One day when George was eight, his parents left him alone at home. His mom had some errands to run while his dad was away at a meeting at church. Everything was going just fine for George at home until he decided to chase the dog. They ran from the kitchen out into the living room. The dog was barking, and George was laughing with delight. They wove in and out of the furniture, circling faster and faster each time around.
Do you remember how excited you were when you first got your driver’s license? You couldn’t wait to drive! You volunteered to run every errand mom or dad had if it meant you got to take the car. How do you feel about driving now? We humans eventually grow tired and bored of everything.
What does royalty look like? And what kind of treatment should royalty receive? Should a king or a queen be seated on a throne, robed in fur and velvet, with a scepter in hand and a servant at hand to offer a tray of refreshments or maybe to fan the monarch with a large palm branch? Should a king or a queen ride in a limo or on a private jet?
I’m going to read some famous last words, and you can see if you know who spoke them just before death. Here’s the first set: “Have I played the part well? Then applaud as I exit.” Those were reportedly the last words spoken by Caesar Augustus. How about these? “Oh wow! Oh wow! Oh wow!” Those were the last words spoken by Steve Jobs before his death in 2011. Now see if you know these: “I’m bored with it all.” Those were the last words of Sir Winston Churchill.
It was Passover week in Jerusalem, and people from far and near converged on the city and the Temple during this sacred time. It was not only Israelites who came. Non-Israelites who had come to know Israel’s God also came to worship and observe the Passover. We meet some of them in our text today. They are called “some Greeks.”
Without fail we come around to this point each Lent. At some point we must deal with Judas in the Passion story of our Savior. He is viewed as the “villian.” The antagonist. The bad guy. He is both thief and traitor.
I don’t know exactly what Nicodemus was expecting when he came to meet with Jesus that night. Nicodemus was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, and he acknowledged that even though the Sanhedrin opposed Jesus, they knew that he was a teacher sent from God.
It has been well said that from our perspective, there are three kinds of answers we can receive to our prayers. Sometimes, God answers, “Yes,” and he gives us what we have asked for. Sometimes, God answers, “No,” and he gives us something better than what we asked for. And sometimes, God answers our prayers, saying, “Yes, but not yet,” and we are left to wait for our requests to be fulfilled.
In the middle of our text is the little word “zeal.” A relatively benign little word. Zeal is defined as “great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective.” Sounds like a pretty good thing. It’s when you get into some of the words derived from “zeal” that things begin to take a turn.
Do you have a favorite Lenten hymn? Maybe it seems a little out-of-place to speak of a “favorite.” There are so many good ones! To ask you to name your favorite is like asking which of your children is your favorite child. But we like what we like. From the time I was a little boy “Come to Calvary’s Holy Mountain” has been one of my favorites. Which ones do you like?
