Meditation for Holy Tuesday

Upside Down yet Rightside Up: Holy Tuesday

by Rev. Lance Armstrong O’Donnell, Pastor

St. Philip Lutheran Church and School

Chicago, Illinois

Holy Tuesday

30 March, A.D. 2010

Isa 49.1-7; 1 Cor 1.18-25 (26-31); Jn 12.23-50

We have heard this thunderous voice before. We heard it in Exodus 19, on Mt. Sinai, when God met Moses on the mountain. We heard it at Christ’s Baptism where God the Father spoke, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Mt 3.17) And we heard it, too, on the Mount of Transfiguration, where the Father repeated, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” and then added an imperative, “Listen to Him!” (Mt 17.5)

Indeed, this is exactly why we are here...

700 years before Christ’s birth, the LORD prophesied through his servant, Isaiah, that a “suffering servant” would come whose Word would be like a “sword” and in Whom salvation would “reach to the end of the earth” (Isa 49.6); to all peoples.

So it is that the people recognized that when Christ spoke He spoke with authority (Mt 7.29). Yet His Word was--and is--troubling. His Word challenges the “prevailing thinking” about God, about salvation and about life. He came not as a political savior for a peculiar people or a miracle-worker or as a “guru” or “philospher” to show people how to “think” their way into God’s favor.

Yes, there is something seemingly “upside-down” about all of this. As St. Paul wrote in First Corinthians [1.22-25], many among the race of Jews demanded signs--great signals of God’s supernatural intervention as if God would just “wave away” the rebellion of sin --and many Greeks (or non-Jews) sought wisdom--trying in vain to earn salvation through personal effort--but in Christ God deals finally and decisively with our great enemies: sin and death.

This is why the cross is so powerful. It is powerful because on the cross is found the the Eternal Son of God--innocent--nailed and suffering. The cross confronts our fears and avoidances and worldly wisdom. It is shocking. It strikes at something that we know in the depth of our souls: the consequences of sin--our sin--cannot be avoided. The cross is GOD taking sin seriously. Thus, the cross is--paradoxically--where “the Son of Man is glorified.” (Jn 12.23) As such, Christ’s analogy about glorification thunders with authority:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him." (John 12:24-26, ESV)

Yes, Lord, we need Thy presence every passing hour. Let your victory over the cross and grave be our hope. Teach us, because you have dealt finally and completely with sin, not to fear the path you have set before us, for there is no place we would rather be than in Your presence.