Prepare for Easter

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

About My Father’s Business:

A Lenten Devotional Guide

                                                                         

And turning his gaze on his disciples, he began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor. . . who hunger. . . who weep. . . who are hated. . . who are ostracized. . . who are insulted. . . and who are spurned. . . for the sake of the Son of Man.”

Luke 6:20-22

I’ve had some interesting jobs and I remember that the first day of each job was a little scary and overwhelming. When I read the above passage, I realize that my first day was nothing like that of the twelve!

Can you imagine leaving everything that you know and can do well – mostly fishing – and going to work with/for Jesus, only to be told on the first day of the job that the pay was awful? Jesus called it “blessed” but being poor, hungry, hated, ostracized, insulted and spurned do not sound like blessings to me!

Many of us have stood where these words were spoken, and it’s easy to romanticize the moment and think about how excited they must have been to be the chosen twelve.

These good Jewish boys knew the importance of the number twelve, and they probably envisioned wonderful things about what it meant to be in that elite group. We know that they later discussed who of them would be the greatest, so we can be sure they had pretty high expectations. But the words Jesus is speaking in this passage don’t give them much hope for an exciting job! In fact, I’m amazed that not one of them turned and ran. Perhaps that’s part of what Jesus discussed with his Father on the mountain – who will stay when they hear what is ahead?

Would I have stayed? Would you? I wonder.

Father, help us to learn the meaning of “blessed.” That’s the only way we can face what is ahead if we are to be your real disciples. Amen

About My Father’s Business:

A Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for First United Methodist Church of Homosassa, Florida
Spring 2010
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator