Easter Sunday: A new day (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

As soon as dawn breaks and there is enough light to see where they are going, the women head toward Jesus’ tomb. They carry spices and hope to anoint his body.

Salome and the two Marys (Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James) know that a heavy stone seals the tomb. They wonder who will move it for them, but they are not the least bit deterred from their mission. Someone will move it, or they will try themselves. Either way, they will anoint his body right now.

It’s a gruesome task, this anointing. Jesus has been beaten and crucified. A thorny crown has been pressed into his scalp. No one has cleaned his body and he has been lying bloody and bruised in his tomb for a day and a half.

Yet they hurry to the grave, anxious to do this final thing for him.

When they arrive, they look up to find the stone already moved away, and so they enter the tomb.

There is a young man dressed in white inside, who says, “Do not be alarmed….He has been raised.” He further tells the women to go and find Peter and the others and spread the word that Jesus will meet them all in Galilee. He has gone back to the place where everything started and will meet them there.

His saying “Do not be alarmed” doesn’t change the fact that this is alarming news. The young man doesn’t prevent their fright and confusion at all.

Mark tells us the women leave the tomb completely terrified, saying nothing at all about their experience to anyone. And that’s how the gospel ends.

Except we know that wasn’t the end at all. It was only the beginning, just as Mark said in the very first sentence of his story. “This is the beginning of the good news…”

It is a new day.

Text for the day:

Mark 16:1-8

Things to think about:

Many things worth doing begin with an alarming discovery and overwhelming fear.

The most common words in the Bible are “Do not be afraid.”

Things to do:

The grave cannot hold him, or you. Celebrate today!

Jesus Christ, risen Lord, replace my fear with joy and confidence.

Saturday: Sabbath separation (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

The sun set on Friday, Sabbath began, and then the world fell still.  Twenty-four hours of rest.

Jesus lays in his tomb, and his family and friends grieve from afar. The week’s worship day has become their worst nightmare. They spend the Sabbath waiting for it to be over. They are waiting for the sun to set and rise again, so they might get to work.

By the light of Sunday’s sunrise, they will set out for the tomb, anoint his body with oil and spices, and leave it forever in its final resting place.

But for now, they wait.

There’s nothing to be said. There’s nothing to be done.

~~~~~

On the first Saturday of his ministry, Jesus got up before sunrise, went out alone to a deserted place, and prayed. Everyone was looking for him and no one knew where he was.

What is he doing on this Saturday?

He is lying alone in stillness of his tomb, in the most deserted place of all. Again people are longing for him, but this time they know where he is and cannot reach him.

Is he praying, even in death?

For now, we can only imagine.

Text for the day:

None. The Word is silent today.

Things to think about:

What could Jesus be doing while his body lies in the grave?

Things to do:

Grieve for those who try to kill love and life.

Jesus, help me adore you.

Good Friday: Ending it all (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

On the day of Jesus’ baptism, a schism opened in the heavens and a voice came to Jesus,  “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

On the first Friday of Jesus’ ministry, he entered the synagogue, the world of Jewish men, and cast out an unclean spirit. They said of him, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him!” He then crossed the street, entered a home, the world of Jewish women, and lifted up a woman sick with a fever. As the Sabbath ended, the whole city gathered at his door.

At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus couldn’t have been alone if he tried. Everyone wanted him. Then he crossed every boundary and entered every forbidden realm imaginable: sickness, religion, law, nature, gender, age, profession, ethnicity, geography. He has healed everyone and he has done all things well.

Now, on the last Friday of his ministry, he is tried, convicted, whipped, and crucified.  He dies, despised by everyone.

Now a new schism opens. The seventy-foot-high curtain in the Temple, separating the outer courtyard from the Holy of Holies where the ark of the covenant containing the stone tablets of the ten commandments is stored, rips from high in the air all the way to the ground, never to be mended again.

As the Sabbath begins today, instead of being surrounded by friends and people clamoring for his gifts and attention, Jesus is alone in a tomb. But he is not finished.

He is still crossing boundaries and entering forbidden realms. This time, he enters the heart of the empire. He enters the seat of power that keeps every citizen in his or her place. He enters the places the empire uses as a threat to everyone who might think of stepping out of line. He enters intimidation, trial, shame, torture, fear, and death itself.

While the world rests, he is at work.

Text for the day:

Mark 15:1-47

Things to think about:

Love and healing shatter barriers and boundaries.

Things to do:

Find something in common with everyone you meet.

Jesus, although we have done the worst, continue to do your best.

Maundy Thursday: Love and betrayal (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

The Passover is about to begin. On this night, Jesus and his friends will eat the most important meal of the year and recount together God’s saving acts in the history of their people. They will remember slavery in Egypt, the ten plagues, and how God released their people from bondage. They will remember God’s protection from the angel of death, escaping from the Egyptian army, and God’s provision in the wilderness. They will remember that they are God’s chosen people and that God, who acted so mightily on their behalf in the past, can and will act again. They will remember they are blessed.

As expected, they gather together in a small room and share a feast.

When the feast is done and everyone is full and satisfied, Jesus reaches for a loaf of bread. Who could eat another bite? And if anyone could, why would they eat that? He breaks the bread, saying it is his body. “Take it.”

He takes a cup of wine, maybe even the cup poured out for the prophet Elijah, poured in case he would return, and says, “This is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many.”

He tells them that they will all desert him.

He has given everything. They will not return the favor.

They won’t even stay awake and pray with him. They will give in to the after-meal tiredness and fall asleep in the garden.

Of course, they are still thinking he has come to conquer the empire and take the Temple. When Judas arrives with thugs in the garden, one of the disciples rises to defend Jesus. He cuts off someone’s ear as if to say, “Finally! The revolution begins!” When he is silenced by Jesus, he doesn’t have any idea what to do next. Without weapons, what power do any of them have?

They all scatter, just as Jesus has said they would.

Text for the day:

Mark 14:12-72

Things to think about:

When does violence seem like the only option?

Things to do:

Lay down your weapons and pray.

Jesus, lead me still.

Wednesday, Holy Week: Anointing (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

After spending two days in the crowds, Jesus and his disciples return to Bethany, a little town not far from the city.

They are staying with Simon. Most people wouldn’t stay with Simon, or even enter his house at all. Most people, in fact, would turn away from him and keep their distance. Simon is a leper. That doesn’t seem to bother Jesus. He’s already crossed every social and political boundary he’s encountered. Now he’s eating and drinking with the outcast and unclean, threatening his own health and the health of the entire community.

As they sit down to eat, a woman comes with an alabaster jar of pure nard, a costly ointment, and pours it on Jesus’ head.

Some insight about this anointing: “Alabaster” derives its name from the Eygptian goddess Bast, often depicted as a cat or lion with a human body. As such, alabaster jars often carried the images of cats carved into their bodies. Cats were the guardians and protectors of mystery and the Otherworld, looking with guile upon a human world that could neither see nor understand the depth of their knowledge.

Nard was an expensive incense, burned in the Holy of Holies in the Temple by the high priest once a year.

Furthermore, the only people anointed were kings. In Psalm 23, when the Psalmist says, “You anoint my head with oil,” he is saying, “I am a king in your eyes.”

In other words, this unnamed woman comes, and makes Jesus her king, high priest, Holy of Holies, and guardian of the deepest mysteries. He is the bridge between all that is unclean and all that is pure. As usual, just about no one else in the place understands this, and once again, they start talking about money.

Judas Iscariot, however, does understand. He understands all too well that this is dangerous business. He immediately seeks a way to end the revolution that could otherwise kill them all.

Text for the day:

Mark 14:3-11

Things to think about:

Who do you say Jesus is?

Things to do:

Meditate about money and mystery. What place do they hold in your life?

Jesus, be ruler of it all.