Lent
March 22, 2015

Scripture Reading: John 12:20-33

‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. — John 12:27-33

It is hard to image Jesus’ having a troubled soul. The one who could turn water into wine, heal the sick, and raise the dead was facing failure. He had tried in every way possible to help people understand that the workings of the ruler of this world were not to their best interest. Yet as the prophets of previous generations had said, they listened but they did not hear. (See Isaiah 6:9, for example)

The twentieth anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing is April 19, 2015. One of the things I heard on the news after that event was a comment form a local pastor that the first heart broken when the bomb went off was God’s. If we indeed are made in the image of God, then that comment makes sense. Just as it makes sense that Jesus’ soul would be troubled because he wanted the very best for all God’s children. It is sad that we seem, not only satisfied with something less than God, but we almost crave it. Evil saps us of our energy to love like God loves and we let it. We of course pay a high price for taking second best.

As we stand at the foot of the cross and remember the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf, let us remember who made us and that we were made to love. By the grace of God though Jesus Christ, we have been empowered to love like Jesus, we just need to trust in the gift.

Prayer: Lord, sometimes I want to run away and hide from all the torment and tragedy in the world. I surely do not want to step into the quagmire and work toward a just world but that is exactly what you call me and all your children to do and we can only answer that call through the gift of your grace and the strength of your love. Strengthen our weak knees. (Hebrews 12:12) Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.