March 28, 2010

Breaking Open The Scriptures

Scriptures for March 28: Luke 19:28-40; Psalm 31:9-16; Luke 22:14-23:56 Songs: Hosanna! Hosanna! TFWS 2109; We Sang Our Glad Hosannas TFWS 2111; What Wondrous Love is This UMH 292; Do, Lord, Remember Me UMH 527
Psalm 31
This is the psalm of someone in the midst of suffering. Someone who is in pain, but is still able to call out to God not only for help, but to also be able to say that they trust in God in spite of all that has happened to him. As long as there is belief in God, there is hope that things will get better. It is said that as Jesus sat on the cross and asked God why – that he was not asking the reason of his suffering. He knew why he was suffering, but he was quoting the psalms as a way of using his trust in God to get through the most difficult time in his life. He was not remembering his own suffering, but ours.



Luke
Today, we focus on the palm Sunday passage and the passion passage. These are events that should be seared in our minds, as we hear this story every year. And yet the context of our lives when we hear these stories are different every year. Every year we have something different to celebrate, every year we have something different to mourn. Where do we focus this year? On the betrayal of Judas? On the questions of pilate? On the temptations of Satan? On those who went to the cross with him? On his suffering? On why did this all have to happen anyway? And what does it have to do with me?