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Lenten devotions 2008

MARCH 14 - INTO THE DEEP HOLE
By Jodi Beyeler, news bureau director

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 21:1-11 (NRSV)
Scroll down for complete Scripture.

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DEVOTIONAL:

Have you ever been walking right toward a deep hole, and known it? I mean those times when you feel inside yourself that things are getting bad, and they are only going to get worse. It might have been mounting struggles at work, a marriage that is failing, a very sick friend you know won’t be getting better, a child that is continually struggling with addictions. There are so many things that can take us to the depths and keep us there.

This weekend we will mark Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, the beginning of the journey to the cross. As Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey and he heard the shouts of “Hosanna!,” I wonder whether he might also have heard a ticking clock inside his own head, counting down to very, very hard times. He knew where he was headed and he knew it was going to be bad; he knew he was about to fall into his own very deep hole.

And yet, though he could have chosen otherwise, he kept on riding into the darkness, right into the hole. I don’t think his message to us is to seek the darkness or even to celebrate it. I rather think that what Jesus has to tell us today is that we all have our own deep, dark holes, that there is something to be found there and that they are not the end. God’s love resides there to offer us a new day and our own resurrection.

But I say that because, as I read this Scripture, I know how the story of Holy Week ends. Not knowing the end of our stories makes that more difficult to say. Claiming resurrection and a new day for our own lives, while we are in the holes, is the essence of trusting in the presence of God with us.

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SCRIPTURE: Matthew 21:1-11 (NRSV)
When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, “The Lord needs them.” And he will send them immediately.’ This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,
‘Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,
‘Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!’
When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who is this?’ The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’
Posted at 12:00 #