Friday, March 3, 2017

The Triumphal Entry

Image result for the triumphal entry of jesus into jerusalem
JesusWalk.com


“The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them and Jesus sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted. ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest.’ When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this? The crowds answered, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” Matt. 21:6-11 (NIV)

            The people came out to see the Master as he rode on two donkeys from Bethpage to Jerusalem. They rejoiced that He chose to come to their town.  

            Have you ever wondered what caused the people to rejoice the first of the week, turn angry, then ugly as the week wore on?  We have been told by Biblical scholars that the people of Israel were looking for a physical king, not a spiritual one. The religious leaders stirred up the people, especially after Jesus cleared the Temple of the money changers.

            Have you ever asked yourself, “What did Jesus think of the way he was received? I believe He would have preferred to come into town with as little fanfare as possible. He traveled a great distance on his journey to Jerusalem.

            Due to Jesus’ humanity, could He have been fatigued? Might the reception He received at Bethpage have stressed Him out?


             Earlier, Jesus had pointed out to a crowd of people they were only interested in receiving food from Him. I wonder what He would have told these people along the road to Jerusalem, had He the chance. What do you think He would say to them?

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Mary of Bethany’s Thoughts

Image result for mary of bethany perfume
Thisischurch.com




This is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. For the next seven weeks, I will bring you a Lenten thought or message.

            My name is Mary; I live in Bethany. The Master brought my brother Lazarus back to life. My sister Martha and I were grateful to Him. My brother decided to give a dinner in Jesus’ honor when He came to our town.

            My sister Martha is a wonderful cook. She fixed food truly fit for a king. I wanted to honor Jesus myself. All I had was a jar of nard I had received from a suitor.

            I opened the container; the scent filled the room. I poured the perfume on His feet with care, not wanting to waste any of it. Then I wiped Jesus’ feet with my hair.

            One of His disciples, also a dinner guest objected to what I had done. He muttered something about that perfume could have been sold and the money used for the poor. 

            Jesus spoke up for me and said something about my saving it to be used on the day of His burial. But you ask, why did I use it at that time? I did it to show my gratitude to Jesus for bringing my brother back to life. In reflecting on that evening, I am thankful that the Master spoke on my behalf.

            Do believe that Jesus was grateful to Mary for her deed? What might the other disciples have felt during this confrontation between Jesus and Judas?


Monday, February 27, 2017

My Life This Month (February)

    

A gift last Easter, Cecelia Lester


           I gave out section two of my meditation manuscript to local friends for proofreading late last month and early this month.

A group of us are working together to present a Good Friday drama to our church. The practices are going well. I am the assistant director. I have worked on a newsletter item to publicize it to the congregation, a ‘teaser skit’ to spark enthusiasm, and the copy for the program. None of these things are new to me, I have done them before, although it’s been awhile.

            Early this month we received word that Hubby’s best friend’s mother was in ICU. She went to be with Jesus the next evening. Our son lives in the area, we were able to attend the funeral service as a family. Hubby and I were there the evening before the service for most of the calling hours. Our son came after he got off work.
            My visitation partner and I went to see those we see on the 13th. We took each of the five of them a little-stuffed teddy bear or a little-stuffed dog. I had also ordered some Christian Valentine tracts to put in their little gift bags. They all liked them. One woman was at an appointment. I called her to see if she received hers.

            We have enjoyed the warm weather we had. I even got to sit on my porch two afternoons.

            VBS meeting is at the end of this week. I will miss it because of Drama Practice. I have to reconstruct the attendance sheets. Because of my computer crash, I lost a lot of information. This time, I purchased an external hard drive. Oh, the lessons we learn from our mistakes!

We are having trouble with insomnia. Mine seems to be intermittent. Hubby’s is on a too regular basis. 

God Alone

  Jesus and the children at our church's prayer walk.          I will both lie down in peace and sleep;  For You alone, O LORD make ...