Lent Devotional 2021 - Pittsburg - Flipbook - Page 31
and heard the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna
to the Son of David,” they became angry 16 and said to him,
“Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them,
“Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and
nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself‘?”
17 He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent
the night there.
MONDAY, MARCH 29, 2021
DEVOTIONAL
18 It was the LORD who made it known to me, and I knew;
then you showed me their evil deeds. 19 But I was like a
gentle lamb led to the slaughter. And I did not know it was
against me that they devised schemes, saying, “Let us destroy
the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the
living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!”
20 But you, O LORD of hosts, who judge righteously, who
try the heart and the mind, let me see your retribution upon
them, for to you I have committed my cause. 12:1 You will
be in the right, O LORD, when I lay charges against you; but
let me put my case to you. Why does the way of the guilty
prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive? 2 You plant
them, and they take root; they grow and bring forth fruit;
you are near in their mouths yet far from their hearts. 3 But
you, O LORD, know me; You see me and test me—my heart
is with you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and
set them apart for the day of slaughter. 4 How long will
the land mourn, and the grass of every field wither? For
the wickedness of those who live in it the animals and the
birds are swept away, and because people said, “He is blind
to our ways.” 5 If you have raced with foot-runners and
they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you fall down, how will you fare in the
thickets of the Jordan? 6 For even your kinsfolk and your
own family, even they have dealt treacherously with you; they
are in full cry after you; do not believe them, though they
speak friendly words to you. 7 I have forsaken my house, I
have abandoned my heritage; I have given the beloved of
my heart into the hands of her enemies. 8 My heritage has
become to me like a lion in the forest; she has lifted up her
voice against me—therefore I hate her. 9 Is the hyena greedy
for my heritage at my command? Are the birds of prey all
around her? Go, assemble all the wild animals; bring them to
devour her. 10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard,
they have trampled down my portion, they have made my
pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11 They have made
it a desolation; desolate, it mourns to me. The whole land is
made desolate, but no one lays it to heart. 12 Upon all the
bare heights in the desert spoilers have come; for the sword
of the LORD devours from one end of the land to the other;
no one shall be safe. 13 They have sown wheat and have
reaped thorns, they have tired themselves out but profit
nothing. They shall be ashamed of their harvests because
of the fierce anger of the LORD. 14 Thus says the LORD
concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage that
I have given my people Israel to inherit: I am about to pluck
them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of
Judah from among them. 15 And after I have plucked them
up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring
We all love a parade, don’t we? Enticed by the color, the
music, floats, and balloons, joining in is so alluring. And
that day in Jerusalem, as Jesus approached the city riding on
a donkey, lots of people joined in the procession. It was a
joyous, unruly, untidy ragbag parade of humanity—the lost,
the lonely, the sick, the marginalized, the children, and the
foolish all found a welcome. Here was their King, a donkeyriding King, a King of peace and love coming down the
Mount of Olives and approaching the eastern gate.
Yet what we may not realize is that, at roughly the same
time, approaching the western gate from the road to the
coast was another parade. This one had marching, weapons,
well-disciplined soldiers, and it was led by a figure in uniform
riding a stallion. This was a parade of power, not joy, led by
one Pontius Pilate, coming into the city to keep order during
the Passover celebrations.
Two parades—two approaches to life that were to clash in
the days ahead. And the confrontation starts in the Temple as
Jesus, in mounting rage, drives out the moneychangers. Even
now it shocks us. We are not accustomed to seeing Jesus in
anger. His fury arises from various reasons: the misuse of the
Court of the Gentiles as a trading floor rather than a place
of prayer and communion with God. This area was meant as
the sanctuary for non-Jews. His anger also because the rich
and powerful are ripping off the poor by charging exorbitant
commission rates for exchanging common currency into
Temple coin. It was a lucrative arrangement between the
Temple authorities and the greedy, grasping money folk. No
ethical investment here. And Jesus is outraged.
Two models of how we might live: one of money power and
control, another of love joy and acceptance of all. Which
parade will you choose to follow as you journey through Holy
Week?
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, our delightful donkey-riding King, in whose
parade come the waifs and strays—may it be your way that
we follow, your procession of love we join, that we might be
led ever forward to your Kingdom of justice and inclusion for
all your followers. Amen.
The Rev. Susan Washburn ’12
SCRIPTURE
Jeremiah 11:18-20; 12:1-17
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary | www.pts.edu