Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5 NRSV.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 NRSV.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 ESV.

In our Friday Zoom Retreat, we pondered how we discern when Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, is talking to us personally. We watched a clip from The Chosen, the first episode of Season 1, where Mary of Magdala encountered Jesus. She tried to run. He called her by name and told her she was His. And as she wept, He embraced her, the demons gone. And I realized each one of us needs to experience that very thing. To know personally we are His. Because before that when life beats us down and we can’t take one more thing – we are drained of hope and everything is colorless and void. The problems loom too big for us. And as we turn to Him, because there is nowhere else we can turn for that help, He begins to intervene; and where before we were utterly gray and fading, now He gives small building blocks of His truth of who we are and Whose we are. Those truths are filled with beautiful color and life.

And our chapter, Luke 23, shows the opposite of God’s truth in us as manifested in what was done to Jesus, the Son. Then the whole body of them got up and brought Him before Pilate. And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.” So Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the KIng of the Jews?” And He answered him and said, “It is as you say.” But they kept on insisting, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee even as far as this place.” When Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem at that time. Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him. And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing. And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there, accusing Him vehemently. And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate. Now Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been enemies with each other. v. 1-12. Pilate could find no guilt in Jesus deserving of death and wanted to release Him. And the people cried all the more for his death. And their voices began to prevail. And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted. And he released the man they were asking for who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he delivered Jesus to their will. When they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus. And following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting Him. But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him. When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” It was now about the sixth hour (noon), and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour (3 p.m.), because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.” And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts. And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things. And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God, this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. It was the preparation day and the Sabbath was about to begin. Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. v. 23-56.

For if they do these things when the tree is green…what will happen when it is dry? That dryness feels like today in our broken world. A dry tree has no life in it. This world has bright artificial lights everywhere, billions of people, and constant noise and distractions, and hate building ever stronger. And we can feel hollow and empty of color that is real and beautiful. And when we finally turn to our Creator, He is there. He was speaking to us but we couldn’t hear; the beauty of all He created was speaking to us but we couldn’t see. It takes turning to Him in deep need for us to hear. His love spoken gently to our barren souls brings light and hope and comfort. His life illuminating us from within. We are His and we are loved! And with His truth building within us, we can walk with Him trusting that He knows us and that He knows everything that is happening. And as we understand that, we begin to trust Him and His good Will being done even though we can’t perceive it. That’s okay, He does! He knows your name. He knows everything about you. And you are His, dearly loved!