Tuesday in Lent 5 - Mark 14

Before the Passover Meal, the Lamb was inspected for any stains, weaknesses, or imperfections.  Worthy is this Lamb, whose death makes me His own.

Monday in Lent 5 - Mark 14

How our Lord trembles before the cup that's filled with God's wrath against our sin.  None of us takes our guilt as seriously as we should.  We have made ourselves numb to the deadly consequences of our trespasses.  We have lied to ourselves that our evil will not result in bad, but in good.  But here in the Garden we learn to rightly estimate the cost as Jesus is terrified at the thought of having to drink down to the dregs God's justice against our guilt.

However, when the arresting party arrives, there is no hint of wavering in Christ's voice.  Just a firm resolve - and peace!  Really?  When a beloved disciple inflicts such pain as betrayal of His love (which we do everyday), where in the world does He find the strength to be peaceful at a time like this?  He does not.  Not in this world at least.  He finds strength in God's love from above.  "The peace came from His trust in the Father. To submit to the One who has loved you with an everlasting love is not terror in the end, but joy. He knew that and so His head was held high as He went to hand Himself over" (Rev. William Weedon).
He hands His life over to the arresting party, showing us what it is to live the prayer, "Thy will be done."

Monday in Lent 5 - Exodus 2

Baby Moses rescued from the Nile (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

"Baptism's grace in Moses' early life - being condemned to die, he was cast into the water, from which he was drawn out and adopted as a royal prince; even so in Baptism we are sent into the water to die, but are drawn from it and adopted as the royal kings and priests of God in Christ."      

- William Weedon, Commemoration of Moses 2008

Sunday in Lent 5 - Exodus 1

العربية: Deutsch: Alle Pyramiden von Gizeh auf einem Bild. English: All Giza Pyramids in one shot. Русский: Все пирамиды Гизы на изображении. Español: Las Pirámides de Guiza (Egipto). Français : Les Pyramides de Gizeh (Egypte). Català: Les Piràmides de Giza, a Egipte. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The kings of the earth plot in vain against the Lord and His chosen ones, and He who sits enthroned in Heaven laughs as Psalm 2 says.  Good thing to remember as opposition to Christianity becomes more blatant.  Pharaoh wants to stop the Hebrews from increasing and deserting Egypt - and his schemes to keep it from happening actually bring it about!
Check out the repetitive parallelism of 1:7 - Moses is making certain you catch on that while the slavery might indicate God had abandoned them, in actuality God was right there with them doing His Genesis 1 blessing to make the Hebrews fruitfully multiply.