Jesus Trusted the Women

Earlier this week Bronwyn Lea wrote an article about What Easter Says About Trusting Women on the Huff Post Religion Blog.  In it she notes:

But in the hours and days after his death, God in His sovereignty entrusted a group of women to be the first witnesses of Jesus' resurrection. Women, whose opinion counted for nothing in court. Women, who couldn't vote. Women, who were regarded as less able, and innately less trustworthy. But it was to these that the Angel first testified that Jesus had risen from the dead, and to these that Jesus first appeared and commissioned to bear witness to his resurrection.

Of course, the disciples didn't believe their story. Of course they didn't trust the women -- "these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them" (Luke 24:11) Surely the women were mad? Or frightened? Or too full of feelings? And so wasting no time, the disciples ran to see for themselves.

That first Easter, nobody trusted the women.

But I'm reminded on Easter that Jesus did. He trusted the women.  

And it tells me that somehow, when it comes to bearing witness to Him, He trusts me too.

I have always loved the story of the women encountering the empty tomb on Easter morning.  Luke 24:1-12 says:

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

While we celebrate Jesus' resurrection tomorrow morning, let's make sure we remember how radical Jesus was in his ministry.  That radical love and trust for those society put no stock in continues to have repercussions for us almost 2,000 years later.

Pesach

In addition to today being Good Friday in the Western Christian tradition, tonight is also the first evening of Pesach (Passover) for Jews all over the world.  My husband is Jewish, so we celebrate Passover in our house as well.  Tonight we will be retelling the story of the Exodus out of Egypt.  As we share the Passover meal together it will not be lost on either of us that it is the same meal that Jesus shared with his disciples on Maundy Thursday at the Last Supper.

  

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt recently wrote this reflection on Passover:

On Passover, Jews are commanded to tell the story of the Exodus and to see ourselves as having lived through that story, so that we may better learn how to live our lives today. The stories we tell our children shape what they believe to be possible—which is why at Passover, we must tell the stories of the women who played a crucial role in the Exodus narrative...

While there is much light in today’s world, there remains in our universe disheartening darkness, inhumanity spawned by ignorance and hate. We see horrific examples in the Middle East, parts of Africa, and Ukraine. The Passover story recalls to all of us—women and men—that with vision and action we can join hands with others of like mind, kindling lights along paths leading out of the terrifying darkness.

May it be so.
Happy Passover.  Blessed Good Friday.

Basement Tenebrae

Tenebrae (Latin for "shadows" or "darkness") is a Christian religious service celebrated within Western Christianity on the evening before or early morning of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, which are the last three days of Holy Week. Tenebrae is distinctive for its gradual extinguishing of candles while a series of readings is recited.

I have powerful memories of Holy Week as a child and teenager, and my favorite service was always the Tenebrae Service held in the basement fellowship hall at my childhood church.  The candles and readings were set up and said in the middle of the room, and folding chairs were set up in circles around them.  

The series of readings at our service were the events leading up to Jesus' death, from the Last Supper to the crucifixion and death of Jesus (our church didn't have Good Friday services).  After each reading, the reader extinguished another candle until there were no lights remaining, and we left in silence.

Today I will be attending two Good Friday services, and although I am sure they will powerful and spirit-filled, every Holy Week I am transported back to that basement - - reading about the last hours of Jesus' life with people I love, temporarily extinguishing the light until it returns Easter morning.

Commandment Thursday

The Easter season is full of vocabulary we don't use the rest of the year.  Gary Neal Hansen wrote an article called Vocabulary Lesson: Maundy Thursday last Easter to explain why we call it "Maundy" Thursday.  Hansen says:

If you were too embarrassed to ask, I’ll tell you: It is from a Latin word meaning “commandment.” It is like our English word “mandate.” This is “Commandment Thursday.”

The commandment?  Love one another.  John 13:34 says: 

"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

First Flowers

Monday afternoon I took this picture while waiting for the bus:

Yesterday morning it was 50 degrees and I felt brave enough to wear flip flops.

Glorious!  Holy Week!  Easter!  New Life!

Last night it might have snowed/slushed a little, and this morning it is 32 degrees. 

While the Easter season is typically associated with tulips and lilies and all things spring, being from Western New York I can remember many an Easter when it snowed on Easter Sunday.  While this does put a damper on adorable little girl Easter Sunday fashion statements circa 1989, it can't put a damper on the day. 

The lilies, the tulips, the daffodils and all things spring and new life associated with Easter are just symbols for the new life we have in Christ.  So, let it snow (I guess?).

Being Present During Holy Week

We often want to skip from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday while flying over the days in the middle.  We attend regular worship services on Sundays, and during the week in between many of us follow our regular routines of work, daycare, errands, and deadlines.  It is difficult to observe religious holidays that don’t fall on days the rest of the world recognizes as important.  The world goes on, and so do we.  Plus it is so much easier to celebrate holidays that are surrounded in joy and love. 

It is easy to approach the drama of holy week the way that we approach other tragedies in our lives.  All of us, at some point in our lives are guaranteed to be at the center of a story that is tragic.  Where is God during this pain and suffering?  We expect God to be with us when we gather for praise and prayer here in church.  But we most want God to be with us during our times of tragedy; especially there.  And that’s the good news behind the sad story that convenes us this Holy Week.  Where is God?  God is with us, in our human suffering, betrayal, disappointment, and trouble.  There is no tragedy in which we walk that God has not walked before us so that God could be fully with us. 

God doesn’t give us an explanation for the tragic, or rescue us from the tragic. God gives us something that may be even better – God's presence with us in the tragic. What a great comfort to know, in our moments of greatest difficulty, that God has been there and that God is there with us. 

After his son died in a car that plummeted into Boston Harbor, William Sloane Coffin preached a now-famous sermon that has become a classic statement on the relationship of the Christian faith to the tragic:

When a person dies, there are many things that can be said, and at least one thing that should never be said. The night after Alex died, a woman came by carrying quiches. She shook her head, saying sadly, “I just don’t understand the will of God.” Instantly I swarmed all over her. “I’ll say you don’t, lady! Do you think it was the will of God that Alex never fixed that lousy windshield wiper, that he was probably driving too fast in a storm? Do you think it is God’s will that there are no streetlights along that stretch of road?” Nothing so infuriates me as the incapacity of intelligent people to get it through their heads that God doesn’t go around with his finger on triggers, his fist around knives, his hands on steering wheels. God is dead set against all unnatural deaths. The one thing that should never be said when someone dies is, “It is the will of God.” My own consolation lies in knowing that it was not the will of God that Alex die; that when the waves closed over the sinking car, God’s heart was the first of all our hearts to break.

God is not far away in the hour of suffering. God has created us as frail creatures, but God is not absent. Jesus shows us that God is especially present in moments of suffering. 

Jesus Christ the Honor Student

One of the results of Steve and I sharing a car since last summer, is that when I want the car to run errands, I have to drive him to work and then go pick him up later on.  On these trips back and forth in busy New Jersey traffic I see a lot of odd things, and I sit in a lot of traffic jams.  Last week I sat in a traffic jam behind this van for many, many miles.  (Before the many caring parental figures in my life chastise me for using my phone while driving, please let me assure you that we were at a complete and full stop for at least an entire minute when this picture was taken).

A few thoughts... 

• a pastor friend once told me he didn't want a cross on his car, lest his poor driving reflect poorly on all of Christendom... I feel likewise about identifying myself via my vehicle (as a Christian or otherwise).
• If the person in the van above (I never did see them, they were always in front of me) cuts you off, or behaves poorly on the road, how then would you feel about Jesus Christ?  This is hypothetical, as we didn't have occasion for poor behavior sitting still in our traffic jam. 
• If you choose to evangelize via your vehicle, I am not judging, just pondering.
• Something about this makes me expect to read Jesus Christ is an Honor Student at Heaven Middle School...