Christian Reflection and Prayer

MAUNDAY THURSDAY

Go to Dark Gethsemane

Scripture:

Then Jesus brought them into an olive
grove called Gethsemane, and he said,
"Sit here while I go on ahead to pray."…
He went on a little farther and fell face
down on the ground, praying, "My
Father! If it is possible, let this cup
of suffering be taken away from me.
Yet I want your will, not mine."
Matthew 26:36-39 NLT

Hymn:

Go to dark Gethsemane, ye that feel
the tempter's power; your Redeemer's
conflict see; watch Him one bitter hour;
turn not from His grief away; learn of
Jesus Christ to pray.

See Him at the judgment hall, beaten,
bound, reviled, arraigned; see Him
meekly bearing all! Love to man His
soul sustained. Shun not suffering,
shame or loss; learn of Christ to bear
the cross.
Go to Dark Gethsemane
James Montgomery (1771-1854)

Reflection:

Learning from Christ's passion

Step by step James Montgomery takes
us through Christ's passion. We go with
our Lord to the Garden of Gethsemane,
where those troublesome thoughts of
death assailed Him. While His trusted
friends drifted off to sleep, Jesus fought
off the temptation to avoid the Cross.
It was difficult time, and in Montgomery's
simple text we feel drops of sweat.

At Jesus' trial—a shabby excuse for
justice if ever there was one—He bore
the beating and badgering without
speaking a word. He was carrying our
sins with Him to the Cross. At the
Cross we can only fall at His feet to
worship.

At each point of this journey we have
much to learn from our Savior. We
can learn to pray when tempted and
to endure suffering with patience.
And Christ teaches us to rise in
newness of life, to live in a way
that honors Him, and ultimately
to join Him in glory.

Our Holy Week readings are
adapted from The One Year®
Book of Hymns by Mark Norton and
Robert Brown, Tyndale House
Publishers (1995). Today's is
taken from the entry for April 1.

Partake of Me

Scripture:

I live by the power of the living Father
who sent me; in the same way, those
who partake of me will live because of me.
John 6:57 NLT

Hymn:

Bread of the world, in mercy broken,
wine of the soul, in mercy shed, by
whom the words of life were spoken,
and in whose death our sins are dead;
Look on the heart by sorrow broken,
look on the tears by sinners shed; and
may Thy feast to us be the token that
by Thy grace our souls are fed.
Bread of the World, in Mercy Broken
Reginald Heber (1783-1826)

Reflection:

A Communion hymn

Reginald Heber wrote this hymn
specifically for use in the service
before the Eucharist. Its simple
lines focus first on Christ and then
on the attitude of the singer. Christ
has spoken words of life and has
taken our sins to the cross with Him.
We are sorry for our sins and take
this "feast" of bread and wine as a
"token" of the forgiveness that Christ
offers.

For sixteen years Heber served as a
parish priest in the village of Hodnet
in western England. Three times he
was asked to become the bishop of
Calcutta, India, and twice he turned
it down. Finally at the age of forty,
he accepted the call and sailed for
India with his wife and two daughters.
Three years later, after preaching to
a crowded church near Hindu shrines
to Vishnu and Siva, he suffered a stroke
and died.

While Heber's hymns initially met with
official church resistance, many of them
were eventually published shortly before
his death and have been a blessing to
believers for nearly two centuries.

Our Holy Week readings are adapted
from The One Year® Book of Hymns
by Mark Norton and Robert Brown,
Tyndale House Publishers (1995).
Today's is taken from the entry for April 4.

For more reflection on Holy week, see The
Passion, Tyndale's companion book to Mel
Gibson's powerful movie about the last twelve
hours of Jesus' life.

All Glory, Laud and Honor

Scripture:

He was in the center of the
procession, and the crowds
all around him were shouting,
"Praise God! Bless the one
who comes in the name of
the Lord! Bless the coming
kingdom of our ancestor
David! Praise God in highest
heaven!" Mark 11:9-10 NLT

Hymn:

All glory, laud, and honor
to Thee, Redeemer,
King, to whom the lips of
children made sweet
hosannas ring; Thou art
the King of Israel, Thou
David's royal Son, who
in the Lord's name comest,
the King and blessed One!

To Thee, before Thy passion,
they sang their hymns of
praise; to Thee, now high
exalted, our melody we raise:
Thou didst accept their
praises—accept the praise
we bring, who in all good
delightest, Thou good and
gracious King! All Glory,
Laud and Honor Theodulf of
Orléans (c. 750-821)

Reflection:

Not the revolutionary they expected

When Jesus entered Jerusalem
riding on a donkey, hopeful crowds
filled the streets waving palm
branches and praising God. But
less than a week later, when it
became clear that Jesus was not
the revolutionary they expected,
this same crowd demanded His
crucifixion.

For Theodulf, whom King Charlemagne
had made bishop of Orléans in
the late 700s, praise was born of
painful circumstances. After
Charlemagne's death, Theodulf
was exiled to Angers, France,
on charges of conspiracy. In the
dark prison at Angers, Theodulf
apparently wrote the text of this
hymn, which became the great
Palm Sunday processional of the
Western church—a celebration of
God's grace sung by millions through
the centuries.

Our Holy Week readings are adapted
from The One Year® Book of Hymns
by Mark Norton and Robert Brown,
Tyndale House Publishers (1995).
Today's is taken from the entry for March 27.