Engaging with God

When I was in the third grade I got in big trouble . 

As eager as Peter was to be close to Jesus , the issue of his denial still had to be addressed. 

The separation between us and Jesus still needs to be dealt with, and Jesus loves us too much to not deal with it.

God is forgiving our sins through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. Through Jesus' resurrection God is making all things new, and God is calling us to join with Jesus in his ministry of reconciliation. 

Jesus concludes his conversation with Peter with the same words that drew Peter to him in the first place: " Follow me ."

Issues of faith and doubt and who Jesus is and how we should respond to him are not new – they go back to the beginning, in fact to the first day after Jesus' resurrection.

Thomas was a somewhat dour character, from the few lines he speaks in John's gospel, and he seems to be a practical realist. When the other disciples excitedly tell him about their encounter with the risen Jesus, he is unwilling to reengage his disappointed hopes .

There is a form of doubt that seems to only seek a reason not to believe, to justify not ever making any sort of commitment of faith. But integrity calls us to engage with the truth claims of Jesus Christ, to search and to understand as best we can.

The purpose of John's entire gospel is that we would come to believe. As the final verse of this chapter goes on to say, this is "written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name."

We cannot separate being Christlike from being a Christian, we cannot divorce being like Jesus from believing in him. True belief is what the gospel is all about, because true belief means entering into a relationship with Jesus; it means proclaiming Jesus as Lord and God; and it means entrusting our lives to him – both our lives in this world as well as our eternal lives.

Their teacher, the one they had finally come to recognize as the Messiah, was dead. Their hopes, plans, expectations were not only disappointed – they were crushed . What would they do now? This may have been the longest, darkest day of their lives.

What is so memorable about it is the expressions in the eyes of the two men: in both, we sense that they have been weeping; John, the younger of the two, clasps his hands together and his eyes convey a sense of worry and continued sorrow; while Peter's care-worn face and haunting expression tell us that many thoughts are coursing through his mind.

Life triumphed over death! And now this new life of God was on the loose. Who could imagine what God would do next? The despair of the previous day was overturned, and hope was born again.

Easter Sunday April 4 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed 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, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again."   Luke 24:1-7 Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! The tomb could not contain him. Death does not have the last word. Jesus rose from the dead just as he said he would, and in doing so he won the victory over sin and death. Light overcame darkness, love overcame hate, and life overcame death. We serve a risen Jesus, the one wh

Day 40 - Saturday April 3 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.   John 19:40-42 Jesus died. The executioners knew their business and they did their job. The lifeless body was removed from the cross by sympathetic men and placed into the cold, dark tomb. Saturday, the sabbath, was the day of hopelessness and despair. The story appears to be over, and death as usual has had the last word.  To Do Spend some time in silence today and reflect on what it would be like to be without hope. 

Day 39 - Good Friday  April 2 So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."   John 19:17-19 Jesus was executed between two bandits, or revolutionaries - this public display of suffering and death was how Rome dealt with anyone who defied its power. Jesus was on that cross, as the sign mockingly stated, for being proclaimed "King of the Jews." The cross was the ultimate symbol of naked power and death used to crush and humiliate anyone who stood in the way of the empire. And yet, so much more was happening on that sad and amazing day: the horrific symbol was being transformed into an icon of love, forgiveness, and healing.  To Do Take and hold a cross in your hand.

Day 38 - Maundy Thursday  April 1 "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."   John 13:34-35 Maundy Thursday takes its name from the Latin word mandatum , which means commandment. On this night Jesus met with his disciples in the upper room, and in the middle of supper he got up, wrapped a towel around his waist, and began to wash their feet. In doing this he not only demonstrated that he was the great Servant, but he also set an example for his disciples - as the teacher does, so must the followers. The great commandment to love one another wasn't so much a new idea as it was freshly exemplified in Jesus' life and actions. This is the love that would lead Jesus to the cross the next day. And this same humble, self-sacrificial love will be the defining trait of anyone who seeks to be a follower of Jesus. T