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.