Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Shrove Tuesday
Matthew 26:40 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with Him, and He began to be sorrowful and troubled.
PORTRAIT OF OUR SUFFERING SAVIOR (PAINTED BY NUMBERS): ONE BITTER HOUR
When I was young an activity I enjoyed doing was painting pictures by numbers (e.g. yellow for picture parts marked with a 1, blue for 2, green for 3, etc.). When you got done filling in all the parts, you ended up with an attractive picture. An ocean scene with ships sailing across the sea. A country scene with a red barn, tall silo, green pasture with cows grazing. In coming devotions we will paint a picture by numbers using brush-strokes of Scripture and the numbers 1-6 as they occur in scenes of the Passion. We won't use bright colors (no pretty blues or cheery tints of yellow). The colors will be dark shades of gray. A little violet. Lots of red. When we're finished we'll have a beautiful portrait of our suffering Savior, who gave up His life on the cross to redeem us.
The number we color in today is 1 (for the "one bitter hour" Jesus spent in the Garden of Gethsemane). The color: Gray. Our text presents the account of Jesus in Gethsemane where He goes with His disciples late on Maundy Thursday night. The Garden, located to the east of Jerusalem, on the lower slope of Mount Olivet, is dark with shadows of the night. The natural green of the olive tree leaves has faded to charcoal gray. But the murky darkness of Gethsemane is nothing compared to the blackness sweeping over Jesus' soul. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow," He says, "even to the point of death." Walking deeper into the Garden's pitch-darkness His turmoil of soul intensifies. Feelings of gloom roll over Him like the wave upon waves of the ocean. He pours out His soul to His Father in prayer, asking that the cup of suffering be taken from Him, if possible.
How can it be that the holy soul of God's sinless Son is tormented by dark feelings of dread? He feels the guilt of the world, yours and mine, and every sinner. He feels the stroke of divine Justice that will be inflicted on Him in a few hours in the darkness of Good Friday -- for us.
