Lent - What Awaits…
Readings for this week March 25 – 30
Click here for a pdf of this week’s readings.
Day 1 – What Awaits…
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Luke 23:26-31
What we saw when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey – the humility, the low-key nature of his entry, the rebuke to power – was in direct contrast to the way the might of Rome liked to present itself to those it ruled. And now, with the crucifixion, we see this power at work. Part of the spectacle of crucifixion was the opportunity for the citizens of the city to be able to see the condemned criminal being led through the city to the site of execution. A Roman soldier would walk ahead of the prisoner with a sign showing the prisoner’s name and crimes. The route taken would not have been the shortest route available – the longer the route, the more people would be able to see the procession, to scoff, to mock, to jeer. This is what happens to those who oppose the power of Rome. Not humility, but humiliation. Not low-key but raised high for all to see. Not a rebuke, just painful retribution.
But these women were not mocking Jesus. Seeing him being treated in this way moved them deeply and they wept for him. Jesus responded to them by urging them not to weep for him, but themselves and for the city and its people. Jesus knew that soon things would come to a head between the Romans and the more militant Jews, and that Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed by the Romans. This happened approximately 40 years later. Even while dying at the hands of the Roman soldiers, Jesus still found time to weep for those others who would soon face the wrath of Rome as he did.
Question to Consider
Why do you think the Romans ran their executions in this way?
Prayer
Lord God, as we enter the final week before Easter, help me focus upon you and the sacrifice of your son. Teach me again about your love and the extent to which you reached out to save us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 2 – The Crucifixion
Silence, Stillness and Centring before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Luke 23:32-43
There were so many ways you could die on a cross: acute shock from blood loss; dehydration; stress-induced heart attack; becoming too exhausted to breathe; asphyxiation; or heart failure leading to cardiac rupture. Nails were driven through nerves; insects would land on open wounds and eyes. And while being beaten and whipped was not a necessary part of the procedure, the extra punishment and torture inflicted by the soldiers would have caused excruciating pain even if you weren’t nailed to a cross afterwards, providing ample opportunity for wounds to tear and reopen. It was a punishment designed to torture the victim at the same time as reminding the public of what happened to those who in any way defied the power of Rome.
But even more significant than all of this is the fact that Jesus was not a victim of circumstance. This is not a case of “wrong place, wrong time”. He chose this path. John 10:18 records Jesus saying of his life “no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord”. He is described as setting his face towards Jerusalem. The torture and suffering that Jesus underwent was terrible to endure, but that he freely chooses to do so is remarkable. Yet even more remarkable is the love voiced by Jesus while undergoing such pain and anguish. “Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing.” Amid his ordeal, he prays for his enemies, his torturers, his unfaithful friends…and us.
Question to Consider
What does this tell us about the love we are to show to others, especially our enemies? How can we exhibit such love?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I am humbled before such love, it is almost incomprehensible that you would do this. All I can do is kneel before you and praise your name, and your love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 3 – God Dies
Silence, Stillness and Centring before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Luke 23:44-49
Jesus was fully human and fully God. Though we have not experienced death directly, we can understand much of what it means for a human being to die and can accept that all human beings will eventually die. But it can be a lot harder to grasp that the Almighty Creator of the universe, incarnate in Jesus Christ (a difficult theological subject on its own!) suffered and died. It seems contradictory to any understanding of an all-powerful, eternal God.
And yet it is certainly not contradictory in the sense of God showing His love for us. That God became human in Jesus shows how much God loved us and was willing to experience what it meant to be human. He created us and even more than that He experienced what it was like to be us. And God was fully us – He went right to the end and experienced human death as well – and, because He was fully divine as well as human, God died too. Such was His love for us that nothing was off the table in order to reconcile His creation and His creatures back to Himself – even God’s own unbelievable, catastrophic death. God became man – Jesus – and that man suffered for us, experiencing the fullness of human suffering even to the point of death and beyond. Our sin and our suffering have been redeemed. They cannot have the final word and no longer have the power they once did.
Question to Consider
What does the phrase ‘death of God’ mean to you? What are the implications of God dying? Of God not dying?
Prayer
Almighty God, your ways are often inscrutable to us but your identification with us is there for all to see. Thank you for being God with us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 4 – Silent Saturday
Silence, Stillness and Centring before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Luke 23:50-56
It was customary for the bodies of condemned criminals to be left on the cross to be devoured by wild animals. But it was Passover, and the Romans were known to sometimes grant the release of bodies to the family for proper burial during festivals. With the Sabbath approaching, Jesus’ body could not be properly prepared for burial, so his corpse was laid in a borrowed tomb. Proper treatment of the body would have to wait until the Sabbath had passed.
In between the horror of the crucifixion and death of Jesus, and the miracle of his resurrection and the empty tomb, is a silent tomb. Jesus is dead. Hopes are dashed. Some people mourn the death of their friend and their dreams, and the death of the loyal, loving people they thought they were. Others (most people) neither know nor care. A body lies in a tomb. God, it seems, is absent. Life is gone, with nothing new in its place. What are we to make of the silent tomb? What are we to make of Easter Saturday, the day in between, when God is silent, and it seems like the hope that was so tangible and inspiring and apparent only the day before is now snuffed out? Easter Saturday is a reminder that there are times when it seems that God is absent; when it seems like nothing has changed, or can ever change, when things are most hopeless. Sometimes we do find ourselves during Easter Saturday, and though we may not wish to, it is a day that must be walked on the way to Resurrection Sunday.
Question to Consider
What does Easter Saturday mean to you? Why is this day still an important part of the Easter story? What happens without it?
Prayer
Loving Father, sometimes you seem so far from me, unable to help in my time of struggle. But in the darkness, I know you are there, even if I cannot see you. Give me strength to make it through my Easter Saturdays. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 5 – From Surprise to Anticipation
Silence, Stillness and Centring before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Luke 24:1-12
The followers of Jesus were not expecting the resurrection. It was a surprise that turned their entire world upon its head. The dead do not rise; they knew this and were going to the tomb to anoint the stone-cold dead body of their friend, the one they had thought was God’s anointed one, come to rescue his people. Despite Jesus’ having previously spoken about his own resurrection, the disciples just hadn’t got what he was talking about. Because we know the “end” of the story – that Easter Sunday follows Good Friday – it can be hard for us to understand the idea of the resurrection as the complete surprise that it was.
But for us, living in the post-Easter power of God, instead of surprise, it means a life constant anticipation. God is engaged in this world – His world – and he wants to work through us and the obedient openness of our ordinary lives. We will take a direct interest in our neighbourhoods and communities, our cities and nation, our world and planet. We will not settle for the status quo because we know the power of God in our own lives – the way we have been transformed beyond what we believed possible – and we know the way God longs to transform and restore His world and its people. We know that the good news of the risen Lord Jesus Christ is exactly what this fallen, broken world needs. Yes, there are challenges ahead, but God has gone ahead and calls us to follow Him to the broken places and spaces of this world with His message of grace and love.
Question to Consider
What is it that most excites you about what God is doing in and around your life? What do you most look forward to in God’s future for you?
Prayer
Almighty Father, lead me on into the amazing, world-changing future you are calling your people into. May I be loyal and faithful in all I do, living a life of hopeful anticipation and kingdom action for your world. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)