Lent Day 46

Joseph of Arimathea, Mark 15: 42-47 Joseph of Arimathea is mentioned in all four gospels as the man responsible for Jesus’ burial. Typically, the bodies of criminals were not buried, they were burned like trash outside the city walls in the Himmon Valley. In Greek, it is called Gehenna which…

Lent Day 45

Crucifixion guard, Matthew 27: 45-54 I cannot imagine a job more terrible than brutally hurting people, day in and day out. To hear the constant screams of the people you are torturing, to see them contort in pain and agony, to have them beg you to stop. I know I…

Lent Day 44

Malchus, Luke 22:47-53 Well, I learned something new! I could not figure out how the author knew the name of the high priest’s servant – I had never heard it before. But it is given to us in John’s version of the story (John 18). Imagine what it was going…

Lent Day 43

Judas, John 12:4-8 I don’t think that Judas was just trying to get back at Jesus, I think he was trying to ‘help’ him. It has long been believed that Judas was associated with the Zealots – a sect within Judaism that wanted to get rid of the Romans, and…

Lent Day 42

Mary; Mark 14:3-9 NOT John 12:1-3 No offense to the author of these devotions but he picked the wrong person in the wrong gospel to tell this story. The woman with the perfume in John’s gospel isn’t the one that is so unique. It is the woman in Mark’s gospel…

Lent Day 41

Philip, John 12: 20 – 26 I love this guy, and I like the way the author writes about him. Philip says he doesn’t always understand what Jesus means even after being with Jesus for 3 years. Many of us have been following Jesus for a lot longer than 3…

Lent Day 40

Poor Widow, Mark 12:41-44 This passage represents a good biblical principle to live by. It reminds us that what we owe God is as important as what we owe to the bank or the phone company. We are to offer our gifts to God first, and then let the rest…

Lent Day 38

Temple Merchant, Mark 11: 15-18 Note to self – Read the prayer first! I was all set to write my thoughts on this passage and then I read the prayer, “keep me from getting in the way of others who wish to worship you.” Wow. Do you think that we…

Lent Day 37

Zacchaeus, Luke 19: 1 -10 The devotion brought up a point that I had not thought of before – maybe Zacchaeus came to see Jesus because he had heard that Jesus had another tax collector in his inner circle of friends. This would have been Matthew, also known as Levi,…

Lent Day 36

Mother of James and John, Matthew 20:20-28 In this passage, we have a very familiar situation. A parent wants the best for her children – and by the best she means opportunity, advancement, and recognition for demanding work. Here we have a mother who asked around to find the best…