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.

Devotional Reading 4

For our reading of the last week of Jesus' life in each of the Gospels, we are reading from John's Gospel. It's found in John 12:12 - 21:25. One of the things you will notice in this reading is how very different the account is compared to the other Gospels. It's an interesting excercise to note the differences and additions and ask, "How does this help me more fully understand Jesus' last week on earth?"

For instance, one significant difference is that John does not place the "cleansing of the temple" directly after Jesus enters Jerusalem. The "cleansing" is there, but much earlier in John's Gospel.

It's also interesting to see just how much time Jesus spends in prayer in John's version, and also how much time Jesus spends with his disciples preparing them for his death.

A page from my journal... Luke is clearly a friend of women. This stands out not so much against the backdrop of a 21st century world, but it certainly is stark in a 1st century world. One of the features of Jesus' last week in Luke's gospel is a beautiful and powerful scene of a woman who comes to the temple to make her offering. Woman were only allowed in a specific location in the temple, near the outer court, and they could not go further, ever. The scene is of her placing a very small amount into the "treasury", in a line of others who are placing great amounts in the offering. Jesus draws our attention to this woman's offering and says, "She in her poverty put in all that she had to live on." It's telling that Luke places this story here in the context of Jesus' last week, as things inch closer to the cross. It's a living illustration that she is like Jesus in terms of complete and utter self-sacrifice and trust. Whoa! That hits me like a ton of bricks. mtd.