will be betrayed

^17-19Jesus, now well on the way up to Jerusalem, took the Twelve off to the side of the road and said, "Listen to me carefully. We are on our way up to Jerusalem. When we get there, the Son of Man will be betrayed to the religious leaders and scholars. They will sentence him to death. They will then hand him over to the Romans for mockery and torture and crucifixion. On the third day he will be raised up alive." -Matthew 20

I've been reading and rereading this scripture a lot lately, wondering many things, but mainly, I cannot stop asking myself:


What did the disciples think?


How did they respond to that?


What were their face expressions?


What did they say- if they even spoke at all?


Matthew doesn't answer any of these questions for me.
So, I sort of answer them for myself by putting myself in their place,


Imagining Jesus Christ, Son of God, My personal savior, turning to me and telling me about his soon-to-come, graphic, violent death for the salvation of the world.


...I'm not sure how I'd respond.


But I think we should keep in mind the kind of relationship the disciples had with Jesus.


I mean, these 12 guys (plus many other followers) were with Jesus throughout his entire 3 year ministry.


They were there when Jesus stood in the temple and spoke those astounding words "destroy this temple and I'll rebuild it in three days!"


They were by His side when he called a dead man out of his tomb.


They were there to watch Him restore sight to a blind man.


They hung on every word he spoke,


saw every step he took,


every act of love,


every compassionate look


and now...


...Now they were wondering if they were going to watch this totally dynamic, beautiful, God-in-the-flesh savior of the universe ...die.


I mean, did they wonder if that was even possible? Could "The Light of the World" perish on a cross?


How could this happen?


I can practically see the gears in their minds whirling.


And I can't say that I blame them; I'd probably feel the same way.


But, the disciples, though they feared to imagine it, did witness their worst nightmare come true before their very eye: They would watch their best friend and teacher give up his life on the cross; dying the most brutal, and horrific death imaginable.


Though, as, Jesus explained to them at the last supper in John's gospel; They didn't understand now, but they would understand later.
And that their sadness would soon transform into joy.


True.


But, this was their best friend telling them this. Telling them that they would soon watch Him die.


...And stunningly, the disciple's responses are not written. We have no idea how they reacted.


So within this 'Biblical Blackout' we have have this brilliant opportunity to turn the table here and put ourselves in their sandals.


The opportunity to look into Jesus' eyes and absorb His first person, preface of His own death. In His own words.


The death He would die...for us.

don't cave in

Jesus has a way of totally blowing my mind. In a totally good and awesome way.


Frequently, I will let my bible fall open in my lap and read whatever it opens to.


This happened yesterday: Matthew 10. Shoot the Moon.

I really feel like sometimes we unconsciously estrange ourselves from the bible.
We often view it as a "Holy Book", an "Instruction Manual" or even a "History Book".


We're missing it.

It's not a 'book', it's a person,

It's not an 'instruction manual', it's life,

and it's certainly not a 'history book', it's a love letter.

A love letter to us.

Matthew 10 speaks to me in a very profound way; It's all about the cross. The death and the Resurrection and what that means exactly for us.

Jesus is sending the disciples out, explaining that they're now part of something truly radical and that the world is going to hate them for that, but to be of good cheer because they are, quiet literally in God, and nothing can change that or shake the core of who they are.

We, also, are Jesus' disciples. He's talking to us too. He knew we'd eventually be reading Matthew 10. (Of course.) So I take this extremely personal.

Jesus is love


and he was hated for that in the world.


And because we are one with Jesus, one with God, we will also be hated and rejected by the world.

So when we see the world hating us,

rejecting us,

fighting us,

we know we're on the right track. Because "They hated me too" Jesus tells us.


(From The Message)
"When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don't quit. Don't cave in."


"Don't be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There's nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands."


I have experienced all of the above, and I feel so encouraged by these verses because God himself, Jesus Christ is telling us, that the world will hate us, but that we don't have to fear, or back down, or shut up, because our lives are in his hands; He is living inside of us and we are living inside of Him: Totally One with God. He is working in and through us on this Earth. His voice is our voice.


So...


be a rainbow in a grayscale world.

Desensitized

“…Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit…”

　

　
…Did you ever get that “I’m missing something” feeling?

Like when you misplace a pen and search around for it for ten minutes only to find that it was right behind your ear the whole time?

I get that feeling. A lot.

Especially when I’m reading scripture, and especially when I’m reading scriptures like the one above;

…It’s like I’m missing something that’s before my very eyes. Literally.

I know what you’re thinking; Every Christian knows the story of the Cross: Jesus came to Earth, Lived, died and saved us from our sins. End of story.

I’ve heard it told like that countless times.

But I believe the Cross is far more than that;

Because the Cross isn’t a pass-tense noun,

It’s a present-tense verb.

It’s an action. It’s a radical act of love beyond human comprehension.

And that’s what this blog is all about; We’re studying the cross for the verb that it is; ever present in our lives and in all that we do.

We hear sermons about the Cross on good Friday and Easter, we read it in the scripture, we sing songs about it, we even wear it around our necks.

It’s safe to say, we’ve become desensitized.

I’ve noticed it in myself, as I read the last chapters of John; I know the verses so well and I remember exactly what happens from Gethsemane right through to the Resurrection.

…That’s what scares me.

Because when we read the text for the stereotype image of the cross, we are seriously missing it.

Because throughout the gospels, we see that Jesus is totally dynamic; every word He speaks has interminable

meaning, oceans of wisdom flowing from His every action, from His every thought.

And it doesn’t stop at the cross.

So this blog is all about sensitizing ourselves to the Cross and looking at it from a totally different, fresh perspective.

Because this is a love story of terrible beauty.

In fact,

It’s the story of us.