St. Nicolai Notes

EXCHANGES ON THE WAY: LENTEN PRAYERS
Day 32: 6th Thursday
Mark 14:12-31

     Jesus, we can imagine the shock and resistance: at a high point of the year, as God's great deliverance was remembered and celebrated, You told your disciples that one would betray You, one deny You. How could it be? And how could they focus on the words when You said the broken bread was "my body," and the wine was "my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many"? Surely their minds were filled with questions and suspicions, perhaps crowding out adoration and comprehension altogether.
     Jesus, we can imagine their initial shock, but we have learned a little about ourselves, and we know, from our time on the way with You, that we are not above betrayal. We are not above denial. We have turned from You, turned against You, and denied knowing You in many ways. Our sense of self-assurance has waned as we have been shamed by our inconsistencies and outright rebellion.
     Jesus, even when You knew your disciples were going to give up on You, You did not give up on them. You shared the most intimate communion with them. You gave yourself to and for them. Don't give up on us either. We have received so much from You, but keep giving yourself to us so that we may live with faithfulness and joy as children of God's reign of peace and justice.
     We await, with hope, the day when we will drink the wine of the covenant face to face with You. Amen.