Strength in Weakness OCC Lent Devotional 1

Strength
In
Our Weakness

40 Devotional Re lections
for the Season of Lent
from Oakland City Church
1
ABOUT LENT
Lent is the six week season in the church calendar when we prepare
ourselves for Easter. While Advent is a celebration, Lent is more
frequently seen as a time of solemn observance and preparation for
remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus at Easter. Just as we
carefully prepare for events in our personal lives, such as a wedding, or
a birthday; Lent invites us to make our minds and hearts ready for
remembering Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
In Old English, the word Lent simply means springtime. Like Spring,
Lent is a season of dormancy that precedes a blooming. In winter,
plants are dormant. Above ground, it looks like nothing is growing. In
fact, it might look like they are dying. But they are actually pushing
their roots further down into the ground. Lent is not the season for
growing fruit, but for digging roots. And the more work we do under
the surface, the more fruit that comes in the springtime.
Lent is considered a fast. Fasting is a biblical practice of dormancy -

reducing our activity, our consumption, our busyness, in order to send
the roots of faith down deeper into our soul.
Lent begins 40 days before Easter. This follows a Biblical pattern: Jesus
fasted for 40 days in the wilderness before he began his public
ministry; The children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40
years, before they entered the Promised Land.
The 40 days do not include Sundays, since we don’t need to fast on

resurrection Sunday. That’s always time for celebration!
Lent is not an outwork work (“Look at me, I’m fasting!”) but an inner
work. However you choose to fast, or not, I do invite you to spend this
time ‘going deeper’ - examining your heart, re lecting on Scripture,
spending moments in silence.
The outward work will never be puny if the inward work is great.
~ Meister Eckhart ~
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ABOUT THIS BOOKLET
These Lenten devotions draw from the Gospel of Mark, the earliest
text that speaks of the life, teaching, crucifixion, death and
resurrection of Jesus.
Mark’s Gospel reveals a Jesus who has powerful authority - over

crowds, over demons, over nature, over disease. Yet this same Jesus is
humble and meek in spirit. He seems weak in the face of the brutal
strength of the world. Yet, his weakness reveals a deeper strength of
mercy and life-giving grace.
We invite you to use this booklet daily over Lent.
There are morning prayers and evening prayers for use each day.
There are also daily readings from the Gospel of Mark and a devotion
to that goes with it. These devotions have been written by parishioners
at Oakland City Church.
Add any other prayer practices, such as fasting, silence, service and
especially intercession, to this daily practice.
And may the power and peace of Christ be with you.
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MORNING PRAYER
Opening Sentences
(Find a quiet moment and place. Perhaps light a candle. Perhaps kneel. Make this a
sacred moment and place. Read these verses from Psalm 121. If you are able, I
encourage you to read these prayers out loud.)
I li t up my eyes to the hills — from where will my help come?

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.
Silence
(Spend a moment in silence and settle your thoughts.)
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
My soul waits for the Lord.
Confession & Repentance

Tender Gardener of my heart, you have sown seeds of good news within me.
But my heart has been hard, shallow and filled with thorns. So ten me, O
Lord. Break up the unplowed ground and let your seeds of righteousness go
deeper and deeper - changing my heart. Thank you for your grace, patience
and persistence - bearing the fruit of love, joy, peace and patience in me.
Amen
Assurance of Pardon
Hear what comfortable words our Savior Christ says to all who turn to him:
“I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
“Child, your sins are forgiven.”
“For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a
ransom for many.”
The Reading
Gracious God, bless this reading and seal it in my heart, for the glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
(Turn to the devotionals over the page. You may also want to journal or prayer
prayers of intercession at this time.)
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EVENING PRAYER
A Simple Prayer of Examination
Lord, help me to see the day that has passed through your eyes,
not just mine.
Today has been a gi t from you.
Bring to mind the gi ts I have received.
I face up honestly to the wrong I have done,
and the good I have le t undone.
I repent and ask you to forgive me.
I celebrate the good I have done
and the ways I have resisted temptation,
living more into my identity in Christ.
I leave all of today’s worries and successes in your hands,
and ask that you give me rest.
A Psalm
Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Psalm 127
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DAILY READINGS
Ash Wednesday Mark 9:1 12
1st Thursday Mark 9:2-13 14
1st Friday Mark 9:14-29 16
1st Saturday Mark 9:30-32 18
1st Sunday Mark 9:33-37 20
1st Monday Mark 9:38-41 22
1st Tuesday Mark 9:42-50 24
2nd Wednesday Mark 10:1-12 26
2nd Thursday Mark 10:13-16 28
2nd Friday Mark 10:17-31 30
2nd Saturday Mark 10:32-34 32
2nd Sunday Mark 10:35-45 34
2nd Monday Mark 10:46-52 36
2nd Tuesday Mark 11:1-11 38
3rd Wednesday Mark 11:12-25 40
3rd Thursday Mark 11:27-33 42
3rd Friday Mark 12:1-12 44
3rd Saturday Mark 12:13-17 46
3rd Sunday Mark 12:18-27 48
3rd Monday Mark 12:28-34 50
3rd Tuesday Mark 12:35-37 52
4th Wednesday Mark 12:38-44 54
4th Thursday Mark 13:1-13 56
4th Friday Mark 13:14-31 58
4th Saturday Mark 13:32-36 60
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DAILY READINGS
4th Sunday Mark 14:1-9 62
4th Monday Mark 14:10-21 64
4th Tuesday Mark 14:22-25 66
5th Friday Mark 14:43-52 72
6th Friday Mark 15:24 86
7th Friday Reread Mark 15:1-39 100
Easter Sunday Romans 8:31-35, 37-39 104
& Revelation 11:15-17
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Ash Wednesday Mark 9:1
And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who
will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with
power.”
10
The second half of Mark’s gospel begins here. It focuses intently on the
su fering and death of Christ. It’s strange that the story written by those
who saw Jesus as the savior of the world should spend so much time on his
lowest experiences -- on his defeat. But there is no escaping it. Jesus’
su fering as central to his journey.
His words here come at the end of a long conversation where he tells his
disciples that instead of coming to a throne of glory, he will be going to a
cross of shame. And he invites them to join him. He says;
“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their
cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who
lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”
And Jesus now describes this loss, this defeat on the cross, as the revelation
of his power! Jesus’ weakness is his strength. His death brings life. His loss
is actually a victory. Some people think that Jesus is referring here to his
second coming. But Jesus is saying that the people around him will see it -
this can only refer to his death and resurrection.
As I enter the second half of my life (I’m 45 this year!!) I think I get a better
sense of this. Over time I have learned, mostly by mistake, that my best
e forts to get by on force and hustle are e fective… but they have this weird
side e fect of growing my pride, shrinking my love and pushing others
away. It’s the moments of vulnerability - the times when I am defeated -
moments that I never planned on - that have become the moments I look
back on with wonder. It’s those moments of defeat that God has used to
break into my heart, and connect me more deeply to those around me.
That’s the power I see here.
~ Josh McPaul ~
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1st Thursday Mark 9:2-13
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them
up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before
them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth
could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who
were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to
be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one
for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a
cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is
my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around,
they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one
about what they had seen, until a ter the Son of Man had risen from the
dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising
from the dead could mean. Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes say
that Elijah must come first?” He said to them, “Elijah is indeed coming first
to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is
to go through many su ferings and be treated with contempt? But I tell you
that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is
written about him.”
12
We still talk about “mountain top experiences” today. That expression
comes from this story. Its those moments when clarity, conviction,
certainty all combine to fill us with confidence. Many of us were taught that
religious experiences were all about.
Of course Peter wants to stay there, surrounded by his heroes - Moses,

Elijah and Jesus. One was the law-giver who led his people to freedom. One
was the prophet who spoke truth to power and brought down kings. And
Jesus - his own rabbi, now stood among the greats. So he says, let’s build
tents so that we can dwell here.
But the thing about tents (and mountain top experiences) is that they are
never permanent. They’re just glimpses of what is coming. And the thing
about heroes is that they never feel like heroes in the moment. Moses was
plagued with doubt and never entered the promised land. And he didn’t
even find his calling until he was 80 years old! Elijah fell into deep
depression and wondered if anyone ever heard what he preached. And as
Peter will discover, following Jesus will indeed take him up a hill - not to a
mountaintop, but to a cross.
This Lent, I am trying to receive the good things of this life with gratitude,
not holding on to them as though my faith depended on them. God is
faithful on the mountain top, and faithful in the valley.
~ Josh McPaul ~
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1st Friday Mark 9:14-29
And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them,
and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they
saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. And he
asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” And someone from
the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a
spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him
down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked
your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” And he answered
them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am
I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” And they brought the boy to him. And
when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on
the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his
father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From
childhood. And it has o ten cast him into fire and into water, to destroy
him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And
Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who
believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe;
help my unbelief!” And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running
together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf
spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And
a ter crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was
like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by
the hand and li ted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the
house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”
And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but
prayer.”
14
In this story, we descend from the glory of the mountain down into the
messiness of everyday life. Previously, Jesus and three of his disciples were
on the mountain and everything just seemed to go right. Jesus shone with
radiant light, Moses and Elijah appeared, and God himself spoke. It was
glorious. It was a spiritual highpoint.
Then they came down the mountain.
The disciples down below had failed in trying to help this father and child.
As a result, the disciples, religious elites, and the crowd around them were
arguing and yelling with each other. Even Jesus seems to get annoyed. The
spiritual high of the mountain is gone, replaced by the chaos of the day to
day.
We have all experienced this. I know I have. There is this moment when
God seems so close, everything clicks into place, and all things seem
possible. And then, I come down from that spiritual high. That last song at
church or that amazing retreat or that quiet moment of peace and
re lection ends… and then chaos erupts. Conversations turn to arguments,
we lose our cool, and our attempts to help don’t go anywhere. We fail. And
the transformation of that spiritual high seems so far away.
Before, I would take Jesus’ final exhortation as a sign of my failure. I failed

because I am not praying enough. I just need to pray more. It’s on me, and I
need to do better.
But I think I was missing the note of grace in this story. Of course Jesus is
pushing us to pray more, to have more faith. But in the end, when we do
fail, he is still there. Jesus came down to live in our chaos and to have the
faith that we lack. He prays when we don’t or can’t. Just as he was there to
help when the disciples failed, he is with us when we fail. And as Paul tells
us in another part of scripture, Jesus is still, even now, praying for us.
~ Nate Slabaugh ~
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1st Saturday Mark 9:30-32
They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want
anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The
Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill
him. And when he is killed, a ter three days he will rise.” But they did not
understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him."
16
"The Messiah, the Anointed One, is supposed to save us!" That's what Jesus’
disciples must have been thinking to themselves a ter he revealed his dark
destiny. How confusing and confounding it all must have sounded — no
wonder they were afraid to ask any questions.
During my own dark, desperate moments, I imagine that my prayer to

Jesus isn't too di ferent from theirs: "Save me now Lord! Can't you see how
much I'm su fering! Where are you?” It’s during the darkest moments of
our most desperate seasons of life that a truth shines through: Jesus
understands our su fering because he himself su fered.
The Anointed One, the Savior, willingly steps into our su fering. Perhaps
Jesus is Emmanuel — “God With Us”— the most when he joins us in our
most desperate moments. Perhaps we are with Christ the most when we do
the same for others.
~ Carl Pascual ~
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1st Sunday Mark 9:33-37
And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked
them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they kept silent, for on
the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.
And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone
would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” And he took a child
and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to
them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and
whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”
18
For most of my life, I measured my worth much like the disciples in this
passage – by my talents and accomplishments in comparison to others.
Then my ego took a critical blow – I became a parent. Where I once received
praise and recognition, I now got little thanks for a thing that – frankly, I
didn’t seem to be that good at anyway.
I remember one particularly hard night in the early days of motherhood. I

was up in the middle of the night (not for the first time that evening)
bathing my newborn daughter who had thrown up all over herself. I was
feeling exhausted and defeated. Suddenly, Jesus’s words from this passage
came to me: “Whoever receives one such child receives me” and also: “I was
sick and you looked a ter me.”
Tears streamed down my face as a moment that was full of bitterness

transformed and became a holy act of worship. You see, in some mystical
way I don’t quite understand, Jesus identifies himself with the most needy
among us. He says that we are most glorified in the Kingdom of God not by
our talents or accomplishments, but by how we serve the least of our
brothers and sisters.
I have to wonder if Jesus knew when he was speaking how weary we might
grow of doing good. How contrary to our human nature it is to lay our lives
down for one another, especially when we receive no praise in return. In
my example, I was caring for my own child, but what about someone else’s
child? Or an elderly parent? Or a troubled teen? Or that coworker everyone
despises? The Spirit of God dwells in them all, and He is honored when we
serve them.
~ Gabrielle Jones ~
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1st Monday Mark 9:38-41
John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your
name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But
Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my
name will be able soon a terward to speak evil of me. For the one who is
not against us is for us. For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of
water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his
reward.
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One of the signs most o ten associated with Jesus’ ministry was that of
demons being cast out of people and of people being set free from spiritual
oppression. What a vivid imagery of liberation! In Mark 9:38, John, the
disciple of Jesus, sees exactly this - an act of liberation as someone is
delivered from spiritual oppression. But for some reason, what John sees
isn’t liberation. Instead of liberation, John sees competition.
What is it that drives us so o ten to a mentality of scarcity, protection and

competition? John, one of Jesus’ closest followers and friends, someone
who, no doubt, witnessed and participated in many acts of liberating
demons from people in the name of Jesus (see Mark 6:7-13), sees another
doing like he has done and tries to stop him “because he was not following
us”. Where did John learn to respond this way?
The only sure answer is certainly not from Jesus. This much is clear from
Jesus’ response. In his response we see a correction to the faulty mindset
John has fallen into “For the one who is not against us is for us”.
As I have sought to follow the way of Jesus I have found the spirit of
competition to be a common temptation as I o ten seek to clearly draw
lines between “us” and “them”. Why this is so pervasive for me, and I
suspect for many who follow Jesus, I do not know.
But, like John, I need to re lect on Jesus’ words here and learn to follow his
way that is more gracious, more generous and more inclusive than my own.
May we all be more dedicated to liberation than competition in Jesus'
name.
~ Gent Grush ~
21
1st Tuesday Mark 9:42-50
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would
be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he
were thrown into the sea. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it o f. It is
better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the
unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it o f. It is better
for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if
your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the
kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,
‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ For everyone
will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how
will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with
one another.”
22
During Lent each year I give up something, usually something that is not
good for me, like sugar. As I think of that thing, I also try to remind myself
of Jesus, who He is, who He is in my life, and the sacrifice He made for me.
For me it takes intentional discipline and accountability to try and walk as a
human who truly loves and knows Jesus. It carries with it a burden and
responsibility to represent to those that do not know Him what God wants
for us: peace, love, living in contentment. I hope I can be calm in trials and
joyful in challenges. I can only be my best self by leaning on Him. My
humanness gets in the way of my potential with God. I need His help every
moment of every day, although the reality is I do not include Him in every
moment. I get tired of all the ugliness in the world. I becoming judging and
self-reliant and things become harder in this state.
Jesus gives us such great wisdom to be our best selves. He exemplified love
and clarity in how to love others. The way to this peace for me is to have a
conscious awareness of my heart and where it is; to depend on Him and not
me; to take my pulse and be conscious of what I need to do to keep my heart
healthy. I pray I can make my choices from an eternal perspective.
We are given the power of in luence and we can make a di ference in this
world and others’ lives. I pray my actions do not take people away from You,
Lord, but rather draw them closer to You. Lord help me this day to open a
curiosity in others as to why I choose happiness over sadness, peace over
anxiety, faith over fear and love over hate. Help me to love when it is not
easy, remembering the love and grace You have given to me.
~ Velina Barnes ~
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2nd Wednesday Mark 10:1-12
And he le t there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan,
and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught
them.
And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a
man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command
you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and
to send her away.” And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of
heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of
creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave
his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become
one lesh.’ So they are no longer two but one lesh. What therefore God has
joined together, let not man separate.”
And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. And he
said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits
adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another,
she commits adultery.”
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It doesn’t matter what Moses says! That’s a big statement from Jesus. The
law may justify divorce on technicalities, but that’s not what Jesus cares
about. Jesus cares about the hurt and damage that people do to each other -
justified or unjustified.
Notice in this story, the Pharisees only ask about men divorcing women.
That’s because in those days it would be crazy for a woman to divorce her
husband. Social and economic self-destruction would be the certain
outcome. Jesus isn’t thinking about justification - he’s thinking about
protection for the weaker party.
The most spiritually damaging thing about divorce is that both people seek
to justify themselves. “I’m the most hurt.” “I tried the hardest.” “I didn’t
start this.” We might be right. But the work of justifying ourselves is soul-
withering. You know it if you’ve tried it. Justifying ourselves is one more
way that we humans try to get the upper hand over someone. “I’m right.
They’re wrong.”
Jesus says that divorce is always a breaking apart of God’s dream.

Sometimes divorce happens. Sometimes, it’s better than alternative. But it’s
never good. So, Jesus invites us to stop justifying divorce. Instead, he tells
us to work hard against it, and when it happens, to simply grieve it.
Some point out that Micah 2:16 tells us that God hates divorce. But
remember that Jeremiah 3:8 tells us that God divorced his people for all
their betrayals. It seems that God hates divorce for the same reason people
going through a divorce hate divorce - because it’s life-shattering and
painful. The God we meet in the Scriptures and in Jesus is the God who
knows the pain of passionate love and painful separation.
He is not a judge who hands down a sentence. He is the One who knows
our pain and our sense of powerlessness when relationships spin out of
control.
~ Josh McPaul ~
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2nd Thursday Mark 10:13-16
And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the
disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said
to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such
belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive
the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his
arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
26
I was at the park with my boys, Dante and Isaiah, the other day, attempting
to wrangle them into the car so we could get back to Mitzi and Yalitza, my
wife and baby daughter. We had had our fun and I was impatient to return
home. The boys were sword fighting with sticks, and Dante picked another
one up and handed it to me, saying “Daddy, this is your stick,” before
returning to his duel. I held the car door open, pointing out that we had
plenty of good ones at home. I was about to throw his o fering in the gutter
when Dante cheerfully interjected: “That can be Yali’s when she grows up.”
This moment stayed with me as symbolically instructive. It’s not that I

suddenly need to start hoarding fallen branches, but more so that I need to
be present enough to notice nature. This includes my own nature which, if
memory serves, once included the capacity to play. My son Dante sees
nature as a precious revelation; finding treasures everywhere: in the color
and light of ladybugs, the changing shape of the moon, even gasoline
rainbows. I have seen these things before, and with the passage of time
somehow classified them as unremarkable. By elevating the vision of
children as an exemplar, Jesus reminds me that I have grown jaded. To
enter the kingdom of God, I must be born again.
Kierkegaard once observed that repetition is religious, and exploration

romantic. Spirituality includes devotion and inspiration; struggle and
surrender; work and play. As we instill a work ethic in our youth, it is also
important to remember to listen to the lessons conveyed by their games.
Thomas Merton described the spiritual life as “the life of that interior self
whose lame is so o ten allowed to be smothered under the ashes of anxiety
and futile concern.” More o ten than I’d like to admit, I do not engage in
the imaginary world of my children due to the mental mountain of
obligations weighing on me. Many of us, like the disciples keeping the
nuisance of the new at bay, are only heeding half of God’s call. If we are
constantly preoccupied with the next task, we may miss the next visitation
of grace.
~ Tyler Sweek ~
27
2nd Friday Mark 10:17-31
And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before
him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except
God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit
adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor
your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have
kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to
him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and
you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by
the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How di ficult it will be
for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples
were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how
di ficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of
God.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who
can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible,
but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Peter began to say
to him, “See, we have le t everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly,
I say to you, there is no one who has le t house or brothers or sisters or
mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who
will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and
sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the
age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last
first.”
28
“What do I have to do?” asks the rich man.
The answer is: Sell everything. Give it away. Then come follow me. You
must be all in. There can be no going back.
Our identities want to survive. Our cherished stories about who we are -
“mom,” “boss,” “unlucky one,” “rich man” - keep us walled o f from who we
are in God. Jesus tells the rich man: anything that could keep you separate
from God has got to go. If you want to experience the “kingdom of heaven,”
you have to leave the “kingdom of me” right now. Liquidate whatever
achievements make you 'you' and give them away for the benefit of others.
You must burn your boats - leaving yourself no way back.
The moment in this story is excruciating. Everyone there realizes the rich
man is about to walk away from the deal. A few may even feel sorry for him.
He just exposed his naked, desperate need; This guy who is supposed to
have it all, and now he can’t even do what needs to be done. A few others
may be secretly gloating; “See, look - he doesn’t have what it takes.”
Not Jesus. Jesus looks at him, and loves him. He knows the rich man thinks
he wants the “kingdom of heaven,” but isn’t ready to leave the “kingdom of
me.” In just the same way, he looks at you and I and loves us each time we
resolve that now - this time! - we will follow the One who calls us with all
our hearts and minds and souls. He speaks with us gently. He doesn’t scold
us for taking his time in the public square when clearly we are not ready to
do the deal.. He looks at us and loves us.
~ Aeryn Johnson ~
29
2nd Saturday Mark 10:32-34
And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking
ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were
afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to
happen to him, saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of
Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will
condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will
mock him and spit on him, and log him and kill him. And a ter three days
he will rise.”
30
Everyone loves a winner. We cheer on achievement and celebrate success,
using it as motivation to fuel our own ambitions and hold it up as a model
for our young people. Everyone remembers a winner. No remembers the
loser. Even those who fall short by the smallest of margins are quickly
forgotten. Wouldn’t you agree that our culture is absolutely obsessed with
winning?
For all intents and purposes, Jesus was a big loser. His movement went
down in lames; his following was a lost cause. He even predicted he would
be reviled and rejected, mocked then killed by the very people who he was
supposed to win over.
And yet, two thousand years a ter his greatest defeat, Jesus is worshiped
and honored and gloried by his followers in every nation with every tongue
around the world.
Somehow Jesus became the big winner — by first losing everything.
~ Carl Pascual ~
31
2nd Sunday Mark 10:35-45
And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him,
“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to
them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant
us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your le t, in your glory.” Jesus
said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink
the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am
baptized?” And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them,
“The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am
baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my le t is
not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” And
when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And
Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are
considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones
exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But
whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever
would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man
came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for
many.”
32
As Jesus keeps speaking about his coming death, we find James and John at
a loss. In their hearts, they are asking “Did our time with Jesus mean
anything? What if it ends in this death?”
So they ask: “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you?” I

never quite saw the brazen nature of their question. Literally, they are
asking God to do them a solid, no ifs and no buts.”
I love Jesus’ open posture; “What do you want me to do for you?” Blinded by
their audacity, James and John respond: “Grant us to sit, one at your high
hand and one at your le t.” They are concerned with their own positions -
never mind that Jesus just told them that he was going to die. During this
period of history, those who yielded power sat at the hand of the king.
Their view of the Kingdom is simplistic. It revolves around power and

status. I mean, I get it - power and status produce immediate but short-
lived change but not repentance. Jesus so tly chastises them, “You do not
know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup I will drink?” Both
of them blindly say, ‘YES!’
Even Jesus is hesitant to take this cup, because he understands the severity
of the ask. I’m reminded that our God loves things by becoming them. His
heart here is patience, not frustration.
Jesus patiently calls to them: “Whoever would be great among you must be
your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.”
Jesus is saying, “My kingdom is not about how much space you hold but
holding space for others.” Again, God loves things by becoming them. This
passage is not about doing good works but a reminder that the Good work
has been done. So breathe. It is God in you, God with you, and the God for
you more than you are for yourself. And as we breathe, his becoming
becomes our breath.
~ Joy Hallman ~
33
2nd Monday Mark 10:46-52
And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples
and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was
sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And
many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more,
“Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is
calling you.” And throwing o f his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.
And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind
man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him,
“Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he
recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
34
This passage never fails to send me sobbing to my knees, which seems to be
the opposite of what it is asking me to do. But getting on my knees is, for
me, the best response to Jesus calling me. For when I am on my knees, in
active relationship with Him through prayer, I have gotten up out of my
fear and faithlessness and answered His call to take all my sorrows to Him
in prayer.
I am struck by how the people who — just one verse before — were
rebuking Bartimaeus and telling him to be silent, at the Lord’s command
called him to come to the Savior. This calls to mind the words of the
Mahalia Jackson spiritual: “I Been ‘Buked and I Been Scorned”. This song
has particular resonance for my life right now. Nearly two years ago, two
weeks a ter my 56th birthday, my five-year relationship was ended with an
email. I know a thing or two about being rebuked and scorned.
And in the moment a ter reading that email, the first action I took, was to
sit down on the stairs of the house I’d just been given nine days to vacate,
put my hands in the air and ask, “Okay, God, what’s next?” This a ter not
having spoken to God in forty-five years.
Rebuke and scorn is an all-too-o ten experience for those of us who follow
Jesus. It was His experience as well. But I find it amazing how those
experiences can be the catalyst for me to take heart and get up because He
is calling me. That rejection was a call for me to come home. I took heart in
the face of betrayal, got up o f those stairs, and came back home to Christ
(through the gi t of his church) because He was calling me.
It is a balm to my soul that in those moments of rebuke and scorn, He

knows firsthand exactly what we are going through. And it is then that He
calls us to Him.
~ Blake C. Aarens ~
35
2nd Tuesday Mark 11:1-11
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the
Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into
the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a
colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says
to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send
it back here immediately.’” And they went away and found a colt tied at a
door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing
there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told
them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt
to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread
their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut
from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were
shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the
highest!”
And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had
looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany
with the twelve.
36
This verse has to be one of the biggest let-downs in all of scripture. This is
supposed to be THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY! All of the second half of Mark’s
gospel has been leading up to this, this moment when Jesus arrives to
confront the powers and authorities and rulers. For several chapters now,
Jesus and his disciples have been traveling from the north, gathering
energy and momentum and people, down towards Jerusalem. There is
electricity in the air as everyone is expecting something big to happen.
We arrive to this story, and there is this cool but odd bit about the disciples
getting the donkey, and then the followers of Jesus put their cloaks on the
donkey for Jesus to ride on. We get this royal imagery of the king coming
into the city, and the people that are around run and cut branches and
throw them down before Jesus, and they all begin to shout “Hosanna!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the
highest!” Everyone there must have been thinking, “YES! Now is the time!”
Except it wasn’t.
Jesus arrived and looked around. It was late. Maybe people were already
filtering out and going home. Maybe it was starting to turn dark. Maybe
there was a chill in the air. But for whatever reason, Jesus turned around
and went back to very place that he had started earlier in the day.
To me, this is one of the most real passages in scripture - real in the sense
of describing real life. Sometimes the timing is just o f. Sometimes we start
something big and it looks really good, but then it just fizzles out. And
sometimes, we just need to try again the next day. It happens, but it doesn’t
just happen to us, it happened to Jesus too. God himself didn’t make
himself exempt from it, but he entered into our messiness and bad timing.
And it was through this, that God redeemed the world.
~ Nate Slabaugh ~
37
3rd Wednesday Mark 11:12-25
On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And
seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find
anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was
not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from
you again.” And his disciples heard it.
And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive
out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned
the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.
And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And
he was teaching them and saying to them, “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 the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were
seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd
was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came they went out of
the city.
As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its
roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree
that you cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in
God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and
thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what
he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you,
whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be
yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything
against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you
your trespasses.”
38
The leafiness of the fig tree indicates that it should be in full fruit
production. But it’s not actually yielding any fruit. It’s faking the funk. The
fig tree receives a curse for pretending to bear blessing that it doesn’t have.
Next in Mark’s account, Jesus will curse the temple that is also faking the
funk - it appears to bustle with faith activity but is actually a place of
exploitation and profiteering.
Fruit is the “key results indicator” of kingdom living. It is the evidence of a

with-God life. We can’t bring it about from our own e fort. Only God can
do that. But where a person, or a people, is rooted in God, God produces
abundant fruit. To fake the appearance of fruit is the very worst kind of
deception - in appropriating the work that can only belong to God, we
profane the covenant we are supposed to be in with him. We abide, he
makes things happen. We trust in him, he moves mountains. We root in
him, he gives the fruit.
When we festoon ourselves with our best e forts, we might think we’re
drawing closer to God, but we’re actually isolating ourselves — dri ting out
of right relationship and into the curse of exile from where God is working.
Today I open myself to God and ask “where do I need to put myself in right
relationship with you so that you can make real fruit come forth from me?”
~ Aeryn Johnson ~
39
3rd Thursday Mark 11:27-33
And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple,
the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, and they said
to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or 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. Was the
baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” And they
discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will
say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—
they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a
prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to
them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
40
Abba Father, there are times that I forget that you have called me to trust
walk in the authority of Christ. I get so caught up in authority seeking that
I can forget that you have given me power and authority to make great
changes in my life and the lives of my brothers and sisters.
This scripture is the gentle reminder that you have called us into doing the
work of the kingdom regardless of what worldly man tries to do to stop us.
This gentle reminder that the l Jesus Christ was also questioned “by what
authority can he complete these great things, and or who gave him the
power to do so?” When questioned by the priests, scribes, and elders, Jesus
stood his ground by trusting in your divine wisdom to respond with power
and curiosity to the questions that arisen him.
Lord forgive me for the lack of trust in you and who you say I am. Forgive
us for responding with angst and not standing in our divine power to do
the work of the kingdom.
~ Myisha Hill ~
41
3rd Friday Mark 12:1-12
And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and

put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and
leased it to tenants and went into another country. When the season came,
he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the
vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-
handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the
head and treated him shamefully. nd he sent another, and him they killed.
And so with many others: some they beat, and some 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.’ And they took him
and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What 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 marvelous in our eyes’?”
And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they
perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they le t him and
went away.
42
A question bubbles up in me: What have I done with Jesus?
As a little girl who was being repeatedly assaulted, I wrote letters to Jesus
about what was happening to me. I sent them to the North Pole because
that was the place where I knew you could send your hopes and dreams. I
o ten wonder what the person who was used to reading Christmas lists
thought of my letters and what they did with them. I like to imagine that
they prayed for me.
By the time I was eleven, I was a darling of the Black Baptist Church I grew
up in; a featured soloist in the choir and a teacher of my own Sunday School
class. But that changed abruptly when, in response to the pastor’s invitation
for one of the young people to ask a question, I questioned the use of
Sallman’s “Head of Christ” and Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” given that in
that time and that place Jesus couldn’t possibly have looked like the white
men depicted in those paintings. I was told to sit down and shut up. I
walked down the center aisle of the church, turning my back on
Christianity and on Jesus.
In the intervening years, I did very little with Jesus. He was as forsaken in
my life as I had felt I’d been in the life of the church. In the first sermon of
the new decade, a pastor made the suggestion that we, “have a room to
which Christ may come”. In response, I went online and found the 2002
Popular Mechanics’ article that featured a forensic facial reconstruction of
what Jesus must have looked like from the examination of the skulls of
Semitic Jews of His time and place. I have placed that image in a frame and
put it up on my home altar.
My church-hurt wasn’t Jesus’ doing. It has taken me a long time to come to

that realization, go out into the vineyard, retrieve Him, and resuscitate
Him in my life. I invite you to do the same in yours.
~ Blake C. Aarens ~
43
3rd Saturday Mark 12:13-17
And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to
trap him in his talk. And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know
that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not
swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay
taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” But,
knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring
me a denarius and let me look at it.” And they brought one. And he said to
them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him,
“Caesar's.” Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they marveled at him.
44
I used to teach a late night Civics Class to an apartment full of
grandmothers, all refugees from Cambodi. They were so grateful to be
welcomed to America, escaping from the atrocities of war in their
motherland, having witnessed their brothers, sisters and children killed
years before. They were ready and eager to become citizens of this new
country with the full rights and privileges that so many of us take for
granted.
They had always wondered and finally asked me why I, a young man having
just graduated from university, would spend so many late evenings going
over and over these definitions and terms and concepts with them, most of
whom had never learned to read and write in their mother tongue Khmer,
much less American English: “Why do you teach us?”
Turning to them, sitting on plastic mats on the loor, dressed in their

simple robes, looking at their wrinkled faces and toothless grins, feeling
both the weight of all they had experienced in their lives and the hope of
becoming a US Citizen soon, I answered: “I think God told me to….”
~ Carl Pascual ~
45
3rd Sunday Mark 12:18-27
And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And
they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a
man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must
take the widow and raise up o fspring for his brother. There were seven
brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died le t no o fspring. And the
second took her, and died, leaving no o fspring. And the third likewise.
And the seven le t no o fspring. Last of all the woman also died. In the
resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven
had her as wife.”
Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you
know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise
from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like
angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the
book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him,
saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”
46
Religious people can be the worst sometimes. And I say this as someone
who’s had training to be a professional religious person. Religious people
o ten have this annoying habit of putting religion before people.
But Jesus isn’t that way.
This group of Sadducees, religious elites, come to Jesus and want to debate
him and to point out what they believe is the absurdity of the resurrection.
And they have this carefully prepared argument about a hypothetical
women who is passed around seven brothers. And they ask Jesus, in the
end, which brother gets to have her?
It is easy to assume that Jesus would immediately jump to defend the

theological doctrine of the resurrection, but he doesn’t. Before he gets
around to talking about the resurrection, he first stops to defend this
hypothetical women. He says that this business of people taking and being
taken in marriage may happen here, but that is not how things operate in
the kingdom of God. When God makes everything right in the resurrection
to come, whatever relationships look like, they will not be based on power
or the lack thereof.
Notice that Jesus doesn’t answer their question about who gets the woman.
I think it’s because this women’s future will not be defined by what a bunch
of religious dudes decide.
The point of all this, the life and work of Jesus, is not religion. It’s not about
buildings or denominations or theological arguments or points, it’s about
people. It’s about our well-being and life. And not just any life, but life that
is over lowing with abundance and goodness - both in this life and the one
that is to come.
As Jesus says about God at the end of this story, “He is not God of the dead,
but of the living.”
~ Nate Slabaugh ~
47
3rd Monday Mark 12:28-34
And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one
another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which
commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most
important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall
love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater
than these.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have
truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him
with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength,
and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt
o ferings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he
said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And a ter that no
one dared to ask him any more questions.
48
In the fast paced society that we live in, we value getting to the point and
not wasting time. We read cli f notes to summarize entire books so that we
get the good stu f we need without wasting our time. We value e ficiency.
So, what if I told you that the Bible could be summarized? That it actually
has cli f notes embedded in it? And that Jesus himself does the summary?
Do I have your attention yet?
Well, that is exactly what we have in Mark 12:28-34. The Greatest Command
is found explicitly in three of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke.
What strikes me most about the commandment to love God and love
neighbor is that it both o fers a clear summary of the heart of God for
humanity while simultaneously creating a lens through which to see this
heart in the whole of the Biblical narrative.
From Old Testament to New, the story of Israel and the story of the early
church can be captured in the framework of loving God and neighbor. This
is why in the second half of verse 33, the scribe says that this “is much more
than all whole burnt o ferings and sacrifices.” Burnt o ferings and sacrifices
were of the utmost importance to the Israelite’s covenant relationship with
God, but this scribe now sees the heart that sustains this covenant, a heart
revealed in Jesus, love for God and love for neighbor.
If ever you’ve felt bogged down by the complexity of the Christian tradition
and wish someone could give you the cli f notes, just remember, Jesus did
when he said,
“The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark
12:29-31)
~ Gent Grush ~
49
3rd Tuesday Mark 12:35-37
And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that
the Christ is the son of David? David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet.”’
David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng
heard him gladly.
50
This scripture shows me how Jesus wrestled with identity politics. How cool
is that?! Mark 12, begins with Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem,
which caused quite a stir with the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees. The
leaders of this time consistently used the Bible as a weapon against Jesus,
and yet each time I see Jesus giving a word of encouragement because he
was here about his father's business.
I can recall times where I have walked into a space with reverence and
honor, only, to be asked questioned, and challenged by persons of
authority. In my human form, when I don’t understand who a person is,
how they walk into a room and command attention etc, I am quick to play
the game of identity politics.
Identity politics is an analytical approach based on people prioritizing the

concerns most relevant to their identity. As a Black American my humanity
is o ten questioned, so it's easy for me to fall into a spirit of self- doubt,
which is not standing in the authority of Jesus. Instead I spiral down
accusation, and frustration.
Jesus is inviting me to recognize that my identity is in him, that I am who

God says I am. I am the manifestation of the Holy Trinity. The father
(mother), son, and the Holy Spirit. A descendant of the great I AM. I am
also invited to CHOOSE to NOT play the game of identity politics, but
instead root myself in spirit and truth. To allow God to sit my enemies
under my feet, in his timing not my own. This is the truth that GOD is
inviting me to LIVE into.
~ Myisha Hill ~
51
4th Wednesday Mark 12:38-44
And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk
around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the
best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour
widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive
the greater condemnation.”
And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting
money into the o fering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a
poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.
And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this
poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the
o fering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out
of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
52
In recent years of walking with Jesus and studying his life and word, I've
found myself interestingly identifying more and more with the scribes and
Pharisees of the law than I do with the disciples. Reading this passage, I feel
like I'm o ten going through the motions of prayer, listening to sermons,
and being in community. I don't truly grasp God's power and love and what
that means for me personally.
In the first part of the passage, Jesus is talking to the crowd of followers
around him a ter dealing with the religious leaders of the day trying to trap
Jesus in his words. He knows that the scribes' true intention is not to love
God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. They go through the
motions of religious life and zeal without really knowing or serving God.
They are satisfied with their earthly consolation of greetings, seats in the
synagogue, and places of honor at feasts. How empty and meaningless
their prize.
Then Jesus turns his attention to his disciples to li t up a poor widow who
gave everything she had, out of her poverty. He says with her two small
copper coins, she put in more than all the other contributors who were
putting in large sums of money.
Jesus sees where the widow is coming from. He sees her heart and her
desire to love and serve her God that fulfills her every need. She need not
worry about where her next meal is coming from, or how she will pay her
rent. There is not a thought in her mind about "just going through the
motions." She knows with all her heart that the little money she has, she
wants to give to her Lord and Savior. How generous and faithful that small
act of giving is!
Jesus, grant me grace and mercy. Teach me to have a heart that truly seeks
to know you, to love you and trust you completely. Help me to break out of
the cycle of going through the motions and truly be in relationship with
you.
~ Keren Chipeco ~
53
4th Thursday Mark 13:1-13
And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look,
Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And
Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be le t
here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James
and John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things
be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be
accomplished?” And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you
astray. Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead
many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be
alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes
in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the
birth pains.
“But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you
will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and
kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. And the gospel must first
be proclaimed to all nations. And when they bring you to trial and deliver
you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say
whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy
Spirit. And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his
child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.
And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures
to the end will be saved.
54
I spent many school holidays and my entire first year with my maternal
great-grandmother, Lucy Sarah Blake Waller, a midwife in rural Selma,
Alabama who lived to be one hundred and fi teen years old. I went on birth
runs with her. The first thing she would say to a laboring woman was,
“What you doin’ in the bed? You ain’t sick; you having a baby!” I remember
the startled look on the women’s faces, and the relief of pressure on their
backs when they leaned on me and rose from the bed. I remember too how
she would grab the collar of the man trying to leave the scene of 'women’s
work' and make a beeline out of the house: “Oh, no you don’t. You helped
make this baby, you gonna help get it here!”
I remember the initial look of fear that greeted out arrival at the house. I
remember the individual and very specific cries of pain during labor and
the way that late in the process, every single woman cried out some version
of, “I can’t do this!” That was usually a signal that the joy of the birth was
upon us. The fear and pain were but a prelude to the joy at hand.
Mark 13 predicts trials and su fering—but the emphasis is not on the

su fering, but the hope of the salvation that is to come. It will be terrible. It
will be painful. But there will be great joy ahead!
I know I need to remember this in the midst of my own troubles. However

terrible, breakups, financial uncertainty, medical diagnoses, none of these
are the end. I saw a bumper sticker recently that made me laugh out loud
and filled me with hope: “Everyone gets a happy ending. If you’re not
happy, it’s not the end”. As a Christian, this reminds me that the Passion
leads to the Resurrection. The end of the old kingdoms open the way for the
birth of the Kingdom of God.
~ Blake C. Aarens ~
55
4th Friday Mark 13:14-31
“But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought
not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea lee to
the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter
his house, to take anything out, and let the one who is in the field not turn
back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those
who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that it may not happen in
winter. For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been
from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never
will be. And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would
be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the
days. And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look,
there he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise
and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be
on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.
“But in those days, a ter that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the
moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and
the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of
Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send
out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of
the earth to the ends of heaven.
“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender
and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you
see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things
take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass
away.
56
What can we count on when everything falls apart?
It’s a time of fake news and shaky institutions. Jesus told us. Not only are
things going to get bad, but people are going to show up with Jesus’ name
on their lips and spread lies. False prophets are going to lead people in the
name of Jesus, away from the character of Jesus. They are going to look
powerful, and promise powerful things. And they will use the stress of the
present moment to fool many.
The abomination that causes desolation is Jesus’ name for stress that leads
people to put their trust in false leaders. The abomination that causes
desolation is that awful thing, in any time and place, that proves beyond
any doubt that God has failed and the kingdom of God has collapsed. It’s
the Worst Thing Ever. And tragically, there have been many throughout the
sad history of our world.
Before Jesus, the Worst Thing Ever was the sacking of the temple by the
Greeks. Just a ter, the Worst Thing Ever would have been the destruction
of Jerusalem in 70AD by Rome. We can name many more; For Rwandans,
the genocide. For Africans, the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. For Europeans,
World War I. Perhaps you have your own personal Worst Thing Ever.
For the disciples, it would have been the crucifixion of Jesus. It was
devastating and obscene. And they didn’t know where to turn. If Jesus was
gone, who would lead them?
But the resurrection of Jesus says no abomination will overcome his

kingdom. When it looks the very darkest, double down on faith in the
crucified king. Don’t listen to lies, even when the liar uses the name Jesus.
Listen to Jesus words: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am
gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
~ Josh McPaul ~
57
4th Saturday Mark 13:32-36
“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels
in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For
you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a
journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with
his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay
awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in
the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning
— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.
58
What’s the Gospel? When is the Gospel?
The Gospel began with Jesus coming into this world as a human being —
the embodiment of God’s total grace. The Gospel is how Jesus gave up his
life for our sake, so we could be free to be children of God again. And how
this was a gi t, unearned, freely given to us.
The Gospel continues when Jesus returns to this world in the fullness of his
glory as King of the Universe — the embodiment of God’s total justice. The
Gospel comes to completion when Jesus judges whether we used our
freedom from sin to love others — or hid into our own selfishness.
The Gospel is the Good News of God saving us through Christ. We live now
in the middle of the Gospel story, waiting for this world to end so that an
eternity with God can begin.
~ Carl Pascual ~
59
4th Sunday Mark 14:1-9
It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened
Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest
him by stealth and kill him, for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there
be an uproar from the people.”
And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was
reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster lask of ointment of
pure nard, very costly, and she broke the lask and poured it over his head.
There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the
ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for
more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded
her. But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has
done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and
whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always
have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body
beforehand for burial. And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is
proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory
of her.”
60
Real life is messy, but I want things tidy. I don’t want the lumpy, smelly,
broken bits of my heart to be seen, so I keep them all bottled up and out of
sight. Our culture is expert at this - presenting the perfect life, the perfect
family, the perfect quote to describe the perfect spiritual condition. We all
want to have the right response to social ills and the right opinions on any
matter.
But we rarely admit how much work it takes and how much failure we feel.
It’s a giant conspiracy that we are all in on.
That’s (just one of the reasons) why I love this story. It’s messy. A
complicated woman with a messy past walks into the wrong party and does
something very untidy. She breaks a jar and pours out precious perfume all
over the place.
Even the response from the bystanders is telling. They have the perfect
analysis. Of course, they’re not judging her actions or looking down on her!
They are just concerned about the poor and the waste! How perfectly
appropriate! It’s the classic tidy response. Scolding is just one way of
keeping us all morally tidy.
But this untidy woman doesn’t care. Jesus doesn’t care. She comes in with a
heart of love and gratitude and spills everything everywhere. And Jesus
receives it in the spirit it was spilled - an act of messy love.
Our hearts are like jars of water - filled to the brim. When life bangs us
around and knocks us o f balance, whatever our hearts are full of - that’s
what spills out. Anger or love, blessing or resentment. We can’t avoid our
hearts leaking out their contents. The only question is what is being spilled.
Meditating on Jesus’ messy love doesn’t make us less messy. It just makes
our messiness more precious.
~ Josh McPaul ~
61
4th Monday Mark 14:10-21
Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in
order to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and
promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.
And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the
Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and
prepare for you to eat the Passover?” And he sent two of his disciples and
said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet
you. Follow him, 14 and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house,
‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover
with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and
ready; there prepare for us.” And the disciples set out and went to the city
and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. And as they were
reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will
betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be sorrowful and to
say to him one a ter another, “Is it I?” He said to them, “It is one of the
twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. For the Son of Man
goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is
betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”
62
Why did Judas betray Jesus? What prompted him to plot in secret against
the rabbi who had personally called him and led him for three years?
We don’t know. None of the gospels record much about Judas before this
moment of betrayal. The only story that speaks of him is when a woman
anoints Jesus’ feet with expensive perfumed oil. In John’s Gospel we read
this; “But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray
him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and
given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but
because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help
himself to what was put into it.” (John 12:4-6)
We learn two things about Judas here. The first is that Judas was greedy.
Now, he wasn't some kind of monster. But he let something monstrous
grow in his heart. When greed, or lust, or fear grow unchecked in our heart
they lead us, in moments of stress, to do monstrous things. Judas
immediately regrets his action. He throws the money back into the temple.
But he had let greed run his heart for too long. His desire for money
crushed his true desire in a moment of weakness.
We also learn that Judas had practiced to cover up his greed with spiritual
language. He hu fily suggests that the perfume could have been given to the
poor. Instead of confessing his greed, he practiced pretense. The grace of
Jesus couldn’t break in, because Judas was so good at disguising his real
con lict. Judas judged the woman for wasting her tears, broken-heartedly
on Jesus. Instead, he should have followed her lead.
I feel a connection to Judas here, as awful as that seems. I have monstrous

things that threaten to grow in my heart. And I know all too well how to
cover them up with good religious language. So, instead of sitting in
judgment on others, practicing my good religious talk, I want to be like the
broken-hearted woman, clinging to Jesus - exposed, but safe.
~ Josh McPaul ~
63
4th Tuesday Mark 14:22-25
And as they were eating, he took bread, and a ter blessing it broke it and
gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and
when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And
he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for
many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until
that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
64
One of my greatest privileges in life is to stand in front of a congregation
and proclaim these words of Jesus. Along with elders, I get to stand in the
community and o fer bread and wine over and over again. It’s the same
words… the same crackers… and the same wine and grape juice. But for
some reason it never gets old.
When Jesus shares this supper, he was preparing to leave. Not only was he
going to his crucifixion and death, he was preparing to return to the Father.
His disciples would be bere t. Without any book, any back ups, Jesus had to
leave them with a pattern, a rhythm, a practice.
And of all the things Jesus could have chosen, he gave them a table to sit at,
bread and wine to drink, and a symbol of a broken body and spilled blood,
all woven together.
In the Lord’s supper, Jesus leads us into a good trap, which we walk into
every time we celebrate it. We are called together to one table, invited to
receive good food and drink, and the present power of Jesus’ sacrifice.
Friendship, thanksgiving and sacrifice - repeated over and over again.
These words are so endlessly surprising and infinitely meaningful. A God

who invites us to sit together. A God who doesn’t need a sacrifice, but o fers
himself as a sacrifice. A God who knows our frailty and brokenness.
No wonder it never gets old.
~ Josh McPaul ~
65
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike
the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But a ter I am raised up, I
will go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall
away, I will not.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night,
before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said
emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said
the same.
66
In some ways, this is the saddest passage in all of the gospels. Nowhere do
we find a greater distance between human self-image and Jesus’ gracious
but certain recognition of our failure. As they contemplate the crucifixion
coming, all the disciples can do is rehearse their imagined heroics. They will
'never' abandon Jesus. Jesus can count on them!
I hear this all the time. Usually young people declare that they will ‘never’ be
like their parents. They are shocked at the moral failings or bad opinions
they see in older folks. But as we get older we usually learn the hard way
that our moral certainty and purity is more fragile than that. But even then
we still hold out hope - ‘I will never do that again.’ ‘This time it will be
di ferent.’ It reminds me of the Depeche Mode lyrics:
“Never again
Is what you swore
The time before.”
Our declarations, our new leafs, our resolutions are all fragile. We can make
them. But I wouldn’t build a house on mine.
In response to Peter’s declaration, Jesus very clearly and calmly states the
truth. Peter will betray him. Jesus is not accusing him. His tone is clear and
calm… and certain. Peter will betray him. They will all fall away.
But Jesus doesn’t need their heroics - let alone their empty claims of
heroics. He doesn't need ours. He will gather the sheep back himself.
But as he prepared to go to his death, I think Jesus wished the conversation

were di ferent. I think he would have preferred to hear less about their
heroics, and more about their love and a fection for him and each other.
Maybe that should be our conversation topic as well.
~ Josh McPaul ~
67
And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples,
“Sit here while I pray.” And he took with him Peter and James and John,
and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My
soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” And going a
little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the
hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are
possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what
you will.” And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter,
“Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray
that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the
lesh is weak.” And again he went away and prayed, saying the same
words. And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were
very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. And he came the
third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It
is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of
sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
68
Not my will, but yours. Imagine the absolute trust Jesus must have in his
Father to be able to speak these words, knowing what is about to happen.
We speak these words all the time: “Thy will be done.” But who is
courageous enough to really mean it, to really believe it? I aspire to mean
these words I speak, and sometimes I truly do, that is, up until the moment
when “Your will” starts to look like it might be turning out to be something
I really don’t want. Something that appears to threaten “my will.”
Gethsemane is where the rubber meets the road. Jesus tells his disciples
“stay with me.” They intended to follow him no matter what - but in
Gethsemane, they lee. Jesus tells them, “stay and watch.” They intended to
stay awake all night, but in Gethsemane, they fall asleep.
Like the disciples, we fall short of the trusting faith relationship we’re
invited to. We want to be “all-in,” but when it’s “go time,” we find out we’re
not who we hoped we’d be. “Stay with me” means -- when it’s not what you
want. When it doesn’t look like what you planned. When it means that you
must go where you don’t want to go and do what you don’t want to do.
Who will stay up with him in the garden? Who will keep him company, will
pray with him, will stick by his side when it means giving up our hope about
what it was going to be like? He knows what we are. He knows how we, his
disciples, seek our benefit above God’s will, how we resist anything that
blocks us from what we want. Knowing this, he still invites us to “sit here
and pray,” and he shows us what a trusting relationship with the Father
looks like, and drinks the cup.
~ Aeryn Johnson ~
69
5th Friday Mark 14:43-52
And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the
twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests
and the scribes and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign,
saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under
guard.” And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!”
And he kissed him. And they laid hands on him and seized him. But one of
those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high
priest and cut o f his ear. And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as
against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day a ter day I was
with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the
Scriptures be fulfilled.” And they all le t him and led.
And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his
body. And they seized him, but he le t the linen cloth and ran away naked.
70
The story takes a bizarre turn here. A kiss signifies hatred. Priests become
petty thugs. The disciples try their hand at soldiering, merely cutting o f an
ear. And then, for some strange reason, we read about a young man,
wrapped in a bedsheet, suddenly seized and stripped. He streaks o f naked
into the night.
If the Son of God can be betrayed, arrested, and condemned, then nothing
makes sense anymore. Whenever we reject or remove God from the center
of our lives, everything starts to collapse. Socially, personally, spiritually -
without God, things fall apart. W.B. Yeats wrote about this collapse in the
a termath of World War I. People still use his words to describe chaos
wherever they see it.
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
I think of the times in my life when I have pushed God far away, and tried
to build my life on something else. It didn’t go well.
But then I think about the young man in this story. I think this is Mark
himself - the author of this gospel. He’s too modest to name himself. He
was young when it happened. He heard most of it from his cousin Peter.
But in the last hours before Jesus’s death, Mark sneaks out to see what Jesus
and his disciples are doing. It was a traumatic experience for him. But at
the same time, Mark includes it. He says ‘a young man followed him’. Mark
knows how bad things can get. But he still chooses to follow Jesus. It may
lead into and through chaos. Mark knows that Jesus remains in control,
when everything else falls apart.
~ Josh McPaul ~
71
And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the
elders and the scribes came together. And Peter had followed him at a
distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting
with the guards and warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and
the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to
death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against him, but
their testimony did not agree. And some stood up and bore false witness
against him, saying, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is
made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with
hands.’” Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. And the high
priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to
make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But he remained
silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the
Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the
Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds
of heaven.” And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further
witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your
decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. And some
began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him,
“Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.
72
“Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony
against Jesus to put him to death…”
We see here the full strength of the religious establishment working

overtime to preserve their own power. The high priest and his lackeys are
set on condemning Jesus. There is much to say here about the power of the
state to railroad and condemn innocent people, and about the way religion
reinforces our prejudices.
But to re lect honestly, I need to get personal. I don’t have the power of the
priests here, but I recognize their actions. Because we like to get our own
way. In arguments, in family, in work - we can get to a place where we are
set in our ways. We start to dig in mentally. We refuse to listen to other
people. We let weak arguments and sketchy reasoning in luence us if it gets
us what we want. We make alliances And we can lose our temper and
throw a tantrum (mostly mentally - but sometimes vocally!) to intimidate
others into agreeing with us.
All of these things are power plays. We think we need to throw our weight
around to get what we want. It’s the human condition. The high priests do
it. We do it.
And once again, Jesus stands silently in the center. He doesn’t whine or yell,
or demand his own way. He stands in the power of truth, the power of
righteousness and the power of God. This is the power that the world will
one day see. But for now, this power seems quiet and barely visible. Will we
pause enough in the midst of our personal and political cage matches to
listen for Jesus, and the way he calls each one of us to repent and follow
him?
~ Josh McPaul ~
73
And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the
high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him
and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it,
saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out
into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and
began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again
he denied it. And a ter a little while the bystanders again said to Peter,
“Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to
invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom
you speak.”
74
I’m struggling to write here. I want to leap forward to Peter’s redemption
on the beach. The space where the friction is gone and the pain is reprieved.
Honestly, I seek a basic, painless life. In some way, I think in all of us there
is that sad confession.
But that is not where were are. Peter is in the darkness. He is alone. He is
ashamed. He has rejected Jesus, the one he said he would never reject. I can
picture his wet face and I can feel the gut that is up in his throat.
When it says “broke down”, I’m sure you know that moment when you were
shattered. If you are like me, all of my limbs hurt and even the in between
parts of my body hurts. My shame makes me feel, a little too exposed on
every level.
I think it is important to know the gravity of our “falling”. In this if we sit

long enough, we learn that it is not about overcoming, but sitting in the
mess of our failures and experiencing all of it - all the way. The delightful
surprise our hearts meets is the Face of love in, within and at the end of it
all. So my heart is with you. Don't be afraid to sit in the mess.
The rooster may crow, but there is always breakfast on the beach.
~ Joy Hallman ~
75
And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with
the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led
him away and delivered him over to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, “Are you
the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” And the
chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him,
“Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against
you.” But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
76
When I am in an argument with someone or at odds with someone (a
friend, a family member, an online stranger), I sometimes wish and beg for
some form of a judge to come out and hand me a “You-are-the-right-one”
award. And even on top of that, in the heat of the moment, I want the judge
to simultaneously send out to my o fender a “you-are-wrong” card. Yes,
wouldn’t that be great? What ends up feeling worse is when I give up so
much energy to be that judge.
I read Mark 15: 1-5 and when Jesus is asked by Pilate's “Are you the King of
Jews?” he answers with “You said it.” Jesus is not arguing to the point of
exhaustion during this moment. He is simply giving back the question and
holding up a symbolic mirror to Pilate. It’s as if to say, “Pilate, in your
limitations as a human, you have already set your judgment. And no truth
that I utter will change the course that lays in front of me.” Jesus
understands that even in speaking truth, his words may be twisted and
mocked by the limitations of a human judge. I see this moment as
surrender, not to Pilate, but to God.
In this passage, I am reminded that I am a human living with other

humans - and we are all so limited in our capacity to hold the whole truth.
In the end, God ONLY can hold all the truth at once. As I walk through life, I
want to self-re lect on my desire to be the judge over someone else’s life and
also the harm done of others acting as final judges on my life. I read this
passage as Jesus understanding and coming to terms that his Father was
the only one capable of holding all of his truth.
~ Mitzi Magdeleno ~
77
Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they
asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the
insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up
and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered
them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For
he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him
up. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them
Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do
with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they cried out again,
“Crucify him.” And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But
they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the
crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he
delivered him to be crucified.
78
There is lots to be said about Barabbas. For theologians, it's a clear parable
of substitution. The one who should be punished is substituted for innocent
one. For political readers, they see a public o ficial trying to shi t the blame.
But for me, all I see is a group of people missing the last exit. An
opportunity is given to release Jesus, to restore justice, to hit the brakes on
this terrible moment. But instead, they double down on rage.
You see, that... I'm familiar with that. When I have my mind set on my own
selfish way, the clear road signs that should warn me don't become more
obvious. I deliberately ignore them. I blow right past them.
I see my anger is rising, but instead of taking a deep breath, I find myself
fueling the anger with self-justifying thoughts. I find myself shopping
online in a fit of greed or envy, but instead of examining my own deisres
and where they come from, I justifying why I need whatever doodad I am
buying. And those are just the sinful patterns I can put in print.
It's when I tap into this headlong tendency of mine, that I start to see my
own share in the sin of this world. I join the crowd. It reminds me of that
old hymn "My Song is Love Unknown":
Sometimes they strew His way,
And His sweet praises sing;
Resounding all the day Hosannas to their King:
Then "Crucify!" Is all their breath,
And for His death They thirst and cry.
And when I tap into my sense of sin, I also tap into my need for grace. As
the first verse of that song goes:
My song is love unknown,
My Savior's love to me;
Love to the loveless shown,
That they might lovely be.
~Josh McPaul ~
79
And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's
headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they
clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns,
they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and
kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they
stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they
led him out to crucify him.
80
We don’t o ten focus on what happens between the trial of Jesus and his
famous but gruesome crucifixion. What is the significance of including this
humiliation and mockery of Jesus by these soldiers?
As a follower of Jesus, I o ten feel a distance between who I am and who

Jesus is. Jesus was a man who lived in a time and context I don’t
understand, He is fully divine and fully human and lived a life of
unprecedented intimacy with his heavenly father and had power to work
miracles. That’s not me and that’s not my life. Though I try to follow Jesus,
at times I feel too much of Jesus’ life and ministry simply don’t relate to my
life, my context or my experience.
And yet throughout the Gospels I see glimpses of a Jesus who gets me, who
can relate to me and who can relate to my lived experience in this world.
Jesus had friends who betrayed him and had family who didn’t trust him.
Jesus had people he loved die. Jesus had people in power who hated him
and watched his every move, waiting to trap him.
A ter Jesus was condemned to die and before he was sent to the cross, Jesus
was teased, mocked, ganged up on and beaten. And this assault wasn’t just
physical. The mocking words, “Hail, King of the Jews” is a racial slur spoken
by Roman soldiers meant to degrade Jesus at the core of his Jewish identity.
It is sad but true, that this aspect of Jesus’ life is much more familiar to me
and to my world. And in this I take comfort because Jesus can relate to me.
In this way Jesus can relate with every person who has ever been mocked or
bullied, and every person whose has had words of hate spewed at them. For
all the ways that Jesus feels distant, in these ways, Jesus comes near.
~ Gent Grush ~
81
And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in

from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a
Skull). And they o fered him [Jesus] wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not
take it.
82
It’s the details that really get you. This is torture. This is state-sponsored
terrorism. This is the small indignities that accompany every great act of
evil. But these details show us just how close and real this all was. Our
cross-shaped jewelry hides the truth.... This was ugly, ugly business. It took
real imagination to be cruel in this way.
Imagine two boys. Alexander and Rufus, watching as their father is pressed
into this devilish service.
New Testament scholar, Richard Bauckham suggests that the insertion of

specific names are sort of like historical footnotes. People reading the
Gospel of Mark for the first time might have known Alexander and Rufus.
They could have checked the details about Simon with them.
But my mind goes to these two boys, seeing the cross of Jesus laid on their
father’s back - seeing him compelled by soldiers to do demeaning and evil
work. This is not the first time or the last in history that children are forced
to see their parents demeaned and shamed. It happened to immigrants and
refugees today. It happened to slaves. It happened to ‘undesirables’ herded
into ghettos. It happens to the poor everyday.
There is something especially destructive when the state demeans families

and breaks the bond of respect between parents and children. How was
Rufus’ imagination misshapen by that evil act. How was Alexander’s
imagination crushed by that act of indignity?
And imagine that Jesus, the one who held all stars in place, now needs the
help of a stranger to carry his execution device. I don’t know what trauma
they carried from this. But I do that they carried the image of Jesus who
would not be destroyed by this cross. By this cross, he would destroy death.
God was there, sharing in their su fering. The poor came to God’s aid. That
story has shaped the imagination of the poor ever since.
~ Josh McPaul ~
83
6th Friday Mark 15:24
And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots
for them, to decide what each should take.
84
They crucified him. So simple and so brutal. The world took the Son of God
who o fered nothing but love and truth, and did their worst to him. Jesus
did not die in the most painful or most torturous way. Many have died in
such a way. But that doesn’t lessen the magnitude of Jesus’ death. It
heightens it. Jesus died like one of us. He died like the least of us.
And then, the world took his meager possessions, the clothes he had on his
back and gambled them away. The soldiers who were cruel enough to
execute Jesus are also greedy and opportunistic enough to take their own
Some think that evil in this world is somehow an aberration, or only some
twisted response to the evil done to us. But the death of Jesus puts the lie to
all of that. Despite our best intentions, humans can be petty, cruel,
opportunistic. We collude with the worst aspects of our systems, even when
we recognize and call those systems evil. And it is not the guilty who su fer.
Like Jesus, it is the innocent and the meek who are rolled over by the treads
of our greed.
This is the humanity that Christ died for. This is the humanity that Christ
bound his life to. And in him we can find God’s presence in the midst of our
su fering.
Dietrich Bonhoe fer, the martyr of the German Confessing Church

movement wrote extensively on the cross and it’s meaning for us. In a letter
from prison in 1944, he wrote:
“It is good to learn early that su fering and God are not contradictions, but rather a
necessary unity. For me, the idea that it is really God who su fers has always been
one of the most persuasive teachings of Christianity. I believe that God is closer to
su fering than to happiness, and that finding God in this way brings peace and
repose and a strong, courageous heart.”
~ Josh McPaul ~
85
And it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of
the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”
86
I cannot imagine the horror of a crucifixion. I have never experienced that
depth of cruelty and su fering on public display. I have a hard time
understanding why God allows people to su fer. I have an even harder time
imagining God su fering in the body of Christ.
As the old hymn says,

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Ohh, Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble.
Throughout the world, people experience su fering that I can barely

imagine. Mothers watch their children die of starvation in Yemen. Fathers
wonder if they will make it through the desert as they lee from the only
home they’ve ever known. Brothers become killers and daughters are
exploited in the Congo. Those places seem far away, but we know that
su fering is happening in our backyards.
I am four generations removed from slavery; two generations removed

from Jim Crow; one generation removed from the Civil Rights movement.
My ancestors su fered - publicly and in silence - so that I wouldn’t have to.
I may not know su fering as intimately as some. But, I know what betrayal
feels like. I know it feels like to be misunderstood, alone, ashamed, and
desperate for deliverance. I know what it feels like be willing to die for
someone that I love.
Jesus didn’t ignore or run away su fering. He journeyed toward people that
were hurting and listened to their pain. And, he knew that his entire life
was a journey to the cross. That means our personal journeys will lead
through su fering, and through to resurrection.
~ Riana Robinson ~
87
And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his
le t. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and
saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three
days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also the chief
priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved
others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come
down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were
crucified with him also reviled him.
88
“They wagged their heads…”
How will we respond to the crucified Christ? Will we see in him one more
example of failure? Will we mock Jesus and those who are desperately
trusting in him from our perch of perceived security? Will we pity those
who cling to Jesus in times of need, quietly assuring ourselves that we
would never let things get so bad? Will we, even in our own pain, proudly
cling to our strength and self-su ficiency thinking that we can tough this
one out?
Jesus will never save the proud and self-secure. They can't even see him. It
is only the desperate who have nowhere else to go who will truly go to the
cross.
In a recent self-written obituary for journalist and gi ted writer, Ken Fuson
writes of his own struggle with desperation:
“For most of his life, Ken su fered from a compulsive gambling addiction
that nearly destroyed him. But his church friends, and the loving people at
Gamblers Anonymous, never gave up on him. Ken last placed a bet on Sept.
5, 2009. He died clean. He hopes that anyone who needs help will seek it,
which is hard, and accept it, which is even harder. Miracles abound. Ken's
pastor says God can work miracles for you and through you. Skepticism
may be cool, and for too many years Ken embraced it, but it was faith in
Jesus Christ that transformed his life. That was the one thing he never
regretted.”
As we draw near to Easter, will we come with pity and pride? Or will come
desperate for the Christ who saves the truly lost causes.
~ Josh McPaul ~
89
And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole
land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud
voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said,
“Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with
sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us
see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”
90
I remember hearing a podcast. The topic was Martin Luther King Jr. and his
journey during the last stage of his life. One of his mentors spoke about the
fear that Martin Luther King Jr. shared with him. Martin Luther King Jr.
questioned that he was the right one for the task he was being asked to do,
even as he was gaining momentum. O ten when we speak about prophetic
leaders, we make them into godly idols. The danger in doing this is that we
distance ourselves from these people, giving us the opportunity to give up
and say, “Oh well, those leaders were divine so truly I can’t follow them and
walk the path.”
But what I want to focus on is the commonality between us and great

leaders, even Jesus. When I read, Mark 15: 33-36, I am reminded that the
whole point of Jesus walking with us as completely human was that God
was gi ting us with someone/himself.
God can say “I understand because I have been there, too.” When Jesus calls
out “My God. My God, why have you forsaken me?” we are listening to
someone who truly is feeling the pain, the despair, the loneliness, the
reality of being lesh, being human. When I am at the deepest of my sorrow,
I look towards those leaders – not ones that have become idolized – but the
ones that have shown me that even in our limitations and in our moments
of weakness, we can continue to both follow and lead.
~ Mitzi Magdaleno ~
91
And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the
temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who
stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly
this man was the Son of God!”
92
In these two sentences, we see the final defeat of Jesus, and the forever
victory of God. For the last few chapters of Mark, there have been two
enemies opposing and threatening Jesus. Firstly, there was the temple
establishment with the money-changers, the priests and the religious elites.
They saw Jesus as a threat. In a con licted time, the temple was the only
place where priests could keep people connected and centered, So they
made sure that nobody messed with the temple, and nobody entered
unauthorized. It was the center of power.
Secondly, and less visibly, there was the power of the Roman Empire. Jesus
didn’t interact with them too o ten. They didn’t need to be visible to
e fectively lex their power. But nothing happened in Jerusalem and the
surrounding country without the threat of Rome looming overhead.
And finally, at the crucifixion, the combined might of the religious

establishment and the power of Rome conspired to destroy Jesus. He is put
to death. His story, at least as far as the world thinks, is over.
But in the next two sentences, Mark reveals the victory of Jesus over these
two enemies. The power of the temple - mystery, forgiveness and the
presence of God - is stripped away. The curtain that separated the world
from the ‘Holy of Holies’ was torn from top to bottom. No one needed the
temple to come to God anymore. Religion, as coercive power, was over.
And the centurion, the personal representative of Rome saw the whole
thing. And instead of a triumphant cheer, he solemnly confessed what they
had just done. He saw through the emptiness of his empire, to the presence
of God on a cross.
This passage is heartbreaking to me. But it contains the seeds of triumph

that would grow the message of Jesus throughout the centuries - God is
available to all who come in faith. No one can guard the gates anymore. And
spears will be turned into ploughshares.
~ Josh McPaul ~
93
There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were
Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses,
and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to
him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to
Jerusalem.
94
Women were among Jesus’s friends and disciples. Mothers, women of ill-
repute, and the “many other” unnamed and forgotten women, found
themselves known and loved by Jesus. I’m struck that Mark acknowledges
that the women weren’t only around to cook and do laundry, but that these
women ministered to Jesus.
While the other disciples were hiding and denying Jesus, these women
watched him die. I can only imagine what the women must have felt.
Overwhelming grief and sadness. Confusion and disbelief. An odd sense of
relief that his great su fering was over. Rage at the people that had
betrayed, tortured, and killed him.
The entire world was shaking with the intensity of their sobs. They
screamed and wailed, hoping that the power of the voices would raise the
dead. The darkness of grief was impenetrable. Their pain was raw as they
held each other and asked, “What do we do now?”
Maybe you’ve found yourself watching someone you love die. Sitting a
bedside, or far o f, as a loved one slipped away a ter a long battle. Maybe
you know what it feels like when hope dies. Crumbling at the doctor’s o fice
when joy turned heartbreak because of miscarriage. Watching the career or
relationship that you poured your life into fall to pieces.
In those moments, you found yourself, like the women who loved Jesus.
Crushed by grief. Paralyzed by powerlessness. Enraged at the unfairness of
death. Enraged at a God that would let death happen. But, still loving.
The women that loved Jesus were with him when he died. We, who love
Jesus, were with him when he died on the cross. Jesus, who loves us, is with
us at our crosses. When we love in the face of the powerful that deal death
blows to bodies, souls, and spirits. Jesus is with us. When we love the
innocent ones that are murdered. Jesus is with us. When our love cries out
for justice. Jesus is with us.
~ Riana Robinson ~
95
And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is,
the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of
the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took
courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was
surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the
centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. nd when he learned
from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And
Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the
linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And
he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and
Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.
And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in
the linen shroud and laid him a tomb that had been cut out of the rock.
96
It is here between Jesus hanging on the cross and the empty tomb, that the
narrative slows down and there is a pause.
And it is into this moment, that Joseph of Arimathea decides to act. The
story says he took courage and went to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body. Maybe
it took courage because Pilate was the despotic ruler who had just ordered
Jesus’ execution, and so Joseph, understandably, was worried about his
reputation or position in society. Or maybe it was the courage that comes
from the awkwardness of putting oneself out there in those vague and
weird situations where no ones really knows what comes next or what
needs to be done and so nothing gets done.
Regardless, Joseph took courage. Sometimes, it is these small, mundane but

ever so important tasks that can be the most intimate and close. It is the
right before, the right a ter, or maybe in the in-between of big events,
where we are with someone in need and we o fer to do the small things -
setting out chairs, cleaning dishes, or maybe dealing with paperwork -
when we have the opportunity to be the most close with that person. These
moments of quiet and stillness.
Joseph was there with, and for, Jesus when he was at his most vulnerable,
wounded, and weak. Joseph held the still body of the one who would be
seated at the right hand of power and would come riding on the clouds of
heaven, and Joseph slowly and carefully wrapped him in linen, and laid him
gently down in the tomb.
In the passion narrative, the death and the resurrection of Jesus are giant,
earth shattering events, but it is this small quiet story of service and care
that gets us between the two.
May we take courage to step into those quiet spaces. To use and possibly
risk our resources and privilege or maybe just to feel the awkwardness that
comes in order to o fer care and service to those who are most vulnerable.
~ Nate Slabaugh ~
97
7th Friday Reread Mark 15:1-39
For Good Friday, reread Mark 15:1-39, the story of Jesus trial and crucifixion.
And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with
the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led
him away and delivered him over to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, “Are you
the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” And the
chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him,
“Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against
you.” But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they
asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the
insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up
and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered
them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For
he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him
up. 1But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them
Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do
with the man you call the King of the Jews?” And they cried out again,
“Crucify him.” And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But
they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the
crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he
delivered him to be crucified.
And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's
headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they
clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns,
they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and
kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they
stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they
led him out to crucify him.
And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from
the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they
98
brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull).
And they o fered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And
they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for
them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they
crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The
King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his
right and one on his le t. And those who passed by derided him, wagging
their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and
rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So
also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying,
“He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel,
come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who
were crucified with him also reviled him.
And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole
land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud
voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said,
“Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with
sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us
see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud
cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two,
from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw
that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son
of God!”
99
When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James,
and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very
early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the
tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone
for us from the entrance of the tomb?”
And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very
large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right
side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them,
“Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has
risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his
disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see
him, just as he told you.” And they went out and led from the tomb, for
trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to
anyone, for they were afraid.
100
Mary Magdalene, Mary and Salome come to life for us in these three verses.
They’ve stood at a distance watching their Lord being crucified, observed
Joseph of Arimathea gently swaddle their Lord in burial cloth and enclose
him in the tomb. But today they become center stage. Wracked in sheer
agony of grief and pain, weary from the shock and trauma of losing their
Lord, they come walking down the path toward the tomb while bearing
their prepared herbs and spices.
These verses ministered to me for days as I prepared for this devotional. I

was struck by the images of their boundless love that enabled the women to
rise early, prepare spices and follow the path to their Lord. Regardless of
their circumstances they went, not knowing what lay before them, step by
weary step, carrying their grieving hearts along with the spices, step by
step, they followed the path before them.
I thought back on some of my own times of grieving whether from a

parent’s or friend’s death or the many moves we made as a younger couple
and family. Each time, the weightiness of grief while getting up the next
day to "go to the tomb” or “move to the next state or country” were some of
my most painful days. These women remind me that in the midst of pain
and grief when the future seems hopeless, to continue on the next path step
by step. The invitation for me is to remember to trust, even in the midst of
life’s dark moments that the “Life and Light of the World” will go before me,
enabling me to take each step at a time, regardless of uncertainty.
May God bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and
be gracious to you. As you carry your invitation from the Holy Spirit with
you may he bring you peace each step of the way. Amen.
~ Gail Hatch ~
101
Easter Sunday Romans 8:31-35, 37-39 &
Revelation 11:15-17
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against
us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will
he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any
charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn?
Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is
at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
...
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who
loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers,
nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of
God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
________________________________________________________________
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in
heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our
Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” And the
twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces
and worshiped God, saying,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,

who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
and begun to reign.
102
103

Strength in Weakness OCC Lent Devotional 1

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Strength in Weakness OCC Lent Devotional 1

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Strength

Lent is considered a fast. Fasting is a biblical practice of dormancy -

The 40 days do not include Sundays, since we don’t need to fast on

Mark’s Gospel reveals a Jesus who has powerful authority - over

We invite you to use this booklet daily over Lent.

And may the power and peace of Christ be with you.

I li t up my eyes to the hills — from where will my help come?

Confession & Repentance

Of course Peter wants to stay there, surrounded by his heroes - Moses,

Then they came down the mountain.

Before, I would take Jesus’ ﬁnal exhortation as a sign of my failure. I failed

During my own dark, desperate moments, I imagine that my prayer to

I remember one particularly hard night in the early days of motherhood. I

Tears streamed down my face as a moment that was full of bitterness

What is it that drives us so o ten to a mentality of scarcity, protection and

Jesus says that divorce is always a breaking apart of God’s dream.

This moment stayed with me as symbolically instructive. It’s not that I

Kierkegaard once observed that repetition is religious, and exploration

Somehow Jesus became the big winner — by ﬁrst losing everything.

So they ask: “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you?” I

Their view of the Kingdom is simplistic. It revolves around power and

It is a balm to my soul that in those moments of rebuke and scorn, He

And it was through this, that God redeemed the world.

Fruit is the “key results indicator” of kingdom living. It is the evidence of a

And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and

My church-hurt wasn’t Jesus’ doing. It has taken me a long time to come to

Turning to them, sitting on plastic mats on the loor, dressed in their

But Jesus isn’t that way.

It is easy to assume that Jesus would immediately jump to defend the

Do I have your attention yet?

Identity politics is an analytical approach based on people prioritizing the

Jesus is inviting me to recognize that my identity is in him, that I am who

Mark 13 predicts trials and su fering—but the emphasis is not on the

I know I need to remember this in the midst of my own troubles. However

But the resurrection of Jesus says no abomination will overcome his

I feel a connection to Judas here, as awful as that seems. I have monstrous

These words are so endlessly surprising and inﬁnitely meaningful. A God

No wonder it never gets old.

But as he prepared to go to his death, I think Jesus wished the conversation

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

We see here the full strength of the religious establishment working

I think it is important to know the gravity of our “falling”. In this if we sit

In this passage, I am reminded that I am a human living with other

As a follower of Jesus, I o ten feel a distance between who I am and who

And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in

New Testament scholar, Richard Bauckham suggests that the insertion of

There is something especially destructive when the state demeans families

Dietrich Bonhoe fer, the martyr of the German Confessing Church

As the old hymn says,

Throughout the world, people experience su fering that I can barely

I am four generations removed from slavery; two generations removed

But what I want to focus on is the commonality between us and great

And ﬁnally, at the cruciﬁxion, the combined might of the religious

This passage is heartbreaking to me. But it contains the seeds of triumph

Regardless, Joseph took courage. Sometimes, it is these small, mundane but

These verses ministered to me for days as I prepared for this devotional. I

I thought back on some of my own times of grieving whether from a

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,

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