Maundy: Old english derived from the Latin “mandamentum do vobis”: “A new commandment I give you”…

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus of Nazareth to his disciples. (recorded in John 13)

It occurred to me yesterday that the significance of the Easter holiday is FAR more important that Christmas. Yet we give it roughly 1/10th the thought that we give Christmas.

In retrospect, I wish I would have paid a little more attention this week. Meditating on this part of the gospel for an extended period of time can be helpful in appreciating the significance of Easter. Let’s catch up on the week:

Last Friday: Six days before the Passover, Mary (sister of Lazarus and Martha) anoints Jesus’ feet with ‘costly perfume’ (John 12:2-11)

Last Saturday: The Sabbath, Jesus hangs out with the disciples.

Last Sunday: Palm Sunday – The Triumphal Entry. Christ enters Jerusalem on a donkey fulfilling an ancient prophecy by Zechariah (Zech 9:9). Thus, Christ officially presents himself to Israel as the Messiah.

Monday: Jesus Curses the fig tree (Mark 11, one of my current favorite passages). Christ clears out the temple.

Tuesday: Christ claims to be the Messiah to the authorities (Mark 11:27-13:37). Christ gives the sermon on the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24 and 25).

Today (Wednesday): The Silent Day. Couldn’t find much about what went on today. “Jesus more than likely spends the day resting after an exhausting last several days.” says one source.

Still to come: Maundy Thursday (Passover meal, upper room discourse), Good Friday (Crucifixion, Death, Burial), Saturday (Jesus’ body lays in tomb, and he kicks some major butt in Hell…), Easter Sunday (CHRIST IS RISEN, HE IS RISEN INDEED!).

The Rat, on Disneyworld the It’s a Small World ride at Disneyworld.

Definitely worth a read…

I’ve picked The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning back up. I found this gem tonight.

The ministry of evangelism is an extraordinary opportunity of showing gratitude to Jesus by passing on His gospel of grace to others. However, the ‘conversion by concussion’ method with one sledgehammer blow of the Bible after another betrays a basic disrespect forth dignity of the other and is utterly alien to the gospel imperative to bear witness. To evangelize a person is to say to him or her: you, too, are loved by God in the Lord Jesus. And not only to say it but to really think it and relate it to the man or woman so they can sense it. This is what it means to announce the Good News. But that becomes possible only by offering the person your friendship; a friendship that is real, unselfish, without condescension, full of confidence, and profound esteem.

“And not only to say it but to really think it and relate it to the man or woman so they can sense it.”

This thought is particularly challenging to me, though it rings true deep in me. It is no good going through “THE VERSES” with someone to show them how they can have eternal life if we can’t relate to them the fact that God loves them.

It occurs to me that sometimes we take out the WHY they can have eternal life (because God loves us so much that…) in explaining the HOW (…that everyone who believes in him….)

We are sending an incomplete message that way.

Also, how did Christ say that people would know that we follow God? By our LOVE, not by our verses that we can take them through.

I think sometimes (if we talk about the gospel at all… which is our bigger problem… silence…) we make it far too much of a mechanical thing.

Perhaps the reason we are so silent is because of the mechanical-ness of it all…

If we really had a realization of how much God loves us, and the rest of the world, wouldn’t we want to share that more?

I stand convicted by my own thought…

I highly recommend the song “Much of You” by Steven Curtis Chapman off his most recent album.

Beautiful.