Saturday of Holy Week. Jesus is in the tomb. Not a word about this day in Scripture. Yet. . . A few minutes with 2 Peter 3:8-9, 11-12. God is typically up to quite a bit, even when we think he's forgotten all about us.
Today's Music: Caedmon's Call, 'Valleys Fill First'.
One of the very few songs I've ever heard that reference holy Saturday, Aaron Tate and Ed Cash recognize that when we're waiting for an answer that never seems to come, we're laid low - we're humiliated. There's a great book of Puritan prayers called 'THE VALLEY OF VISION.' The idea is, when we're completely exhausted of our strength, hope, or resources, we're far more likely to catch the vision of God's strength and sufficiency. If you're in that place, (and I think many of us are in this pandemic), let this day remind you that God's ways are different from our ways - they're better! (Isaiah 55:8-13)
Devotional - April 11, 2020
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'By his wounds we are healed.' (Isaiah 53:5) Jesus taking on our sin is the glorious, mysterious grace of God on Good Friday. Artists and composers have sought to portray the significance and power of this for centuries.
Today's art: The Isenheim Alterpiece, crucifixion panel https://www.google.com/search?q=Isenheim+altarpiece+crucifixion&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj0yNmKst7oAhXtlXIEHd56BlAQ_AUoAXoECB0QAw&biw=1353&bih=742&fbclid=IwAR1DkWEaOUi68FyBzNg2xlVeBTeAoMRko75g_1kJuGjQv_jLUuVhpG9ANuc#imgrc=07JI4GnHYzSQoM
Rembrandt, The Raising of the Cross (1633) http://samluce.com/2019/04/rembrandt-and-the-cross-of-christ/?fbclid=IwAR2_4nlVQBcxroSjrJiKpTqkDcUpbO6wHMCSFD-eWjYNkDFxE7QUC5pPoKE
Today's music: John Davis, 'The Kind of Heart' https://youtu.be/toFMJIRtUW4
Jars of Clay, 'Liquid' https://youtu.be/YxWA_EnoIA8
Knut Nystedt: 'O Crux' https://youtu.be/Z-GhX2jG_Q4
Latin lyrics and translation: O Crux, splendidior cunctis astris, mundo celebris, hominibus multum amabilis, sanctior universis; que sola fuisti digna portare talentum mundi: dulce lignum, dulces clavos, dulcia ferens pondera salva presentem catervam, in tuis hodie laudibus congregatam.
O Cross, more radiant than all the stars, honoured throughout the world, beloved of the people, holier than all things, which alone was found worthy to bear the light of the world: blessed wood, blessed nails, blest the weight you bore: save your flock assembled here to praise you. (Venantius Fortunas 530-606 AD)
African-American spiritual: 'Were You There?', Kathleen Battle https://youtu.be/-Pt-boEUaAU
Devotional - April 10, 2020
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Want to see Jesus leap off the page into your life? Look out for John's use of 'historical present tense' in John 13:3-5. Also: the little book we skip over that was the focus of Maundy Thursday worship for centuries. Painting: Ford Madox Brown 'Jesus Washing the Disciple's Feet' https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/brown-jesus-washing-peters-feet-n01394?fbclid=IwAR3B0H1iNHtEyvg-050BYpyFNKUM02zSmTtpK5GSy5lQf4FiK_Zbm_mMKmg
Music: Robert White, 'Lamentations 5' https://youtu.be/76JFXDNTUng
Knut Nystedt, 'Peace I Leave With You' (John 14:27) https://youtu.be/hID6U9aTdPc
Devotional - April 9, 2020
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