Why Jesus Died
Back when I was a CPA, my favorite client was a bank. The bank had an officer named Jeanne who worked the front desk and answered the phone. By the time I showed up, she had been there well over 30 years and was clearly the matriarch of the bank. Her nickname was “Mother.” Even the bank president, who had started his career working under her supervision before moving on then coming back, wisely honored and valued her wisdom and influence. She ruled over all she surveyed in the lobby and she held court daily in the break room.
In the break room, her influence was visible. She had post-it notes stuck all over the place. Notes like, “If you make a mess, clean it up!” “If you pour the last cup, please make a new pot.” “Please make sure the refrigerator is closed.” “Anything left in here over a week will be thrown away.” And my personal favorite, “Your mother does not live here. Wash your own dishes.”
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5th Sunday in Lent - Pastor Susan Smith
Jesus has come from the home of his friend Lazarus and his sisters where he raised Lazarus from the dead and now is in Jerusalem for Passover - for the last time. The crowds who are following him have grown and in this passage we hear of Greeks who have come to Jesus’ disciple Philip saying, “Sir we wish to see Jesus.” The gospel doesn’t tell us why they wish to see Jesus. Are they curious about his message or parables? Are they hoping to see Jesus perform a miracle? Maybe they want to become followers of his.
On the face of it this is such a simple request – “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” - but it cuts to the heart of the question we need to ask ourselves: when we look at Jesus, who/what do we see? Because the gospel of John is the last gospel written, this was probably a question asked by those in the early church.
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Eyes on Salvation
We were blessed at our Christmas pageant this past December to have a live baby to play Jesus. Carly Jacobs played Mary and she held Lee Porter who was not quite 3 weeks old at the time. His mother, Morgan, was careful to bring him in just before the scene and whisked him away immediately afterward because he was too young to be in a crowd.
It was a very sweet scene. I’m sure everyone watching could see that Carly loves babies. It was either that or she’s just a great actress. Most people couldn’t see Morgan and Kody gazing at their son in the wings, or his grandparents Melody, who has been running our pageant for decades, and Pat seeing their first grandchild playing Jesus. That and 60-something kids created an explosion of love – BOOM! – to convey the joy of Christmas.
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