CATCHING YOUR BREATH…MAYBE

WEDNESDAY AFTER PALM SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

It is Holy Wednesday and today I want to look at Mark 14:53—65. Tomorrow will start the Triduum—the Sacred Three Days. In a way I feel like this is a day I am “catching my breath.” It is a day where I think (I’ll know at the end of the day) that I have a little bit of time to put the final touches on the services of those sacred days.

Which is possibly why Bishop Wright has invited us to ponder twelve verses—the trial of Jesus. Tomorrow, Maundy Thursday, we will have much to consider and do: foot washing, Holy Communion, Gethsemane. And then there is Good Friday with the Passion and Crucifixion. Yesterday we considered staying awake in the Garden…today we gaze upon the trial before the religious of the day. As I sat with my Bible opened, looking at the passage, what struck me was the “red letters” versus the “black letters.” The “black letters” capture the words of the high priest, the chief priests, elders, scribes, and their congregation. There is panic and confusion and chaos in the scene. Mob rule is the order of the day as Jesus is struck and spit upon. Jesus utters one sentence: “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” He is quoting Daniel 7 and Psalm 110 as he claims to be the Messiah. Their reaction is expected. They are blind to Jesus. Unable able to see him, they mock and insult; they spit and strike.

If we take a moment and look at Jesus—simply look at what he says and what he does—he invites one of two responses…he is not a good moral teacher…here is a man who claims to be the Son, to be the Judge. It is no wonder that the world either rejects or adores…it makes his method of salvation…that of death on a Cross…to be even more striking. As I sit in the midst of this trial, my breath is taken away…so much for catching it.