Is. 50:4-7; Ps. 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24; Phil. 2:6-11; Mt. 26:14—27:66”
“Field of Blood” set aside for foreigners “for it is the price of blood”, the blood of Jesus given for us “foreigners” passing through this land on our pilgrimage to heaven. It is set aside as the “potter’s field” for the poor, the suffering, the rejected by this world. The Field of Blood today is the empty graves claimed in victory by the blood of Jesus.
Who among us can wash our hands and say, “I am innocent of this man’s blood”? For all have sinned and share in the blood of Jesus. We are called to “be perfect” thus our imperfection is “sin”. In the agony of the cross, Jesus cries out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus fully human lives with us in our agony when we unite ourselves to him, we are not alone. Now is the time to cry out, now is the hour of need to overcome this coronavirus pandemic around the world and in our community.
Jesus gives up his spirit and the tombs of the righteous are opened. In baptism we have died in Christ, now is the time to open the tomb of our hearts hardened by sin, blind in the darkness of this world and all its temptations. The “earthquake” of our time is this pandemic and the Son of God is calling us to himself. The world seeks to secure the tomb of our lives by “fixing a seal” to any voice that speaks of God, sin, and/or repentance. “The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue…Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear” so are we listening, are we sharing the word made flesh? The word made flesh is Jesus, and in our flesh, we carry him forth. The world stands guard against anyone who wants to open the tomb of death through conversion of the world. The world wants to return to the past and claim victory for itself in overcoming this pandemic. God’s call is not a return to the past but to a return to him.
Today we are asked to be Joseph of Arimathea and care for the body of Jesus with our own riches. In charity to others we take Jesus body and wrap him in love and lay him down in our hearts to remain always with us. Today we are given this Lent to sit as “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary” and contemplate the tomb of Jesus death, his suffering, and his presence in our lives. He has always been with us yet have we been with him? This is our call to grow in holiness being present to him not in fear but in love.
It is easy to be among each other without being present to the other. God comes to us in the other and asks “Do you love me?” Love him being present to him in prayer, in fellowship in our domestic church as home, and in reaching out to the other in need. Today is the day of atonement. “Who is this? This is Jesus…he was in the form of God…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” our salvation. Anyone of us may face the “the point of death” at any time. This pandemic is a daily reminder we must remain obedient to the Father. Today is the day of salvation.
The good news is we know how this story ends. It ends in victory in Christ Jesus, in the resurrection of the dead, and in eternal life. “Fear not” for the Passover of death by this virus will come and claim the body of some but the soul has claimed freedom in Christ and it cannot be taken away. We are marked by the sign of his blood and today we recall his passion, death, and resurrection. “O death where is your sting!” Remain in him, keep the faith, and stay on our pilgrimage to the new Jerusalem. God is good and deserving of all our love, thus we are good made in his image we have the gift of love. Love richly, love generously, love always!
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