Christian Reflection and Prayer

Read Psalm 44.

TEXT: You lay me in the dust of death
(see Psalm 22:15).

A clay water pot strikes the ground and shatters. The
precious water pours out in every direction, seeps into
the dust and disappears, leaving only the broken
potsherds behind. In this image King David prophecies
the crucifixion of his great descendent, the Lord Jesus
Christ. We see His very life pour out of His wounds
and disappear into the dust beneath the cross.

When God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden He
strongly warned him against eating the fruit of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, saying, "for in the
day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (see
Genesis 2:16-17). When Adam and Eve ate that fruit,
God pronounced their-and our-punishment: "By the
sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return
to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are
dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19).

Because of our sinful nature each of us has forfeited
our lives. We too must die and our bodies be buried in
the ground to return to the dust from which we were
taken. But God provided a substitute sacrifice-the
Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. Jesus
laid down His life in the dust. His lifeless body, the
broken potsherd, was buried in a borrowed tomb. But
three days later He rose in triumphant victory. Because
He lives forever, all those who trust in Him will live forever
with Him. One day we will die, be buried and return to
the dust (unless Jesus returns first). But Jesus will return
in glory to raise our lowly bodies and make them glorious
like His own.

THE PRAYER:

Lord Jesus Christ, You took on Yourself the punishment
for my sin, being laid in the dust of death that I might live
in Your presence forever. Receive my thanks and praise
now and forever. Amen.

(Lenten Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries)

Read Psalm 143.

TEXT: And my tongue sticks to my jaws (see Psalm 22:15).

Jesus has used powerful imagery to describe His thirst:
poured out like water, heart melted like wax, strength dried
up. Now His tongue sticks to His jaws.

He has had nothing to drink since the Last Supper, unless
perhaps the angel that ministered to Him during His prayer in
the Garden of Gethsemane gave him some liquid refreshment.
But even in that intense prayer in the Garden, Jesus began
pouring Himself out for us. Luke tells us His sweat "became
like great drops of blood falling down to the ground"
(see Luke 22:44). From that moment on no water or other
drink was permitted Him.

Hanging naked on the cross, under the blazing sun, Jesus
grows more and more dehydrated. He is so thirsty His tongue
sticks to His jaws. The Roman soldiers fill a sponge with wine
vinegar and hold it in front of His lips, but just beyond His reach,
it's part of their cruel mockery (see Luke 23:36). Only in the
moments before His death-after Jesus has finished paying for
our sins-will He actually receive a drink.

Jesus gave us a similar description of hell in His account of the
rich man and Lazarus. Here, the rich man "in Hades, being in
torment ... called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and
send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my
tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' But Abraham said,
'Child, ... between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in
order that those who would pass from here to you may not be
able, and none may cross from there to us'" (see Luke 16:23-26).

Jesus suffered the fires of hell and great thirst on the cross so
you and I need never go thirsty.

THE PRAYER:

Lord Jesus Christ, You endured the pangs of hell in my place.
Guard me in this faith as You bring me through this life to Your
glorious home. Amen.

(Lenten Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries)

Read Psalm 75.

TEXT: My strength is dried up like a potsherd
(see Psalm 22:15).

Jews commonly used clay pots to store water. When a
jar broke into shards or pieces (called potsherds) it was
utterly useless. No longer able to hold water the shards
that once made up that pot dried up and grew brittle
under the blazing sun.

The image of a broken pot fits in well with the previous
verse where Jesus says He is poured out like water, and
His heart has melted within His breast. Jesus' body has
been lashed, beaten, pierced and stretched out of joint.
Like a broken pot, His lifeblood pours out from His head,
His hands, His feet, His battered shoulders, back and legs.
His life and strength slowly ebbs away.

If you stop a moment and think of Judas, the disciple that
betrayed Jesus, you see another shattered pot. After he
learned Jesus was condemned, Judas felt great regret for
his sin. But instead of trusting Jesus' promise to forgive
and restore him, Judas went out and hanged himself. The
priests took the betrayal money and bought the field where
Judas killed himself as a burial ground for strangers. That
field was a potter's field, a field strewn with broken
potsherds. Through his lack of faith and subsequent
suicide Judas became another broken pot, good for
nothing but destruction.

All of us are cracked clay pots, if not broken and shattered.
Yet in mercy Jesus comes to repair His broken pots, to
make us useful for God's purposes again. As we live out
our vocations we serve God by serving one another. As we
share the news of Jesus' sacrifice, the Spirit is at work,
repairing other broken pots.

THE PRAYER:

Lord Jesus Christ, You were like a shattered pot on the
cross, pouring out Your lifeblood for our salvation. Repair
my shattered life, and work through me to fulfill Your
purpose for my life. Amen.

(Lenten Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries)