Monday, June 13, 2005
LUKE 9:51-56
Today's readings are heavy, depressing. Job, a just man, has suffered dreadful evil, loss of wealth and family. So intense is his suffering that he curses the day he was born. Far better to have been stillborn than to live and bear this crushing weight of tragedy! He sees death as release from unbearable anguish.
In the gospel today, Jesus sets out on his final journey to Jerusalem. The journey will terminate in his betrayal, denial and abandonment by his closest friends, and in the unspeakable agony of his death on a criminal's cross.
Doesn't it seem strange that we can think about these tragic events in the lives of Job and Jesus and yet not be overwhelmed by their pain? Perhaps it's because we already know that in both these tragedies God remained with Job and Jesus and that he continued to love these two men - ultimately leading both of them to new life.
Thoughts such as these are comforting and they can bring us comfort when we are in the midst of tragedy ourselves.
In the gospel today, Jesus sets out on his final journey to Jerusalem. The journey will terminate in his betrayal, denial and abandonment by his closest friends, and in the unspeakable agony of his death on a criminal's cross.
Doesn't it seem strange that we can think about these tragic events in the lives of Job and Jesus and yet not be overwhelmed by their pain? Perhaps it's because we already know that in both these tragedies God remained with Job and Jesus and that he continued to love these two men - ultimately leading both of them to new life.
Thoughts such as these are comforting and they can bring us comfort when we are in the midst of tragedy ourselves.
# posted by F O O D F O R T H O U G H T @ 1:22 PM 
