Day 16--Mark 15-16

On Sunday Jan. 8, our senior pastor invited the church to read the entire New Testament in 90 days. He also invited everyone to use a method of reflecting and applying each day's reading, nick-named S.O.A.P (Scripture, Observe, Apply, Pray). In deciding to this, I also decided as a way to hold myself to it better, I would keep each day's thoughts here, and hopefully spark some conversation. So each day, I'll share a few thoughts on each aspect of S.O.A.P., and we'll see where it goes...And I'll be reading from the new Common English Bible...

Often when we watch movies, and we see a character doing something really stupid, we'll shout at the screen, as though the character is supposed to hear us. We think it absolutely ridiculous that they would make a decision like that, all the while we criticize them as we sit comfortably in our chairs. What would people say to some of the decisions we have made if they were able to watch our lives. It's always easier to lend advice and criticism when we can be detached from the circumstances, but when we're in the moment, things aren't always as clear.

In the reading of these last chapters, with the first being Jesus' crucifixion, I wonder if Jesus was at any time able to look upon the crowd, the soldiers, the fleeing disciples, and watch how they were acting and reacting. As we read of this event two thousand years later, it can be easy for us to conclude how foolish everyone was, but what about at the time? You might recall that when Jesus first entered Jerusalem, he had a whole crowd who had gathered to greet him, shouting "Hosanna! Hosanna!," which means "Savior." And now that same crowd shouted "Crucify him! Crucify him!" What were they thinking?

Part of this S.O.A.P. exercise is Observing what the scripture reveals about the nature of Christ and the nature of humanity, and we see both very clearly here. It is our nature to simply react, to not think through, and to stumble our way and make really stupid mistakes. And as we see in the end of this gospel, it is Jesus nature to fulfill God's love and hold true to the promise of offering salvation and restoration. A second chance. The Gospel of Mark has an incredibly interesting ending. Women arrive at Jesus' tomb to anoint his body, only to find an angel telling them that he has risen and is waiting for his disciples to meet him where he said he would meet them, so the angel advises the women that they tell the disciples this. And the women run away in terror, not telling anyone anything.

That's how the story ends.

Again, the nature of humanity, to simply react; and yet, the message is still given: Jesus has risen, and he's waiting for his disciples.

Jesus has risen.....and he's waiting for his disciples.

I wish not to run away in fear, to simply react, but to learn from what Jesus has given and live my life by it. After Jesus died, a Roman centurion, a representative of the oppression Jesus came to stop, kneels at the cross where Jesus' body still rested, and proclaimed: "This man was certainly God's Son." No matter what mistakes that centurion made, no matter what mistakes I make, I live with the hope that I understand that statement as the centurion did.

God of Resurrection, who created us and know us more fully than we will ever know ourselves, help us to see the truth of your Son Jesus Christ, that we might turn from fear and reactions, to a peace and faith of who he is and what he does, that we may live a life of peace dedicated to you. AMEN

Day 15--Mark 12-14

On Sunday Jan. 8, our senior pastor invited the church to read the entire New Testament in 90 days. He also invited everyone to use a method of reflecting and applying each day's reading, nick-named S.O.A.P (Scripture, Observe, Apply, Pray). In deciding to this, I also decided as a way to hold myself to it better, I would keep each day's thoughts here, and hopefully spark some conversation. So each day, I'll share a few thoughts on each aspect of S.O.A.P., and we'll see where it goes...And I'll be reading from the new Common English Bible...

It's astounding sometimes how well we are able to keep our attention away from what we don't want to know or think about. No matter how many times it is told to us or how many times we encounter the news, we are very good about denying its existence. Time and again Jesus tells his disciples about how they will go to Jerusalem, that he will be arrested and crucified, and rise from the dead. And it is not only that the disciples have difficulty understanding what Jesus is saying, but even what they do understand, they refuse to attend. Even when they enter Jerusalem, they are still not focused on what is about to happen to their teacher, despite what Jesus continues to say to them.

One day they are leaving the temple, after Jesus has shared some stories and teachings, and one of the disciple’s comments on the beautiful structure of the temple. Have you had that experience when you pour your heart out, or talk very passionately about an important point, and your listeners' response is to comment on something--anything--other than what you've just said. It's as though the disciples will focus on anything else but the inevitable. It's no big surprise to most that right now the church--like a lot of member based institutions--is facing bigger and bigger decline, so much so that the next 10 years will show a true insight on the future of the church. Some are working to deal with possible changes, while others are content to pretend as though no change is needed. It's easier to focus on the niceties rather than the realities. These circumstances however do not stop Jesus' mission.

During the Festival of the Passover, Jesus shares communion with his disciples, taking bread and wine, telling them it represents his body and blood, and in the giving of the bread and wine to his disciples, Jesus shows the giving of himself to the world. In his predictions, Jesus tells them that they will all desert him in his arrest, to which Peter responds that he will never abandon him. And yet after Jesus' arrest, as he stands trial, Peter waits outside in the courtyard, and someone recognizes him as one of Jesus' followers. Peter says he doesn't know Jesus and walks away, but someone else asks him if he's with Jesus, and Peter answers that he's not. Encountering a third person, they call him a disciple of Jesus, to which Peter answers loudly in anger that he does not know Jesus. And in hearing the rooster crow, he remembers Jesus telling him that before he heard it, he would deny him three times. Peter runs away weeping.

We can only be in denial for so long, whether it's a few hours or a few decades, eventually what we turn away from comes back. And one of the most terrifying feelings can be when we no longer have the ability to deny what's in front of us.

The old cliché is true, it can be easier to believe in Jesus when things are going well; and yet at times when we are at our lowest, our faith in Jesus can be the strongest. Perhaps it depends on what we are willing to embrace instead of denying. It could be argued that right now is not the greatest time to be a Christian, a proclaiming follower of Jesus. The church can often be seen as hypocritical, judgmental, out of touch, and why be a part of that? And yet, it could also be argued that in the midst of fear, confusion, hopelessness, sharing the story of Christ is needed as much as it ever has been. One of my favorite illustrations about this comes from the movie Superman Returns. Superman comes back to Earth after being gone for five years. When he returns, he’s found that times have changed, and perhaps society has forgotten about him. It’s kind of an interesting commentary on our society because in reality it’s been 20 years since we’ve seen Superman in the theaters, and a lot has changed. Our idea of a hero has changed, and perhaps Superman has become obsolete. In the movie, Lois Lane has written an award winning article entitled: “Why The World Doesn’t Need Superman.” When Superman asks her why she wrote it, she tells him, “The world doesn’t need a savior.” Superman then tells her he wants to show her something, and takes her up into the night sky. As they look down on the lights of Metropolis he asks her what she hears. She says she doesn’t hear anything. Superman says: “I hear everything. You wrote that the world doesn’t need a savior. But every day I hear people crying for one.”

While it may be possible for us to deny what is going on around us presently, it does not make reality any less real for those whom we are ignoring, whether it’s Jesus, or the lost, those whom Jesus came to be a savior to.

God of salvation, who came in the midst of the brokenness, fear, and hopelessness of the world, you are the light to our darkness. Help us to not be afraid, to not run away and deny you, but to embrace you and you embrace us and lead us back to you, so that we may passionately share your love with a world crying to be rescued. Through Christ our Savior. AMEN

Day 14--Mark 9-11

On Sunday Jan. 8, our senior pastor invited the church to read the entire New Testament in 90 days. He also invited everyone to use a method of reflecting and applying each day's reading, nick-named S.O.A.P (Scripture, Observe, Apply, Pray). In deciding to this, I also decided as a way to hold myself to it better, I would keep each day's thoughts here, and hopefully spark some conversation. So each day, I'll share a few thoughts on each aspect of S.O.A.P., and we'll see where it goes...And I'll be reading from the new Common English Bible...

After Jesus tells his disciples of his death, Peter took Jesus aside and said that it must not be true. I often imagine Peter at this point--after Jesus has told them the most startling, powerful news he had so far--taking Jesus aside, almost like those self-imposed father figures, y'know the ones who have taken it upon themselves to be your advisor/mentor. I can imagine Peter doing with Jesus and saying, "Ok, level with me. This is a new parable or something, right? You can be straight with me, one on one, just the two of us. You don't really mean what you said, right?" Have you had this kind of experience, where someone tries to "set you straight?" Don't you just feel like you need a shower. And I love Jesus' response: "Get behind me, Satan!" That shut Peter up and put him in his place. So right after that, Jesus takes Peter and a couple other disciples out to a mountain, where the Transfiguration happens; a moment in which Jesus is transformed into blinding white light and is lifted into the air. The story goes that the disciples saw Elijah and Moses on either side of him (these were two people who did not physically die, but were taken up into heaven). When Jesus comes back down, the disciples are astonished, and Peter is true to form. "Jesus," he proclaims, "this is great! I know exactly what to do! We'll build altars and shrines to commemorate this spectacular event! We'll build one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah...," and right then the skies darken and the voice of God comes forth, telling them that Jesus is his son and to listen to him. You really can't get put in your place any more than that.

What's Peter's deal? Chapter 9 reads that Peter says this to Jesus because he didn't know what else to say. That's certainly understandable, we've all been in situations where we're speechless, and we have that uncomfortable feeling where we have to fill the silence with something, so we say whatever we can think, which oftentimes turns out to be not good. Because we hate silence, we hate the awkwardness of not doing anything. Perhaps like Peter, we do not allow ourselves to embrace the wonder of what is happening around us, and it is too much, so we have to dial it down with speech. Peter can't seem to simply take what Jesus says and embrace, he has to put his own spin on it. Not only does this reflect the human reality that we often can't seem to simply let the powerful mystery of silence at the present time be what it's supposed to be, but perhaps more importantly Peter is doing something else with his response to Jesus' transfiguration.

In Peter's time, when someone had a holy experience, they would build a monument or some physical structure commemorating that this spot of land was now holy, so that others would know what had happened. So on one hand Peter was just doing what was commonly known among his people to honor God. But on the other hand, Peter is arguably doing something here that we are also guilty of at times. In saying that a monument, an enclosure should be built in what this experience was--much like Peter taking Jesus aside and telling him that his proclamation of his death and resurrection can't be true--Peter is trying to domesticate Jesus, trying to enclose and confine, and define him by the standards of culture, tradition, and humanity. And Jesus won't have it.

We can do this often with our rituals, traditions, mission statements, condemnation of others...we can't put Jesus in a box, our box. And we walk all over the beautiful mystery of what Jesus is revealing to us. We try to rationalize or explain or domesticate the power of what Jesus is doing rather than simply receiving and being a part of it.

Later on people begin bringing children to Jesus to be blessed, and the disciples scold them for doing this, but Jesus tells them not to stop children from coming to him. In this time children were not really seen as people because they had not fully developed, they couldn't help with the family work or contribute to the family survival, so they weren't seen as people. But Jesus saw them. The Gospel of Mark writes that Jesus hugged these children and blessed them, saying "Whoever doesn't welcome God's kingdom like a child will never enter it." Having a son for a year now, one of the things I love about Ben is his lack of restraint when it comes to embracing things and people. Sure it gets him in trouble, or dirty, but his enthusiasm to want to love things and people, without any fear or embarrassment, to me is what Jesus means by welcoming the kingdom of God like a child. My guess is if and when Jesus were to appear to the world today, the first to be able to not only recognize him but also go to him would be children. If we as adults can learn and remember what that is like, I believe we would embrace the mystery of Christ more fully and not want to fill that sacred silence with our dumbfounded words.

In the everyday work of ministry, I am no better at this. It's not that difficult to overlook the mystery of the sacred and holy even while being in a church all day. Sometimes it's because of being inside a church all day, and not out with God's people, that I can overlook that sacred and holy of Christ. One of my intentions is to be better about that, and to be out in the community which I serve, interacting with God's people.

God of Great Mystery and Holiness, who reveals such wonder and beauty and truth for which we can be healed and brought back to you, helps us to drop the need to always define who you are and what you do and to simply be a part of it as you would intend us, that we might take what you reveal and not contain it, but spread it to the world, as Jesus did. AMEN

Day 12 (&13)--Mark 4-8

On Sunday Jan. 8, our senior pastor invited the church to read the entire New Testament in 90 days. He also invited everyone to use a method of reflecting and applying each day's reading, nick-named S.O.A.P (Scripture, Observe, Apply, Pray). In deciding to this, I also decided as a way to hold myself to it better, I would keep each day's thoughts here, and hopefully spark some conversation. So each day, I'll share a few thoughts on each aspect of S.O.A.P., and we'll see where it goes...And I'll be reading from the new Common English Bible...

In these four chapters, Jesus is continually teaching and healing amongst his disciples, they see him performing these miraculous acts, they even receive power from Jesus to do this themselves, and yet they still struggle understanding who he is.

Jesus tells them the parable of the farmer sowing seeds, how some of the seeds were eaten by birds, some landed on rock so that they grew quick but weren't rooted and dried up, some fell on thorny plants and were choked out, and some fell on good soil and bore fruit. Jesus ended by saying that anyone who had ears to hear should listen. The disciples ask Jesus what this parable means, and it seems and though they continually ask him in one way or another in these following chapters. Not long after Jesus encounters a man possessed by a demon named Legion, who instantly recognizes Jesus as the Son of God, he heals the man and tells him to go back to his home and tell everyone what has happened, which he does vigorously.

Time and again we see Jesus encountering people who either meet him for the first time, or have heard about him, such as the woman who had been suffering physically for over a decade, saw Jesus, and touched his robe and was healed. Time and again after Jesus healed others, he would tell them not to say anything, but they would because of what they had experienced. And though these people were transformed after only a few hours with him--or even a few seconds--those who were spending their life with Jesus did not seem to catch on as quickly. Jesus even commissions these disciples to go to other communities and do exactly what he's doing--which they do--and still they don't seem to understand. They are present when Jesus is able to feed 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. He gives the food to the disciples personally to hand out to the people, and still they do not understand. When they are in a boat at sea, and a strong wind stopped them from reaching land, Jesus walked on water to them; when they saw him they screamed because they thought he was a ghost. When he entered the boat the wind stopped, and they were baffled, they didn't understand. Even after all they had experienced.

Can it be that sometimes when we are in the midst of following Jesus we can forget why, or who it even it we are truly following? How could we be amongst people who Jesus heals and not see the powerful transformation which takes place? How could the disciples watch Jesus place his hands on the eyes of a blind man, and then take them away so that he was now able to see, and still not understand? Wherever Jesus went, people would place the sick, the blind, the dying to him so that they would be healed, and the disciples continue to ask who Jesus is?

Even after a lifetime of attending church, we can still ask that question. The whole tree/forest imagery, or the baby/bathwater--name your metaphor; sometimes the people who understand Jesus the least are those who seemed to have followed him the longest. But have their lives been transformed by him?

In chapter 8, Jesus and the disciples are in their boat, and they only have one loaf of bread for all of them, to which Jesus advises them to watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and of King Herod. The disciples talk amongst themselves thinking that Jesus made this comment because they had no bread, but Jesus ask them why they still don't understand. "Are your hearts so resistant to what God is doing? Don't you have eyes? Why can't you see? Don't you have ears? Why can't you hear? Don't you remember?" He reminds them of the feeding of the 5,000, and then later when he feed 4,000, and how they had food to spare. "And you still don't understand?"

Humanity is a curious lot, that we can claim we are waiting for something which has passed us so many times already, or we hold ourselves back from the very thing we claim to want. Why? Why do we talk about wanting to change the world, but are afraid to look a person in the eye who's sitting on the cold concrete? Why do we say the way we do things needs to change, but then implement the same methods with new titles? Why do we struggle to know Jesus, or think of how our lives have been changed because of him?

Do we still not understand?

I admit that I have not had a "drop my net and follow Jesus" moment, a defining event in my life in which I could say "Yesterday I was not a follower of Jesus, and today I am." It has been a gradual process over my life that is so intermixed with me that it is a journey I am still on. But one example I often come back to is when my younger brother was a church mime. I don't know what the correct title is, but remember back in the early 2000s when doing mime performances in youth groups were popular? One Easter sunrise service at my hometown church, our youth group enacted the Easter story in mime; all the youth wore mime makeup and the black and white striped clothes, and my brother played Jesus. He looked like all the other mimes, but he had a cross with him. And as he came up the aisle, re-enacting the journey up to Golgotha to be crucified, right as he passed me, he fell to his knees holding the cross on this shoulders. I don't think he noticed I was sitting there, I don't think he planned it, but as part of the performance he portrayed the weight of that cross on his weakened, beaten body. It was at that moment, seeing my brother fall with that cross over his shoulders, watching the way he made that cross look so heavy, that I personally felt Jesus giving himself for the world....for me.

I don't often preach the idea of "When Jesus died he was thinking of you," the idea that when Jesus was crucified, he did it for Andy Whitaker Smith, because I think a lot of times that's more of an ego boost for us than a proclamation to Christ, but I do believe that when Jesus died, he died for God's people, and I am one of them. So Jesus did die for me.

And sometimes I forget, and I still don't fully understand it, but I continue to live my life in the faith of it, of Christ, and doing what I can to share that story with the world.

How will we live so that we understand who Jesus is as we follow him?

Gracious God, sometimes we think we are following Jesus so closely that we can forget why. Help to live not just in his teachings, but that we see the transformation he has had on us. AMEN

Day 11--Mark 1-3

On Sunday Jan. 8, our senior pastor invited the church to read the entire New Testament in 90 days. He also invited everyone to use a method of reflecting and applying each day's reading, nick-named S.O.A.P (Scripture, Observe, Apply, Pray). In deciding to this, I also decided as a way to hold myself to it better, I would keep each day's thoughts here, and hopefully spark some conversation. So each day, I'll share a few thoughts on each aspect of S.O.A.P., and we'll see where it goes...And I'll be reading from the new Common English Bible...

NOTE: Ok, since I'm starting a new book, I think I'm going to take a new approach, cuz posting Matthew like that really felt more like homework, and didn't flow well...so I'd like to take a different approach. Instead of summarizing the passages, I'll share with you what they are, hopefully you'll read them yourself, but these posts will deal more with the "OAP" of "SOAP..."

The Gospel of Mark is arguably by most the first of the four gospels. It's much shorter than the other three and more concise. Jesus arrives, and starts his ministry. It begins with his teaching and healing people, and doing it with an authority the people had never heard before from religious leaders.

In chapter 1, Jesus and his disciples have been healing people all night, and early the next morning the disciples find Jesus praying alone. One of the disciples tells him that everyone is looking for him, implying that they are expecting Jesus to continue his healings. I always imagined the disciples at this point like excited little kids ready to go back on the Tilt-O-Whirl. It could even be equated with churches who think they have finally found the magic solution to the problem of membership decline. Neither of which is bad, hearts are in the right places, but then Jesus stands and says something very eye-opening: "Let's head in the other direction, to the nearby villages, so that I can preach there, too. That's why I've come."

This week I attended an event with pastors of United Methodist churches from Kansas and Nebraska, as we are nearing a time to vote on all churches in both states becoming one Annual Conference overseen by one Bishop. Think of one person in charge of each and every church in both states, how to create new budgets, new support systems, new ways of doing ministry in a connectional way; there's a lot of energy going on, both positive and anxious. The theme of this event was "Hope in the Face of Change;" listening to speakers, conversing with one another, and just having opportunities to be able to discuss where things are going. At the end of the even this morning, Bishop Scott Jones of Kansas East and West Conferences illustrated in his sermon about walking through life--and ministry--with a giant load on one's back, so much so that all one can see is the ground and the trash upon it. He went on to talk about how we need to stand up straight and look up toward God.

Oftentimes when we are in the midst of things which are either positive or anxious, we can still find ourselves looking at the smaller picture. Sometimes it's because things have become so overwhelming, or we are in a situation that we really, really like and think that it can't possibly be any better. And then Jesus says, "It's time to leave." Now to my fellow United Methodist clergy, this isn't about itinerancy, that when we are in the midst of great ministry we are suddenly forced to move; but I think when the disciples are all excited and expecting to pick up right where Jesus left off the night before, they're thinking that that is the point of Jesus' ministry, to simply heal and teach on that level that they took part of. But Jesus reminds them that he is here for a bigger purpose, which we see unfold throughout the story, and something that the disciples have to re-learn and re-experience over and over again, just like us.

Jesus never loses sight of his mission. He is also focused on God, whether his ministry is going really well, or his life is in danger, Jesus is always looking up toward God and God's purposes, ready to say "Let's head in the other direction."

In chapter 2 we have the famous story of Jesus healing the paralytic; not only healing him but telling him his sins are forgiven, which the people believe only God can do. But Jesus unfolds another aspect of his true ministry, as he does with beginning to eat with sinners and tax collectors: "Healthy people don't need a doctor, but sick people do. I didn't come to call righteous people, but sinners." As the beginning of the gospel story reveals John and Jesus calling people to change their hearts and minds, we see that Jesus in his healing and teaching is causing people to do that, to see the love of God in a new way that calls those who are in need of transformation, repentance, and renewal.

In ministry it can be incredibly easy to remain facing downward and only see the ground. After events like I went to this week, I feel myself standing up straight again and looking toward God and the transforming power that God is giving. It causes me wipe my eyes clean and energized to be a part of the transformation.

Day 10--Matthew 27-28

On Sunday Jan. 8, our senior pastor invited the church to read the entire New Testament in 90 days. He also invited everyone to use a method of reflecting and applying each day's reading, nick-named S.O.A.P (Scripture, Observe, Apply, Pray). In deciding to this, I also decided as a way to hold myself to it better, I would keep each day's thoughts here, and hopefully spark some conversation. So each day, I'll share a few thoughts on each aspect of S.O.A.P., and we'll see where it goes...And I'll be reading from the new Common English Bible...

SCRIPTURE:

• As Jesus is brought before the council of elders and chief priests, Judas regrets betraying Jesus, gives back his silver, and hangs himself.
• Governor Pilate asks the crowd what should be done with Jesus, to which they answer that he should be crucified. Pilate asks what wrong Jesus has committed, but the crowd only answers for him to be crucified. Pilate says he washes his hands of this matter, sentences Jesus to crucifixion, and has him beaten.
• Soldiers make a bystander carry Jesus' cross up to the place of crucifixion where Jesus is crucified next to two others; people who passed him spat on him and shouted insults.
• Near the end, Jesus cried out, asking God why he had been forsaken, and died shortly after. The earth shook and rocks split, and a centurion approached Jesus and said "Truly this was the Son of God."
• Two women come to tend to Jesus' tomb, meeting an angel in white, telling them that he isn't here, but has been raised from the dead, and to go and tell his disciples. On the way they actually meet Jesus, who tells them that he will meet his disciples in Galilee.
• When the disciples meet in Jesus in Galilee, he tells them "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. I will be with you everyday until the end of this present age."

OBSERVE: What we think is the end is not. Jesus brings a new beginning, fulfilling all he said he would. It is only at the end of this story that we not only see the beginning, but that when Jesus tells his disciples to make other disciples, it is through their sharing the experience Jesus shared with them.

APPLY: The acting of "making disciples" is not about conversion, but about sharing who Christ is. I share the story of Christ and how Christ has changed me, how who he is has impacted me, as a way of making disciples.

PRAYER: God of Resurrection, of new life and new beginnings, show us that the story never ends, that in Jesus we have been transformed. Help us to see past the drudgery and into your guidance for us. Help us to experience that new life and to share that new life with others, and Christ shares it with us. AMEN

Day 9--Matthew 25-26

On Sunday Jan. 8, our senior pastor invited the church to read the entire New Testament in 90 days. He also invited everyone to use a method of reflecting and applying each day's reading, nick-named S.O.A.P (Scripture, Observe, Apply, Pray). In deciding to this, I also decided as a way to hold myself to it better, I would keep each day's thoughts here, and hopefully spark some conversation. So each day, I'll share a few thoughts on each aspect of S.O.A.P., and we'll see where it goes...And I'll be reading from the new Common English Bible...

SCRIPTURE: Jesus tells a parable about the kingdom of heaven being like 10 bridesmaids with lamps going to meet the groom. 5 of the bridesmaids didn't bring enough oil. The groom was late, and all the bridesmaids fell asleep waiting. One of the them suddenly cried out he was coming and they ran to meet him. The 5 who ran out of oil asked the others for more, but were advised to go to a nearby shop to buy some. By the time they got back the room with the groom and bridesmaids was shut and locked. The other bridesmaids cried out to be let in, to which the groom replied that he didn't know them. Jesus ends by saying to keep alert, because no one knows when this time will come. He tells another parable of a wealthy man leaving his estate in the hands of his servants, giving one servant 10 valuable coins, another 2, and another 1. When he returned the first two servants invested the coins and made even more, to which the master was very happy with his servants. But to the one who only had one, he told his master that he was afraid he might lose it, so he buried it, to which the master was angry, telling his servant that he could have at least put it in the bank and something would have come of it.

He then tells his disciples about when he will come back in his majesty and glory with his angels, and will separate people from one another as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. To the sheep he will tell them to come with him, for when he was hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, in prison, they cared for him. The servants will asked when they did it for Jesus, and Jesus will tell them that when they did so to the least and lost, they also did it to Jesus. Likewise he will tell the goats that they rejected Jesus because they rejected the least and the lost.

As the chief priests continue to plan how to arrest Jesus, Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples, tells them that he will point Jesus out to them and help arrest him for thirty pieces of silver. During the Passover festival, while Jesus was with his disciples, he took a loaf of bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying "Take and eat. This is my body." Then he took a cup of wine, blessed and gave thanks for it, and gave it to the disciples, saying "Drink from this, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many so that their sins may be forgiven." As Jesus and his disciples left, he told them that they would soon abandon him, to which Peter promised that he would never leave Jesus. Jesus told him that before the rooster crowed, Peter will forsake him three times. Jesus and a few of the disciples go to a garden where Jesus tells them to wait while he prays alone. As he's praying, he tells God to take him away from his mission if it is possible; but if it truly is his mission, he will carry it out. He comes back to find his disciples asleep. Judas arrives with a large crowd and points Jesus out. As Jesus is arrested his disciples run away.

Jesus is brought before the council of high priests who attempt to make him confess that he's the son of God, but Jesus is silent. They then tear his clothes and begin to beat him. Outside in the courtyard, people begin to recognize Peter as a disciple, which he denies. The more people recognize him, the louder he shouts he's not with Jesus. He then hears the rooster crow and begins to weep, remembering what Jesus told him.

OBSERVE: We are given a unique glimpse into a prayer of Jesus, one of the few times we know what he's praying about, and in the midst of all things, he prays that if it is possible, God will take this mission away from him. Jesus is honest in that he would choose not to do what he's about to if he could, but also holds true to his purpose. At the same time, we see the disciples who have proclaimed to never leave Jesus run away once the authorities arrest. We see that strength comes not from being fearless, but in faith being stronger than fear. Once Peter is confronted with his fear, all he can do is run away.

APPLY: It can be easier to act as though faith means no fear or doubt, but the reality is living a life of faith can sometimes be even more terrifying. Where will this faith take us? What will it ask of us? What if we're wrong? There is nothing wrong with being afraid, which is where faith can give strength and be able to overcome fear. In looking at my own life and ministry, I do not have to live as though there is nothing for me to fear, but to live in my faith that I am not alone.

PRAYER: God of strength and refuge, who is with us even in our darkest and most fearful moments, we can often forget you are with us, especially in our most fearful times. But you assure us that no matter what, you are with us and can bring greatness out of anything. Help us to remember that while we may be afraid, we are never alone. AMEN