Tag Archives: crucifixion

The Glorious Middle

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“They were on their way up to Jerusalem,
with Jesus leading the way,
and the disciples were astonished,
while those who followed were afraid.” 
Mark 10:32

 This is the picture that grips me during Holy Week:

Jesus, striding up to Jerusalem, determined to carry out his mission—
which would involve betrayal, mocking, flogging, crucifixion and death.

He led the way.

Four times, Jesus told His disciples what was coming.
He always included the final part—resurrection—
but they didn’t seem to hear it.

“The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.  
They will kill him,
and on the third day he will be raised to life.”  
And the disciples were filled with grief. 
Matthew 17:23

Jesus lost them at “they will kill him.”

The Twelve were full of fear,
perhaps wondering if death was also waiting for them in Jerusalem.

BUT THEY STILL FOLLOWED.

They did it scared.

I must remember,
when I am astonished at being led down the road marked with suffering,
that it’s a place He’s been before—
and He knows the way.

I can still follow.
I can do it scared.

The disciples thought the cross was the end of the story.
But it was the middle of the story.

Those things you’ve prayed about for weeks, months, and years?
Your story isn’t over.
You’re in the gory, glorious middle.
Because the cross is never the end.
The cross is always followed by the resurrection.
Always.

Sunday’s coming.

Gall

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“They came to a place called Golgotha.
There they offered Jesus vinegar to drink,
mixed with gall;
but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.”
Matthew 27:34

See that knobby thing growing on that tree branch? It’s a gall. Galls are any kind of abnormal growth on a plant. They can be caused by insect infestation, bacteria or viruses, injuries or irritations.

I never paid much attention to those weird lumps before.
Now I see them everywhere.

Vinegar or wine infused with wood from a gall produces bitter tasting painkiller. It was offered to Jesus on the cross but he refused to take it. Christ was determined to take on the full force of our sin and drink the cup of suffering to the dregs without anesthesia. It had to be vinegar and gall because 1,000 years before the crucifixion, King David wrote,

“They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.”
Psalm 69:21

Why all this talk about galls?
PB has been chosen to be an extra on “The Chosen.”
He goes to Utah soon for three days of filming crowd scenes for season six.

I’m not sure he’ll pass as a Jewish rabbi, but perhaps he could be a bedouin sheep-herder from the far northern reaches. Or an Anglo-Saxon merchant with Viking blood carrying lutefisk and lefse from the North Sea.

I bet he’ll be the only one on the film set with a gall on his walking stick.