Month: April 2019

“He is risen!” “He is risen, indeed!”

Good Friday, and the next day, are the darkest days of the Christian calendar. It is a time of remembering the horrors of the betrayal and death of Jesus and a time of waiting. Easter joy has not yet come.  We can only wait in hushed anticipation. We are blessed in that our waiting, as… Continue reading The Darkest Days

It is the simple, powerful, heartfelt question I can imagine them asking as they drew near the religious holiday. When would Jesus finally act? After all the miraculous things they had witnessed… After all the wonderful, and troubling, things they had heard him say… After the mountain top – and deep valley – experiences… Surely… Continue reading When?

As Jesus drew closer to Jerusalem for that final encounter with destiny, he spoke of how God would be glorified by what was to take place.  He knew, better than anyone else, how difficult these last days would be.  He also knew how necessary they were.  So, as the Scripture says, he “set his face… Continue reading Moving Closer

As I write this post, on Monday of Holy Week, the world is still reacting to the news that the great Notre-Dame Cathedral has been virtually destroyed by fire. I am struck by the fact that while we consider how Jesus turned the world upside down with his everlasting message of love, the world is… Continue reading A World Turned Upside Down

Tonight as I watched a report on the insanely popular series “A Game of Thrones,” I couldn’t help but notice the contrast between royalty as portrayed there and royalty as celebrated on Palm Sunday. Jesus Christ was – is – a different kind of royalty, to say the least. Today in church we recalled His… Continue reading A Different Kind of Royalty

John 12:2-8 Now, we finish out our look at this wonderful story of the anointing of Jesus prior to his death… What details does John bring to the table? We have the name of the woman who anointed the Lord: Mary.  Not Mary his mother, but Mary the sister of Lazarus, who had seen the… Continue reading The Anointing, Part 3

Mark 14:3-9 So what detail can Mark bring to the story of the anointing of Jesus by a woman, shortly before his betrayal and death? We learn today that it happened in Bethany, at the house of Simon the leper, as a meal was being served. We also learn that the woman anointed Jesus with… Continue reading The Anointing, Part 2

Matthew 26:6-13 OK, so here’s some good news. The Scripture passages we have been looking at lately have been, well, difficult – to say the least. The tale of the rich man and Lazarus; the sufferings of Jesus foretold; warnings about unfaithful servants being punished – you get the picture. So, for the next few… Continue reading The Anointing