It seems just yesterday we were preparing to celebrate Ash Wednesday and now Easter is just a few days away. We have traveled through Lent and have reflected on the reality of our humanity, our need for a Savior and of the grace of God that extends love beyond measure into this broken world.
During Lent I, like many of you, have been reading from a collection of Henri Nouwen and C.S. Lewis’ writings called “A Wondrous Love”. One that struck a particular chord with me was from Saturday, fourth week of Lent
“Making a Choice”
“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make the choice.” C.S. Lewis
His words got me thinking. What sort of things did Jesus say that cause us to wrestle with who he really was? What words did he speak that put us in a place of choosing to believe that “he was and is, the Son of God or else a madman or something else?”
How about in John 10:30 when Jesus says, “I and the Father are one” or maybe John 14:9 when he says, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” “I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the father (God) except through me” is an extremely bold claim that a mere moral teacher would not ever make. During our Tuesday Bible Study Martha pointed out the time in Luke 4 when Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah and then said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” I am sure there are many others we could think of together…times when Christ spoke and declared, I am more than a mere teacher…I am the Son of God!
As we gather for Holy Week Services let us never lose sight of who we worship. Let us remember that the empty tomb we celebrate was once filled with more than a good teacher…it was the Son of God come to offer himself on our behalf so that we may know the Joy’s of Life to the Full.
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done…One Earth as it is in Heaven
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