Weekly Links!

~ LINKS TO SOME INTERESTING READING, FOR WHAT'S LEFT OF YOUR WEEKEND ~

FAITH

-"The Battle is the Lord's" - a snippet:

God is God. He has the power and the plan and all will be well and jolly and good and beautiful in the end no matter what I do, but I can be a part of the jollification. God does not need me, but I can be there.

-"Family Worship as Spiritual Formation": This is one post from a really excellent new series over at Mere Orthodoxy.

-"On Family Worship and Failure": This is another.

-"Father and Son at the Cross"

-"Giving People a Chance to Grow"

-"On Acts 29 and Spiritual Gifts"

Family

-"On the Outside": I know this was written to make me tear up. But...it worked.

Fiction

-"The Speculative World of William Shakespeare"

I hope you have a lovely Sunday, full of worship and rest!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

A poem for Easter Sunday

I'm posting a poem and a picture for each day of Holy Week this year. 

Today's poem always starts sneakily singing through my head as soon as Holy Week begins, getting stronger and stronger as we go through the Triduum. And today? It's shouting.  Here it is, our song of joy, the joy of the redeemed, the rescued, the ransomed. 

from "Easter"

by George Herbert

I got me flowers to straw thy way:

I got me boughs off many a tree:

But thou wast up by break of day,

And brought’st thy sweets along with thee.

The Sun arising in the East,

Though he give light, and th’East perfume;

If they should offer to contest

With thy arising, they presume.

Can there be any day but this,

Though many suns to shine endeavour?

We count three hundred, but we miss:

There is but one, and that one ever.

A Poem for Holy Saturday

I'm posting a poem and a picture for each day of Holy Week this year. Today's poem isn't strictly related to the day, but Holy Saturday has always been a day of quiet reflection, of waiting, of vulnerability and patience, of longing for the presence of God. And so I thought this poem fit.

Heaven--Haven by Gerard Manley Hopkins A nun takes the veil I have desired to go Where springs not fail, To fields where flies no sharp and sided hail, And a few lilies blow. And I have asked to be Where no storms come, Where the green swell is in the havens dumb, And out of the swing of the sea.

Poem for Good Friday

I'm posting a poem and a picture for each day of Holy Week this year. Today Good Friday falls on the Feast of the Annunciation, when Gabriel appeared to Mary. Today's poem was written on a similar Good Friday, and I've heard many people talking about it already today. If you're full-up on this poem already, let me direct you to Donne's other (maybe better) Good Friday poem, here.  

But if not, please direct your attention to this beauty. (As my priest pointed out this morning: the gorgeous wording is Donne's, but the amazing content was all put there in the world by God Himself.)

Upon The Annunciation and Passion Falling Upon One Day, 1608

by John Donne

Tamely, frail body, abstain to-day; to-day
My soul eats twice, Christ hither and away.

She sees Him man, so like God made in this,
That of them both a circle emblem is,
Whose first and last concur; this doubtful day
Of feast or fast, Christ came, and went away.

She sees Him nothing, twice at once, who’s all;
She sees a Cedar plant itself, and fall;
Her Maker put to making, and the Head
Of life, at once, not yet alive, yet dead.

She sees at once the Virgin Mother stay
Reclused at home, public at Golgotha;
Sad and rejoiced she’s seen at once, and seen
At almost fifty, and at scarce fifteen.

At once a Son is promised her, and gone;
Gabriell gives Christ to her, He her to John;
Not fully a mother, She’s in orbity;
At once receiver and the legacy.

All this, and all between, this day hath shown,
Th’ abridgement of Christ’s story, which makes one–
As in plain maps, the furthest west is east–
Of th’ angels Ave, and Consummatum est.

How well the Church, God’s Court of Faculties
Deals, in sometimes, and seldom joining these!

As by the self-fix’d Pole we never do
Direct our course, but the next star thereto,
Which shows where th’other is, and which we say
–Because it strays not far–doth never stray;
So God by His Church, nearest to Him, we know
And stand firm, if we by her motion go;
His Spirit, as His fiery pillar, doth
Leade, and His Church, as cloud; to one end both.

This Church, by letting those days join, hath shown
Death and conception in mankind is one;
Or ’twas in Him the same humility,
That He would be a man, and leave to be;
Or as creation He hath made, as God,
With the last judgement, but one period,
His imitating Spouse would join in one
Manhood’s extremes: He shall come, He is gone;
Or as though one blood drop, which thence did fall,
Accepted, would have served, He yet shed all,
So though the least of His pains, deeds, or words,
Would busy a life, she all this day affords;
This treasure then, in gross, my soul, uplay,
And in my life retail it every day.

A Poem for Maundy Thursday

I'm posting a poem and a picture for each day of Holy Week this year. (Except for yesterday. Because...because it was just one of those days.) Today's poem might look more fit for tomorrow, but...well, there are many, many poems about Good Friday, and so we'll spread the goodness over two days.

Good Friday

by Christina Rossetti

Am I a stone and not a sheep That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy Cross, To number drop by drop Thy Blood's slow loss, And yet not weep? Not so those women loved Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee; Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly; Not so the thief was moved; Not so the Sun and Moon Which hid their faces in a starless sky, A horror of great darkness at broad noon— I, only I. Yet give not o'er, But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock; Greater than Moses, turn and look once more And smite a rock.

A Poem for Tuesday in Holy Week

I'm posting a poem and a picture for each day of Holy Week this year. Today's poem is very long, so I'm posting only a selection of the stanzas. You can read the whole thing here.


from The Sacrifice
by George Herbert

Oh all ye, who pass by, whose eyes and mind
To worldly things are sharp, but to me blind;
To me, who took eyes that I might you find:
                                             Was ever grief like mine?




...Arise, arise, they come. Look how they run.

Alas! what haste they make to be undone!
How with their lanterns do they seek the sun!
                                             Was ever grief like mine?

With clubs and staves they seek me, as a thief,
Who am the way of truth, the true relief;
Most true to those, who are my greatest grief:
                                            Was ever grief like mine?

Judas, dost thou betray me with a kiss?
Canst thou find hell about my lips? and miss
Of life, just at the gates of life and bliss?
                                          Was ever grief like mine?

...Then they accuse me of great blasphemy,

That I did thrust into the Deity,
Who never thought that any robbery:
                                          Was ever grief like mine?

Some said, that I the Temple to the floor
In three days raz’d, and raised as before.
Why, he that built the world can do much more:
                                         Was ever grief like mine?

Then they condemn me all with that same breath,
Which I do give them daily, unto death.
Thus Adam my first breathing rendereth:
                                        Was ever grief like mine?

....They buffet me, and box me as they list,
Who grasp the earth and heaven with my fist,
And never yet, whom I would punish, miss’d:
                                       Was ever grief like mine?

Behold, they spit on me in scornful wise,
Who by my spittle gave the blind man eyes,
Leaving his blindness to mine enemies:
                                        Was ever grief like mine?

My face they cover, though it be divine.
As Moses’ face was veiled, so is mine,
Lest on their double-dark souls either shine:
                                       Was ever grief like mine?

....O all ye who pass by, behold and see;

Man stole the fruit, but I must climb the tree;

The tree of life to all, but only me:

                                      Was ever grief like mine?

Lo, here I hang, charg’d with a world of sin,

The greater world o’ th’ two; for that came in

By words, but this by sorrow I must win:

                                    Was ever grief like mine?

Such sorrow, as if sinful man could feel,

Or feel his part, he would not cease to kneel,

Till all were melted, though he were all steel:

                                     Was ever grief like mine?

But, O my God, my God! why leav’st thou me,

The son, in whom thou dost delight to be?

My God, my God –---

                                       Never was grief like mine.

....

A Poem for Monday in Holy Week

I'm posting a poem and a picture for each day of Holy Week this year. Here's the poem for Monday in Holy Week. If you can only read a bit of it, make it the last stanza.

The Incarnation and Passion
by Henry Vaughan

Lord! when thou didst thy selfe undresse 
Laying by thy robes of glory, 
To make us more, thou wouldst be lesse, 
And becam'st a wofull story. 

To put on Clouds instead of light, 
And cloath the morning-starre with dust, 
Was a translation of such height 
As, but in thee, was ne'r exprest; 

Brave wormes, and Earth! that thus could have 
A God Enclos'd within your Cell, 
Your maker pent up in a grave, 
Life lockt in death, heav'n in a shell; 

Ah, my deare Lord! what couldst thou spye 
In this impure, rebellious clay, 
That made thee thus resolve to dye 
For those that kill thee every day? 

O what strange wonders could thee move 
To slight thy precious bloud, and breath! 
Sure it was Love, my Lord; for Love 
Is only stronger far than death.

Photo & Poem: Palm Sunday

I'm posting a poem and a picture for each day of Holy Week this year. Here's the poem for Palm Sunday:

The Donkey

by G. K. Chesterton

When fishes flew and forests walked
  And figs grew upon thorn,
Some moment when the moon was blood
  Then surely I was born;

With monstrous head and sickening cry
  And ears like errant wings,
The devil's walking parody
  On all four-footed things.

The tattered outlaw of the earth,
  Of ancient crooked will;
Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,
  I keep my secret still.

Fools! For I also had my hour;
  One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears,
  And palms before my feet.

Collect for Maundy Thursday

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

                                                         -from The Book of Common Prayer.

Collect for Wednesday in Holy Week

Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

                                             -from The Book of Common Prayer.

Collect for Tuesday in Holy Week

O God, by the passion of your beloved Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

                                  -from The Book of Common Prayer.

Collect for Monday in Holy Week

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

                                                           -from The Book of Common Prayer.

Weekly Links: new blogs, saying "yes" to Lent, and more!

To start, this week I found two wonderful new blogs. The first, Liturgy of Life, is written by a fellow Anglican and lover of the church year. Check it out here.

The second, Pass the Salt Shaker, is a discussion of singleness and marriage in the church, written by a group of great folks, including at least one of the contributors to Mere Fidelity (one of my favorite podcasts). Check out the new blog here.


Now, on to our regular weekend collection of articles:

"Holy Week Meyers-Briggs": This is just hilarious and awesome.

"Giving Up 'Yes' for Lent":

I don’t want to second-guess my last few years nor frame these amazing opportunities in pessimistic terms. But I do want to consider whether it is always courageous to say "yes." 

"Where Demons Fear to Tread: Angels and the Atonement":

As it turns out, the theologians and artists of the church over the centuries have reflected on this question with surprising results, coming up with several ways that the work of Christ had a significant bearing on the unfallen angels.

"Learning From Bodies":

Ability is not what makes death significant. At birth this baby had capacities below that of a healthy fetus at ten weeks. Holding his body, living and then dead, proves to me that it doesn’t matter how early the human heart beats, how early it is possible to feel pain, or when the senses develop. No ability or strength confers human status—not being viable or sentient or undamaged or wanted. Being of human descent is enough; you cannot earn or forfeit your humanity. If this baby’s death does not matter, no death matters.

"Joseph: the faithful carpenter":

Mary is rightly credited as setting the ultimate example of how Christians should respond to God's calling. But likewise, I think that Joseph is exemplar in demonstrating how God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) loves us, his sinful people. As a husband, father, and erstwhile woodworker, I can find no greater earthly example to follow.

And finally, to listen to, The City's podcast this week on "Non-Christian Books" was full of good stuff.


Have a great weekend!

Holy Week Links

I usually don't post links until the weekend, but I've run across a couple of good things recently that both so good and so timely that I didn't want to wait till Saturday to post them.

First, is Ann Dominguez's meditation "Willing in the Garden". It is all amazing, but her observation that the exhaustion she thought was caused by her work was actually caused by having to deal with sin . . . well that was just revelatory to me.

Second is Anne Kennedy's post "It's Holy Week", full of the goodness and realism that all her posts are full of, but I found it particularly encouraging as I face all the services and surprises of the week ahead, still wanting to (to paraphrase Dickens) keep Holy Week in my heart.

Finally, if you're not subscribing to the blog Lent and Beyond, you're missing out. The collection of prayers and music they've gathered there is a treasure trove.


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

"Let Us Keep the Feast: Holy Week and Easter" - availabe as an e-book!

 I'm happy to announce that in addition to being available in paperback, you can now purchase Let Us Keep the Feast: Holy Week and Easter as an e-book. You can buy it on Amazon for Kindle, and at the publisher's website for Kindle and other e-pub formats - for only $1.99. Instant delivery, right in time for Holy Week.

Let Us Keep the Feast will show you ways to bring the rhythms of the church year into your own home, so that the celebration of the life of the church becomes part of your daily life. Pick up a copy today!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

What people are saying about "Let Us Keep the Feast: Holy Week and Easter"

I'm excited to say that the Holy Week and Easter edition of "Let Us Keep the Feast" is now available for purchase! Here is what people are saying about it:

Summer and winter, day and night, work and rest. We are all familiar with these rhythms of life. This booklet introduces us to the rhythms of Christian life as lived according to the seasons of the Church year, with its feasts and fasts, its high-days and holidays. Helpful, challenging, and instructive: I recommend it.
     -Dr. Michael Ward, author of "Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis"

Brilliant and illuminating: that is the what I have found living the Church Year to be and what this book is. 
     -John Mark N. Reynolds, Provost at Houston Baptist University

I am pleased to commend to you this wonderful little book on the Church Year entitled "Let Us Keep the Feast." It will be helpful to anyone who wants to better understand and experience the spiritual growth that comes from living out the Christian Calendar. Each chapter ends with a number of suggestions to enrich the season, and this provides a variety of resources appropriate for children and families at home - music, fun activities, poetry, prayers, Scripture verses, and other suggested readings. I highly recommend it for any parent who wants to enhance the Sunday morning experience at Church by supplementing it with what takes place at home during the week.
     -The Rt. Rev. Jack Leo Iker, Bishop of Fort Worth

The feasts and festivals of the Christian year contain such a plethora of practices and depth of richness that most of us can barely manage to scratch the surface. However, the Let us Keep the Feast guide for Holy Week and Easter brings together in one place a cornucopia of resources that will certainly enrich anyone's celebration of this important Christological season. From learned explanations on the theological significance of Holy Week and Easter to practical suggestions and resources for celebrating these events meaningfully and with solemnity, this guide is indispensable for use in both the church and the home. Seasoned liturgists and newcomers to the church year will both benefit richly from this excellent book. I commend the authors for putting such a useful guide into the Church's hands.

-Rev. Greg Peters, PhD, Associate Professor of Medieval and Spiritual Theology, Torrey Honors Institute, Biola University, author of "Reforming the Monastery: Protestant Theologies of the Religious Life"

Consider picking up a copy today!



Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell


This post contains Amazon affiliate links. (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

Interview with Jennifer Snell, author of "Let Us Keep the Feast: Holy Week"

I have a treat for you today, and no, I'm not interviewing myself! :)  Jennifer Snell is the author of the Holy Week chapter of "Let Us Keep the Feast". Please welcome Jennifer to the blog!

the lovely Jennifer Snell

Me: Hi Jennifer - it's so good to have you here today! You’re the author of the Holy Week chapter in "Let Us Keep the Feast", so I wanted to start by asking you: what’s your strongest Holy Week memory, good or bad?

Jennifer: Thanks Jess; it's great to be here. What a good question. Superlatives are hard!  I think I’ll share one of my earliest Holy Week memories, which continues to impact how I experience the Church Year.

When I was old enough to finally understand that Good Friday was a somber day to remember Jesus’ death, I recall telling my mom that I wanted to spend the entire day in silence. No one told me to do this, and I didn’t know then that there was such a thing as a silent retreat. (And perhaps growing up as an introvert in a large family meant that the discipline of silence was something I would choose to tackle!) But I was given permission to spend the day alone, and my memories from that day are of quiet walks through the grass. (I also remember I especially appreciated that year’s Easter basket I received two days later.) I share this memory, even though it’s not dramatic, because it relates to how we— as humans— experience the Church Year. I’ve known other people also who as young children are drawn to the meaning of the holy day and who long to mark it with something special. We don’t have to know much about the Church Year to recognize our desire and our need for it. And now that I’ve learned more about the traditions, I see how they connect to the actions that kids like me are already trying to do.

Me: Wow, Jenn, that's a profound insight. As a follow-up, what do you think the heart of Holy Week is?

Jennifer: Ah, the heart of Holy Week. I love this question. The heart of Holy Week is: MESSIAH. Holy Week shows us who Jesus is: He is the Messiah, God’s Anointed One. And the Messiah shows us who God the Father is: He who did not spare His own Son but gave him up for us all. And the Godhead shows us who we are meant to be—partakers of His divine nature! But the special focus of Holy Week is: what kind of Messiah and therefore what kind of God we serve.

In my research for the book, this point really jumped out at me. Jesus wasn’t the ‘Conquering Hero’ everyone was expecting. He let himself be killed at the hands of his enemies! His closest companions couldn’t understand it; Why would God let this happen? Who was Jesus after all? The Messiah wasn’t supposed to die, right? There were so many puzzle pieces to fit together, and we see Jesus’ followers struggling with these questions even on the morning of Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus had a lot of explaining to do, and one of the tools he used is: The Scriptures. As Jesus walked his disciples through the Scriptures [while on the road to Emmaus] he proved that God’s plan all along had been for the Messiah to be a humble servant. The disciples had to adjust their view on how God would redeem the world, but once they did they realized that God’s deliverance in Christ was truly… revelatory. The Crucified Messiah was acquainted with grief and carried our sorrows. There’s no greater love than this. It’s not just that Jesus is the Triumphant Messiah but that He is our generous Messiah who loved us to the uttermost. We follow a King who humbled himself even unto death on a cross; he held nothing back. We serve a God who raised up Christ from the dead and who gives life to us through His Spirit. “Love so amazing, so divine...” That’s why Holy Week is worth celebrating.

Goodness, I can go on about the heart of Holy Week for a long time! The implications are forever, but the ones that compel me these days have to do with how we approach pain. Suffering is hard to come to grips with, and the passion of Jesus which we remember during Holy Week is heart-breaking. But it’s precisely here, in the worst that can happen, that Christ has been and has come through, all for us. He understands; we’re not alone in our pain. In Holy Week we see the extent of God’s love, a love that breaks the power of sin and death. Christ’s death and resurrection have proved that God’s reign is ultimate. God wins and He is Good. That’s why we can live through suffering with hope, and that’s why we have so much to celebrate in the Church Year. OK; I’ll stop now.

Me: Oh wow, there’s so much to stop and meditate on in your answer! That Holy Week shows us who God is, and thus who we are . . . and that God himself understands our suffering from the inside. What a gift!

Your understanding of the season seems so profound to me that I’m afraid my next question might not have a good answer – but I’ll ask it anyway! Did anything surprise you while you were researching Holy Week traditions?

Jennifer: OH my, Yes. There was a TON that was new to me. This book project was the first time I had ever really plunged into the question: Why is it that there are more details about Jesus’ Passion in the Gospels than for any other time period in his life? That’s what Holy Week is all about. What was it about his death-- and therefore his resurrection from death-- that was so significant to his first followers? Because of their understanding of these events, which we follow during Holy Week, such rich celebrations grew in the early church. Our church year begins with the Advent season, but the story of the church year starts with the development of Holy Week and Easter. For example, the traditions of Holy Week as we still practice them today date back at least to the 4th century! We know this because a dear woman named Egeria (she was probably a nun from Spain) kept a diary from her pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the 300s. Her travelogue has heart-warming detail about all the services she participated in, at the original locations where Jesus lived. She made me laugh and cry as I read her first-hand account, which is among the earliest sources we have for the history of Christian worship. Her stories are inspiring and really cool.

So cool, in fact, that the first Good Friday service I attended after I discovered Egeria was unlike any I had experienced before. For the first time, I wasn’t just trying to feel somber about the crucifixion: instead I had wide eyes through everything I witnessed. I couldn’t stop thinking: Hey, we’re saying the same prayers Egeria described! Wow, we’re copying what they did in Jerusalem when they honored the wood of Jesus’ cross! So that’s why we do what we do! I had known before that all of our worship traditions mean something, but it makes such a difference to know where it comes from and why it’s all relevant.

Me: Wow! Now I’m looking forward to Holy Week more than ever!  And now, to close, here’s my last question: which part of the chapter was your favorite part to write?

Jennifer: Goodness, what do I say? I loved preparing the music section. I wanted the list of music alone to be worth the purchase price of the book! But I guess my favorite was weaving, all the way throughout, the significance of why Holy Week matters. It’s about the deciding event of history, the turning point of the year, and the crux of our lives. Our book title is a quote from Scripture, but the part that comes before “Therefore let us keep the feast” is: “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us.” That’s Holy Week.

Me: Love it! Thanks so much for being here today, Jenn!

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

Holy Week is EXACTLY for the faint of heart

So, over at At a Hen's Pace, I saw a post titled, "Does Holy Week Prep Count as a Lenten Discipline?" and my immediate reaction was, "I sure hope so!"

It feels like that's all I'm doing lately! Palm crosses, and will the Paschal candle get here in time? Linens and does anyone actually know where we're setting up the thurible stand? Do we have enough wine for four masses in one week and how can we best help the children navigate all these long, challenging, amazing services when mostly they're just going to be so very, very tired?

Yeah. And then I saw Anne Kennedy's post titled, "a week to think about Jesus and get really really tired" and I thought, Yeah. That.

So. I'm not sure I'm going to be blogging for the rest of this week - and I might take Bright Week off, too. Right now, it feels pretty important to direct all my energy towards family and home: both my family and my home, and my church family, our other home.

But I'm so grateful for all of you wonderful people I've met through this blog, and I'm looking forward to seeing you again on the other side of this long, wonderful celebration. So let me wish you all the best of Holy Weeks. God grant all of us grace to meet Him in the middle of our long days, in our tiredness, in our worry, in our sin, remembering always that He took all of that guilt and grief and iniquity upon Himself, so that we no longer have to bear it.

A blessed Holy Week to you, friends.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Links: Holy Week and Vikings!

"Holy Week Idea":

My dear friend Jerusha passed along this great idea to mark Holy Week. But you have to prepare early, so I’m sharing it now.

Their family used no electric lights during Holy Week last year. For morning and evening light, they used only candles. I loved this idea, but had no candles in the house last year . . .

"History Channel Gets Vikings Precisely Wrong":

Every story has to be about some dynamic young person (who wants freedom) in conflict with a hidebound old conservative, who lives by oppression.

The problem — and this is serious in a series coming from a network that calls itself the History Channel — is that this is precisely the opposite of the political dynamic that was actually playing out in the Viking Age.

And I had that link above, written by Lars Walker, already copied onto this post when I read the news that his new novel is out! So excited - his Viking novels are awesome: history, fantasy, and Christianity all rolled into one adventuresome, orthodox bundle. Here's a link to the latest, Hailstone Mountain, and here's a review. Looking forward to reading it!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Palm Sunday Scripture Readings

I got a double-dose of a lot of the Palm Sunday readings, because the St. James Devotional Guide readings matched up with what we read in church today*. Because of that, I'm actually remembering to blog about something I noticed in church today.
Matthew 27:18 says: For [Pilate] knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.
And that reminded me of Proverbs 27:4: Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?
I don't have much to say besides simply pointing it out. But it is interesting to me that this, at least in a direct, practical sense, was what slew Jesus: envy. The envy of the chief priests and the officials. Who can stand before envy? Not even Him, on that day.
But, of course, He chose to submit Himself to that doom, He chose to submit Himself to death, so it isn't quite what it sounds. And He triumphed three days later. Against death. Against all sins. Even envy.
So, I'm not sure what it means or, I guess, how much it means. But I think those two verses next to each other are interesting. It certainly makes me want to check my own heart against that particular sin.
Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell
*In the Anglican church, Palm Sunday is also known as "Passion Sunday" because we read through the entire account of the Passion from one of the gospels on this day each year - this year it was Matthew.