We don’t read a lot of ordinary-time-stories in the Bible. Its divinely selected stories are about God taking action. 400 years of silence between the Old and New testaments, and suddenly God is sending out angels everywhere, a barren women gets a plus sign on her pregnancy test, and a virgin conceives the Christ child. 

We turn our eyes to Holy Week. For three years, Jesus went from town to town in Galilee. He’s visited Jerusalem for the Holy Festivals. Could it be even the miracles he performed started to seem ordinary? People began to accept this Jesus, and the powers-that-be would have none of it. Suddenly, God took action.  

Saturday…

Sabbath at the Temple (hear the whispers among the worshipers when he arrived). Dinner in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper. Were people getting used to Jesus eating with riffraff? Mary anointing him with oil - Judas’ smirk was likely the creepiest of all.

Sunday…

A parade. Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey, and every Jewish person would have thought of the glory days of the kings. My Hosanna would have been the loudest, but my greatest fear is that I would have turned on him too.

Monday…

I wonder if Jesus slept at all that week. When he walked back into Jerusalem, among the crowds of people, he would no longer ignore the men making a profit in his father’s house - that isn’t the business Jesus was about. How many saw his outrage that day? 

Tuesday…

Jesus final public sermon (to a capacity crowd). Parable after parable. Story after story - the best way Jesus knew to draw us to himself. So much to say. Don’t preach at me; tell me a story.

Wednesday…

We don’t read what Jesus did this day. Perhaps this is when God let Satan do his work,

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. (Mark 14:10)

Thursday…

Supper with the twelve. In a verbal explosion recorded by John - five chapters in all - Jesus tried to help them understand. I wonder what words stood out to the disciples as they looked back on this evening? For me, I would think I’d only remember that he’d washed my feet, and served me bread and wine.

Friday…

They killed an innocent man. No, I did that. The Temple curtain torn in two. Utter darkness as God turned away. It is finished.

Saturday…

A void like the world has never known. Who can even breathe on the Saturdays in between - in the tension between what is lost and what is promised?

Sunday…

God’s action on this day gives believers victory for all eternity. Death is defeated. Once for all, baptized unto his death. Glory!

God moves among us in similar ways. Life has many ordinary days, but always be on the lookout for God to take action. Make no mistake - he's always at work - but just when we think he’s become predictable, he goes about stirring things up, and our lives are never the same.