LENT 2011, Day 40

Today is the 40th day of Lent. That means that technically I've reached the goal - but for me, the goal is still to come.

In writing last year, I set my sights toward Easter, and counted down daily to E-Day. This year I decided to truly follow the traditional Lent pattern of the 40 days - which someone once told me doesn't include Sundays. I was doing my writing as a Lenten discipline - so that seemed to make sense. The problem is, I'm following a tradition that is not part of my history. In fact, I don't even know what 'Lent' means. I'm not Catholic, and I don't understand the reasoning for the way the 40 days are identified. To me, 40 days is 40 days - including Sundays.

I do understand that 40 has significance. Jesus was tempted in the desert for 40 days. The Hebrew people wandered in the desert for 40 years. In both cases those were times of preparation. In Jesus' case, He had to face the temptations Satan threw at Him so in His humanity He could demonstrate He would stand firm to the end, and be a model for us in overcoming the kinds of temptations we are faced with.

In the Israelites' wandering in the desert, they had to become a self-sustaining people once again. This was a time of preparation and instruction - as well as a challenging testing time. But in that time, they regained their identity as God's chosen people. After 400 years of captivity, they needed that time. They had to lose their 'slave' mentality.

I'm not saying it was a joy to be in the desert. It wasn't. Not in either case. And, in times when I am 'in the desert' it isn't fun either, but it cements my absolute dependence on God, and reinforces my determination to be faithful to the end with God's help. In fact, it is in those desert times that I realize I cannot do it without Him - not for a moment.

Yesterday I had a heavy, heavy heart. My mind was on what Jesus was experiencing on the day I was acknowledging in the timeline of Holy Week. Even now, thinking of that again, tears rush to my eyes. Of course, re-reading what I wrote for that Saturday last year - which happened to fall on April 3 in 2010 - is also tender. But - this morning while I lay in bed before getting up to read what Mark had next, what I was thinking about was where Yeshua was on that Sabbath while His body lay on the cold stone slab, sealed in a tomb, in the dark of a rich man's grave.

First of all, I want to acknowledge that Jesus and His followers honored the Sabbath. It was absolutely essential that the crucified 'criminals' be dead before sundown on Friday - for Sabbath began at sundown on Friday evening. When the soldiers checked on Jesus, He was already dead. Joseph of Arimathea asked for His body, and took Him to his tomb.

Luke 23:50-54 fills in that piece of the story:

Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.

This is a tender story. I love hearing that Joseph of Arimathea didn't approve of the actions that had been railroaded through during the night before, love that this man stood up in that moment, and gave Jesus a proper burial. He even went through proper channels. He asked Pilate for Jesus' body. He buried Jesus; the large stone disk was rolled into place to seal the tomb. Guards were posted to make certain that no one could steal the body.

Meanwhile Jesus' followers were in hiding. Grieving. Confused. Guilt-ridden. Afraid. But honoring the Sabbath, none of them went out to the gravesite.

And where was Jesus?

This falls under perspective: it is my view.

Jesus told the thief on the cross, "Today you will be with me in Paradise" and I think that is precisely where He went. I believe it is where all the faithful were waiting until the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world - until Jesus' work on the cross was completed.

Every lamb that was slain for sins from the time of Moses to that time was merely substitutionary for the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world. They were a foreshadowing of the Messiah's sacrifice. I believe all those people were in "Abraham's Bosom" awaiting Jesus' final sacrifice as the great High Priest - the sacrifice of Himself. He alone had the power to lay down His life and to take it up again. He had that power because He was God incarnate.

So - what I believe is that He went to Paradise to speak with those held there until His redemptive work on the cross was completed. As I stated last year, "His sacrifice reached back into all of man's history and forward for as long as man would walk in metered time."

When Jesus said on the cross, "It is finished" I believe it was finished. I don't believe He had any loose ends to complete.

I won't rehash what I wrote for my Sabbath writing last year. I likely need to do some further study on this.... And - in areas where we just aren't certain - it was intended to be that way. We walk by faith, not by sight or feeling. We see through a glass darkly - but then face to face. We don't have to know everything. All we have to know is the One who does! And I do!

I wanted to go to a Good Friday service last night. Since this is the holiest celebration in all of Christianity, I want to experience it all: the re-enactment of the Passover dinner, remembering the story of the Exodus and the new meaning in Jesus becoming the elements of the bread and the wine; the Good (for us) Friday commemoration of all that Jesus went through for us. Then the joy of Resurrection Sunday! The problem with the pared down celebrations of today is that they go from the elation of Palm Sunday to the elation of Easter - and forget the history and the agony between those two Sundays! We compress it all into a neat little package and fail to get the full experience of the pendulum-sway of emotions.

That's one value in intentionally writing about the Jesus' journey those last days of His life on earth. It makes me pay attention.

I was planning to go to a Good Friday service - but, in a spontaneous change of plans, went instead went to a Friday night Shabbat service at Temple Beth Hatfiloh. My youngest daughter and I went together. From the moment I walked in I could feel God's sweet presence. It was a precious service. My daughter reads and speaks modern Hebrew, so the parts in Hebrew held significance for her - and while they were reading in Hebrew, I read the English translations to myself. The words were beautiful, full of worship and adoration. The service included some very special moments - a blessing for a newly-engaged couple; a time of prayer for those in mourning. I plan to go back next week.

It really made me think about the plan God has for His Chosen People. I know that the time of the Gentiles is almost over. As I've said repeatedly, Israel is the center of God's heart - and the center of the world. Keep your eyes on Israel. Watch what God is doing. We worship the One who came - the Great I Am, the King of the Jews, Messiah. He's coming back - and with prophecy being fulfilled it could be very soon!