Looking For God?

Luke 24:1-12

Deb Cantrell

This narrative in the Bible has always been one of my favorites.  So much so, I wrote a play and included Mary Magdalene’s perspective as she travels to the tomb and her reaction when she and the other women arrive.  It is a compilation of all the Gospels.  Although, scripture does not include all the details, I did intensive research and determined what might have happened to Mary that day.  This is something akin to a Jewish midrash.  A midrash is a interpretation or commentary on a Biblical text exploring what might have happened in various Bible narratives.  

This would be my version of such writing.  The play is titled The Color of Touch.

Mary Magdalene as she recounts her experiences the morning after Jesus’ resurrection:

It was such a difficult time for me— for all of us.  When they took him down from the cross, it was nearing the Sabbath; so we had very little time to prepare Jesus for burial.  But, with the help of others, we lovingly and gently prepared him and wrapped his body and placed him in a tomb.  The men that were close by rolled the stone in front the opening.  There was a loud thud as the stone found a resting place.  The sound hit my chest with such force that I thought it would crush my heart.  It was so difficult to leave.  But the Sabbath was near and it was not safe for us to stay.  After the Sabbath, I went with some of the other women and returned to the place where we had left our precious Lord.  But the stone had been moved and when we looked inside, we saw two men dressed in brilliant white robes.  They said to me, "Woman, why are you weeping?"  I told them, “They have taken him away, and I don’t know where they’ve laid him.”  I turned around and saw a gardener standing there.  And he asked me why I was weeping and who was I looking for.  I said, “Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will care for him.”  Then he said, "Mary!"  There was something so familiar about his voice.  Then I knew!  It was Jesus!  I fell to my knees and wept with joy.  I reached out and touched his foot and, just above the straps of His sandals, I saw the marks left by the nail.  His skin was warm and I thought I felt the blood pulsing in his veins.  Then suddenly he pulled back and told me not to hold on to him, as he had not yet ascended to the Father. He told me to tell the disciples that he was ascending to His Father and your Father, to His God and your God.  I trusted in His words and I went and told them, “I have seen the Lord!  He’s not dead!  He lives!”

Indeed He Lives!!  We look to the Lenten season with joy and anticipation knowing that through the sacrifice of Christ and God’s grace, we can come to know the full glory of his un-ending love.


PRAYER: Lord, we have looked to the Lenten season with joy and anticipation knowing that through the sacrifice of Christ and God's grace, we can come to know the full glory of your unending love.

Never Betrayed

John 18:1 & 19:42

Kat Hanna

You know those times when you do something you think is a horrible thing? When you hurt your siblings or screw up something or mess up your brother’s room? Sometimes, when I do these things (sometimes accidentally, sometimes on purpose), I run up to my room. When my dad asks about who did this or who did that, I am the first to say, “I didn’t!”, even though sometimes I do. I deny everything. Peter denies Jesus, too. It’s like he’s denying a mistake. When I find out that it wasn’t really a horrible thing, or when my dad forgives me, it’s like being redeemed. When we fled and denied our God, he sent his Son to redeem us. He’s like our dad, forgiving us for something we have done.

PRAYER:  Dear God, thanks you for sacrificing your son to redeem us, and free us of our sin. Amen. 

Join In The Banquet

Matthew13:1-9

Kendall Raymond

I think that these verses are very profound. In his story, Jesus talks about seeds, but I believe that each seed was one person, and when we are sown, we are born. Some of us are born into a community or family that helps us grow in Christ, just like some seeds are sown on good soil. Yet others are born in places that work against Christ, and they are gobbled up by sin, just like some seeds are thrown on the path and eaten by birds. Some are born in places where they can try to learn about Christ, but since no one is supporting them, their interest withers away. These people fall on the rocks and thorns. This story rings out in truth. Now, many more people are being eaten by sin now than when Jesus was on the Earth because we have idols like i-Pods and computers, and we are putting those in front of the Lord.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Please help me not be eaten by sin. Help those who are born in places that teach them wrong. Let me not put idols before you. Amen