Lent Devotional 13

In the book The Heart of Christianity Marcus Borg makes the point that the Gospels have images of the Pre-Easter Jesus and the Post-Easter Jesus. I have usually thought of the Pre and Post Easter Jesus as the human and resurrected Jesus. But what does that really mean?

I am the father of 4 children and the grandfather of 8. But that is not the whole story. Two of my sons are sons by marriage. My daughter and youngest son are children by adoption. In the common language of our culture they would be called step or adopted children. But that really does not matter because they are “my” children. The “my” has nothing to do with ownership and everything to do with relationship. When they arrived in my life, by my choice they became a part of my life. Each of my children have brought great opportunities of joy and disappointment, but nothing they do can change the fact that they are “my” children. The phrase, from the female perspective, is that they did not grow under my heart but in it. They are gifts of “unconditional love” I have received and had the opportunity to share.

Jane and I now have 8 grand children. Once again there is not an ounce of my blood or DNA that runs in their veins, but they are mine. They are not mine by ownership, but through love. The cycle continues.

So what does it mean to know the Pre and Post Easter Jesus? For me it is confirmation that I belong to God. And that is not a matter of ownership, but of a loving relationship. I have had the opportunity to accept God’s “unconditional love” expressed in Jesus… pre or post Easter and that is a very good thing for me.

As we move into the weekend celebrate those “unconditional love” relationships you have received and been fortunate enough to share.

SHALOM,

Tom Mc