Tag: Mark 14

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A Prayer for Times of Trouble

Scripture Focus: Proverbs 24:10-12
10 If you falter in a time of trouble,
     how small is your strength!
 11 Rescue those being led away to death;
     hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
 12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
     does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
 Does not he who guards your life know it?
     Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?

Mark 14:38
38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Reflection: A Prayer for Times of Trouble
By Erin Newton

In the twilight hours before the cross, Jesus slipped into the garden to commune with the Father. His words spilled out into the world, “Abba, let this cup pass.” It was an hour of great need. The time of trouble was upon him. The great Creator of the world was hours away from death, minutes away from betrayal. Would he falter? Would he back away now?

He leaned down toward his friends and told them to watch and pray. He continues to call us to watch and pray:

Dear Lord, within the garden, give us the strength to endure the night.

         The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Your word declares wisdom as the source of our strength. Wisdom builds houses and guides us to victory. But we falter in times of trouble. Our faith is indeed small. Give to us strength through wisdom—not the power of our hands but the understanding of our hearts.

         The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Open our eyes to those who are perishing around us. Blind us from our own ambitions and comforts. Crucify the desires that serve only ourselves. Let us not slumber as you plead for the souls of this world.

         The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

For we can never truly say we did not know. You pointed to the harvest and told us it was ready. You told us to look after even the least of these. You gave the care of your mother to your beloved friend. We are all now your beloved friends.

         The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Lord, there is no corner of our hearts to which you are blind. All our motives, all our ambitions, all our desires are laid bare before your watchful eye. You who hold our lives now send us out into the dying world.

Your spirit was willing, and you were never weak. You rescued us as we staggered toward death. You knew the price that had to be paid. Grant us the strength of a crucified life that only comes through wisdom.

After Jesus prayed, the kiss of betrayal was laid upon his cheek. He was led from trial to torture to death with full acceptance that the cup would not pass. This is our example of wisdom. This is our example of not faltering in times of trouble.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Early in the morning I cry to you, for in your word is my trust. — Psalm 119.147

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


​Today’s Readings
Proverbs 24 (Listen 3:47)
Mark 14 (Listen 8:37)

Read more about Baring Your Soul
Jesus modeled this in his darkest moments in Gethsemane. “Take this cup away” is balanced with a trust in God’s will.

Baring Your Soul

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Healthy Patriotism

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 34.1-2
1 Come near, you nations, and listen;
pay attention, you peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!
2 The Lord is angry with all nations;
his wrath is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy them,
he will give them over to slaughter. 

Mark 14.27, 29
27 “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them…
29 Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”


Reflection: Healthy Patriotism
By John Tillman

It is all nations, not some, that the Lord is angry with in Isaiah’s prophecy.

Why is God even mad at these nations? They didn’t have the commandments, the covenant, the Temple… What does God expect of them? And what does God expect of us?

Israel did enjoy a special relationship with God, with special privileges and responsibilities. However, God desires, even demands, all nations to worship him, not just Israel. (Acts 17.26-31) Israel was to be like a priest before the congregants—a guide and model. God is angry with all nations because all nations, even Israel and Judah, became rebels and traitors.

Especially around times of patriotic celebration, it can be difficult for us to read about God being angry with “all nations.” We feel or say, “Surely not us, Lord!” We must sound to God a bit like the disciples when Jesus said they would fall away. “Not me, Lord!” 

The gospel writers, Mark and Matthew, show two moments in which Jesus confronted them with predictions of betrayal. (Mark 14.18-21, 27-31; Matthew 26.20-25, 31-35) One is direct betrayal to the authorities. All of them say, “Surely not me, Lord,” and only one of them, Judas, is guilty. The other is a more collective, or group betrayal, “You will all fall away.” Peter is the loudest objector but all the disciples deny the prediction. And all of the disciples, including Mark and Matthew were guilty. Mark, most commenters agree, is the young man who not only fled, but fled naked when he was grasped by his clothing. (Mark 14.52)

It is a grave theological error to mistake our own nation, wherever we live, for “God’s nation.” No modern nation is the spiritual inheritor of Israel and even if it were, that nation could and would fall. The Bible tells us that Israel became as evil as Egypt, Assyria, or Babylon. History tells us that believing one’s nation is “God’s nation” consistently leads, time and time again, to political atrocities in the name of God.

There is nothing sinful about patriotically celebrating what is good. There is, however, spiritual danger in denying national sins and glorifying national leaders. Eventually we’ll be asked to bow to their statues or demands. Directly or indirectly, we can betray Christ for patriotism.

Rarely are nations totally evil or good. Most are a mixture. Healthy patriotism, like healthy Christianity, celebrates good while lamenting and resisting evil.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
“Because the needy are oppressed, and the poor cry out in misery, I will rise up,” says the Lord, “And give them the help they long for.” — Psalm 12.5

Today’s Readings
Isaiah 34 (Listen -2:59)
Luke 16 (Listen -4:27)

Read more about Celebrating Earthly Kingdoms|
Celebrating the country in which one lives is not un-biblical but it can be a dangerous, idolatrous trap.

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Read more about Jeremiah, the Unpatriotic Prophet
Jeremiah’s refusal to embrace a politically expedient alliance with Egypt, gained him the hatred of ‘patriotic’ Israelites.

Jeremiah, the Unpatriotic Prophet
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In the Face of Betrayal

Scripture Focus: Mark 14.18-19
18 While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

Genesis 44.33
33 “Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.

From John: In 2019, when I first wrote this post, I missed that it also applied so well to what is happening in the Old Testament passage. After Judah’s impassioned plea, Joseph meets his betrayers with a preview of the forgiveness offered to the repentant by Jesus. We all need a reminder from time to time that when we inevitably betray Christ, he will receive us back.

Reflection: In the Face of Betrayal
By John Tillman

Jesus was familiar with the entire spectrum of betrayal. 

He was betrayed on a national level.

Jesus was the rightful king. The Messiah. But he was never accepted by those in power. He was the rejected king, the rejected cornerstone. In some ways, he was never truly allowed to return from exile in Egypt, being forced to live his entire life in obscurity. Even at the height of his popularity he stayed in out of the way places to avoid those who wanted to kill him. He only returned to Jerusalem at the end of his ministry for the purpose of being rejected and killed.

He was betrayed on a broad, societal level.

Jesus experienced Twitter-storm levels of betrayal. The religious leaders, just a few days prior, wanted to arrest and kill Jesus but refrained for fear of the great crowd that supported him. In a matter of hours, the crowd that was his protection, became the engine that drove the wheels of government to crush him.

He was betrayed on an intimate and personal level.

Even though Jesus knew betrayal by Judas was coming, the intimacy of it—the sign of the kiss—still shocked him. And Peter’s betrayal, cursing and denying Christ after so boldly claiming that all could fall away and he would still not, is one of the most heart-wrenching moments of the New Testament. The account in Luke contains the cinematic detail of Christ, in the midst of being beaten and accused, hearing the cock crow and turning to catch Peter’s eye just after what Peter had done.

Pause right now and film this scene in your own mind. Imagine Christ’s face looking at Peter in that moment.

Imagine his face looking at Judas.
Imagine his face looking at Jerusalem.
Imagine his face looking at the crowds berating him and calling for his death.

The look you imagine on Christ’s face in these moments says a lot about what you believe about who Jesus is and what his character is like.

Imagine his face looking at you.

Our sins are an intimate betrayal. Yet still Jesus looks at us with longing. He weeps for our mistakes and sins, but longs for our repentance and return.

Look full in his wonderful face this week. Do not despair over your betrayal as Judas did. Weep over it as Peter did. And wait. Jesus will lovingly come to you.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy Name and glory in your praise. — Psalm 106.47

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Genesis 44 (Listen – 4:38) 
Mark 14 (Listen – 8:37)

Read more about Praising Christ’s Righteousness
Praise God we are free from the delusion that humans and human institutions are infallible.

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Read more about The Naked Emotion of God
Hosea…shows us a God unashamed of shame, nakedly confessing his love for the unlovable.

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In the Face of Betrayal

Mark 14.18-19
While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”
They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

Reflection: In the Face of Betrayal
By John Tillman

Jesus was familiar with the entire spectrum of betrayal. 

He was betrayed on a national level.
Jesus was the rightful king. The Messiah. But he was never accepted by those in power. He was the rejected king, the rejected cornerstone. In some ways, he was never truly allowed to return from exile in Egypt, being forced to live his entire life in obscurity. Even at the height of his popularity he stayed in out of the way places to avoid those who wanted to kill him. He only returned to Jerusalem at the end of his ministry for the purpose of being rejected and killed.

He was betrayed on a broad, societal level.
Jesus experienced Twitter-storm levels of betrayal. The religious leaders, just a few days prior, wanted to arrest and kill Jesus but refrained for fear of the great crowd that supported him. In a matter of hours, the crowd that was his protection, became the engine that drove the wheels of government to crush him.

He was betrayed on an intimate and personal level.
Even though Jesus knew betrayal by Judas was coming, the intimacy of it—the sign of the kiss—still shocked him. And Peter’s betrayal, cursing and denying Christ after so boldly claiming that all could fall away and he would still not, is one of the most heart-wrenching moments of the New Testament. The account in Luke contains the cinematic detail of Christ, in the midst of being beaten and accused, hearing the cock crow and turning to catch Peter’s eye just after what Peter had done.

Pause right now and film this scene in your own mind. Imagine Christ’s face looking at Peter in that moment.

Imagine his face looking at Judas.
Imagine his face looking at Jerusalem.
Imagine his face looking at the crowds berating him and calling for his death.

The look you imagine on Christ’s face in these moments says a lot about what you believe about who Jesus is and what his character is like.

Imagine his face looking at you.

Our sins are an intimate betrayal. Yet still Jesus looks at us with longing. He weeps for our mistakes and sins, but longs for our repentance and return.

Look full in his wonderful face this week. Do not despair over your betrayal as Judas did. Weep over it as Peter did. And wait. Jesus will lovingly come to you.

Prayer: The Morning Psalm
Answer me, O Lord, for your love is kind; in your great compassion, turn to me. — Psalm 69.18

– Prayer from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Prayers from The Divine Hours available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
Genesis 41 (Listen – 4:38) 
Mark 14 (Listen – 8:37)

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Stone and King Rejected
Rejected stone.
Rejected king.
In our sins, alone,
Exile stings.

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Read more about The Abandoned Savior
God, we abandoned you. Eternal unity broken by our sin. Truly we would have been counted among your disciples that night.

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