'Tis the Word

Mark the sacrifice appointed,
see who bears the awful load.
'Tis the Word,
the Lord's anointed,
Son of Man
and Son of God.

Palm Sunday.  Palms.  Donkey.  Crowds.  The Passover psalm applied to Jesus.  "His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him" (John 12). 

Wait a minute.

These things --these things in Zechariah and the Psalms-- were written about Him. 

Moses wrote stories about Jesus.
Isaiah wrote about Jesus.
David wrote about Jesus.
Jeremiah wrote about Jesus.
Joshua and Samuel and Ezekiel and Solomon wrote about Jesus.

All those stories about Jephthah and Samson and Isaac and Ezra and Aaron and Nebuchadnezzar and Abel and Daniel -- they show us stuff about Jesus.  So when we sing this week, "Tis the Word," and when we're reading the story of Jesus' trial and scourging and crucifixion, it IS the "Word," the scriptures' stories, all tied up in one Man's suffering and death.

"Even If I Have to Die With You ..."

Peter swore up and down that he wouldn't deny Jesus. 
Jesus said he would.

From our vantage point, we see the story unfold.  We see the courtyard of the high priest and how Peter swore up and down that he didn't know Jesus. 

My son pointed out something today I'd never noticed.  In the upper room, Peter really meant it.  Not only did he have "good intentions," but he began to follow through out at the Garden of Gethsemane.  The soldiers arrive.  Peter draws his sword and starts to fight.  He was going to stick by Jesus, even if he had to die with Him, and fight those enemies.

But Jesus said to put the sword away. 
Put the sword away?!
What kind of nonsense is that?!
Dying in a fight is one thing.
That would be protecting yourself, but losing in the end.
But to give up?
To die willingly?
To accept the unfair attack without hitting back?

That's when Peter said, "I'm outta here" and "I do not know this fellow."




A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth
the guilt of all men bearing....
O wondrous love! 
What hast thou done?
The Father offers up His Son.
The Son content descendeth.  [Gerhardt]

Jesus is weird [Isaiah 55:7-9].

Boring Old Update

No matter how much vacuuming and dusting we do, it's never done.  One of the cats is shedding abominably.  I keep wishing I were heartless enough to shave her bald.

This coming week: church every single day!  This is the week I live for.

The just-past week: Besides work, we
a) celebrated a birthday by seeing Cinderella in the theatre.  It was amazing!  We also ate walleye and french fries at Culver's.  Mmmmm.
b) dealt with a pair of broken glasses that were less than two months old.  The frames must have been defective.  But it took three trips to a nearby city and a phone call to the national headquarters before we could resolve who was paying for the replacement.
c) one day of errands with ELEVEN stops: drop off a kid; bank; courthouse; liquor store; grocery storre; Target; Best Buy; Aldi; another bank; another grocery store; and a stop at church.  Almost 3 1/2 hours, but boy oh boy, it wiped me out.
d) filled out legal paperwork ... and wondered why I had to get it off the internet ... because the snail-mail forms never showed up in our mailbox.  So where are those snail-mail forms with name and address and birthdate and other bits of personal information?

Last week:
A humongous mess as I took over the whole choir room at church to divide up the files I've been sorting since September.  I finally arrived at the point where I couldn't thin and rearrange any more, not until I got everything out at once and reshuffled.  It exhausted my mind and my body, but now I can return to working on small portions of the project in reasonably-sized doses.

What else?

Mom moved into a assisted-living/nursing home arrangement.  She loves the place.

I worked on the strawberry bed before the weather turned icy again.  I have no clue whatsoever how we're going to handle the garden space, plants, compost, brush, etc.  Lack of time and energy means reducing the amount of work/commitments I make.  And I'm not good at backing out of things I think are important.

Maggie's been continuing to work out and her weight/size are stable.  I however have been eating too much chocolate. 

Gary got a few new teeth and is adjusting to them.

I'm almost done with the new Mitford book.  I love Mitford.  Part of me wants to just start reading the series over again right away.  But I'm going to stick with my reading plan and fit in a few other things first.  Honestly, though, I wouldn't be surprised to find myself going back to At Home in Mitford soon.

Now, to make some bread, clean some floors, and finish Mitford ... bye-bye.