During Holy Week, the words of Isaiah the prophet, spoken more than seven hundred years before Jesus was born, speak to us more than two thousand years after Jesus’ crucifixion: Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord had laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before the shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.

He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied;by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intersession for their transgressions. ( Isaiah 53: 2-12)

This immortal passage from Isaiah breathes the very breath of Holy Week. In it the prophet foresees the coming of the Christ, and his suffering on the cross, and even his resurrection. Isaiah also reports that they, the Holy people, will misunderstand, and kill the very one sent to them by their God. Isaiah also emphasizes that God’s “righteous servant” will perform for all human beings: After he has suffered he will see the light of life and be satisfied.” That light we will celebrate on Easter Sunday.

Love in Him,

Prue

Throughout history any triumphant kings and heroes have returned from conquests to a great celebration of cheers and waving flags and shouts of adoration. In the first century a carpenter’s son was greeted in Jerusalem with great excitement and celebration for being the son of David, and the son of God.

Today we don’t re-create triumphal entries of Caesar or Napoleon, or King David, but more than too thousand years after the event, we gather to celebrate with waving palm branches, the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The church of a friend of mine celebrates by parading around their parking lot waving palm branches to the music of bagpipes and a drum.

Palm Sunday was the trigger that led the leaders of the temple in Jerusalem to plot the death of Jesus. It was also the affirmation of Jesus’ real identity to the world. Openly and loudly Jesus was affirmed as David’s son, and the son of God. The people who shouted “Hosanna” at the sight of Jesus were his own disciples and by-standers and children. The news of the raising of Lazarus had reached Jerusalem: Now the crowd that was with Jesus when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. (John 12:17-18)

“This sign” was the signal to many that Jesus was in fact the long hoped for Messiah, the one who would restore to Israel it’s unique relationship with God. The ones who longed the most perhaps, were children, a truth that Jesus acknowledged when he was rebuked by members of the Sanhedrin: “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus. Have you never heard, ‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.’ (Psalm 8:2)

The fact is that the “sign” was recognized by some common people, some friends of Lazarus , the disciples of Jesus, and children, but not by the Sanhedrin. The “sign” of Palm Sunday was the presence of God’s holiness in everything Jesus did and said, from the colt that had never been ridden, to the voices of children, and the cloaks on the road and the palms being waved. On this day we, too, recognize the sign.

Love in Him,

Prue

Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. . . If anyone asks you ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ (Luke 19:29)

The disciples did what Jesus instructed them, and brought the colt to him. This is the beginning of the celebration we know and celebrate more two thousand years later in Christian churches everywhere: Palm Sunday. It echoes and fulfills a prophesy from the Old Testament book of Zechariah: “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

The detail of the colt attracted my attention,especially in Luke, who wrote that the animal had never been ridden before. The thought that Jesus could ride such an animal through a noisy, celebrating crowd which was waving palm branches and dropping their robes on the ground while Jesus rode on it’s back, appeared to me to be another of Jesus’ extraordinary miracles. In the simplest way, Jesus displayed his lordship over God’s creatures, and fulfilled scripture. From the very beginning of this incident there appear signs of the breath of the Father God in its apparent spontaneity, in its humility, in its proximity to Jesus and his disciples, and its fulfillment of prophesy. For the reader in our time, there is a sense of its having been planned since before the beginning of time.

The day unfolded further, when Jesus mounted on the colt, was acclaimed by both his disciples and many children who cried out, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” Some of the Pharisees said to Jesus “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

The stones didn’t need to cry out, for in this short moment in Jesus’ life and ministry, his real identity is embraced and shouted and repeated to and in a believing crowd. Palm Sunday was a day of affirmation that God had planned for his son even before Jesus’ birth. It was a moment when the people of Jerusalem heard the truth of Jesus’ presence among them, and responded with all the genuine joy that such news would bring to believers: “The King who comes in the name of the Lord” is the Messiah of their longing and hoping. The children and some believers recognized him on Palm Sunday in the city of Jerusalem. Next Sunday we will wave a palm, too.

Love in Him,

Prue

He (Jesus) says that in spite of her incredible pain, a new mother is filled with joy at the sight of her child. So Jesus has the audacity to say “That’s just a dim hint of the joy I sense when I look at you. All my suffering, torment and death I have willingly borne, for the greater joy of saving and loving you.” Until you see that and believe and rest in that, you cannot be born again. ( “On Birth” page 83, by Timothy Keller.)

Dr. Keller’s reference to Jesus’ words comes from John 16:21: A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her hour has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. Dr. Keller suggests that the image of the mother giving birth was chosen by Jesus so that the disciples could contemplate their own new birth when the risen Jesus returned tothem after suffering the cross, and the disciples received the Holy Spirit. At least some of the disciples had been present when Jesus told Nicodemus That, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” (John 3:3)

After all these years, the words “Born Again”, or “second birth” are puzzling to many Christians and almost all non Christians; but the words echo real experiences to the many Christians who say with wonder and joy, “I have been born again! I have received second birth!”

With Holy Week approaching, it’s good for me to focus on the love that fueled Jesus’ decision to fulfill his purpose for being on earth and sharing the lives of his people. Dr. Keller’s writing of the births of babies reminded me of Jesus ‘ emphatic love for children: “Let the children come to me and don’t hinder them, for the kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14, and two other Gospels)

Dr. Keller affirms the need to have a second birth, rooted in an experience of the deep love of God in Christ. To receive the “second birth” is not a reward or an initiation. It is God sharing His own Spirit with ordinary people. It is the gift that God intended to give when He first sent Jesus, and it is priceless.

Love in Him,

Prue

In 1858 Christina Campbell and her husband settled in the frontier town of Salina, Kansas. They opened a small store and traded with the Indians for pelts and furs. Christina was in charge of the store and befriended the Indian women who traded with her. When Christina and her husband set up the store, she insisted that it be closed on Sundays, an idea that her husband dismissed because their customers did not have calendars, and would not recognize a Sunday from any other day. Nevertheless, Christina persevered. She painstakingly explained to their customers the reason for the one day out of seven closing. The Indians began to send a rider into town to ask, “Big Father’s Day, No swap?” If it was a Sunday, there was no complaint; everyone waited until Monday. (Pioneer Woman, Pg. 116 , by Joanna Straton)

“Remember the Sabbath day , to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God.” (Exodus 20:8-10 ) This is the fourth of the ten commandments given to Moses too give to the ancient Hebrews. Throughout the centuries the fourth commandment has been interpreted in countless ways, but at its core is the admonition to “remember”. It continues: For in the six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the seas and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:11)

The message to human beings to observe and remember the seventh day is simply the message to the Hebrews that they are to be like Him, a message sent by Jesus as well. Each of god’s “commands” are doorways to His character, and as such, God looks for those who keep His words and thereby grow closer to Him. When I read the story of Christina Campbell and her simple act coming from her faith, I was reminded of god’s call to be like Him. Both the Old and the New Testaments repeat this call: “Be holy because I am holy.” ( Leviticus 11:44) even one step toward that holiness is pleasing to God, and intended to increase our joy in Him. Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. (Mark2:27)

The Sabbath is a gift to humanity from our God who desires to share His life with us. To the Indians in Kansas it was simply Big Father’s Day. For us it is family day with God.

Love in Him,

Prue

In one of the adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes, the great detective was approached by the servant of a nobleman of the Royal family to help discreetly to recover the noble man’s son. The boy was only eight years old, and had disappeared from the boarding school he attended. Holmes agreed to the assignment, and began by interviewing the father, who was haughty and dismissive of Holmes. Before long Sherlock Holmes knew that his hands would be so tied that he couldn’t rescue the boy. Holmes confronted the father, who finally “opened up” and gave Holmes the information that he needed. Together the father and Holmes and Dr. Watson discovered the boy’s location and reached him in time to save his life and return him to his family. The father learned a lesson in life, found a closer relationship to his son, and a new outlook on his own and his family’s lives.

When the episode was over the lordly father handed Sherlock a check for his services. “This is a king’s ransom!” remarked Holmes. The father replied, “You gave me more than money could buy. You gave me hope and a future, not just by rescuing my son, but in showing me what is really important. I will always be grateful.” Gratitude itself was actually new to this character, and he faced a brighter future because he had experienced it.

These are all fictional characters, but they echo the truths of the Bible: “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

A King’s Ransom is the highest price paid for a captive. A King’s Ransom is what Jesus paid when he went to the cross, for he paid his very life, the life that had been given to him by God. His gift is still at work in the world, and it is the opposite of fiction. It is the reality of the unimaginable gift of eternal life to souls who have lived and experienced nothing but terminal life. By Jesus’ resurrection, souls who have been imperfect from birth are extended the very life of their creator. Such free access to a different “reality” is beyond our understanding. Only by the Holy Spirit and Jesus himself can we catch a sense and maybe a view of what it will mean in each of our lives.

To be like Jesus means to know what we don’t know now, and to love more than we love now, and to receive entirely, a love we have only tasted. All of this comes to mind in this season of Lent, and at Easter we know we have been bought with a King’s Ransom.

Love in Him,

Prue

My mother didn’t have sterling silverware to use when guests came for a lunch or dinner; but my aunt Mildred made sure that all her nieces had sterling silverware, by giving each of us a spoon or fork or knife for every birthday and Christmas. As a child, I thought it strange, but not unkind, of my Aunt to give me such a gift, but my mother explained over and over that some day we would all appreciate having sterling ware to put on our tables for special occasions. I thought of the silverware as a growing treasure which would one day be kept in a treasure chest. I was sure that somehow I would know when to use it. My sisters and I sometimes talked about when that might be. When each of five nieces graduated from college, Aunt Mildred finished the set of ten place settings plus serving pieces. By that time we each had a chest to hold our treasure.

It didn’t matter to me that sterling silver was no longer fashionable, and that many of my friends felt that I was “showing off” even to own the silver. I didn’t repeat to everyone how I came to own it, but I knew that the person behind the silver, My Aunt Mildred, meant more to me than the silver. She was a school teacher, and sometimes when I saw her, she gave me advice. She was not wealthy, but believed that the gifts she gave her nieces would be a lasting blessing.

Jesus spoke of those who know how to give good gifts to their children. He compared them to his Father God, who gives the Holy Spirit to those who willingly ask for it: If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! (Luke 11:12)

It took a long time for me to begin to appreciate the gift; I disliked having to write thank you notes to my aunt. In the same way It’s hard, too, for new Christians to remember to read scripture, and even to pray and to remember to thank our Father for His gifts. As I grew older I began to understand the sacrifice and the trouble Aunt Mildred spent to give such a gift to each of us.

I never asked to know the Holy Spirit until God had already sent Him, just as I never asked Aunt Mildred for silverware. Now every time I read Jesus’ word I know He is speaking to me.

When my daughter was born I chose a silver pattern for her and bought her a spoon.

Love in Him,

Prue

Of the sixty-six books in the King James Bible, twenty-four of them admonish the reader not to be afraid. Some of them emphasize courage, and some explain reasons for not fearing; but all associate fear with an absence of faith. Probably the simplest, gentlest and most direct message of “Do not fear,” comes from the lips of Jesus himself: “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)

As a child I sometimes had a bad dream at night and would wake up calling my mother. She came unfailingly yawning, and sat by my bed until I was able to go back to sleep. She used no other remedies but her presence and her remedy never failed. I once asked her why, with all that she had to do when she got up, she would spend time just watching me go to sleep. Even when I was quite young I marveled that she, the mother of four children at that time, would take her precious sleep time to sit with me while I went back to sleep. “That’s what mothers do, Prudy” she said. “ It comes with the territory.” I didn’t know what that meant, but they were reassuring words to me.

We live in tumultuous times that could easily give anyone a nightmare, especially when so much information and almost immediate visual images of war and destruction from around the world are present in our very homes. Almost inescapable are the pictures and sounds of reports from locations of strife as well as natural disasters on our planet. The strife gets louder and louder, and it is impossible to see a way through either domestic or foreign chaos. If possible, it would be enough to silence the “still small voice” of God, (1 Kings 19:12) but there lives in us a voice that speaks to our spirits as He did to Joshua: “Do not be afraid, Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

It is from God that courage comes, from God that we overcome our fears, from Him that we learn not to hug our fears, but to relinquish them. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives that made Jesus’ words of comfort possible to believe in his time. The presence of God is the reason for us not to fear.

How can we find peace? Our peace grows as our faith grows. Jesus’ words to his disciples are meant for us all; God’s pleasure is to give it to us. It comes with the territory.

Love in Him,

Prue

“ Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? This is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord take away my life,for it is better for me to die than to live.” (Jonah 4:1-3)

These are the words of the prophet Jonah after he had spread the word in the city of Nineveh of God’s displeasure at their sinfulness, and His plan to destroy the city if there was no repentance. Jonah had resisted this assignment unsuccessfully sailing in the opposite direction to hide from his God. Jonah’s reaction to the repentance of the king and population of Nineveh was strange, for he knew God well enough that the citizen’s repentance would bring forgiveness from God, as it did.

We sometimes think of Jonah as a coward, but the story unfolds with Jonah insisting that the crew of the ship on which he was escaping to Tarshish, throw him into the very stormy sea, a solution to quiet the storm that the crew rejected until there seemed to be no other option.

Jonah, who appears to behave out of cowardice, proves that in fact he is incredibly brave. In reading his story, I wondered about Jonah’s anger when God relented and refused to destroy Nineveh; and it occurred to me that Jonah Might not have been afraid of losing just his own credibility, but that the citizens of Nineveh would repent without acknowledging Jonah’s message, the God who had sent him. It seemed that Jonah was actually afraid of his God’s credibility being ignored, with his own credibility destroyed.

Jonah was facing a faith crisis when God sent him to Nineveh. He was mostly afraid that the Spirit of God that was the center of his life and ministry would be discredited, an outcome worse than death to Jonah. Physical death was less abhorrent to Jonah than the loss of credibility both to Israel’s enemies, the citizens of Nineveh, as well as to the rest of the world, who might hear of his ministry and believe it to have been in vain.

Centuries later Jesus chose Jonah to compare to his own ministry: “The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, but now something greater than Jonah is here.” (Matthew 12:4) Jonah was very brave, and he talked with God, but the grace of a God who would die for him was unknown to Jonah. He had never known Jesus , the one who was greater than he.

Love in Him,

Prue

Saint Theresa of Avila lived in Spain during the time of the Spanish Inquisition. She was a nun who had begun to write of some of her experiences in prayer and the answers to prayers when she was called in front of the Inquisition to determine if she had violated the church’s laws in any way. It was a turbulent time in Spain. Theresa wrote that on one occasion she had been so distraught over the problems she was facing, that she found herself unable to pray until she recalled the words of Jesus from Mark 6:50: Take Courage! ! It is I. Don’t be afraid.

Jesus spoke these words while miraculously standing on the water, approaching the boat that held the disciples. The The message from him not to fear was a message that Moses , Joshua, and others had received, but none had received it in such an immediate and personal fashion : He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. (Mark 6:48,50) Others had heard the words “Don’t be afraid,” but on the day that Jesus walked on water he showed us why and how we could be fearless: “It is I.” In the flesh God was present with the disciples and His very presence was enough to dispel their fears. Christians are not to be brave because of our own strength or ability, but because the all powerful One is with us. The very words strengthened Theresa’s spirit, as they dispelled the fears of the disciples. Peter, in fact experienced the fearlessness to join the Lord on the water after Jesus said, “Come.” Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, cried “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:29-30) There is no other reason not to fear, than the one Jesus gave: “It is I.” It was enough for Peter, andJesus knew that some day it would be enough for all of his disciples.

In our world of heaving waves of uncertainty, the storms of distrust, broken faith and threats, there is only one source of genuine courage. It’s attached to the person of Jesus the Christ, who places himself at our disposal if we believe and risk getting out of the boat. “It is I “ was all that Theresa needed, all that Peter needed, and all that we need today. Indeed, the assurance of God in our lives , of His intimate and constant love, is the source of all the courage we need in our confusing, turbulent times. When we are puzzled or dismayed, the living Christ has said, Don’t be afraid. “It is I.”

Love in Him,

Prue