{"id":19093,"date":"2022-04-14T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-14T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotionthursday-14-april-2022"},"modified":"2022-04-14T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T05:00:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-thursday-14-april-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-thursday-14-april-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion\u00a0Thursday 14 April 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

St Luke 23: 46-42<\/strong><\/p>\n

As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus.  A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, \u2018Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are surely coming when they will say, \u201cBlessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.\u201d Then they will begin to say to the mountains, \u201cFall on us\u201d; and to the hills, \u201cCover us.\u201d  For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?\u2019<\/p>\n

Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus[e] there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.  Then Jesus said, \u2018Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.\u2019 And they cast lots to divide his clothing.  And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, \u2018He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!\u2019  The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, \u2018If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!\u2019  There was also an inscription over him, \u2018This is the King of the Jews.\u2019<\/p>\n

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding  him and saying, \u2018Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!\u2019  But the other rebuked him, saying, \u2018Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.\u2019  Then he said, \u2018Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.\u2019  He replied, \u2018Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.\u2019<\/p>\n

Reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maundy Thursday. The dark night before the good day narrated in this passage. The night\u2019s details are as confusing as the details of Jesus\u2019 walk and death that next day.  Three Gospels narrate cross carrier Simon, but only in Luke is the appeal for women to stop weeping; focus on hoping they won\u2019t have to bear the present or next age.  Only Luke writes that Jesus promises paradise to criminals next to him.  The Luke writer goes beyond the stories heard, letting the story rise from the immediate moment to place Jesus\u2019 death into a longer narrative, death and resurrection only a moment in a longer timeframe of hope and consequences.
 
Maundy Thursdays, we try to focus on the moment, not the longer time.  We focus on the conversations, potential meaning, implications for Jesus\u2019 followers and betrayers.  We try to make sense of bread and wine bearing meaning for the moment, but we can\u2019t help seeing the meaning for future moments.  With Jesus, it is never possible to focus only on the one event.  I wonder sometimes if the Gospels are the variety they are because, with Jesus, we\u2019re always swept up into greater truths each time we try to pin down a moment. Whatever the details, the bigger story compels us.  God was in Jesus, the night before the crucifixion was a powerful time full of spots of light into dark rooms, the night pointed to eternity as much as it pointed to the next day.
 
Let\u2019s take heart from the light of eternity this dark day\/night. The whole truth is always greater than the detail of any story; diving into details helps, yet alongside, we need to see the accumulation of moments to see the greater truth.  Death and resurrection are but moments in the long graceful narrative of eternal life.<\/p>\n

 
Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n

God, you know how we can focus in on tiny things, letting ourselves get lost in one detail over another.  Give us wisdom and peace to see small things add up, to see the bigger narrative unfold. 
Give us courage to see that if the larger truth is not Gospel, the details are put into question.
Be with us with your grace, as present with us in the focussed moment as in the larger drama.
Amen<\/p>\n

 
 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St Luke 23: 46-42 As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus.  A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and … <\/p>\n

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