Monday, March 25th
- Exodus 12: 1-14We believe that God is love, but then we are not too sure that God is love in action…The challenge of proclaiming Passover is to assert an activist God who actively works in behalf of the slaves, a just God who judges and punishes the empire and those who serve imperial interests. Passover asserts a more interesting God than many modern Americans believe in.
Will Willimon
Tuesday, March 26th:
- 1 Corinthians 11:23-26The shared meal of communion is remembered, but so are its implications: that we see the church as the body of Christ, and if the body, then a community that calls for us to love one another as Christ loves us. We read of the shared meal that represents the presence of the Lord, but we also get called to the humility of footwashing, of bowing ourselves before others for their benefit. In so doing, we perceive the body of Christ, the church.
Stephen Smith
Wednesday, March 27th:
- John 13: 1-17, 31b-35Jesus does not define love of neighbor in terms of feelings or emotions but concretely, in terms of actions done for the sake of the other as key to our own well-being. Most challenging of all, we are expected to serve even our enemies – while being careful not to enable their abuse and exploitation – as attested by the betrayer Judas, whose feet Jesus also washed.
Ruben Rosario Rodriguez
Thursday, March 28th:
- Isaiah 52:13-53:12Power is redefined and is located in the pain and suffering of the Servant and of Jesus. Power is now defined as the power to heal both the individual and the community. This power to heal becomes embodied in the return from exile for ancient Israel, and it becomes embodied in the resurrection of Jesus for the New Testament community.
Krista Kiger
Friday, March 29th:
- John 18:1-19: 42
Rabbi A. James Rudin once published a plea aimed at Christian preachers in which he confessed to attending Good Friday services incognito and all too often hearing the painful, distressing perpetuation of the hateful “Christ killer” myth that “the Jews” killed Jesus. When he confronted these preachers afterwards, the Christian clergy responded by saying, “Rabbi, why didn’t you tell me you were coming to the Good Friday service?” Rabbi Rudin responded, “Would that have changed your preaching?”
Ruben Rosario Rodriguez
