Isaiah 50:4-9a
The Lesson indicates that the Suffering Servant comes for weary people (v. 4). Americans are weary, recent polls tell us. A 2014 Wall Street Journal poll revealed that more than half of Americans are weary of our international involvement on the world stage. A Rasmussen poll revealed that 52% of Americans are sick of our perceived unfair economy. And a late 2013 Gallup poll showed that 40% of us are not getting enough sleep.
Commenting on this text, John Calvin observed that “we cannot escape this condition” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.VIII/2, p. 55). And then he added Good News: “However that may be, He [God] always watches carefully and runs to give aid; and even when we fly and resist he calls us to him, that we may be refreshed by tasting his grace and kindness” (Ibid., p. 54).
Martin Luther’s words about the suffering of Jesus being Good News are relevant for most every text during Holy Week: “...it hurts the Lord to see that we weep at the sight of his suffering. He wants us to be glad, praise God, thank his grace, extol, glorify, and confess him; for through this journey we come into the possession of the grace of God” (What Luther Says, p. 180).
Mark E.
Philippians 2:5-11
Every area of work has its own special “jargon” of language, from preachers to dock workers. The business world is no exception. Businesspeople use words like “networking,” “leverage,” “texting,” and “downstream” to communicate among themselves. To the average person these words often obscure meaning rather than making it clearer.
A friend of mine says that when someone tells you to “find a creative solution by networking with your business partners” they are really saying “that’s not my problem; take it to somebody else.” Or when you hear “we’re prepared to leverage downstream investors,” you are really being told “we plan to borrow more money next year.” And when you hear that “front-end costs are a little high,” look out! That means you’ll have to invest a whole lot of money before you ever see a return.
To borrow from business-world language, Saint Paul is saying something like that. The front-end cost of discipleship is a little high; but wow, the return of glory is worth everything. Jesus proved it with his very life! The front-end cost was extremely exorbitant -- higher than anyone ever paid in history, or ever will. He humbled himself, even to the point of death.
Derl K.
Philippians 2:5-11
I belong to a denomination that practices the ordinance of feetwashing as part of our communion observance, so I’m used to seeing feetwashing in the scriptures whether it’s there or not. However, it’s more striking when someone outside of my tradition sees the same thing. In his biblical commentary on Philippians, Gerald F. Hawthorne sees in this famous Christ hymn perhaps the roots of a litany for the washing of feet among the early Christians. Just as Jesus, in John 13, lays aside his outer garments, in Philippians Paul tells us that Jesus laid aside his divine nature. When Jesus wraps a towel around himself and stoops to wash his disciples’ feet, a menial task assigned to slaves, so in Philippians we see that Jesus takes the form of a slave and humbled himself. Then we read in John that Jesus once more dons his garments and sits down at his place at the head of the table, so God exalted Jesus to the highest place, giving him the name above all names. And at last Jesus identifies himself as teacher and Lord in setting an example for us. And the Philippians passage concludes that every tongue will someday confess that Jesus is Lord. (See Gerald F. Hawthorne, Philippians: A Word Biblical Commentary, p. 78, and Frank Ramirez, The Love Feast, p. 94.)
Frank R.
Philippians 2:5-11
We revere the name of Jesus above every other name, but when he came to earth as a human being he humbled himself and put himself under all the laws that he himself had established! He is the only one who can heal us if we break his laws. No one else has the authority.
The son of Henry Ford came to work for his father’s company, but even in his exalted relationship he was still in the form of a hired hand. He still had to humble himself under his father’s command. His father let him know that he was in charge -- not his son.
It is always a comfort to me to know that the very Son of God was under the same laws that I am under. He set an example for us so that we do not inflate our ego. Because Jesus was willing to be obedient even to death, he was exalted to the highest place.
It would seem that if we humble ourselves and become totally obedient, we too might be exalted one day when we go to our heavenly home.
Being humble seems so simple, but it is not easy for most of us. I think of myself as a pastor and how I sometimes feel a step or two above my parishioners. So many of us want to be addressed as “Pastor” or think our mail should say “Rev. ___.” We expect to be treated differently when we visit hospitals or jails or meet our people at their businesses. It is hard not to feel that we deserve special, respectful treatment. As for others in most congregations, money talks. If we are wealthy and give generously to our church and other community needs, we can’t help but feel puffed up and a little better than those poor folks who may only put in the widow’s mite. Some brag about the businesses they own or the things they are doing for the community or even how they are helping family members in need. We feel inflated when a girl we are helping in prison writes back thank-you notes for our financial help. She grovels at our feet in gratitude (also in the hope that the spigot will not be turned off, of course).
I am always touched by those who don’t want their name mentioned when they give, who don’t want it up in lights. Some even drive simple cars like Chevys or Fords when they could afford Cadillacs.
It reminds us of our Lord, who rode into town on the back of a humble donkey instead of on a great noble steed used by others in high places.
Wouldn’t you rather be exalted by God than by your fellow members and friends? Jesus is our example. It was a high day for him -- even on a donkey -- but look how the week ended! What a comedown.
Bob O.
Mark 14:1--15:47
We do not like to see ourselves in the story of this lesson, in the disciples, or in the fickle crowd cheering Jesus on Palm Sunday and then turning on him later in the week. We are very good at denying our sin, as the great Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards once noted: “Natural men do not generally conceive themselves to be so bad; they have not this notion of themselves, that they are enemies of God. And therefore when they hear such doctrine as this taught them, they stand ready to make objections” (Works, Vol. 2, p. 134).
This gospel account puts that delusion to rest. Referring to Peter’s denial of Jesus as a sign of the whole Church’s denial of Christ, John Calvin writes: “Let us therefore remember that our strength is so far from being sufficient to resist powerful attacks, that it will give way, when there is the mere shadow of a battle (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XVII/1, p. 261).
In fact, we need Jesus and his Passion to live. Famed 17th-century French intellectual Blaise Pascal well describes the significance of the events described in this lesson (especially the disciples sleeping when Jesus prays in Gethsemane) for us in our walk of faith: “Jesus brought about the salvation of his disciples while they slept. He has done this for each of the righteous while they slept, in nothingness before their birth and in their sins after their birth” (Pensees, pp. 313-314).
Influential American evangelical Rob Bell nicely sums up what Jesus’ Passion does to us: “The cross is God’s way of taking away all our accusations, excuses, and arguments.”
Mark E.
