Lenten Devotional Reading 5

So, we have read now the four gospel accounts of the last week of Jesus' life. This has been an opportunity for our congregation to go deep in Spirit in order to go far in Faith. This week the reading will come from 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. Written by the Paul about 20-30 years after Jesus lived, it teaches about the heart of our practice of communion.

Here are some questions to consider as you read it this week: What issue(s) do you think Paul is addressing in the church at Corinth? How does what we do in participating in communion connect with loving your "neighbor"? What does Paul mean when he says for us to examine ourselves so that we don't take the bread and the cup in an unworthy manner? Is he talking about individual sins or something more related to things that affect the wholeness of community? Why do you participate in the Lord's Supper on Sundays?

A page from my journal: John 19:1-16
Pilate is the classic case of a person caught between a rock and a hard place. His indecision really points out the fact that he was a moral man, whose heart is to do good and decide right. I need to say that to myself because I have been guilty of "demonizing" Pilate. That's not to say that Pilate doesn't make a bad decision; it's just to say that he's human. He's caught between his duty as a Roman governor and the pressure of the religious leaders (who interestingly are in collusion with Rome) and this enigmatic figure of Jesus who has clearly done nothing wrong. Pilate is more human to me, because I sense that there are lots of times in my own life that I too have been caught between a rock and a hard place in my own walk with Jesus. And how often I too have failed.