theology

Tuesday…

On the Tuesday of Holy Week – the final week of Jesus’ life on Earth – Jesus was feisty. He cursed a fig tree because it didn’t bear fruit, he tussled (verbally) with the priests and teachers of the law, he prophesied about the destruction of the temple.

Some of the toughest words of Jesus are spoken on this day, as the cross looms closer and closer.

Was Jesus just cranky? Was he just feeling the pressure of the ordeal he would face at the end of the week? Was he just sick of the people who didn’t listen and didn’t understand?

I think Jesus was passionate. I think he knew his time was short, and his message was incredibly important. So his words are strong, they leave an impression. He is not just saying nice things to comfort people. He is shocking people into hearing the message of Heaven.

As always, Jesus is absolutely committed to seeing people come into a living relationship with God. He wants people to get it, and to LIVE it. And I love that about Jesus.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,“The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.”
Matthew 23:1-3 NLT

It all begins tomorrow…

Tomorrow we begin the run up to Easter. This year, we at St. A’s are starting with a Christian Seder. It is a new venture for us and my prayer is that it will shake us out of our routine an move us towards seeing new insights and significance in the way the Passover and Communion echo each other. The way that the Old Testament and the New Testament work together. The way that the Old Covenant dovetails into the New Covenant in Christ.

In many ways the next few days will be packed full of activities and theological significance. I have already been touched at the way that God has provided some beautiful preludes to my celebration of Holy Week. In Rosemary’s Bible Study we watched a part of the film 12 Ordinary Men which was the basis for my post that evening. Tonite, in our Wednesday night program, we discussed the significance of the Resurrection. And while I hesitate to write about that before Holy Week has truly begun, I was touched by the sharing that my group did.

God is often like a composer…He knows just when to draw in this instrument or that instrument to highlight a certain theme or to underscore a certain harmony. And I guess tonite I just want to say a quiet thank you for the way he has done that in my life already this week.