 Prepare to Listen. I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.
Prayerfully Read John 20:1, 11-18 1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb…. 11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ 14When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ 16Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’ 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her. Prayerfully Wonder Jesus’ first question in John was to two disciples of John. He asked them, “What are you looking for?” They were invited to “Come and see.” His first question at the empty tomb after his resurrection to Mary Magdalene was: “For whom are you looking?” Left alone at the tomb, Mary looked again into it and saw two angels in white. She ignored them, didn’t even respond to their question about why she was weeping. She turned away and was face to face with Jesus, but didn’t recognize him. He too asked why she was weeping, and also, “For whom [not what] are you looking?” She might have answered, ‘A dead body.’ But that’s not what she was truly looking for. Did she remember Jesus’ promise to rise again on the third day? She wanted him—alive. Her joy overflowed when she heard him call her by name, “Mary!” Recognition was instant. She’d found what she was looking for—her living and much-loved Lord. Unlike the first disciples, she wasn’t given an invitation. Instead, she was commanded to go back and proclaim the good news to his disciples: “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Instead, she proclaimed, “I have seen the Lord.” Later, they too would see him and would tell the absent Thomas, “We have seen the Lord” (Jn 20:25). The fact that Jesus didn’t stick around didn’t matter. They had seen what they were looking for. It was enough. Perhaps the most important question we face is this: For whom (or what) are you looking? What’s your answer? And if you don’t know, hear Jesus’ invitation: Come and see. Prayerfully Respond Lord, may I see you today in the people I meet, the events of the day, the places I go to. Amen. Live obediently. I have seen the Lord.
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 Prepare to Listen. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
Prayerfully Read John 19:38-42 38After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed his body. 39Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. 40They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 41Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. Prayerfully Wonder “Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?” According to John’s account, only Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus could say, Yes. Although John doesn’t mention them, we know many women disciples would also say, Yes. The Twelve? No! Neither Joseph nor Nicodemus knew Jesus well. Joseph was a “secret disciple” and Nicodemus came to Jesus only once, at the beginning of his ministry. Neither followed him while he was alive. But they were at his tomb; they laid him there. They gave Jesus a burial fit for a king, embalming his body with 100 pounds worth of spices. Mary anointed him with one pound and some protested the extravagant waste. I wonder what they’d say about 100 pounds! They wanted to be sure the body would last a long, long time. They probably never knew that Jesus said he’d rise again on the third day. Why did they spend so much time and money on Jesus? What did they think about him? If, as some suggest, we’ll be remembered, not so much for what we owned or even did, but for who we were, what our behavior revealed about our character, I wonder what Joseph and Nicodemus were remembering about Jesus’ character as they laid him in the tomb. Perhaps they would say he was everything they’d hoped for and expected of their Messiah, the fulfillment of what they’d learned from the prophets, that he’d restore Israel. But he died, and with him their hopes. They laid him in the tomb, never dreaming they’d hear from him again. But they would remember him. What if you were there? What would you be remembering about Jesus, something that most affected your llife? Prayerfully Respond Lord, help me remember you, think about you often for who you were then and still are today and help me grow more like you, bit by bit. Amen. Live obediently. Be there and remember.  Prepare to Listen. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
Prayerfully Read John 19:5-16a 5So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man!’ 6When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.’ 7The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.’ 8Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. 9He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, ‘Where are you from?’ But Jesus gave him no answer. 10Pilate therefore said to him, ‘Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?’ 11Jesus answered him, ‘You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.’ 12From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, ‘If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.’ 13When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. 14Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, ‘Here is your King!’ 15They cried out, ‘Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!’ Pilate asked them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but the emperor.’ 16Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. Prayerfully Wonder “We have no king but the emperor,” the Jews told Pilate. It’s a shocking denial of their usual daily chant: “We have no king, but the Lord.” If you’re living in the U.S. today, your cry might simply be: “No king.” Period. But if you’re a Christian, following Jesus, your daily chant should be: “No king but Jesus, the King of kings.” It’s easy to be blinded by lies and distortions and unwittingly live, if not actually chant, “We have no king but the President.” Lies are one thing. Believing them is another. Those who believe the lies will, like the Jewish priests, reject faith in God’s Sovereign Rule, for faith in a human ruler. The Jews believed they controlled the narrative of Jesus’ end. Their rejection of God as their only king proved they’d lost control. But neither was Pilate in control. He too thought there was no king but Caesar and that Caesar’s power rested on him. Imagine his shock when Jesus said, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above.” God, the Supreme Power, was in control. Therefore, despite finding Jesus innocent, despite his boast to have power to release him, Pilate was forced to hand “him over to them to be crucified.” The Jews got what they wanted. But at what a cost. When they celebrated Passover later that day, did they dare claim as usual, “We have no king, but the Lord”? I wonder. For the Christian, there is no king, but Jesus. We must resist all humans who aspire to that role. How will you complete: We have no king but…? How is that made obvious in your life? Prayerfully Respond Lord, you are our King and Lord, ruling over all things, fully in control. Help me truly say, and truly live: I have no king but Jesus. Amen. Live obediently. Have no king but Jesus.  Prepare to Listen. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
Prayerfully Read John 13:1-11 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2The devil had already decided that Judas son of Simon Iscariot would betray Jesus. And during supper 3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4got up from supper, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head.” 10Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” 11For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” Prayerfully Wonder John’s account of Jesus’ last Passover with his disciples is distinct. There’s no breaking of bread or passing the cup. Instead, there’s a story of Jesus taking up the role of slave, washing his disciples’ feet. Liturgical churches reenact this story on the Thursday before Good Friday. Which is why we interrupt the story of Jesus’ trial to think about Jesus’ command (the meaning of maundy), given verbally and in Jesus’ action of washing the disciples’ feet. The story begins: “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” The command comes near the end. “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (13:34). Maundy Thursday is an in-your-face reminder of this new command. Washing the disciples’ feet helps us understand what Jesus meant when he said, love just as I loved you. There’s nothing pleasant about washing people’s dirty, smelly feet. It was an unpleasant task, relegated to slaves and disciples. But Jesus’ disciples didn’t do it. Without a word of rebuke, Jesus set the example, becoming their slave by washing their grubby, smelly feet. Then he commanded, ‘Love one another in this way.’ Take on menial, unpleasant tasks, ones that help the other feel refreshed and loved. Washing feet isn’t necessary today. There’re other not-so-nice tasks we can do. Like the friend who sacrifices her time to buy and deliver groceries to home-bound immigrants. She’s loving them as Jesus loves her. What can you do to love, in this basic, not-very-pleasant way that Jesus loves you? Prayerfully Respond Lord, give me the courage, the stamina, the humility to love as you love me. Amen. Live obediently. Love, as Jesus loves you. |
AuthorI've been intrigued with John's Gospel since I was a child. Every time I read it, I learn something new. Come and learn with me. Archives
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