Still He Walked

He could hear the crowds screaming "crucify" "crucify"... He could hear the hatred in their voices, These were his chosen people. He loved them, And they were going to crucify him. He was beaten, bleeding and weakened... his heart was broken, But still He walked.

He could see the crowd as he came from the palace. He knew each of the faces so well. He had created them. He knew every smile, laugh, and shed tear, But now they were contorted with rage and anger...his heart broke, But still He walked.

Was he scared? You and I would have been. So his humanness would have mandated that he was. He felt alone. His disciples had left, denied, and even betrayed him. He searched the crowd for a loving face and he saw very few. Then he turned his eyes to the only one that mattered. And he knew that he would never be alone. He looked back at the crowd, at the people who were spitting at him, throwing rocks at him and mocking him and he knew that because of him, they would never be alone. So for them, He walked.

The sounds of the hammer striking the spikes echoed through the crowd. The sounds of his cries echoed even louder, the cheers of the crowd, as his hands and feet were nailed to the cross, intensified with each blow. Loudest of all was the still small voice inside his heart that whispered "I am with you, my son," And God's heart broke. He had let his son walk.

Jesus could have asked God to end his suffering, but instead he asked God to forgive. Not to forgive him, but to forgive the ones who were persecuting him. As he hung on that cross, dying an unimaginable death, he looked out and saw, not only the faces in the crowd, but also, the face of every person yet to be, and his heart filled with love. As his body was dying, his heart was alive. Alive with the limitless, unconditional love he feels for each of us. That is why He walked.

When I forget how much My God loves me, I remember his walk.

When I wonder if I can be forgiven, I remember his walk.

When I need reminded of how to live like Christ, I think of his walk.

And to show him how much I love him, I wake up each morning, turn my eyes to him, And I walk.

-- Author Unknown

God in an Apron

Try to imagine this scene. You are sitting at the table with Jesus and his friends on the night before he died. A confusing sorrow overshadows you. Yet, a mysterious hope has settled in your heart. Suddenly Jesus is standing in front of you. He looks into your eyes and immediately you are filled with an awareness of your tremendous worth.

Supper was special that night.
There was both a heaviness and a holiness
hanging in the air.
We couldn't explain the mood.
It was sacred, yet sorrowful.
Gathered around that table
eating that solemn, holy meal
seemed to us the most important meal
we had ever sat down to eat.

We were dwelling in the heart of MYSTERY.
Though dark the night,
Hope felt right---
as if something evil
was about to be conquered.

And then suddenly
the One-Who-Loved startled us all.
He got up from the table
and put on an apron.
Can you imagine how we felt?

GOD IN AN APRON!

Tenderness encircled us
as He bowed before us.
He knelt and said,
"I choose to wash your feet
because I love you."

God in an apron, kneeling.
I couldn't believe my eyes.
I was embarrassed
until His eyes met mine.
I sensed my value then.
He touched my feet.
He held them in His strong, brown hands.
He washed them.
I can still feel the water.
I can still feel the touch of His hands.
I can still see the look in His eyes.

Then He handed me the towel
and said,
"As I have done,
so you must do."
Learn to bow.
Learn to kneel.

Let your tenderness encircle
everyone you meet.
Wash their feet--
not because you have to--
but because you want to.

It seems I've stood two thousand years
holding that towel in my hands.
"As I have done, so must you do,"
keeps echoing in my heart.

"There are so many feet to wash,"
I keep saying.
"No."
I hear God's voice
resounding through the years.
"There are only My feet.
What you do for them,
you do for Me."

Author Unknown

Bombshell

Wednesday’s Gospel records Jesus and his closest friends celebrating the Last Supper. In the midst of the meal Jesus drops a bombshell: “One of you will betray me.” The disciples are all stunned, they look at each other in disbelief, which one of them could Jesus be talking about? “Lord is it I?” No one points the finger, each one knows his capacity for failure. Jesus hit a nerve.

Judas quietly leaves the room, he does not arouse any suspicion. He was above suspicion otherwise the rest of the disciples would have never allowed him to leave the room in one piece. Judas was so ordinary, just as ordinary as each of us. Judas was called and chosen as are we. Judas enjoyed the trust of his friends. At the table he sat in an honoured place close to Jesus. Judas?? How could he betray Jesus?

I think of Peter, under pressure in the courtyard, swearing “I do not know the man.” I think of the disciples running away in the Garden of Gethsemane, not showing up at Calvary and stubbornly refusing to believe reports of Jesus’ resurrection. Judas’ betrayal is different in degree, not in kind to our betrayals. Judas was not the first or the last to betray Jesus, he was simply the most famous.

What redeems the Passion and its most powerful message is that the love of Jesus never wavered especially towards the people who betrayed him. When Judas led the bloodthirsty mob into the Garden, Jesus addressed him as “Friend.” His own people condemned him to death, yet while hanging outstretched on the Cross, a symbol of ultimate disgrace and shame, his last prayer was for all of us, “Father, forgive them.” Never was Jesus more human. His humanity enters into and speaks to all that is good and noble in the human heart.

What makes us human like Jesus is not our mind but our heart, not our capacity to think but our capacity to love.

Still He Walked

He could hear the crowds screaming "crucify" "crucify"... He could hear the hatred in their voices, These were his chosen people. He loved them, And they were going to crucify him. He was beaten, bleeding and weakened... his heart was broken, But still He walked.

He could see the crowd as he came from the palace. He knew each of the faces so well. He had created them. He knew every smile, laugh, and shed tear, But now they were contorted with rage and anger...his heart broke, But still He walked.

Was he scared? You and I would have been. So his humanness would have mandated that he was. He felt alone. His disciples had left, denied, and even betrayed him. He searched the crowd for a loving face and he saw very few. Then he turned his eyes to the only one that mattered. And he knew that he would never be alone. He looked back at the crowd, at the people who were spitting at him, throwing rocks at him and mocking him and he knew that because of him, they would never be alone. So for them, He walked.

The sounds of the hammer striking the spikes echoed through the crowd. The sounds of his cries echoed even louder, the cheers of the crowd, as his hands and feet were nailed to the cross, intensified with each blow. Loudest of all was the still small voice inside his heart that whispered "I am with you, my son," And God's heart broke. He had let his son walk.

Jesus could have asked God to end his suffering, but instead he asked God to forgive. Not to forgive him, but to forgive the ones who were persecuting him. As he hung on that cross, dying an unimaginable death, he looked out and saw, not only the faces in the crowd, but also, the face of every person yet to be, and his heart filled with love. As his body was dying, his heart was alive. Alive with the limitless, unconditional love he feels for each of us. That is why He walked.

When I forget how much My God loves me, I remember his walk.

When I wonder if I can be forgiven, I remember his walk.

When I need reminded of how to live like Christ, I think of his walk.

And to show him how much I love him, I wake up each morning, turn my eyes to him, And I walk.

-- Author Unknown