WATCHWORD:
1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. 2 So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor. 11 … Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied. Matthew 27:1-2,11
2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 1 Corinthians 15:2-6
Meditation:
Blood Sport
On any given weekend, stadiums, pretty much throughout the world, are packed to capacity with rabid fans, totally dedicated to their teams throughout the NFL, major and minor league baseball, Soccer, college and community sports. Occasionally, you hear stories of riots breaking out and blood being shed over one game or another, usually not by the athletes, but by the fans! In some parts of the world, soccer is actually referred to as a “bloodsport”.
But, that is not new. A different kind of ‘bloodsport’ was just as popular in ancient Rome. In that era, throughout the world, human life was regarded as cheap and, as result, death was considered a commodity of the “sport” of gladiatorial fights. It’s hard for us to imagine that these fights to the death were so popular. People were disappointed if they were deprived of watching their weekend ‘execution!’
This “sport” was finally ended by Emperor Honorius in 404 AD. The story is that a simple monk, named Telemachus, followed the crowd into the Coliseum and, horrified by the bloodshed, jumped into the arena, trying to put an end to the killing. The crowd was so incensed that someone interfered in their “sport”, jumped in and beat the monk to death. The death of a single defenseless monk, the sight of his lifeless body lying in his own blood, sobered the crowd, and they silently left the arena. Shortly after that, the Emperor ended the competitions.
Martin Luther King, Jr., in our own time, would say that “the man who has found nothing to die for is not fit to live.” Throughout the history of Christianity, ordinary people have found something to die for in Christ Jesus.
According to historian Michael Grant, “The most potent figure…in world history…is Jesus Christ, the maker of one of the few revolutions which have lasted. Millions of men and women for century after century found his life and teaching overwhelmingly significant and moving.” A singular life that gave cause, through faith, for ordinary people to find something to die for.
You and I, our old lives nailed to the Cross, walking with Christ from the empty tomb have found something to die for, did we not? Amen.
Martin Luther King, Jr.:
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, observed annually on the third Monday in January, and is a federal holiday set aside to recognize the civil rights leader. An activist, author and Baptist minister, King was an instrumental figure in the civil rights movement, bringing injustices suffered by Black Americans to the forefront of the public eye through peaceful protests.
Holy Week Prayer:
Lord God, six days before his death, your son sat with Lazarus, and ate dinner with his friends. Once again, your gospel tells us, Martha served, and Mary knelt at Jesus feet to anoint them with costly perfume. The disciple who was about to betray him, said it was a waste. He didn’t care about the poor, just wanted to fill his own pockets and make Mary feel ashamed.
Lord God, often we cannot discern what is best: when to pour out costly perfume for your sake, even if the world thinks it is a waste. When to be busy serving, or when to simply rest at your Son’s feet and learn. Give us ears to hear you and eyes to see you, for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen,
