Leap Day

A friend of mine admitted to posting today mostly because it is Leap Day and we get this chance only once every four years. I'm joining the crowd too. Apparently the orbit of the earth around the sun takes 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds. Don't you ever wonder where those extra few minutes get picked up?

Matthew 26:62-64

Now things get dicey. There is so much going on in these few short verses it is hard to keep up with the pace. Jesus is silent (26:63), as the perfect Lamb of God. And though the high priest seems to be in charge, it is Jesus, the Great High Priest (cf. the Letter to the Hebrews) who asserts his authority, using apocalyptic imagery (26:64), joining together quotations from Psalm 110:1 and Daniel 7:13. This is not the first hint that things are about to get cosmic in proportions.

Matthew 26:59-61

The Temple was the central feature of Judaism, especially during the period of the Kings, the divided kingdom and following the exile.

How does the Temple feature from here on out in Matthew's narrative? See 27:5 and 27:40. It is the place where Judas throws the now worthless coins of betrayal in repentance and remorse. It is also again the subject of accusation against Jesus, as those gathered at the cross deride him.

The Gospel of John gives us another perspective on the Temple. In John's Gospel the Temple cleansing appears at the very beginning of the Gospel (2:19-21), where Jesus speaks of the Temple of his body (tou naou tou somatos autou). In 1 Corinthians 3:17 St. Paul picks up on this image, declaring boldly: "Y'all are that temple!" (by virtue of the Holy Spirit dwelling within).

Matthew 26:57-58

"[Peter] sat with the guards in order to see how this would end" (26:58b). The Greek word here for "end" is telos. It means both "end" as in completion and "end" as in goal (see also John 19:30). This word probably carries a deeper meaning in St. Matthew's Gospel, which is deeply concerned about Jesus' fulfillment of Scripture. How will all this "end"--and what is the "end" toward which Jesus' life is moving?

Perhaps today is a good day to pray about and reflect on "end" things, ultimate things.

John 4: Photine

Today (Tuesday, February 26), the church celebrates Photine ("enlightened one"), the name given by tradition to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. May we drink with her of the living water of Christ and make haste, like her, to tell the good news.

Matthew 26:55-56

There seem to be three significant details in this text:

[1] the open way in which Jesus taught. This is contrasted by the "secret" way in which he is arrested

[2] Matthew's reiteration of the centrality of Jesus as the fulfillment of the Scriptures (here, specifically, the prophets)

[3] the desertion of the disciples.

I think we get [3], but wonder if we have spent sufficient time pondering [1] and [2].

Matthew 26:51-54

Slice! Whack! No more ear. The violence in this text is quick but still disturbing.

Jesus quickly reorients our attention to the fullness of what is happening: Put your sword away. Legions of angels could be sent. But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled?

In Matthew's Gospel, this is a central theme: Jesus as the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures. He is both Son of Abraham and Son of David and fulfills all the covenant promises to Israel in the Old Testament: the Abrahamic covenant, the Sinai covenant and the Davidic covenant. As the disciple puts his sword away, we hear echoes of this fulfillment, as if all the Old Testament witnesses are whispering: "It is necessary to fulfill all righteousness."

Join us Wednesday as we hear from Malchus, the "ear guy."

Matthew 26:47-50

Kisses are so important to us. In many parts of the world, kisses are the way you formally greet one another. In many cases, the closer you are to the person--a family member, a long-lost friend--the more exuberant the kiss.

Since we are just a week away from Valentine's Day, it is probably fair to assume that those kisses are also on our minds: the kiss of love... not just sensual love between lovers, but also the tender love of a parent to child and the "brotherly love" [that's where we get the city Philadelphia] between close friends.

This text today almost smacks us in the face. For the kiss of greeting, the kiss of tender love, the kiss of brotherly love is a kiss of betrayal. And yet, Jesus still calls Judas "friend" (hetairos: friend, companion).

Matthew 26:43-46

I noticed that I left out a verse in our devotional guide (verse 43): Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.

How harsh are the words of Jesus, yet how true: Are you still sleeping and relaxing? Now it is time. The Son of Man is betrayed into sinners' hands.

Did you ever notice the flow of these and the preceding verse? Only after Jesus prays: Let this cup pass, but Thy will be done does the sequence of events unfold. The sovereignty of Christ is made manifest even as he is handed over.

Matthew 26:40-42

Jesus prays the prayer for the cup to pass from him enfolded in a prayer of "Thy will be done" not just once, not just twice (v42), but three times (v44), a perfect number, the number of divinty.

The construction in this verse, it may not surprise us, is word-for-word in the Greek as it is in the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:10.

Pray the Lord's Prayer several times today, if this is not already your practice. Traditional daily prayer times are morning, noon, sundown and night (bedtime).

Matthew 26:36-39

Jesus takes Peter and James and John with him again. These were the three that saw him Transfigured before their eyes.

Jesus enters into deep distress. He grieves (lupeo) and is troubled (ademoneo). His plea is simple to his friends, his disciples, in his distress: dwell here with me; keep watch with me.

Verse 39 is not perhaps the prayer we expect to hear from Jesus--at least not the first part. But is the two parts of this simple prayer to his Father that when woven together on Jesus' lips are so striking. In intense grief, he prays to let the cup pass from him and yet in the same grieving breath concludes: yet not what I want, but what you want.

Sing "Go to Dark Gethsemane" as part of your daily prayer today.

Matthew 26:33-35

Skandalizo: to cause to sin, to scandalize. Does Peter know what he is saying? Though I will scandalize you, I will not scandalize you! The noun form skandalon (stumbling block) is also pregnant with meaning, both in Matthew (cf. 16:23 and 18:7) and in St. Paul (1 Corinthians 1:23-24). It is the Cross of Christ, that becomes the skandalon of history. Perhaps what is going on below the surface of this text is the insistence that while Peter and disciples scandalize Christ in their desertion; Christ scandalizes and redeems the world by his Cross.

Not only is Jesus handed over (paradidomi), he is also disowned and renounced (anarneomai) by his closest friends.

Matthew 26:30-32

The Passover meal has been completed in one sense. And yet in another sense, the Passover is far from finished. What was this hymn? It may have been several Psalms, perhaps including Psalms 113-118. Consider praying these Psalms as part of your daily prayer.

The Mt. of Olives is rich with theological depth (see Zechariah 14:4 as well as 2 Samuel 15:30 [King David weeps, as will the Son of David] and by allusion in 1 Kings 11:7, 2 Kings 23:13, Nehemiah 8:15 and Ezekiel 11:23).

This text contains both foreboding and promise. The flock will indeed be scattered (Zechariah 13:7). But, Christ Jesus promises, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.

Matthew 26:26-29

Jesus takes a loaf of bread and breaks it. Jesus takes a single cup and shares it. It is the singularity and particularity of Jesus Christ that are important here. It is Jesus' body that is broken; it is Jesus' blood that is poured out. And as the Church celebrates Holy Communion in remembrance of our Lord and at his command, we too speak of the one Body, as we are knit together into one living, breathing body: the Church, which is the Body of Christ.

As one who presides at Holy Communion, the most familiar and yet haunting words are the ones that begin the Words of Institution in the Eucharistic Prayer: In the night in which He was betrayed...

Every single time we lift the cup and break the bread, we participate in the event in which Jesus gives himself for the salvation of the world. And this self-giving happens not just on any night, but on the night in which he was betrayed (cf. Romans 5:8).

Matthew 26:23-25

It is fitting that we read this text, this act of betrayal by Judas, on Wednesday, for Wednesday commemorates Judas' act of handing our Lord Jesus over to be crucified. This is why Wednesday is often observed as a day of fasting: it is "Spy Wednesday."

Perhaps if there is something to marvel at in this text, it is God's own providence. God is able to use even a traitor to accomplish the salvation of the world. Now this is not to say that God willed for Judas to betray Jesus--God does not desire anyone to sin. However, God did use Judas' act of high treason to make the perfect Passover Sacrifice.

[Thanks to Father Patrick Henry Reardon for his discussion of the Providence of God in light of the Letter to the Romans.]

Matthew 26:20-22

Today let two phrases soak into your heart: "One of you will betray me" and "Surely not I, Lord?" Enter into the difficulty of these two phrases juxtaposed.

The verb for "to be greatly distressed" is lupeo: to grieve, to be in pain, to be sad or sorrowful. Perhaps you or someone you know is grieving. Enter into this text through that pain. Consider using the ancient prayer form Lectio Divina as a way to pray this text.

Matthew 26:17-19

This is the first day of the Passover. Many Jewish festivals carry several names. Here it is named as the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This name, of course, captures the urgency of the Passover deliverance from Egypt--eat with your clothes on, no yeast for the bread, because God is on the move! I wonder if there is not this same urgency at work here.

The disciples as Jesus where to make preparations for him to eat the Passover and yet it is they who will true eat of the One who is the Bread of Life as he gives them the gift of the Eucharist.

Note also the simple call to discipleship in verse 19: "So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them."

Passover is deeply important for Christians. The word here is "Pascha," an early name for Easter. Still to this day, we proclaim, "Christ, our Passover (Pascha) has been sacrificed! Come, let us keep the feast!"

Matthew 26:14-16

"Then one of the twelve..." The betrayer Judas came not from the fringe group of people interested in Jesus, not from religious leadership, but from Jesus' own tightly-knit and called dozen.

Since the earliest days, the Church has fasted on Wednesday, for it is "Spy Wednesday," the day of Judas' betrayal of our Lord Jesus. We humbly acknowledge that we too are prone to betrayal, that we who have been brought near by the blood of the Lamb are quick to call for his slaughter.

The price on Jesus' head is not insignificant (cf. Zechariah 11.12-13 for the arc of Judas' betrayal from his agreement on price to his giving back the money). I think the question for us today is not so much "How much do we sell out Jesus for?" but rather "For what do we sell Jesus? For what things do we trade the Lamb of God?"

Verse 16 reads literally: "And from that time, he began to search for a 'eureka moment' so that he might hand him over (paradidomi)." That last verb, paradidomi, to hand over, becomes significant in the Passion narrative. A quick search yields these instances in Matthew's Gospel: 4:12, 5:25, 10:4, 10:17, 10:19, 10:21, 11:27, 17:22, 18:34, 20:18, 20:19, 24:9, 24:10, 25:14, 25:20, 25:22, 26:2, 26:15, 26:16, 26:21, 26:23, 26:24, 26:25, 26:45, 26:46, 26:48, 27:2, 27:3, 27:4, 27:18, 27:26.

Matthew 26:10-13

Literally: "Why do you give grief/trouble to this woman? For she has worked a good work for me." See also 5:16 ("Let your light so shine..."). That last line (26:10) is bound to make some Lutherans nervous, right? And yet see James 2:14-18. Perhaps it is helpful to reframe the discussion something along these lines: rather than faith vs. works, a true faith (one lived out) vs. a false faith. (If you are interested in this "faith vs. works" debate (synthesis?), read Galatians... then James... then Romans--in that order.)

For a fuller treatment of v11, see Mark 14:7 and Deuteronomy 15:11. The point seems to be: You can always--and indeed, are obligated to--serve the poor, but the Bridegroom is only here for a time.

"She has prepared me for burial." This is perhaps the most shocking statement of all. The woman is not just anointing Jesus king and priest, but anointing him for burial. One cannot help but think of the third gift of the magi in 2:11: myrrh (see also Luke 23:56). Just as the death of the Holy Innocents lingered close at Jesus' birth, so too his own death and burial linger close at this anointing.

This story IS told throughout the world, in all four Gospels, and wherever the good news is told throughout the whole cosmos. We are privileged to enter into the "hearing" of this story.

Matthew 26:6-9

Hold. On. At the house of Simon the leper? What was Jesus doing there? The last time Jesus was there (i.e., in Bethany) was in chapter 21, when Jesus curses the fig tree (21:19). Perhaps we are meant to think of what it means to bear fruit while we are at the house of Simon the leper. Bethany, of course, is not far from Jerusalem (John 11:18)--and we know what happens there.

It is in this space, in the house of a leper, no less, that a woman honors Jesus in advance for his burial. She anoints him. She gets it right. As he is "at table" (hear the eucharistic connections?), she pours it on his head. That's how priests and kings are set apart: oil on the head. He is now Christ, Messiah, Anointed One. She gets it.

But the disciples? They call it waste, destruction (apoleia). The only other time in Matthew's Gospel that this word is used in is 7:13, where it describes the wide path, rather than the narrow gate that the disciples are invited into. The disciples seem to miss the significance of the woman's act of "wasteful" devotion. Do we?

Matthew 26:1-5 + Ash Wednesday

The first thing we notice about the Passion account of our Lord Jesus is that he is, by and large, done saying things. Matthew's Gospel is well known for the long teaching discourses of Jesus. Now the narrative turns. Jesus is done saying things; he is now about the business of doing.

Jesus announces the context: Passover (Pascha). These next days will be Passover preparation days. Read Leviticus 23 and Exodus 12-13 for a refresher on the Passover.

There is something haunting about the gathering of the chief priests and elders in the high priest's place, for they gather to do something religious leaders do: plan how the festival will happen. Even in their conspiring, they do indeed plan how this Passover will be celebrated, how the Passover Lamb will be slaughtered.

Handed over. This will be Jesus' fate: handed over (paradidomi). Chapter 27 will begin with another "handing over," this time to Governor Pilate.

Sundays and Seasons artwork

This is not necessarily a reflection of the new ELW hymnal, but I'm increasingly troubled by the available artwork for bulletin covers through the SundaysandSeasons.com web portal. This year the stick figure drawings look even more like cartoons.

Please understand: I am all for artwork that gets us to think in new ways about God and the Christian faith. Yet this new series makes the regular service bulletin cover look like a children's bulletin. I can't help but imagine that this has an effect on piety in the long run.

Celtic Daily Prayer

I have been using The Rhythm of Life: Celtic Daily Prayer (David Adam, Morehouse Press, 2007--see title link above) for the past several weeks for daily prayer and highly recommend it.

It has four daily offices (morning, midday, evening, night) for each of the days of the week. Each day has its own unifying theme:
Sunday: Resurrection
Monday: Creation
Tuesday: Incarnation
Wednesday: Holy Spirit
Thursday: Community (ecclesial and civil)
Friday: The Cross
Saturday: The Saints