Wednesday in Holy Week

We’ve arrived now at the brink of the three most sacred days of the Christian year. And yet the next three days will seem like the collapse of everything Jesus lived for and taught. 

Jesus will be betrayed by one of his closest disciples. He will be tried by the religious and political authorities and found guilty. He will be insulted and beaten. The guards will take thorns and weave them into a painful crown they’ll make him wear. He will be sentenced to execution. And he will die.

So many people had pinned their hopes on Jesus being the Savior his people had been waiting for across generations, but Jesus could not even seem to save himself. Was it all for nothing?

But hold on. Just hold on.  Because looking ahead, we know that these next three days are not the end of the story. We know that Jesus wears a different crown than one made of thorns. We know Jesus is “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

It’s good to remember, before we enter these heavy days, that they are not the end of the story. Remember that light casts out darkness. Remember than even death cannot stop the life of God.  

What questions do you have about what comes next?

How can you keep watch with Jesus?

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Ruler of All Nations

“Crown him with many crowns,” the traditional hymn invites us. And across these last few weeks, we’ve been crowning Jesus – showing him honor – through many different names: Beloved, Emmanuel, Good Shepherd, Living Water, Bread of Life. Each of these names honors some part of who we understand Jesus to be. 

We also call him other names: Savior, Redeemer, Messiah, King, Lord.

You might have heard him called, “Jesus Christ,” and “Christ” is yet another crown we place upon Jesus’ head. Because “Christ” means “Anointed one” – the one chosen by God.

There are as many names for Jesus as there are colors in the rainbow, and each one captures another hue of his wondrous power.

In the Innuit cultures of the Arctic, people don’t talk about Jesus as the “Lamb of God,” because it wouldn’t make any sense. They don’t have lambs! Instead they call him the “Seal of God.”

Jesus is not for one place or one time. Jesus is for all times, all places, all people. He is the “King of the Jews,” as the whispers went in his own day and time.  Yet he is also the Ruler of All Nations. He is the one who was with God before the beginning of time. He is the Lord of Heaven and Earth. 

What throne could hold him?

What names do you call Jesus?