Isaiah
53:7 He was oppressed, and he was
afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the
slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not
open his mouth. 8 By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the
living, stricken for the transgression of my people. 9 They made his grave with the wicked and his
tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit
in his mouth.
This
imagery, also found in Psalms 44:12, 23 and Jeremiah 11:19, speaks of a lamb
led to the slaughter, unjustly removed from “the land of the living”. As
mentioned yesterday: Many Christians read this retroactively and discover a
description of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who was ‘led to the slaughter’; there
are others who see the ‘servant’ in Isaiah 53 as a poetic symbol to describe
the community of God’s people.[1]
Either way, this is a story of injustice, silent suffering, and death. Nothing
in this is pleasant.
And
yet ... this is the experience of many people in our communities. There are
people who suffer in silence: women who struggle within oppressive
relationships and children who live silently with abuse. There are also the
perpetrators of abuse, who are trapped by their cycle of cruel expression and
remorse.
Lent
is an opportunity to use fasting and abstinence as a (very small) way of
understanding those who suffer. Lent can be an opportunity to commit our lives
to breaking the silence of the suffering. [2]
I think it's 'cause I'm clumsy
I try not to talk too loud
Maybe it's because i'm crazy
I try not to act too proud
They only hit until you cry
And after that you don't ask why
You just don't argue anymore
I try not to talk too loud
Maybe it's because i'm crazy
I try not to act too proud
They only hit until you cry
And after that you don't ask why
You just don't argue anymore
Palm Sunday
The Wounds and Sorrows of
Ministry
The Scripture passage for
the day is drawn from Rueben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer
for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 136.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises
for the day
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