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A Centurion’s Epiphany

April 11, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Mark 38-39
The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the [or a] Son of God!”

An epiphany is “a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.” For the centurions with execution detail, this was a commonplace experience. They had killed hundreds and hundreds of men. They had nailed them and stripped them and mocked them and thrown dice over their belongings. It was tedious work.

But at least one centurion began to see this man in a new light. He listened to his words. He watched him suffer and he watched him die and then he understood. They had just crucified a holy man, a son of God, a man, and yet not a man. Nor was this a quiet time; it was frightening. Darkness had descended upon the place followed by a great earthquake at Jesus’ death. People must have been running and screaming as anyone would during a cataclysm.

And what was next for this centurion? What did he think or do? Did he believe it was too late? Did he bow down before his new Lord right then? Did he weep like Peter or despair like Judas? Did he change?

My mind keeps going to that wonderful old book (by Lloyd C. Douglas, 1942) and the 1953 movie by the same name, The Robe (with Richard Burton and Victor Mature). Here Centurion Marcellus (Burton) does not transform immediately but over time, having won Jesus’ robe, he is affected by the proximity of the robe and haunted by his experiences on Golgotha. Eventually, he becomes a believer, joins the other Christians and ultimately he is martyred as many were under Caligula.

What does any of this mean for us… for me? I know what it means to have an epiphany… a true insight from God, but I confess I have archived most of them in distant reaches of my brain. Abba, forgive me. Give me mindfulness that I might build on the truths you reveal to me.

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The Women Were There

April 10, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Mark 15:41
In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

If you look at the four gospels, it’s easy to compile a short list of women by name who were accompanied by “many other women.” Jesus’ mother, Mary, along with Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses, Salome, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons are noted specifically. Scripture indicates these women followed him and cared for him all the way from Galilee. The beginning of this journey is recorded (not long after the story of the Transfiguration), in Luke 9:51 (As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.).

It’s 120 miles from Galilee to Jerusalem and all along the way, Jesus was teaching, preaching, and healing. The women were an integral part of this trek. I think people sometimes assign them all to the role of Martha (not Stewart, but almost) but forget about the devotion of her sister, Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet. I am sure many of these women did the same. They were devoted to the Master.

And these are the women who stayed with Him to the very end. They did not flee. They were steadfast. This is the heritage that we as women believers must remember. This is our mantle.

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Satan Entered Judas

April 9, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Luke 22:3-4
Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus.

How does it happen this “entering” of Satan? I don’t believe a person is just fine one day and like a virus or bacteria, he or she picks up Satan off of a doorknob. And yet, in the same way that Jesus spoke of the fertile soil that is needed to nurture the seed of the gospel, there is also fertile ground for Satan.

Satan is not a person but an entity who is a ruler of that other plane (For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12) And so, we are dealing with the matters of the heart, soul, and mind.

Galatians 5:19-21 gives us a pretty good list of Satan’s fertile soil: …sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. So often, as we read through this list, we feel smugly safe, thinking how we haven’t participated in any orgies or witchcraft lately. But, we gloss over the other plants that may have found root in our inner garden: discord, jealousy, envy, idolatry… we have ALL experienced these to one degree or another.

Who knows what drove Judas? Some have said greed, but I don’t think so. I believe he had his own idea of how things should go. He disagreed with Jesus’ plan. And so he put his own plan into motion and Satan nurtured and watered that notion. And then the idea became an action and eventually had a life of its own that ultimately played itself out on the cross.

Each day, we must choose to pull weeds from our inner garden or they will grow and grow and soon, very soon, they take over.. It is much easier to pull them out when they are small… of course, if we take this gardening metaphor even further … it takes some knowledge to know which plants are which, what is a weed and what is not because, when they are very small, we don’t always recognize them.

So, we must be diligent, we must be knowledgeable and ask for help from the Master Gardener.

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Have You Forsaken Me?

April 8, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Matthew 27:46
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

We don’t know how God will save. Despite Jesus being God in the flesh, he was also limited by this flesh and did not really know how the end (or the beginning) would manifest. All around him were mockers. All around him were soldiers “just doing their jobs.” And even, around him, were a few faithful, believing in him still… somehow. But what would happen next? He had already suffered so much: the betrayal, the false hearings before the Sanhedrin and Herod, the flogging, the long walk to his the Golgotha, the nails, the erecting of the cross with his body impaled upon it.

How much more could he bear? How would his salvation come? Would he know death? And still, the pain of the flesh overcame everything. And there was the most human experience of all: fear and doubt.

Had Jesus known these anytime before? I can’t think of one. Even in the face of Lazarus’ death, he sorrowed, but he knew. But here, I think he felt the intensity of our human fragility.

We don’t know how God will save. For Jesus, he went to the end of human life to find the beginning of new life. And this is so for many of our loved ones. But there are also dramatic reversals, healings, mercy, transformations, love, and renewal. Everything is possible now because Jesus pressed into the reality of his fear and doubt and still surrendered to the wisdom of God: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

Today I will remember surrender.

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Pilate Satisfied the Crowd

April 7, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Mark 15:14-15
“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

In the end, Pilate satisfied the crowd because it was easier. He had no fear of Jesus. He discounted the warnings of his wife. He viewed the whole matter as an inconvenience. He made a few lame attempts at releasing Jesus instead of Barabbas. And I’m sure he even knew it was the priests who were driving the crowd. But most of all, he knew Jesus was innocent. He took the path of least resistance. Truth was not essential.

Today, I read in Luke 21:34… “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life…” where Jesus warned the people that these things will prevent a person from recognizing the truth of events unfolding in the end times. A dissipated heart could be interpreted as a heart wasted away by misuse, drunkenness as “self-medication” and anxiety as fear of self-control (for in the end, anxiety occurs when we can’t control our circumstances). All of these prevent us from seeing the truth. And so, we take the easier path, just like Pilate. We have lost the ability to feel the pain of others, we run from our own pain, and we build walls around our world to keep out the messiness of life.

Today, I will seek courage for seeing truth and choosing the way of it. Today, I will exercise my heart, my mind, and my soul for the sake of Christ.

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Peter Wept

April 6, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Matthew 26:74-75
Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”
Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

In Matthew’s version of this story, Peter is confronted with the truth of himself and weeps; a few lines later, Judas confronts himself and commits suicide. Both men felt remorse. Both were overwhelmed by their actions but only one survives. Peter is not mentioned again individually by Matthew, except as within the group of eleven disciples who return to Galilee to see Jesus ascend. But in Luke’s gospel, we see Peter among the gathered disciples and then he rushes to the empty tomb to see it for himself.

Here’s my point: Peter wept when he saw himself in stark reality. Both Luke and Matthew say he wept bitterly which implies how difficult it was for him to accept the truth. But Peter’s response, his next step, was to return to community instead of isolating himself.

When we see the truth of ourselves, our first tendency is to hide and go it alone. But that is not the best way. Isolation is just the beginning of a downward spiral into depression and hopelessness. Nothing we have done or said is beyond surrender to God. Forgiveness is made real by sharing that painful confession with other believers. It is the body of Christ that puts hands and feet on forgiveness and renewal.

I am working my way back into community, into koinonia. Will there be open arms?

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A Rabbi’s Yoke

April 4, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I am reading a fascinating book called Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith by Rob Bell. I have always been interested in language and the meaning/interpretation of words. So often, we take the most common words for granted. This kind of questioning started back in my theatre days when we were challenged to investigate, “what does this phrase or word really mean?” The Bible is full of words that are loaded: love, grace, sin, hope, faith, truth… that’s just a few for starters!

Anyway, Rob Bell speaks of this meaning and interpretation of words as one of the responsibilities of a Rabbi. And those disciples who studied under a rabbi understood that he was the one, after much study and prayer, who would make the final determination/interpretation. For instance, if the law said that no work could be done on the Sabbath, it was the Rabbi who interpreted what “work” might mean. Different Rabbis had different interpretations. One might say that walking 3 miles was permissible but walking more was work. While another might say 2 miles, etc. As a result, people would choose or align themselves with a rabbi whose set of interpretations they would follow. This set of interpretations was called the Rabbi’s Yoke!

Of course, you can see where I’m going here: Jesus, the Rabbi, brought a new yoke to the people. He even announced it and invited others to follow because His yoke was easy! This is the way of Jesus even today.

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