Dan's Marinations

Today is Maundy Thursday in the Christian calendar, the day that Christians around the world remember the Last Supper that Jesus ate with his followers.  In churches world over, whether they be grand cathedrals and basilicas, house churches in closed societies, or little white churches by the side of the road we'll gather tonight and celebrate the Lord's Supper, and in some cases follow Jesus' example by having a foot-washing. There is a curiosity about this day that can be easily missed, however.  The Synoptic Gospels are clear that this last meal with the disciples is the Passover meal, what is sometimes called a Seder meal.  This was the meal described in great detail in Exodus 12.  The Passover lambs were sacrificed and their blood smeared on the doorposts of the Israelite homes so that when the "the destroyer" (Exodus 12:23) passed through the land of Egypt, they would be spared the awful last plague- the death of all first-born.  These lambs were to be r...

How do we face adversity?  Do we try to avoid it?  Do we embrace it like a challenge to be overcome?  A one-time marathoner I know has said that the best way to handle the inevitable pain that creeps in during the last 4-5 miles is to welcome it like an old friend.  "There you are (knee pain/sore hips/cramping calf muscle) I was expecting you.  I'm glad you came along for the last few miles."  I confess that in the eight marathons I've completed I never had the ability to welcome the arrival of pain like that! Isaiah's third servant song, which we find in chapter 50 refers to the servant of the Lord setting his face like flint.  It's easy to picture rock-jawed Hollywood action heroes here.  One can imagine faces like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, or Matt Damon who seem impassive in the midst of explosions all around them; who deliver a bare-knuckled beating on their opponents- whether they be boxers, aliens, or general all-purpose v...

Have you ever been there?  Have you ever felt like everything you've done was just wasted effort?  You've poured yourself into a person.  You've counseled, worried, and prayed until you're out of breath and words, but he (or she) does the same stupid things over and over.  You preach or teach every Sunday, but never seem to see the changed lives for which you long.  I want you to imagine such thoughts in the mind of Jesus.  Hold on preacher!  Jesus was/is the Son of God Almighty.  How can Jesus who was the true and living Word of God ever have such thoughts?  To put on my theologian hat for a moment, those sentiments are very true.  On the other hand, Jesus was very, very human as well.  In order to save us from our sins he had to be both divine and human. Try to imagine what is going through Jesus' mind in those tumultuous days between his "triumphal" entry into Jerusalem and his eventual crucifixion on Friday.  He's spent a...

The Lord's Servant Students of Isaiah have noted that this long, multi-faceted book has four different "servant songs" or passages about the servant of the Lord.  Now as we sit 2,700 years after Isaiah's era, it's very difficult to know exactly who or what he was referring to in these songs.  We can't know for sure if he was intending to refer to a servant ruler of his own day or to someone yet to come.  As Christians though, we legitimately look at these songs and see in them a beautiful portrait of Christ.  One of the remarkable things about the prophets of old is that they could envision things they could not understand. These four "servant songs" are found in Isaiah 42, 49, 50 and 52-53.  Certainly one can know the story of Jesus' atoning death and resurrection without having opened Isaiah.  Just read the Gospels.   We see the story told four times, slightly differently yes, but the same story nonetheless.  These poignant and majestic...