Wednesday, February 17, 2016

...and the tension builds

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

Luke's narrative is picking up tension as the journey to Jerusalem continues.  I get uncomfortable when Jesus is tense.  

I like reading this Lucan passage beginning with verse 27.  

As Jesus was saying these things, a woman shouted from the crowd "Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts that fed you."  

He corrects her.  Autograph seekers come to mind.  The text points to the role of the prophet, which is always to speak another's truth.  Hear the word of God (not me but the one in whose name I come) and keep it.  

The people of Nineveh listened to God and Jonah was his prophet.  Jesus is running out of time.  He needs God's word to settle into the deepest parts of his hearer's hearts.  Their hope and understanding will need to last three days.  

Don't make me into a cult personality  
That will last maybe an hour  
It’s bigger and broader and deeper
than what you think you see  
I am a sacrament of the face...the heart of God  
Let that soak into the all of you
Then three days won't be too much
You will have enough to perceive
the Easter Mystery

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