But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” (Luke 22:33)
You have probably heard the expression, “Ooh, it’ s to die for!” Yes, some things just hit us right on the button to the point of eliciting that popular phrase where we cheerfully prepare to give up our very lives for the taste of some really yummy chocolate pudding. Generally these remarks are instigated by our senses, things that we can feel or touch or hear or see:
“You have to try the raspberry crepes in Paris. They’ re to die for!”
“Did you see the Van Gogh exhibit in Philadelphia? It was to die for!”
“This new recording of Handel’ s Messiah is to die for”.
Even a good book can sprout this loose death-notion...but seriously folks, unless you are an individual who commits every fiber of his being to his chosen art, most of us commoners are not going to die for food, art, music, or literature.
So exactly what would we die for? Millions of Americans have willingly put their lives on the line to protect our freedom as a country for the past 240 years. Liberty is a concept we all hold dear. Some Americans have died for political purposes...assassinations... others roused by spirited speeches that led to tragedy. Strikers — fighting for the right of decent work — were beaten or shot to death. Policemen and firemen, striving to protect the rights and security of others, were instead killed in the service of their duty. All of these examples illustrate that many noble people knew the risk ahead of time and yet forged ahead to defend a higher purpose than themselves.
Yet there are cases of weakness even with pillars of strength. At the Last Supper, Simon Peter exclaimed to our Lord that he would follow Him to prison or even death if need be, honorable words from a proud man. He acted impetuously in the Garden of Gethsemane by cutting the ear off of one of the high priest’s servants; a violent act of what he thought was heroism. And after the arrest he followed the solder’ s detachment to the house of the High Priest as Jesus faced his accusers inside, a courageous step considering how the rest of the disciples had scattered like panicked cats. But in the end, Satan “sifted (him) like wheat” and he became weak. The crowd grew hostile, the cock crowed, and he denied his Lord three times as most of us would have done in the face of mob terror.
Personally, I would die for my children and my family and my country’ s freedom, and I truly believe I would die for my faith if my right to praise God was attempted to be taken forcibly from me....but I would probably not die for much else at this point in my life. So when I try to wrap my arms around the enormity of the sacrifice that Jesus accomplished, that of dying for everyone, not just for me but for all of us... the entire world... it hardly seems conceivable. Our sins are so thoroughly embedded and so obviously rampant, why would God have anything to do with us? Are we not wretchedly and utterly hopeless as a human race? All of my combined offerings of money and time and talent over the past six decades amount to an infinitesimal pod of dirt compared to what Jesus offered to mankind by his death. This is the ultimate mind-blower of Easter.
Dear Heavenly Father, when I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Contributed by Donald
Monday April 21, 2014
Liturgical Year A: Week 21
Liturgical Color: White
Sunday Gospel reading:
Easter Sunday