- Gospel – Luke 19:28-40
- 1st Reading – 50:4-7
- 2nd Reading – Philippians 2:6-11
- Passion – Luke 22:14-23:56
During this Holy Week as we reflect on the Passion of Christ, we tend to focus on his suffering and death….…as we should. But today I’d like to briefly ponder a different viewpoint, Not, at how and why Jesus died, but at how Jesus lived in the face of death. I would like us to reflect on the living that Jesus did on his way to dying…. when the walls of his life came tumbling down, when his world crumbled apart……or so it appeared. How did Jesus deal with it? As we look at this, we will see that it is not just Jesus’ story, but it can also be the story of many of us.
As his world fell apart during that week some 2000 years ago, Jesus did some amazing things that required tremendous trust in God. He must have drawn strength and inspiration from Old Testament scripture which he so often quoted, like many of the Psalms. For instance, Psalm 31: “I trust in you. O Lord, my times are in your hands.” What does it mean to truly trust in God…… to place the times of our life in his hands? How do we actually do that? And not just when everything is going well, but when troubles are coming down on us: when our world seems to be falling apart. Jesus showed us how….in the way he lived that last week of his life. He showed us how…….in the Garden. There, in extreme agony……. he looked into the future as only he could, and he saw what was going to happen to him if he went through with God’s plans. He saw it all……. yet he trusted that his Father would get him through it……. that it would lead to a glorious outcome.
He showed us that beautiful moment on the cross, when his life was slipping away…….and it would have been easy for him to become lost in his own pain……. yet, he looked to his beloved disciple and told him to take care of his mother…….and to be a son to his mother.
Then there were his friends…….in the face of a horrible death, Jesus made sure to love his friends to the end. They were not the best of friends in the world for sure. One of them would betray him……. Another would deny him three times………All but one of them would run away……. scared for their lives. He asked them to pray with him………and they fell asleep. Jesus knew all that, but still…. he arranged a farewell meal with them……. He washed their feet……. he reassured them about the future……. He encouraged them to be strong………And he told them he would love them forever and never abandon them.
What does trusting God with the times of our life look like? Does it look like Jesus when he faced the worst crisis in his life……? still taking care of the responsibilities God had given him for his family and friends? Earlier, he knew he would be making trouble for himself when he confronted the corruption in the Temple and overturned the money changers tables………. Yet, he did it anyway, because that’s what God’s people do………. we step out of our self-concern and our comfort zone to stand up for what is right………. putting our trust in God.
Let’s look at the living Jesus did on the way to dying. One of the most remarkable moments was when Jesus………who had been betrayed……. unjustly condemned……. brutally treated, mocked, jeered at, insulted and spit upon……. And what does he do?………..He makes sure he doesn’t die before giving them the gift of forgiveness…. “Father, forgive them. They know not what they are doing.”
What does it mean to trust God with the times of our life? It means to live well in the moments we have been given……. It means to be faithful in the face of trouble and pain……. It means to take care of the responsibilities God has given us even though our world may be falling apart around us.
For many of us there will be times when life is really challenging. It may be the pain is so great, the injury so severe, the depression so deep, the problem so huge, that it would be easy to simply give in and give up, become mired down in our own troubles, becoming bitter and self-absorbed………. But we can’t give in to that………We must take our lead from Jesus who shows us another way………. a better way. Trust God with the times of our life……….and take care of our family………love our neighbors………Stand up for what’s right………Heal the broken……. feed the hungry………and forgive………. forgive…….and forgive. Live as God wants us to live.
And so, as we prepare to commemorate Jesus’ suffering and death this week……culminating in his glorious Resurrection………. Let us ponder on the words of Psalm 31: “I trust in you O Lord. My times are in your hands.”