Be Still and Know

Why Have You Forsaken Me?  During Easter, the words; “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani”, will find themselves said with great affect by pastors and priests introducing their sermons.  They will often pause and then tell their congregations, these were the words Jesus said on the cross. More often than not though, their sermons will then move into other areas of the Passion of Jesus. They will miss an incredible opportunity though in glancing over the passage that perhaps best describes this pivotal moment of the life of Jesus Christ.  “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”, is the English translation of the Aramaic Jesus used.  The use of Hebrew had died out to a large extent, used mainly by the scribes and priests.  Jesus while fluent in Hebrew, probably used Aramaic as his daily language.  His family, friends and followers did too. He was most comfortable with it. So at this most agonizing time, the only time that Jesus referred to God as God and not as Fat...

Divine not Human For almost eternity it seemed they had been waiting.  The prophets of old had told their ancestors about a Messiah that would come and free them.  In the Old Testament books of Daniel, Deuteronomy, Ezekiel, Hosea, Jeremiah, Micah the Psalms, and Isaiah all told the people of Israel of this Messiah. And John the Baptist. Though John appears in the New Testament, he was in fact the last of the Old Testament prophets. Thousands of people had been streaming to the Jordan River. They had heard from their friends and families of this strange man.  His voice was loud and angry, challenging the religious establishment. Thousands were in awe. Perhaps John was this prophet their scriptures spoke to.  As we learn though in the early sections of Mark, this wasn’t to be.  John challenged the Pharisees and the Scribes on their religion hypocrisy. He didn’t beg the people to repent, he demanded it. Many agreed and where baptized in the Jordan by John.  Th...

Time for God  If today’s reading seems familiar, you are correct.  The Gospel reading for the First Sunday after the Epiphany was Mark 1:4-11.  Today, the First Sunday in Lent we revisit this passage in Mark but today focus on a different aspect of it. Jesus has been baptized, the voice of God is heard to say; “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Jesus repents not from sin but he in fact dedicates himself to follow God’s will fully while on earth.  And then, immediately the Spirit drives him out to the wilderness. Not in a couple of hours, not tomorrow but immediately.  The wilderness wasn’t some nice little park next to the Jordan River. It was the Judean Desert, bleak inhospitable, similar to other deserts of the world.  The Judean Desert was a place that the people of Israel met God. Both Elijah and John the Baptist spent time there.  They used it as a place of purification.  And immediately upon his baptism, Jesus himself...

This is my Son Four men slowly made their way up a steep rugged mountain. The man leading the group seemed to know exactly the path to take.  The three behind him struggled at times to keep up.  In fact they were struggling both physically and mentally to keep  up.  Six days ago, their teacher, Jesus, had told them something that had been on their minds ever since.  Jesus had said he would suffer many things, would be rejected by the religious establishment and be killed.  And to top it off, he would after three days, rise again.  So, to say the three men, Peter, James and John, where probably deep in thought, is an understatement.   The journey up the mountain wasn’t a leisurely stroll. And this wasn’t just a very big hill either.  Though the name of the mountain is not mentioned in any of the Gospels, it most likely was Mount Hermon.  Mount Hermon is the highest mountain in ancient Israel.  At 9000 feet with snow capped peaks, it ...