Scandals and Justice, from Genesis to Jesus...to Us

And what does the Lord require of me?  To do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with my God. (Micah 6:8)

As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, the stories of the Bible teach us more than how to be “holy”—they teach us how to be “human.”  In so doing, they also illuminate themes recurring over the ages into our contemporary society today.

Imagine this story line: a handsome, well-built young rising star in government catches the eye of the First Lady.  Starting with flirtation and then outright seduction, the boss’s wife makes her desires known, literally demanding that he come to bed with her.  When he refuses and runs from the scene, he leaves his coat behind, providing the “smoking gun” the First Lady uses to falsely accuse the young man of rape.  Shouting her claims of violation via the media of the day, she secures her image as a tragic victim and her enraged husband ensures the young man is imprisoned for his crime—justice secured…or justice denied?

Is this an episode of the popular television show, “Scandal?”  It could be, but no—it’s the story of Joseph, taken from the smoldering pages of Genesis 39: 1-20. In today’s vernacular, we would call Joseph’s case a “wrongful conviction” and an example of justice gone awry.

When we hear this story, we might react immediately with, “That’s unfair,” and we should—both for what happened then and what happens now.  Wrongful convictions are nothing new.  In fact, in a justice system designed to be much fairer than the court of Potiphar, wrongful convictions still place people behind bars for crimes they did not commit.  In fact, a study by the University of Michigan School of Law found a higher rate of exoneration for wrongful convictions in 2015 than any other year.  Other studies remind us that people of color, already disproportionately represented in our penal system, constitute the majority of those wrongfully convicted.

OK…you may be thinking that all of these citations are a stretch for a Lenten devotional, but are they?  If we are called to “do justice” as Micah says, the examples of Joseph and those who suffer the same fate today should be a call to us as people of faith to continue to both pray and act: to pray for wisdom and fairness in our justice system, and to act to ensure that the laws that govern our legal proceedings stand up to scrutiny.

Jesus was also wrongfully convicted and paid the ultimate price on our behalf.  Knowing what was ahead for him, Jesus taught the disciples (and us) about a new kind of justice…not the “eye for an eye” justice of the Old Testament[1], which we now call retributive justice, to something completely different: You have heard it was said, “eye for eye and tooth for tooth.”  But I tell you…if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn him the other cheek also (Matthew 5:38-39).

This is a mind-blowing approach to justice and to life, literally.  We cannot wrap our heads around such a proposition!  Our either-or, in-and-out, right-and-wrong, black-and-white mindsets do not allow for this.  Our “software” requires a major update for this teaching of Jesus to work!

And yet do we, as Christians, have any other choice?  Jesus has redefined “justice” for us, from retribution to restoration.  It is far less our task to be concerned with punishment than restoring those who “trespass against us,” starting with forgiveness.

Reflection and Prayer:

Where are you holding on to a desire for retribution rather than a heart for restoration?

Who needs your forgiveness?  Who do you need to forgive in order for you to move on?

How can your prayers and actions serve to do justice in the way that Jesus expressed it?

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[1] Exodus 21:24

Do you love me too?

 The morning was sunny.  It was early and time for coffee.  The mom lazily walked to the kitchen to begin the breakfast process for her family and guests.  In just a few minutes, her husband joined her.  They bantered softly as to not wake the house.  Soon thereafter, footfalls were heard and their son joined them in the coffee quest.  This son, this broken, recovered son of addiction.  The mom still found herself amazed at his recovery and early morning risings.  She also held secret questions about how it all happened, how it all went wrong for him, how his childhood could have been better.  She had new questions too, but they were far too painful to ask so she simply chose to love.  But on this day, God had other plans.  In the quiet of the kitchen, as the son was casually conversing he asked the parents, "I've been wondering about something.  Is there any thing you'd like to ask me?  Is there any issue you've wanted to share?"  The mom suddenly felt the pull of tears and a lump in her throat.  She suddenly realized that the deep question must now be asked.  With stumbling words and multiple pauses, she asked, "Through all your life, with your struggles, even as a little boy, did you ever feel we loved your sister the most?  Did you ever feel we loved her more than you?"  Tears streamed down her face and her son looked directly into her eyes.

We find Joseph in a similar scene.  

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”
When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.
So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?  Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.

The brother's heart's hurt with the pain of not being loved the most, the best, or equally.  In this reading we watch as the brother's hurt hearts take over their brains and actions.  We experience the plotting, the passive-aggressive natures, the jealousy, their desire to be loved ultimately by their father.  And in this reading, I find myself and I find humankind.  For each us is striving to be seen, be heard, be appreciated, be loved.  Aren't we?  

And, I see Jesus.  For He too had a similar journey.  He was sharing Truth as the Son of God.  People didn't want to hear His message.  It made the Pharisees insecure...for if Jesus was the ultimate authority, who were they?  The people would see through their frailty and therefore, their insecurities began to grow.  And they continued to grow, as did fear.  Fear of the unknown.  Fear of not being recognized.  And those emotions festered.  And suddenly, a plot began.  Questions were pondered... how can we trip up this Teacher? How can we prove we're of value?  They decided to lock him up (similar to Joseph's cistern) and teach him a lesson.  They did.  But it was Jesus who taught the final lesson.

Why are we so afraid?  Why are we so fearful?  Why are we jealous of other's success?  Why do we want what others have?  Do we not know that we are loved completely too!  Joseph's brothers were so focused on themselves, as were the Pharisees, that they turned inward and listened to their damaged emotions.  And acted on their damaged, hurt hearts and minds.  

In this Lent season of inward examination, we ask, Lord, do you love me too?  Look directly into His eyes, He's given His ultimate answer.  And it's, yes, yes and yes.  Now, He's asking me...and you, "Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? (John 21).  Lent is certainly a time for inward exploration but it must always lead to outward action.  Outward action in love for only Him.  Let's stop doubting and questioning His love for us and take what He has given us into our work, schools, coffee shops, our very lives.

"Through all your life, with your struggles, even as a little boy, did you ever feel we loved your sister the most?  Did you ever feel we loved her more than you?"  Tears streamed down her face and her son looked directly into her eyes. "No, mama.  Not one time did I ever feel that, never.  I always knew you loved me completely."

He Ain't Heavy...but could you help me toss him into this well?

Read Genesis 37 and Luke 15:11-32

We do the Bible a great disservice when we read it only as a book about “how to be holy” when, in fact, it is just as much a book about “how to be human.”  The stories in scripture are about real people with real talents and real foibles, filled with examples of love and loss, humility and humiliation, selflessness and selfishness.

These enduring themes are found in many faith traditions over the ages.  Joseph, for example, is an important character in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faith narratives, figuring significantly in both Genesis and the Qur’an.  The arc of his story covers themes familiar in family life:  love, favoritism, jealousy, brokenness, deceit and reconciliation.

The account of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 37 is such an example.  As I’ve read this over the years, I am always struck by young Joseph’s arrogance as he lets his older brothers know of his dream that they will bow down to him, and their response of throwing him into a well.  I may be alone on this one, but I always think to myself at this point in the story, “What a twit! He got what he deserved!”

My mother could have shared many stories about raising a houseful of boys with Leah and Rachel.  I was the youngest of four active boys.  I’m sure Mom would have enjoyed commiserating with another female at home from time to time (aside from the family dog), but she never let on. 

Six people in a tiny house with one bathroom made for close quarters and high-volume antics. I was the youngest by a wide span, and by my brothers’ accounts, probably a bit (a lot?) of a spoiled “mama’s boy.” I didn’t get a “coat of many colors,” but they would surely say that I was indulged in ways they were not throughout my childhood and adolescence.  And, there were probably many times they wanted to toss this chatty, smart aleck, know-it-all kid into a cistern…or worse!

Apparently, I was a nuisance from the start.  I shared a birthday month with my next-older brother, Luke, and my parents brought me home from the hospital the same day as his sixth birthday party.  Buzz-kill!  As the story has been laughingly retold over the years, I stole the show on his special day and he never forgot it!

Ah, brotherly love! 

It was sibling rivalry that got the best of Joseph and his band of brothers, rivalry ripened by ego.  Joseph was his father’s favorite.  He knew it, and he certainly let his brothers know it.  Their first reaction, also stemming from their jealous bruised egos, was to do him in for good.  Only later did they modify their plan to something less “permanent.”

If there ever was a perfect example of Proverbs 16:18 (“Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall”), this was it—literally.

Fast forward.  We know little about Jesus’ siblings.  In fact, there is disagreement as to whether he had them, although it seems unlikely to me that he would have been an only child.  If he did have brothers and sisters, we do not know how they played, shared, or argued.  In our tendency to “sanctify” all the stories of the Bible, we might shy away from the idea that they acted like a typical family with its share of discord, jealousy, and pain.

We do see Jesus’ frustration, though, with the men who became “brothers” during his brief ministry:  the disciples.  They were, at times, argumentative, prideful, and flat-out dimwitted.  Think of the times Jesus shared his teachings through parables, only to have the lessons fall flat on his disciples’ understanding, often because of their own self-interests and perspectives.

The beauty of Jesus’ parables is how they work on so many levels. One of his most powerful teaching moments involved an allegory about siblings.  The Prodigal Son parable (Luke 15:11-32) is not just an example of how the Kingdom of God works—it’s very much a story about being human.  In it, we see how the natural inclination to let the ego take over influences the actions of both brothers, leading to disconnection from themselves individually and from one another.

There are parallel themes in the story of Joseph and the Prodigal Son.  It was ego that led young Joseph to boast of his influence and position in the family, and it was ego (perhaps even the unbridled “id”) that led the younger brother in Jesus’ parable into the world with his unearned inheritance in hand, squandering all he had on an indulgent lifestyle. 

It was bruised ego that allowed anger and jealousy to win the hearts of Joseph’s older siblings, leading them to plot his disappearance.  Similarly, it was a bruised ego that so hardened the older brother to the lost son’s re-acceptance in the family in Jesus’ parable.

I’ve heard people describe ego as an acronym for “edge God out.”  Others, like the contemporary Franciscan teacher and author, Richard Rohr, speak of ego as the “false self” we build and depend upon in the first half of life, before we return to the “true self” made in the image and likeness of God.

There is a beautiful turning point in the parable of the Prodigal Son, when he is at his lowest point of suffering: “When he came to himself…” (Luke 15:17).  I love that description.  No more blinded by his own ego, his false self, the lost son was able to see his way back from humiliation to home.  The story of Joseph and his brothers also resolves in reconciliation when he reveals his true self to them with tears and forgiveness in Genesis 45.

Our egos serve a purpose, to a point, but can also serve to disconnect us from our siblings in the “big family” of humanity. We see it now more than ever, it seems.  The ego strives to be “right.”  The ego strives to “control.”  The ego strives to individuate and separate and distinguish rather than connect.

Chapter 12 of the Qur’an, where the story of Joseph (Yusuf) is told, ends with this verse:  In their histories there is certainly a lesson for men of understanding.  It is not a narrative which could be forged, but a verification of what is before it and a distinct explanation of all things and a guide and a mercy to a people who believe (12:111).

The stories of Joseph, Jesus, and the Prodigal Son are our stories.  Their families are our families, and the greater human family.  The journeys of Joseph, the Prodigal Son, and their siblings are the journeys Jesus always points us to:  away from the ego to the place where each can come to his or her true self.

Is this not the journey we are called upon in this Holy Lent?
Reflection:  Where has your "ego" led to brokenness in a relationship?  Where do you need to reveal your true self to sow seeds of reconciliation?

F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E

Just as we set aside time to prepare for Christmas Day, it makes sense to set aside time to prepare for Easter....hello, Lent.  Think of all the Christmas preparations for the birth of Jesus; during these days we are preparing for the end of His early life and the birth of His eternal life.  These forty days give us time to shop our hearts and minds, ponder our lists with our names at the top, and choose the perfect gift for Him on Easter morning.  That gift is each of us...a more extensive us.  More of our minds and our hearts and our hands and feet.  How do we get there?  How do we explore deeply in order to offer ourselves more fully?  I honestly don't know.  But I believe the Old Testament story of Joseph will help teach us.

Many scholars believe that the life of Joseph closely connects with Jesus' life story.  In fact, it is practically impossible to examine Joseph's life and not see the similarities in the life of Jesus.  So who is Joseph?

     Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
     Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
     Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”
     His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. Genesis 37:2-8

We learn a few facts pretty quickly:
•Joseph is a member of a very large family
•He is born into a mixed family, step-brothers and step-sisters probably
•His father had a favorite - him!
•He and his brothers did not get along very well - there was jealousy and anger
•Joseph had dreams...I believe big dreams

Ironically, through this story we can immediately recognize Jesus' family life too.  He was a member of a large family, he had brothers and sisters (Mark 6:3).  He was the favorite - the very favorite of his Father.  And the people He came to meet and teach, argued with him, accused Him, and certainly didn't accept Him.  Yet, Jesus had a dream, a vision, a hope.

This life template gives me encouragement.  I see similarities for my own journey.  Do you?  Think about it!  We all began our lives with people who were imperfect, who loved or didn't love on any given day.  Families are complicated, messy, emotional and mark our beginning.  These people loved us as best they knew how.  Some of us received extravagant family love, others received a broken, shallow type family unit.  All of us lived in complicated family units where there were 'favorites' and there was jealousy and anger.  But, there was laughter and love in abundance, too.  There were nicknames and special hugs.  There were some slammed doors and forgotten birthdays as well.  In my house, there was also dreaded silence.  Sometimes it was better than yelling.  It was family.  And it was beautiful.  And dreams were planted and dreams grew.  Because those dreams were planted by a bigger Father.

This Joseph/Jesus story tells me that we all start in the same condition.  We all start with 'F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E' engraved inside us.  And we all face difficult times.  But it's the gift and dream inside that we need to find.  It's that special word planted deeply that whispers and nudges.  This Lent of our lives is the chance to focus on the inside.  And let the dream come alive and breathe and claim us.

Lent 2018: The ForeRunner

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.  Lent is the 40-day period before Easter, the forerunner of Easter.  It's a time to open our hearts a bit wider and to try and understand God more deeply, so that when Easter arrives, it's not just another Sunday but an opportunity to receive the enormous gift God offers each of us.

This year our Lent study will focus on Joseph from the book of Genesis.  Just as Lent is the forerunner to Easter so is Joseph a forerunner to the life of Jesus on earth.  We want to look at the life of Joseph and see what his experiences might offer us as we walk through the day leading up to Easter.  Joseph was born into a normal family, argued with his brothers, was accused of many things, made fun of, was lost, survived and loved...most especially loved.  Does that sound like your family life?

Will you join us for these Forty Faithful Days?  There will be a new posting each Sunday, first from Kathy on February 18, then from Scott of February 25...and we will continue our alternating pattern all the way through the Lenten season.

We hope you will explore this story with us and invite others along on our journey.

Scott and Kathy

Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.  Genesis 37-2-4 NIV

Monday's Choice

The big day has come and gone.  Baby chicks, Easter eggs, chocolate, and the Easter festivities have once again passed.  It's on to graduations, vacations and summer days.  The 40 days of Lent are over and Easter is over, isn't it?  Are you different this Monday after Easter Sunday?

Did the Easter event change your heart and mind?  At the core of Easter is hope; therefore my life can experience a change.
This next thought may shock some of you but I've often speculated that the formal church is too focused on the cross of Christ instead of the empty tomb.  That's a disturbing sentence, I know, but hear me out!  In our Christian culture, we are taught early in life about Jesus and his work on the cross.  His beautiful and complete grace that covers our sin and selfishness and gives those who believe in Him eternal life.  That is a Truth; for without His death we would be without hope, without life.  However...

...is that where many of us stop?  Do we stop our lives at Jesus' death on the cross?  Oh, we celebrate Easter Sunday in our finery and with our families but can we say we're living Easter on Monday?

Could it be that we are living only half of the Good News?  We call Friday of Holy week...Good Friday as it was good for us that Jesus gave His life so that we may live today and forever.  But I contend that we are stuck on Good Friday.  We are stuck in the pain and anguish of our own lives.  We know what happened on Easter Sunday in Jesus' life but for some reason we have chosen to remain in a 'Friday' lifestyle.  WHAT?

As Christ followers, we are invited to have our own Good Friday where our problems and our pain are put to death.  And, then experience an Easter Sunday in which we receive new life!  But we tend to stay in Friday and our pain from this world consumes our entire attention span.  And life does hurt.  It's hurts so badly to be rejected.  It hurts so badly to lose people to death, particularly death that is violent and random.  It hurts to see sickness and addiction in those we love.  It hurts to have no one to love or to be loved by no one.  It hurts to be lonely and isolated.  We have forgotten what Sunday offers us and our pain!

...they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen! Luke 24:2-6

He is not here!  He has risen.  That is the message the Bible teaches and that is the life we are offered...a way of real life and Joy in our Monday world.  Jesus' message was certainly one of redemption and salvation and life eternal.  AND, it was also a message of Joy, of overcoming, of living life to the fullest in the midst of earthly pain.  We say we love Him and believe in this message but are we living it?  Are we looking for the dead among the living?  Do I keep looking at my dead pain instead of looking at my alive Joy?  Easter is the day to celebrate that He has overcome our pain and loss.  And, Easter is also the day to wake up and live life to the fullest. Yes, there is pain in our world but He has overcome this pain.

This is the Monday choice.  No one can do this for me.  I can stay tied up in my Good Friday pain, hurt, disappointments and insecurity.  Or I can choose a new way....a way of living life to the fullest.  Choosing an Easter Monday does not mean that I forget my pain; it simply means I choose Jesus over my pain.  I choose to let Him use that pain so that I may help others.  I choose to let Him use that pain to grow me into who He dreamed.

Hallelujah, He is not among the dead.  He is alive!  Are we brave enough to let go of our 'identity of pain' and choose the Joy He offers.  He HAS overcome the world.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Very human...very human, indeed

Holy Saturday--April 15, 2017

Over these weeks of Lent, Kathy and I have invited you to journey with us as we have considered some of the well-known prayers found in Scripture.  With you, we have considered David’s prayer for a clean heart and renewal of a right spirit…and Jesus’ own instruction to the Disciples regarding “how” to pray.  In these culminating days of Holy Week, we will consider Jesus’ personal prayer at his greatest time of trial.

--Scott

There are many perspectives from which one can interpret scripture.  Obviously, a literal interpretation—taking the words, events, and descriptions exactly as they appear on the Biblical page—is one approach, and one that many use.  The risk, in my experience, comes in applying our 21^st century meanings to a language in which these writings were not originally penned or spoken.  Without considerable study and a deep knowledge of the meanings of Greek, Hebrew, and various Middle Eastern languages and dialects in the vernacular of origin for these texts, all “literal” interpretations do become largely “subjective.”

One can also interpret scripture through a lens of symbolism and application (note that I said “also,” not “instead,” as any individual can employ varied approaches to interpreting scriptural text).  What are the greater, deeper meanings of the words, events and descriptions?  How do those deeper meanings relate to, or transform, my experience? 

The entire narrative of the Passion of Christ—indeed the whole week leading up to the Crucifixion—is so laden with drama, politics, grandeur, and tragedy—that a literal approach in and of itself can be, well,  overwhelming.  A cast of thousands, heroes and villains, plots and subplots, graphic violence, earthquakes, dark clouds, and supernatural phenomena abound.  As the central figure and protagonist, Jesus the Christ’s manifestation as the Son of the Almighty God can overshadow the moment which, to me, is the most powerful example of Jesus the Human Being, the one just like us…

A few years ago, a friend shared a sentiment I’ve now heard many times since: “Every person is fighting his or her own great battle…so be kind to each person you meet.”  Indeed, suffering is one of the common experiences we all share as humans. Existential threats, worries about things only imagined, poverty, physical pain and illness, loss—all of these and more are inescapable for anyone living and breathing on this great planet.  Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, “To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering."

Sometimes I think we forget (or at least minimize) the very human nature of Jesus by focusing solely on His divinity.  Perhaps this is thanks to the portrayals of Him in films and stories over the years, combined with the many missing details of his life.  He often seems to be "above" the day-to-day experiences that the “regular” folks have.

But was Lazarus’ death the only time that Jesus wept?  You might think so from the limited and literal interpretation of what’s on the Biblical page.  Did he ever have a cross word with Mary or Joseph, or a moment of adolescent rebellion?  Did Jesus ever have the flu?  Did he have a pet he loved and lost, and the broken heart that followed?  Did he ever fall in love?

Just the thought of answering some of these questions is challenging for many, if for no other reason than the notion of Jesus being both “human” and “divine” is challenging for our limited understanding.  We may even think it’s “blasphemous” to ask such questions, even silently.  Easier to fixate only on the mystical, "God-Man" nature of Jesus as The Christ than to consider all of it together.

Yet, there at the very depth of the Passion narrative is Jesus at his most human, just like us, I dare say.  Because who among us who has ever suffered greatly, been paralyzingly afraid, felt desperately alone, did not in some way cry out, “My God!  My God!  Why have you abandoned me?”

This is the cry of the weeping father over the casket of his own child…of the young mother who has learned of a devastating diagnosis…of the teenager who has learned that an unexpected baby is on the way…of the sole provider suddenly laid off a job…of a community in ruins after an earthquake…of a country in ruins after years of no rain, or the devastating rain of warfare. 

This is the cry of a suffering world.

Hanging on the cross, facing an inevitable end, he cried out, “Eli! Eli!  Lema sabachtani? (Matthew 27:46)” This is not a new prayer, one we see attributed only to Jesus in scripture.  No, this is a familiar prayer of David predating the time of Jesus by centuries, found in Psalm 22.  This cry of desperation echoes from a long past across the ages, through Jesus, to us today.

Jesus' cry is the cry of humanity.

Are we bold enough to claim more than the joy of the resurrection… that, in suffering, Jesus’ story is our story?  We can celebrate the Resurrection with thanksgiving; at the same time, we can also be thankful that the One who was resurrected was human enough to cry out to God in desperation and anguish…just like us.

“This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin (Hebrews 4:15).”

One of the greater, deeper meanings found in the Passion narrative is that life is a continuous cycle of suffering, death, and resurrection.  We see this pattern played out in all of nature, not just in our human experience. 

None of us can escape the suffering.  Even the Son of God wasn’t able to do so.  And we know, as sure as day follows night, joy will eventually return in the morning………