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Those Women, That Morning: Friday of Holy Week
“As soon as it was morning” Read the Text: Mark 15:1-41 There is a startling character to the Passion story. The Jewish authorities are bloodthirsty. Pilate, speaking for Rome, is strangely indifferent. The soldiers humiliate Jesus. The disciples have deserted Jesus entirely. And the women, many women who followed Him, watch from a distance. I’m struck by…
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Two Days Before: Wednesday of Holy Week
“It was two days before the Passover” Read the Text: Mark 14:1-11 Did you notice the context? Jesus brings His followers around, staying at the house of an outcast, and is served by another. Then is betrayed by one of His own. Of course, you were naturally drawn to that age-old debate: should they sell…
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In the Morning: Tuesday of Holy Week
The Jesus Movement is actually all about authority. If we recognize how Jesus challenged their understanding of authority on Sunday and again on Monday and then witness the fig tree “withered away to its roots” we may see that we, as the disciples, are the witnesses.
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The Following Day: Monday of Holy Week
“On the following day” Read the text: Mark 11:12-19 There are so few opportunities to see the anger of Jesus. We get so lulled by the images of the sweet Jesus, the stained-glass stick figure or the imagined bearded Caucasian with the sheep on his back and the children at his feet, that the Jesus with…
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One Week: Finding Jesus in our approach to Holy Week
Palm Sunday | Mark 11:1-11 Learning Holy Week I must have been 9 or 10 when I realized that the story didn’t make sense. I could follow the main elements of the story. I could make sense of the basic plot points. But there were holes. And the way we told it just confused…
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Approaching Jerusalem: Palm Sunday
“When they were approaching Jerusalem” Read the text: Mark 11:1-11. When Jerusalem is involved, we are reminded of its fractured history. Its division. Its failure. We even see Jerusalem as a source of emotional (not just literal) pain for Jesus. We are so taught to approach Holy Week with dread. That we might look past “Hosanna!”…
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Holy Week Meditations
Holy Week stands out singularly in the Christian calendar. There is no time like it. One week. A time marked patiently with palms and crosses. For Christians throughout history, it has remained a meaningful time of deep devotion. A whole season to itself, just seven days, culminating in the most terrifying moment.
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Tearing Down the Temple
Jesus’s call for the end of faith as we know it Now, Jesus isn’t pushing us toward a churchless faith, a religionless spirituality, or independent devotion. Jesus doesn’t attack the institution because it is an institution but because the leadership of the existing institution is corrupt. Because how they understand scripture is corrupt. Because the…