3 April 2026 - the throne of grace

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

In the Passion narrative from the Gospel of John we see a variety of archetypes of opposition against Jesus. We see the religious leaders who were jealous of his success, who were upset that they received less attention than him, and who wanted his popularity and influence for themselves. It seemed to them that had somehow invalidated the purpose of the positions they held by the way their importance was relativized to be less significant compared to him. They wanted to insist on being the protagonists in the own stories and were unwilling to yield the lead role to Jesus. With them were guards, who perpetuated violence in the name of doing their jobs. Perhaps they rationalized their role by assuming Jesus was a danger to the Roman government. But they did not nothing to change their plans when they found him to be anything but a threat, far different than they must have expected based on what his opponents said of him. Then their were the Judean crowds who too easily succumbed to a mob mindset and a thirst for the spectacle of violence. They had a reason for this violence rubber stamped for them by the religious leaders and shouted their endorsement to ensure they could behold it. 

So Pilate said to him,
“Then you are a king?”
Jesus answered,
“You say I am a king.
For this I was born and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

Pilate was such a modern figure, not openly hostile, willing to listen to Jesus explain himself. Yet by being unwilling to actually stand up for Jesus he actually created the conditions that led to his death. Although he desired to wash his hands of it, without his approval Jesus could not have been crucified. It became evident that what Jesus said was true. Those who were not actively for him would eventually be implicated in opposing him. If only Pilate had been willing to see that, regarding Jesus, there weren't multiple conflicting truths, but rather one objective truth. If he hadn't been felt the need to be so political, to balance multiple conflicting demands as though they were of equal value, he might have been able to take a stand for Jesus and to save him. But it was not the plan of Jesus to be saved. It was for this reason that he allowed himself to be handed over to Pilate, because he fully intended to drink the cup that his Father gave him.

One of the slaves of the high priest,
a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said,
“Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?”
Again Peter denied it.
And immediately the cock crowed.

The final type of opposition to Jesus we will consider is that of the unfaithful disciple. Even aside from Judas, who intentionally planned to betray him, his other disciples failed to be good friends to him in his hour of need. They fled at the arrest. Even the desire of Peter to remain close to him was not enough to overcome his need for self-protection. He denied Jesus rather than allowing himself to face any risk to life, limb, or even reputation. He was willing to go to any length for Jesus when he appeared ascendant. But in this hour of weakness and apparent failure he couldn't bring himself to share the lot of his master. He probably thought to himself, 'What good will it do if I die as well?' No good, perhaps, besides love.

We probably have a little of all of these archetypes in us, each of us containing the potential to oppose or betray Jesus in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons. If we recognize this in advance we can avoid it. We can make good resolutions in how we will act in difficult circumstances. We can commit ourselves to speak up for Jesus no matter the consequences.

But there is something else worth saying about all of these people and groups aside from presenting them as cautionary tales. The fact is that it was for all of these that Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (see Luke 23:34). There wasn't a form of opposition that Jesus didn't foresee. There was no sin so grave that the sinner disqualified himself from God's mercy. Jesus came to show mercy knowing in advance all of the sin and opposition he would face. And he did it anyway, not for some imaginary group of innocents, but for sinners like them, like you and me.

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (see Romans 5:8).

What does all of this mean for us now, here, today? The letter to the Hebrews tells us:

So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.

Songs In His Presence - Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs

 

2 April 2026 - mission statement

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come
to pass from this world to the Father.
He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.

Jesus had a purpose driven life, defined and motivated by his mission. Everything he did was from his loving obedience to his Father and his merciful love for mankind. Because he was clear about his purpose he did not hesitate to follow through when things got tough. When, humans speaking, other paths might have seemed easier, Jesus did not forget the reason he had come. In this he was somewhat unique since only his entry into life on our planet was preceded by a choice on his part. The entire plan of his life had been something which he accepted while resting in the loving heart of his Father. But that purpose was hard to fully appreciate as an outsider to the inner life of the Trinity. It was for this reason among others that Jesus acted it in symbol as he washed his disciples feet on Holy Thursday.

he rose from supper and took off his outer garments.
He took a towel and tied it around his waist.
Then he poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples’ feet
and dry them with the towel around his waist.

He had previously stripped off the outer garment of his divine glory in order to enter the world and wash humanity free from ours sins by water and the Spirit. He set aside his prerogatives as the All Holy One and chose to come into close personal contact with sin, disease, and death, so as to heal our bodies and our souls. Make no mistake, these are more repulsive by far than the dirtiest of feet. But he did not disdain to reach out his healing hand and touch us so that he could cleanse and heal us. This trajectory of the incarnation was also described by Paul in his letter to the Philippians.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (see Philippians 2:5-8).

When we are exposed to the light of God's holiness it is normal to feel embarrassed as Peter did. We may not wish to become so vulnerable to servant love that we try to say with Peter, "You will never wash my feet". But it is crucial that we allow the saving love of Jesus to wash us if we want to share in his heavenly inheritance, since without holiness no one can see God (see Hebrews 12:14). It's interesting that such an easy thing can actually be so difficult for us. It isn't as though he asked Peter to go and complete some monumental penance or perform a large number of praiseworthy actions. He asked Peter to be passive so as to allow the divine power to work in him. But perhaps Peter, like all of us, had trouble believing that he was really lovable when all his filthiness was exposed. Maybe we fear that Jesus will see our feet, gag, and change his mind. The light of his presence heightens our awareness of the vileness of sin. But Jesus, for his part, does not hesitate as long as we concede to let him work. He is more clear about our faults than we are and yet he loves us more than we love ourselves. Thus it is not only sin that he heals by cleansing us, but our wounded hearts. We, like John, come to believe in God's love for us (see First John 4:16). Eventually. Hopefully.

You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’  and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another’s feet.

If we have been transformed by Jesus it isn't simply so that we can sit around and enjoy it. Our feet are cleaned in order that they may be beautiful in bringing the Gospel to others. As is written in Isaiah, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news" (see Isaiah 52:7). Jesus shows mercy to us so that we can let that mercy flow through us to others. He serves us in order that we might become true servants. It isn't just that he gives us a model to imitate. He makes our hearts like his own heart so that we might love others as he first loves us.

Matt Maher - Come To The Water / I Will Run To You

 

1 April 2026 - not fooled

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

What are you willing to give me
if I hand him over to you?

Judas thought he was the one handing over Jesus to the authorities. But in fact Jesus was the one allowing himself to be handed over. In proof of which we see Judas unintentionally fulfilling the oracle of Zechariah, where the sheep traders set the value of the faithful shepherd at thirty pieces of silver when "they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver" (see Zechariah 11:12). Judas also fulfilled the type of the brothers of Joseph who sold him into slavery for a sum of silver (see Genesis 37:28). In short, God had planned for this all along, and Jesus was not caught unaware.

Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,
‘The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near;
in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”‘

The Gospel texts leading up to the Passion are replete with evidence that those events were not a surprise or an accident to Jesus. The appointed time was drawing near and everything had been arranged just so for the climax of the life and mission of Jesus. Jesus knew all along that Judas would betray him, knew all along that his disciples would flee, knew that even Peter would perjure himself against him. He knew that the crowds that welcomed him would shout for his death mere days later. He had been offered earthly kingdoms by the devil. But he had come for something more. Had he come to seek human glory he would have gone to every possible length to avoid the eventualities he knew were coming. But he had come to seek the glory that comes from God and thus fulfilled the words of the servant in Isaiah, "I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame". As the letter to the Hebrews states, Jesus "for the joy that was set before him endured the cross" (see Hebrews 12:2). Everything was under control. Everything was going according to plan, even if, to all outside appearances, everything was falling apart.

Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply,
“Surely it is not I, Rabbi?”
He answered, “You have said so.”

Aside from Judas the other eleven knew themselves as flawed and fallible. Unlike them, Judas did not ask sincerely, out of genuine humble concern that he might fail as a disciple and in some unimaginable way betray his Lord.  Judas had already agreed to definite plans of intentional betrayal of innocent blood. In some way he must have thought himself as wiser than Jesus to attempt such a thing. He must have either come to doubt that Jesus was who he claimed to be, or else he must have thought that he could provoke Jesus into revealing himself immediately. He probably thought that he had managed to conceal this even from Jesus himself. And it was thus the fact that Jesus clearly knew, and told him so, without doing anything else to circumvent his plan, that sent Judas spiraling out into the darkness. The fact was that he had not outwitted Jesus. He was able to do what he did because Jesus had allowed it all along. Yet, though Judas rejected Jesus, a crime because of which, it "would be better for that man if he had never been born", Jesus never rejected Judas. The fact that Jesus was there, looking on him with compassion, considering him with a brother, with sorrow in his eyes as he said, "You have said so", must have been an incredible shock to the practically and financially focused Judas. It must almost have shaken him enough to wake him up, to snap him out of it, and free of the diabolical influence to which he had succumbed. But by then it seemed that Judas had become convinced of the sunk-cost fallacy, that, with such effort invested, there was then no turning back.

The Lord GOD has given me
a well-trained tongue,
That I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.

When circumstances seem to be spiraling out of control let us listen to the words of Jesus who will remind us that none of this is unforeseen by him. It can all be made to serve his plan. We must remember that we don't actually know better than him, lest we form our own plans as Judas did, imagining them to be superior. It is chilling to know that an excessive focus on efficiency and results can eventually lead to such a place. The circumstances often will look bleak. But if we listen to Jesus he will subtly show us that providence is always at work. He will inspire us to get through even the worst darkness of Holy Week so that we too may arrive at the resurrection.

See, the Lord GOD is my help; 
who will prove me wrong?

John Michael Talbot - Hosea

 

31 March 2026 - not surprised

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

"Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."

He knew the one who would betray him, but did not immediately single him out. Rather, he forced them all to engage in introspection about whether and under what circumstances any one of them might betray him. We know that, except for Judas, they wanted to imagine themselves as people who would never do so. But, appropriately, they weren't entirely confident in themselves. They didn't know what circumstances would bring. Nor did they have absolute confidence in their moral character. Hence they asked, "Surely it is not I, Lord?" (see Matthew 26:22). This lack of trust in themselves was later confirmed when they all fled and thus failed to be the loyal friends and disciples of Jesus that they wished to be. But in this instance Jesus was identifying, not the fact that the disciples would choose avoidance of danger over following Jesus, but rather the active hostility of Judas. He probably began sincerely, as someone who really believed in Jesus, and wanted to see his mission succeed. He had, at one time, truly been a friend to Jesus. But somehow that friendship had soured along the way, his trust in the plan of Jesus failed, and his belief in his ability to accomplish his mission was compromised. But this was all the more tragic because it was truly a betrayal. And it was truly a betrayal because it had once been a true friendship. Hence the way Jesus singled out Judas alluded to a Psalm:

Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me (see Psalm 41:9).

But what tenderness Jesus showed in identifying his betrayer in this way. By demonstrating that he knew in advance what would happen he revealed that he was still fully in control of the situation, choosing to lay his life down rather than having it taken from him. By referring, however obliquely, to Judas as a friend, even in this last moment of their fellowship, he seemed to indicate that, for his part, he hadn't abandoned Judas, even in spite of the full knowledge of his betrayal. Such unearned mercy and steadfast love ought to have made it possible for Judas to repent and return even after committing the most grievous of possible sins. It was clear that this reality remained with him after he did what he did. It was obliviously in conflict with the despair he felt over what he had done. And although from an external perspective it appeared that the despair won yet may we hope that in some way unseen by all he accepted the mercy that Jesus never ceased to offer him.

Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

Normal people glorify themselves by demonstrations of their wealth, their power, their talents, or their privilege. But Jesus was glorified in weakness and in self-surrender. He was glorified in his death because it was there that he definitively revealed his love for the Father. His Father's love for him was also revealed, even before the resurrection, since it was only this love that could explain the motivating force behind Jesus's unwavering resolve, his willingness to embrace the cross. It was because he believed so absolutely in the love of the Father that he was able to entrust the salvation of the world to that love. 

Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me?
Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow
before you deny me three times."

Sometimes we hear Jesus speak about our weakness and we think he is speaking in condemnation. But his point was not to condemn Peter. It was rather to give him hope that Jesus was not surprised by his flaws. Jesus knew that although the Spirit was willing the flesh was very weak indeed. So hindsight about this statement from Jesus may have first given Peter cause to kick himself and feel even worse, as kind of divine 'I told you so'. But that was not the intent. The intent was to give him hope enough to return, so that his threefold denial could be repaid with a threefold affirmation of love.

Jesus was in control even when he appeared to be anything but. It appeared he was overwhelmed by circumstances beyond his control. But he made those very circumstances conduce to the salvation of the world. Our world and indeed our own lives often appear to be out of our control. But, if we love Jesus, he can still make all things work together for our good (see Romans 8:28). For a time we must still contend more with weakness than with glory. But glory, like the dawn, shall come.

And I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Tom Booth - The Jesus Song

 

30 March 2026 - the impracticality of love

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

"Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days' wages
and given to the poor?"
He said this not because he cared about the poor
but because he was a thief and held the money bag
and used to steal the contributions.

We need to be careful lest we demonstrate the same duplicitous nature as Judas, who acted as though he cared for the poor in order to appear virtuous. When we are so fixated on practical matters and material gain the useless extravagance of love tends to offend us more than inspire us. The fragrance of love that fills the house, meant to inspire us, seems to choke us instead. Yet, to merely human ways of thinking, such acts of love as the anointing of the feet of Jesus do seem hugely impractical. We tend to see people who would go to such lengths as weak or as dominated by emotion rather than being ruled by rational logic. We might even expect Jesus to defend the point made by Judas, condescendingly explaining to Mary how the money could be put to better use. But he did the opposite:

So Jesus said, "Leave her alone.
Let her keep this for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.

Somehow Mary's seemingly excessive display of love, when one considered whom it was that she anointed, and what he was about to do for her people, and for all of humanity, was the most appropriate act possible. Respecting the dead probably seemed rather negligible in the grand scheme of possible goods. Thus this pre-anointing in particular probably seemed insignificant. Yet it turned out that proper concern for the dead was the only attitude that was appropriately attuned to the eventual possibility of resurrection. It looked toward the final solution to the ultimate problem facing mankind. Sin and death also had symptoms, and it was appropriate to treat them. But treating the symptoms would never solve the underlying problem. Nor could any merely human effort. If one wanted to truly love one's neighbor she needed to prioritize her love for Jesus himself, since only by his death could the victory of life be realized.

Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil
made from genuine aromatic nard
and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;
the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 

What seemed to be an utterly impotent act was revealed to be more significant than many eminently practical and functionally successful programs and policies. It didn't exactly do or accomplish anything. It was valuable in itself, for what it was: an outpouring of love. And yet it did have an effect after a fashion since "the house was filled with the fragrance". The fragrance was like that of a liturgical offering. But its pervasiveness was an invitation to all who were close to give themselves over more fully to the love of the one who inspired this love in one of his beloved.

Matt Maher - Your Love Is Extravagant

 

29 March 2026 - prisoners of hope

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Go into the village opposite you,
and immediately you will find an ass tethered,
and a colt with her.

We note first how precisely Jesus had everything planned out. There was a donkey and a colt in a specific place he predicted. He gave specific words which were adequate to address the concerns anyone might have about why the disciples were taking them. There was a specific place where he desired to celebrate Passover, and a chosen individual who would consent to host he and his disciples. 

His mission as a messiah appeared to be reaching a climax as they entered the city. It must have looked to the disciples like he was in complete control and knew exactly what he was doing. And he was and did. But what he was doing was still not what anyone really expected. These anecdotes about his careful planning may have been merely several among many intended to demonstrate that he was in fact in control, particularly as it would soon appear that he was anything but. He wanted his disciples to realize that although he would be handed over it was because of a more fundamental way in which he handed himself over. His life would not be taken from him. Rather, "I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again" (see John 10:18). The horror that was about to unfold was no accident, but rather part of the eternal plan of God, designed to bring about our salvation.

Say to daughter Zion,
"Behold, your king comes to you,
meek and riding on an ass,
and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.

He was not coming to begin a military conquest, as Matthew indicated by citing the words of the prophet Zechariah. It might have seemed that his supernatural insights and abilities would have been perfect for the military leadership necessary to throw off the yoke of the Romans, as though he were a modern Maccabees. But the yoke of the Romans was not his target. His strategy and tactics were rather employed to take aim at the true enemies, Satan, sin, and death itself. A good human tactician might find a way to resist an oppressive foreign rule. But only a divine intellect could ensnare death itself so as to destroy it. Let us hear a little more from the prophet Zechariah that speaks to what Jesus would accomplish and how:

As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double (see Zechariah 9:11-12).

Because of the new covenant in his blood Jesus would indeed set prisoners free from the waterless pit of death. Therefore they would be no longer prisoners of the enemy, but prisoners of hope, waiting to receive double for all that they had endured and suffered. 

The crowds preceding him and those following
kept crying out and saying:
"Hosanna to the Son of David;
blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord;
hosanna in the highest."

No doubt the crowd recognized that Jesus entering the city in the way he did was an explicit confirmation of the fact that he was the messiah. Finally, they thought, his victory was at hand. And again, it was, but not in the way they expected. And so they shouted with joy and the top of their lungs and laid their cloaks on the path before him. And this is our tendency as well. We celebrate Jesus when he seems triumphant, his Church when it seems effective, and the way God is at work in the world when it seems direct and unchallenged. But we are often as quick to change our tune as were the crowds, as were even his own disciples.

We may go out from the Passover meal singing the Hillel songs. But when we try to endure with him in the garden we tend allow sleep to overtake us rather than remain present to him in distress. Once the crowd comes out with swords and clubs we are typically as quick to flee as anyone rather than stay with Jesus and share his fate. 

Then all the disciples left him and fled.

It is hard for us to come to terms with the necessity of the death of Jesus, that our salvation had to come about in this way, rather than by some easier and more pleasant means. If he had been looking merely for a military success it surely would have been possible to keep everything positive for his allies, at least for the moment. But as he had his sight set on solving a more intractable problem more was required. He knew on Palm Sunday that those who sang hosanna would later be the same ones to shout, "Crucify him!" But these were the very people he desired to save. And it was from this fickle inability to commit themselves to the Lord from which he would save them. He had to expose the duplicitous and sinful nature of the common heart of humanity in order to bring it into the light and heal it.

Even before the Father fully vindicated Jesus through the resurrection there were already signs of hope. How could it be otherwise? By dying, the king had in fact already triumphed.

And behold, the veil of the sanctuary
was torn in two from top to bottom.
The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened,
and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.

These initial signs were persuasive enough to make those keeping watch say, "Truly, this was the Son of God!" Yet even so, Jesus was still in the tomb. Life seemed to continue without missing a beat, as though the very Lord of life had not gone missing. The women, at least, seemed to sense that this was not, could not be, the end of the story.

But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
remained sitting there, facing the tomb.

For our part, we know well how the story ends. But we do well not to rush through the path that leads to that end. From staying as close to Jesus as we are able on this journey of his we hope to have new levels of love for him awakened within us. We hope to learn to be prisoners of hope even before we see that hopes realized.

I will proclaim your name to my brethren;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:

Hillsong Worship - Hosanna

 

28 March 2026 - for worse or for better

Today's Readings
(Audio)

What are we going to do?
This man is performing many signs.
If we leave him alone, all will believe in him,
and the Romans will come
and take away both our land and our nation.

The ability of the darkened human mind to blind itself to the action of God among us is striking. When many others, for good reason, came to believe that Lazarus had been raised, and therefore came to believe in Jesus, the Sanhedrin didn't even consider the possibility that they might be right to do so. They were so worried about the persuasiveness of the signs that they feared that eventually "all will believe in him". Perhaps they saw themselves as intellectual elites who would not be fooled like everyone else. But it is not exactly clear that they were certain his signs were false. They seemed more concerned about the practical matter that his signs were inconvenient for the status quo which they enjoyed at that time in relative comfort. Yes, they were under the power of the Romans. But at least they still possessed their land and their nation, and were able to enjoy their ancestral heritage. Things were far from as good as they could be. But they were mainly concerned about all of the ways in which they could easily become worse. But they were so concerned as to miss the much bigger picture which was nevertheless clearly unfolding in their midst.

You know nothing,
nor do you consider that it is better for you
that one man should die instead of the people,
so that the whole nation may not perish.

Caiaphas clearly intended to say that Jesus ought to be put to death so that the Romans would not turn hostile and dispossess them of their land. Without realizing it, he was in fact suggesting that the greatest possible goods, the possibility of reconciliation with God and eternal life, should be sacrificed for the political status quo. All that was represented by the raising of Lazarus was rejected in favor of a basic affirmation of the Roman occupation. In a way, it was like the people who complained when they were led forth from Egypt. They preferred the comfort of servitude to the freedom of the Sons of God. 

Through the gift of prophecy at work because Caiaphas was the high priest, however, God said something else. He stated the truth of the value of the sacrifice of the lamb of God: that it was better for one man to die, bearing the sins of the people, and thus saving all. If Jesus died in this way the whole nation need not perish in a way that was spiritual and eternal. And it was not only the nation that stood to gain from the sacrificial self-offering of Jesus. It was all of the dispersed children of God who would be gathered together as a result of his death and resurrection into a new and everlasting Kingdom who would benefit together. Thus there was something at stake much greater than the political status quo. By giving himself up to death Jesus would unlock the promise made through Ezekiel in our first reading:

I will take the children of Israel from among the nations
to which they have come,
and gather them from all sides to bring them back to their land.
I will make them one nation upon the land,
in the mountains of Israel,
and there shall be one prince for them all.

Hopefully we ourselves are not so blind to the goodness of God as were the religious leaders in the time of Jesus. But we nevertheless sometimes encounter situations in our world in which people seem shockingly oblivious to the true, the good, and the beautiful. By the actions they take they absolutely seem to put first priority on the wrong things, ignoring or actually sabotaging higher goods as collateral damage. But we see that, as with Joseph, what man intends for ill good is more than able to use for his own purposes (see Genesis 50:20). It usually involves a cross before it involves a crown (as it did for Joseph). It almost always goes beyond our ability to understand or predict. But, and this is important, it is certain, more than the coming of the dawn.

I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.

 

Matt Maher - Behold The Lamb Of God