John 13:36-38 (NRSV)

Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered, "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward."  Peter said to him, "Lord, why can I not follow you now?   I will lay down my life for you."  Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me?  Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.

“I will lay down my life for you,” says Simon Peter.  Peter is an honest and good disciple.  He is genuine in his promise to stand by Jesus through thick and thin.  However, Jesus knows that even Peter will waiver when faced with extreme adversity.

Today is Good Friday, and our Gospel lesson from John is short.  Our focus today is on the cross and the crucifixion of our Lord.  In that context, this Gospel reading means to me that even the most devout will be challenged.  Jesus tells Peter that even though he will not be able to follow now, he will follow afterward.  Peter promises to stand by Jesus and lay down his life.  However, we know that Peter denied Jesus as Jesus predicted.  Peter denies Jesus three times.

The call that I hear today is not worry, but stand firm as we can in our path as we follow Christ.  God understands how tough it is.  Peter was bold in his faith, and was a straight shooter, always proclaiming Christ, spreading the Good News of God’s salvation.  However, when faced with adversity, Peter buckles under the pressure and denies Jesus.  What makes us think that we could do any better than Peter?  We could only hope that we would have an ounce of the faith that Peter had, and be willing to proclaim Christ when we are faced with challenge.

Mark 14:12-25 (NRSV)

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?"  So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?'  He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."  So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

When it was evening, he came with the twelve.  And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me."  They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, "Surely, not I?"  He said to them, "It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me.  For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been better for that one not to have been born."  While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body."  Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it.  He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.  Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

“New in the Kingdom of God” is the phrase that stands out today.  I envision everything made new in the Kingdom of God.  Many argue whether the Kingdom of God is something to come upon earth or if the Kingdom of God refers to an ethereal heaven.  All I know is what scripture tells us about the Kingdom, and in this passage it would seem to refer to heaven where Jesus drinks the new wine.

This scripture passage is perfect for today which is Maundy Thursday.  This is the day that Jesus commands us to continue the practice of repeating his last supper until he comes again.  In the act of remembrance, Jesus is present with us in the breaking and sharing of the one bread and the drinking of the wine which is his body and blood.

In Mark’s Gospel story, Jesus’ last supper is set in the context of the Jewish Passover meal.  The Passover meal for the Jewish faith is a anamnesis, or a calling forward of the events when Moses led Israel out of Egypt through the Red Sea.  As believers in Jesus, we share this tradition of anamnesis, and recall Jesus’ new covenant with us in the ritual meal of bread and wine.  The promises to us are a share with Jesus in the resurrection, and an eternal life with God.  In this passage, the disciples would understand what a blood covenant is.

In the beginning of the passage, Jesus knows what the disciples will encounter when they go into the city to prepare the Passover meal.  He gives them specific directions and describes what they will find.  At the table, Jesus even predicts his betrayal from those among him.

Our call today is in the first part of the passage – in the preparation.  As we prepare to celebrate the resurrection of Our Lord, we are to prepare to celebrate His feast of the new covenant.  We are called to prepare and participate with him at the meal and on the journey to the cross.

Maundy Thursday is the night when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane after celebration the most sacred meal of the Jewish faith, a reenacted memory of God’s salvation of God’s chosen people.  The Christian commemoration of the night remembers the great feast and the arrest of Jesus and leaves us in the darkness of the garden.  For us it is a powerful calling forward of that wonderfully terrible night.

Mark 12:1-11 (NRSV)

Then he began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.  When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard.  But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted.  Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed.  He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'  So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.  What then will the owner of the vineyard do?  He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.  Have you not read this scripture: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes'?"

“Beloved son” is the term that stands out to me today.  We know Jesus as the only beloved Son of God.  In the parable story that Jesus tells, it is easy to place Jesus in the role of the beloved son that the tenants of the vineyard seized, killed, and threw out of the vineyard. 

Parables are succinct stories that have no historical integrity but display events so that they have an alternative meaning and a lesson to be learned.  Jesus uses parables to explain situations, and this parable of the vineyard owner is no different.  The vineyard owner has been paralleled with God, and the ones sent to collect the produce are the mighty prophets of old.  Jesus himself is the Son.  The tenants are the world and could be Israel in this case.  Jesus sites for them a psalm that they would easily recognize (Psalm 118:22-23).  The audience would immediately understand that the story Jesus is telling has a distinct meaning for what is about to happen to him.

The tenants have been given great responsibility for the vineyard, which is well equipped with a fence, a wine press, and a watchtower.  God has given us everything that we need, yet we continue to turn our backs on God, not acknowledging all the wonderful blessings.  The world has rejected and killed all the prophets of God and then reject and kill the beloved son.

The call today is not simple.  It involves understanding and accepting the responsibility to care for the creation (the vineyard) that God has provided for us.  In that, we are expected to honor and respect God’s prophets.  It also involves placing Jesus Christ, the cornerstone, at the foundation of our life so that everything else aligns with Him.

Mark 11:27-33 (NRSV)

Again they came to Jerusalem.  As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him and said, "By what authority are you doing these things?  Who gave you this authority to do them?"  Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.  Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?  Answer me."  They argued with one another,  "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But shall we say, 'Of human origin'?"- they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet.  So they answered Jesus, "We do not know."  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."

“By what authority are you doing these things?”  The chief priests, elders, and scribes ask Jesus about his authority again, wanting to trick him.  The tensions are building as the religious leaders become more threatened by Jesus’ teaching.  They want him out of the way because he is gaining a following and people are beginning to believe in him.

Most of the questions from the leaders in this passage are about authority.  They ask how Jesus has authority to do the teaching, healing, and casting out demons that he is doing.  By asking the question the leaders attempt to defame Jesus, and cause the his followers to become skeptical.  As believers, we know his power is of God.  However, if Jesus were to answer, he would risk committing blasphemy according to their standards.

Jesus tells the leaders that if they will answer one question, he will tell them where his authority comes from.  If they don’t, he will not answer them.  Jesus presents them with a catch-22 situation in his question about the baptism of John.  The leaders opt not to answer.  Therefore, Jesus doesn’t reveal to them the source of his authority.  This buys him a bit more time to carry out his mission.

The call that I hear today is have faith.  Those of faith know Jesus’ authority comes from God.  Mark’s audience would realize that.  The encounter with the religious authorities is a victory for Jesus and makes the leaders appear weak.  By pleading ignorance, the leaders give Jesus a silent affirmation.  If we hold onto the faith, we are not able to be tricked by those who would rather we not believe in Jesus because it doesn’t suit their agenda.  

Mark 11:12-25 (NRSV)

On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.  Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it.  When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard it.  Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.  He was teaching and saying, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'?  But you have made it a den of robbers.”  And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.  And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.  In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.  Then Peter remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered."  Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God.  Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.  So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.  "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses."

The word that stands out today is “forgive.”  Among all the talk about fig trees and driving the money changers and merchants out of the temple, Jesus tells the disciples to forgive anything that you have against anyone.

The meaning of the cursed fig tree is strange.  It almost seems that Jesus was "cruel" and unjustly condemning.  To see a leafed fig tree, even at an unseasonable time, warranted the assumption that there would be fruit on the tree.  But this tree was an oddity; the leaves were there, but it was fruitless.  This phenomenon, therefore, served as a perfect “visual aid” for an important lesson that Jesus wanted to teach.  Jesus has talked about fruit before and the responsibility to bear good fruit (referring to the believers obligation to spread the Good News).  The fact that the fig tree did not have any fruit, and then was withered, parallels Jesus teaching about those that don’t bear any “fruit.”  This was discussed on March 7, 2012

The fig tree incident surrounds Jesus driving out the moneychangers from the temple, saying that it is a house of prayer.  The placement may have an indication of the importance of the use of money.  If money or currency is used in a manner that doesn’t give glory to God, then it is accursed.  However, if it is used to assist in the building up of the kingdom of God, to care for others, to provide for the needy, to bring about social justice, to make sure churches and temples represent the best we can offer, then we bring forth “good fruit” for the kingdom of God.

We should always use all that we have all the time to bring glory to God.  That’s the call that I hear today.  We have a responsibility as believers to express our faith by the way we live our lives.  This includes how we use our resources.  If we give a tithe (10%) to our churches, then our churches are able to operate and help society provide much needed support to those in need.  This all boils down to what is in our heart.  Do we have a thankful heart of forgiveness or do we have a selfish heart?

Luke 19:41-48 (NRSV)

As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.  Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side.  They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God."  Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he said, "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer'; but you have made it a den of robbers."  Every day he was teaching in the temple.  The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.

‘Rampart’ is the word that stands out.  I also feel that it is central to the reading.  Some people don’t know what a rampart is.  It is a fortified wall or barrier.  Jerusalem of antiquity is a fortified city with a wall around it to protect it.  Jesus has arrived at Jerusalem and the first thing he does is weep for the city and the people that he loves.  To me this is in direct contrast to the thought of “ramparts.”  I will say more about that in a bit.

Even though this isn’t the Gospel according to Mark that we have been reading through, it seems fast paced to me and gets very quickly from his arrival to him driving out the sellers from the temple.  I feel that Mark offers more detail even though Luke has the reputation for detail.

From the onset of this passage, Jesus offers a ‘prophecy’ of the destruction of the fortified city of Jerusalem.  He shows emotion, a deep sadness and weeps because the people are destroying themselves by turning away from God.  They fail to recognize that God is with them in the person of Jesus.  When he enters the temple, his sadness turns to anger and he drives out the merchants and moneychangers.  This confirms his feeling that the people are destroying themselves.

Sadness and anger are very deep human emotions.  Jesus opens up and displays these emotions, making him vulnerable to ridicule and persecution.  However, he doesn’t display them inappropriately.  He has every right to feel the way he feels.  I feel that in order to be receptive and learn we need to be open and a bit vulnerable.  The call for us today is to take down the barriers that we have put up in order to protect us from the things we fear.  We shouldn’t be afraid to be who we are and appropriately show emotion.