The coffee cup is back in back. I gave up coffee for Lent. What an incredible experience. It was one of the reasons this was my best Easter ever. So rich. I had so much anticipation of celebrating the Resurrection.
People would ask me from time to time if I got headaches at first. Yes. And now that I'd kicked the coffee habit, would I just enjoy the freedom of life without it? Not on your life! It was the absence of the thing I so enjoyed that awakened this longing in my soul, it was the death of something in my world that made the resurrection so precious. I don't regret one drop I drank...or one I didn't.
And how sweet it was to break fast with so many faces of friends calling, "Another round of espresso" in the wee Easter morning hours. Ah. The fellowship of the drink. I intend to open up a coffee bar in the life to come, and I'll bet saints will come from leagues away to smell the aroma, sip the joe, and talk about Jesus.
4 comments:
I too gave up the bean for Lent. It is amazing how much better I felt drinking the health teas. I have not given up coffee but I find myself not craving it and have been replacing my afternoon coffee with tea.
I too feel changed after coming through this experience. Suffering of the soul seems to produce satisfying, permanent scars, which help to identify us with Christ. This is true in a small way of these self-imposed Lenten hardships, but in a much larger way for those sufferings that God himself ordains and pulls us through. Scars are good. It was by Jesus’ scars that He was known by those who loved Him. As Michael Card sang,
The marks of death
that God chose never to erase
The wounds of loves eternal war
When the kingdom comes
with its perfected sons
He will be known by the scars
And while we're on the topic of scars, I saw The Passion of the Christ again over Easter with some friends. I am so glad Gibson decided to include a resurrection shot for the closing scene, where you can see right through Jesus' hands where the nails were. But it's got me thinking.
When the disciples ran into Jesus, and there were several times, they didn't recognize him at first. There was always something that made them recognize him.
One time Peter recognized him when Jesus gave him a tip to cast his net on the other side of his boat, and he caught 153 fish. This was a repeat of an experience Peter had with Jesus. He recognized Him.
Another time, there were these two guys walking down the road talking about all the amazing stuff around Jesus' trial and death. Jesus comes up and walks with them, but they don't recognize him. He explains a bunch of stuff to them about the Messiah and the Bible and how all this was predicted. They still don't recognize him. Then they have him in for dinner. Jesus breaks the bread. They recognized him.
But this other time is really interesting to me. Jesus shows up in a room where all the doors were locked for fear of persecution. But Thomas wasn't there. When everyone told him he said, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." So then a whole week later, they were in the same spot, and Jesus shows up again. And he says to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." Thomas recognized him.
So Michael Card writes this song about "Known by the Scars" pondering the truth that Jesus still had his scars, even after coming back from the dead. I find this odd. But I'm good with it. So Jesus had scars in his hands (from nails) and his side (from the sword). But what about the flogging? He was flogged Roman style, and he had a crown of thorns on his head.
Mel made Jesus look pretty bad after that flogging and the thorns. I have one friend who says it must have been even worse that it looked in the movie (because Isaiah 52 says his "form was marred beyond human likeness").
To me He actually did look pretty bad. Either way the point is that he would surely have scarred from that. But in the movie, other than the hole in his hand, he looked perfect. Perfectly restored. Hair, beard, complexion, flesh, everything.
But it's not just a moviemaker's artistic license I'm up against. In my own imagination, Jesus is not in heaven all marred beyond human likeness, with flog marks on his body and holes in his head from a crown of thorns. He's restored...except for the holes in his hands and side.
But I don't have a good reason for this. I don't have this figured out. Somewhere it says that he offered many convincing proofs that he was alive. I don't want to think of Jesus as a conjurer of cheap tricks where he just made his scars reappear, and did other stuff to make people believe it was really Him. That's just not consistent with the Jesus I know from before the crucifixion, or the Jesus I know in 2006.
Has anybody else ever thought about this? Do I just need to enjoy the story and quit worrying about the facts?
I'm just glad you posted this. I never thought much about it but I relate to the importance of questioning ourselves on how and why we might "see" Jesus in a certain way. I am sure that your post is part of our journey. I like the word "restored". Not very many "restored" cars or "restored" homes are without the warn edges of a bolt that was tough to remove or the edge of a stair that is worn from use but maybe refinished to its orginial luster. I don't think a "restoration" on earth can be ever separated from the beauty of the story behind the imperfections that still remain after restoration. In heaven we may be talking about a different thing altogether. I am only beginning to find beauty in my own scars but I'm sure that those scars are what have given me the urgency in my heart to draw near God's Reign and to make sure that urgency is known in the context of my own life.
Post a Comment