Читать книгу With My Eyes On Jesus - Dale Goldsmith - Страница 6

Philippians 2:5–8: Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, (6) who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, (7) but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, (8) he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.

Context: The church at Philippi was facing opposition and threats of death. Paul was in jail for his work on behalf of the gospel message. The Philippian church had sent Paul’s friend Epaphroditus with material support for Paul who responded with this letter of encouragement, including a hymn describing Jesus’ “obedience to death.”

Meditation: In 1375, the English mystic Julian of Norwich fell ill with what threatened to be a terminal illness. In her suffering, she experienced what she believed were the very pains of the dying Christ; he was accompanying her in her final agonies.

But she recovered! Her near-death experience transformed her understanding of Christ and in the forty years of service that followed, she went on to share this experience of Christ with others. In her memoir, Showings, she writes of her resolve to tolerate faithfully her own dying—whenever that might happen. She described Christ’s gracious presence in her time of need as a gift of his “courteous love.”

Julian’s Christ is much the same as the one described in the ancient hymn Paul includes in his letter—the royal and divine Jesus who comes down . . . and down . . . and down . . . and finally all the way down to the place of his own human suffering and death. He came to the very place where each of us will one day find ourselves. We can begin this Lenten journey with the assurance that Christ has graciously and courteously come, sent by a caring creator, to share our most mysterious moment—dying.

Prayer: Thank you, Christ, for your gracious gift of letting go and giving yourself to us. Amen.

Today: I will sing the hymn “Abide with Me.”