it feels cheap sometimes…

 

flowers and pastel eggs

new clothes and spit-shined shoes

bright, smiling faces and human-sized bunny rabbits (creepy)

large, roasted hams and perfectly pressed linens

 

have we missed it?

in the name of celebrating, have we missed it?

 

the darkness

the ugly

the horror

the nakedness and blood

the cry rising out of Egypt as the first born is struck down

the cry rising from the dust of the earth as it entombs its Creator

 

have we missed it?

 

the tension of the religious elite gone mad and murderous, drunk on power that was never theirs to keep.

the tension of the outcasts,

the whores,

the “unclean,”

the hated,

being welcomed in.

the blood rushing in our ears and down our fingers as the whole order of life is turned on its head.

have we skipped to the final page of the book without reading the whole story?

 

the intentioned steps up a hill and into a city that would lead a man to his death.

the very same steps shaking the world to its core as Life laid itself down to redeem that which God had created.

 

 

it’s not Sunday yet.

 

 

today is a day of tension

of brokenness exposed

of light piercing darkness

and darkness piercing back,

drawing blood and water from the wound.

 

 

before the resurrection, there is confrontation.

 

tables overturned with the systems they represent.

 

outsiders welcomed in

and insiders pushing them back out

sending God in the flesh along with them.

 

conflict that led to a cross.

 

may we not bypass the call to hard places.

 

may we sit in the suffering of a world gone mad.

 

may we dine with the prostitutes and sinners, even as the religious elite spit on us.

 

may we mourn the brokenness first, that we might truly rejoice in all things made new.

 

it’s cheap, isn’t it?

a basket of chocolate, a bonnet and new shoes.

God in the flesh naked and bleeding

murdered

rejected

by the ones who would have been me and you.