Holy Saturday Meditation "Death Cannot Keep Its Prey"

 Pilate didn’t know the whole truth.  But then, no one did.  Everyone in history faced the fact that ‘a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.’  So it appeared to all of humanity for all of time. But, lurking in the back of Pilate’s mind, perhaps, was Job’s old question, ‘If someone dies, will they live again?’ (Read Job 14:1-14)

 Even Jesus’s secret friend, Joseph, thought this was Jesus’ fate, to lie in a grave with the dead of all time. So, he gave him a proper, an honorable burial, with Pilate’s permission. Pilate would let this man he thought to be King be buried with dignity. But when the religious leaders warned of a plot to steal the body on the third day, Pilate, not knowing the whole truth, ordered the securing of the tomb stone and posting a guard. (Read Matthew 27:57-66)

 Ah, the best laid plans. We know what happens to those when God decides to intervene, don’t we? Those plans are made for naught. For our God was about to shine his face on his servant in the darkness of the tomb, saving him in his unfailing love. (Read Psalm 31:1-4; 15-16)

 “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness.” (Read Lamentations 3:1-9; 19-24)

 Even in his death Jesus’ spirit was at work, preaching the Good News to the dead. (Read 1 Peter 4:1-8) Because there was no stone, no seal, no guard who could keep death’s prey past the power of the coming dawn.

 “Low in the grave he lay…waiting the coming day.”

 That is the whole truth. Almost.

Holy Week Good Friday Meditation "Pilate Knew the Truth"

 Pilate knew the truth.  But did he know the whole truth?

 Pilate knew that Jesus was a king, identifying him on the cross as “The King of the Jews”, much to the dismay of the religious leaders. When they asked him to change the inscription to read, ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews’, Pilate famously replied, “What I have written I have written.” (Read John 18:1-19:42)

 Did Pilate know that this King was the final offering for the sin? Did he know that the blood of the King would create the opening in the curtain (‘that is, through Jesus’ flesh’) which would allow us to approach with confidence the house of God? (Read Hebrews 10:16-25)

 Did Pilate know that the torture he ordered, the beatings which resulted from his sentence of this King, would fulfill the prophetic words that his appearance would be ‘marred…beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of mortals’?  That this King’s crucifixion would fulfill the promise that the servant ‘shall be exalted and lifted up and shall be very high’? That this King’s Friday death would forever be marked because in it ‘he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors?’ (Read Isaiah 52:13-53:12)

 Did Pilate know that by sending this King to his death he was writing the final scene in salvation’s story? Did he know that this King is the one of whom ‘future generations will be told…and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it?’ (Read Psalm 22)

 Did Pilate know the truth that this King’s death was not a bad ending but a Good finish, because he was not only King of the Jews but also King of the Universe?

 Did he know that this is what the cross’s inscription meant to the angels waiting and weeping, to the generations of a people yet unborn?

 Do you?

Holy Week Thursday Meditation "Last Supper Menu"

 You know the tradition of offering a condemned man his choice of a meal for his final supper?  I wonder if that is how Jesus felt on Thursday.  He knew that his time had come, that he would soon depart from this world and go home to the Father. Did he sense he was a man who was condemned having a final meal, or man about to be set free, having his last supper?

 Tonight he would eat his final Passover Meal. On the menu was lamb. As it had been for centuries. (Read Exodus 12:1-14) The Lamb of God would be serving lamb, the lamb with which we remember God’s grace in passing over the homes which housed his children.

 Speaking of serving, Jesus taught, remember that you, my followers, exist to serve others, not yourselves, just as Jesus did for his us, so we are to do for him. To emphasize the lesson, and to give us the motive to serve, Jesus teaches a new commandment: that we love one another. How can we know that we are invited to take a seat at the Table with Jesus? Examine your life: do you have one for one another? (Read John 13:1-17, 31b-35)

 Also on the menu was bread and wine.  Jesus explained why: The bread which we break, he said, ‘This is my body that is for you.” The wine which we drink, he said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.”  For centuries since we follow his menu directions: whenever we eat and drink at the Lord’s Table, we commune with each other and Jesus in remembrance of Jesus, recalling this last holy supper. (Read I Corinthians 11:23-26)

The Lamb. The Bread. The Cup.  Life-giving ingredients. Heavenly taste.

 Then a closing hymn to give thanks for a last supper.  A hymn of thanksgiving, lifting up the cup of salvation in return for the Lord’s bounty. And then heading out into the darkness, full of the knowledge that ‘Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones.” The thanksgiving sacrifice is offered to fulfill vows made to the LORD, to offer up praise. (Read Psalm 116:1-2; 12-19)

 ‘Praise the LORD!’, the Lamb who is worthy sings. Amen.