Holy Tuesday

Continuing our Holy Week prayer journey, we find Jesus, fresh off of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  Defying the expectations of that crowd that has gathered (the people that would later shout 'Crucify him!'), Christ is honest and open about where his journey will take him.  At this point, the people working against Christ in the background are gathering strength.

From the Gospel of John, chapter twelve, verses twenty-one through thirty-six:

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.

‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people^* to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. The crowd answered him, ‘We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?’ Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’

The Word of God, for all people.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

Let us pray together:

We will remember the soothing,
and not forget the jarring.
We will remember the sweetness,
and not forget the sour.
We will remember the jagged desperateness of Judas,
and own it; it is our story too.

We will remember
the passion of love,
the smell of perfume,
the pain of rejection,
the stench of blood money.

And to help us on the journey,
to help us hold the tensions,
to help us face both the delight and the difficulty,
WE WILL SAY YES
to God's generosity in creation,
WE WILL SAY YES
to God's judgment poured out on humankind,
WE WILL SAY YES
to God's justice in Jesus. [from Stages on the Way]