hardest part of the week looms ahead.  We might be losing our footing and feeling faint; we might be exhausted with all that Jesus has to say.  Jesus’ teachings are meant to alleviate the oppressed and challenge the privileged.  How do Jesus’ teachings disrupt our lives and our business as usual?  For a week that is already hard enough (and living in times such as these), Jesus doesn’t let up on us when he goes to the Temple on Tuesday.  It’s like a workout instructor who shortens the recovery for another interval.  Jesus continues to notice what we tend to look past.  And he continues to look deeply into our hearts to see our motives and why we do and say what we do.  We cannot become weary on Tuesday.  We can and must rise to the challenge of Jesus’ teachings.  We must sit with his words and listen.  

 

And, as icing on the cake, why does it matter that the widow gave to the Temple treasure all that she had to live on?  Jesus sees her.  Do we?  Or are we so busy making Easter plans that we have already forgotten the true treasures of Tuesday?  Listen.  Watch.  See.  God’s graces are all around and Jesus has something to teach us.

 

Let us pray:

 

Jesus, keep our focus upon you today.

May we keep awake to the trappings of this day.

And what you have to teach us.

Don’t let us get distracted by the drama of the week ahead.

Dictate the movement of our eyes so that we see what (who) you see.

Ready our ears so that our listening is pure and genuine.

Take our hearts and mold them like a coin that is minted, 

not with our image,

but with yours.

Amen.

Monday of Holy Week

Today is a day like any other on a week like every other.  Except it's not.  It is Monday of Holy Week.  On this week we find ourselves inching closer to the devastation of Friday, the waiting of Saturday, the new life of Easter.

If you are curious to know what Jesus did on the Monday before his death, read the Gospel of Mark chapter 11 verses 12-19.  You'll find that Jesus had a case of the Mondays....or more likely, Jesus simply had some issues with the workings of the world, which is precisely why he went through with the rest of the week. He was angry, fed up with business as usual.  He wanted his people to come face to face with their hypocrisy...that the religion they claim in the Temple was not the life they lived out on a daily basis.  Amy-Jill Levine, professor of New Testament at Vanderbilt University, puts it this way:  "The ancient Temple, and the present-day church, should be places where people not only find community, welcome the stranger, and repent of their sins. They should be places where people promise to live a godly life, and then keep their promises." 

What does it mean to live a godly life?  I think it has a lot to do with love, loving our God and loving each other.  I think it has something to do with how we treat one another and how we forgive (or not).  I think it is played out in our relationship to the created world around us and the creatures God gives to our care. I think a godly life looks like justice talking and justice living, especially alongside those who are marginalized.  I think a godly life, first and foremost, begins with prayer. 

It may sound simplistic and trite, but Jesus did storm the Temple quoting the prophet Isaiah that "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations."  For all the nations.

And so we begin....

Let us pray:

Help us to pray on a Monday.  When the air feels crisp and cool.  When the Earth pulls out highlighters to color on the trees bright pinks, purples, and yellows.  

 

Help us to pray on a Monday.  When life goes on as usual and we find ourselves lost in the list of what to do.

 

Help us to pray on a Monday.  When we pause for a split second to wonder, I wonder what Christ did his final Monday on Earth?

 

Help us to pray on a Monday.  The cheering crowds and songs of Hosanna still ringing in our ears; the palm branches green and barely touched, not even close to becoming ash.

 

Help us to pray on a Monday.  When the fig tree isn’t yet ripe and the praying people busy themselves with anything but prayer.  

 

What would he think if he found us today?  On a Monday.  The Monday before.  

 

O Lord, help us to pray.