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O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;

you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

—Psalm 30:3

This is the day that the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

—Psalm 118:24

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

—Matthew 23:27-28

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.”

—Mark 1:40-41

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

—Romans 6:4

Uzziah began well, but then grew proud. He ended his days as a leper, living “in a separate house” and “excluded from the house of the Lord.” Ritual uncleanness and medical contagion, although distinct from sin, could serve to teach moral principles. One of the most enduring was that sin, like incurable disease and death, created separation.

This isn't a matter of cosmetics, but of essential nature. As the Lord reminded Samuel, humans see surface appearances, “but the Lord looks on the heart.” That principle is at the heart of the woes recorded in Matthew 23. A tomb containing a corpse still contains that dead body after the outside has been whitewashed. Whitewashing touches the surface of the stone without changing what is inside.

When Jesus touched a leper, He was not infected. He didn't cover the illness with stage makeup. Instead, His touch brought infectious healing “by the power of an indestructible life.” He entered the leper's space to bring healing. He laid hands on a woman “whom Satan bound for eighteen years” to bring release and freedom. He entered the grave to bring life.

He enters hearts to bring fellowship and peace and new life.

By the glory of the Father, and to the glory of the Father.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures forever!

This is the gate of the Lord;

the righteous shall enter through it.

I thank you that you have answered me

and have become my salvation.

The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.

This is the Lord's doing;

it is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day that the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

—Psalm 118:1, 20-24

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

—Luke 24:1-3

Mary and the other women who went to the tomb at dawn on the first day of the week had done what they could to be prepared. But they weren't prepared for the reality of dealing with a Lord who can do “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think”.

They went, in love, bringing with them what they thought they needed—spices to complete a burial. But the flask of ointment poured over Jesus before the last Passover was all that was needed. They weren't wrong (not in the way we often use that phrase)—they had never experienced what was happening.

When they were met by two shining figures, they reacted in the same way that is recorded for many other cases in which humans suddenly understood that they were in the presence of the divine. Abram, Moses, multiple prophets, Peter and James and John at the transfiguration, the disciples in the boat... the typical human responses included fear, falling to the ground, being too frightened to speak or frightened enough to speak thoughtlessly.

The Christmas carol, "O Little Town of Bethlehem", contains the line, "The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight." Yes. And the worst fears and barely-dared hopes of humanity met at that tomb with its displaced stone. A stone that was not so much rejected as it was rendered unnecessary, except to become the gate between life and death that was opened in a new direction.

The sight was marvelous in the eyes of those women, and difficult to accept in the ears of those whom they first told. But as the truth of the empty tomb became experienced and confirmed by more, their thanks and praise grew.

Their message had become, "Joy to the earth! The Lord is risen! Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns."

This day, like all others to follow, was the new day that the Lord made.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

—Psalm 23:5

Your lamb shall be without blemish...

—Exodus 12:5

And as they were eating, [Jesus] took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.”

—Mark 14:22

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

—John 12:24

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

—John 13:35

...knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

—1 Peter 1:18-19

...be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

—2 Peter 3:14b

A loving parent doesn't give children damaged or spoiled food. And it's not just a matter of appearances.

I am grateful for this morning's breakfast, that gives strength for the day's tasks. More than that, nutrients and molecules and atoms from that meal will over time literally become part of my body.

For the believer, as for the Israelites in the wilderness, every part of “our daily bread” is an opportunity for gratitude to the One who gives “all good gifts”. Every day begins as an undamaged opportunity to live as part of His body, to respect His body. And—it should go without saying—not to damage it.

The Passover lamb and and the sacrifices to consecrate the priests and the sacrifices of “peace offering” were to be “without blemish”. The same word describes Noah before the flood and appears in the Lord's call to Aram. The concept involves much more than appearances and cosmetics; it includes wholeness and completeness and health.

Jesus came and lived an undamaged life, set an undamaged example of perfect compliance with and conformance to the Father's will. Then gave it up, so that it could be planted to produce fruit. And John's account of that last Passover night includes the command that Jesus gave, for them to love, giving that as the sign of discipleship and membership in His body. And He prayed for all who would believe through the testimony of that night's witnesses.

Peter's plea to be “found...without spot or blemish” is plural, not singular. It isn't about individual appearances, but about diligence—taking pains—to avoid damage to the body.

The one that Jesus bought and brought alive.

Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,

as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,

when your fathers put me to the test

and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

—Psalm 95:7b-9

“And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.”

—Exodus 3:9

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you’... Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

—Matthew 4:5-6a, 7

When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.”

—John 13:31

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

—Romans 5:6

When the Lord told Moses, “...now...the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have seen...”, He wasn't implying that He hadn't been paying attention or that He had just then noticed. The time to act had come.

We probably won't know in this life everything that went into the determination that the time had come. But, in the very next sentence, the Lord tells Moses that He is sending him. And that raises a sobering question: how many times has there been no-one for the Lord to send?

Psalm 95 speaks on behalf of the Lord to His people, reminding them of the faithless grumbling of the refugee Israelites at the place named "Testing and Quarreling". The wilderness years were a time for learning to trust the Lord, who always provided for His people even when they couldn't see it coming. They had to learn that the time to hear and to know the Lord is present is always “today”.

When Satan came to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, one attempt seems to involve asking Jesus to glorify Himself—to make a spectacle of Himself that would bring attention and glory to Himself—with little cost. The disciples that Jesus would gather to Himself needed opportunities to follow Him, to spend time with Him, to learn that the Lord was and would always be present. The time for the Son to be glorified had not come.

And the time to seek self-glorification never comes.

After Jesus had called His disciples, had taught them and taught with them, had walked the dusty streets and roads beside and before them—after the iniquity of the pious power-seekers was complete—Jesus at last declared to them that the time had come. And the Father and Son were glorified at cosmically great cost.

And after He told them that the time had come for glory, He made it clear that it was always time for His people to love as He loved.

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;

let me never be put to shame!

Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.

—Psalm 71:1, 4

But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”

—Ruth 1:16-17

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.”

—Matthew 6:9b, 13

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

—Luke 22:42

Naomi and Orpah and Ruth may have been standing at the edge of town. They might have been standing at the border between Moab and Israel. They might have been standing at a fork in the road. Whether literal or not, it was a fork-in-the-road moment.

In our time and place, when many voices tell us to "look out for number one" and commercials reassure or appeal by saying, "you deserve...", it is easy to read Psalm 71 as focusing on self and just asking the Lord for help in trouble. That's certainly there, but is that all there is? Or is the song also about enduring relationship and about praise to the one who is always present? In the spirit of Jesus' teaching about right eye and right hand, or James' reference to the “perfect law of liberty” as a mirror, can we also read that song as a request? "Don't let my hand be wicked; don't let my grasp be unjust." Not just an emergency call for roadside assistance, but declaration of love and loyalty to the One who provides the road.

Ruth's beautiful declaration of love and loyalty to Naomi is framed as a request: "Don't ask me to leave you." Ruth didn't know where the road ahead would take her, but she chose to walk it with Naomi.

The model prayer that Jesus taught His disciples has relationship woven all through it, beginning with the address to “Our Father...” And I believe it is appropriate to understand the request at the end to include, "Don't let us be tempted to leave you." We don't know where the road ahead will take us, but we know the One with whom we need to walk.

The prayer of Jesus on the Mount of Olives echoes "your will be done". It contrasts with the self-will that humans displayed in the Garden of Eden. It reveals the Son as fully human and fully divine.

Jesus knew where the road ahead would take Him.

But He walked it anyway.

Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,

and your righteousness to the upright of heart!

—Psalm 36:10

“And [your offspring] shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

—Genesis 15:16

“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;

I will take you by the hand and keep you;

I will give you as a covenant for the people,

a light for the nations,

to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness.”

—Isaiah 42:6-7

In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

—Matthew 21:18-19

The aftermath of knowing the Lord is fruitful life. The aftermath of fruitlessness is extinction.

I suspect that there is a subtle point about grace in the Lord's covenant statement to Abram. In addition to the obvious ones that we have heard preached and taught many times, I mean.

The Lord had already rescued Abram from the possible aftermath of his lie in Egypt. Instead of retaliating with violence or imprisonment, Pharaoh returned Sarai to Abram and sent them away with all their property intact. Abram showed grace and generosity in giving Lot the choice of pasture. When that went wrong, Abram rescued the victims, refusing reward from the king of Sodom. And then the Lord renewed His promise to Abram. Patience, forgiveness, and grace are woven all through those events.

But the message in Abram's vision contains a curious remark—“the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” Reading that with the book of Jonah in mind—among many other passages that speak of the Lord's desire to extend grace even to those who oppose Him—raises a question: did the Lord give the Amorites time to mend their ways? That's certainly why He sent Jonah to Nineveh.

And there is a tragic and faint echo in Matthew's account of the fruitless fig tree. The parables of the vine that produced bad grapes and the tree that needed cultivating, among others, make it clear that the Lord desires the right kind of fruit and is capable of patience. But He doesn't turn a blind eye to protracted, stubborn rebellion.

In quick succession, Matthew describes the cleansing of the temple, the objection of the priests and scribes to the joyful welcome by the people, the challenge the priests and elders raised against the authority of Jesus, the parable of a son who promised to obey but did not, and the parable of the rebellious and murderous tenants.

And in the middle, we read of a fig tree that failed to yield fruit.

It had used up its opportunities and so was withered by a word from the Son, who came to give fruitful life.

Let heaven and earth praise him,

the seas and everything that moves in them.

—Psalm 69:34

[His disciples said] “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

—Luke 19:38-40

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

—1 Peter 2:1, 4-5

The Lord can replace dead stone with living flesh, as in the prophecy through Ezekiel that the Lord would heal the stubborn hearts of His people. Or Paul's letter to the Corinthian disciples, describing them as “a letter from Christ”, written with the Spirit on tablets of hearts instead of stone.

The Lord can also replace unstable sand with durable stone.

The Psalms use the poetic image of the Lord as “my Rock" to indicate strength, permanence, and refuge. Jesus warned His disciples not to make shifting sands the foundation of their lives, but to build on the reliable rock of His truth.

In the scene we call the Triumphal Entry, Luke records the assembled disciples rejoicing in praise. When the Pharisees called out for silence, Jesus replied that the stones would respond. Some commentators have seen this as a subtle reference to Habakkuk, who wrote of stones crying out from the wall of a house built with “evil gain”. And a bit further on, Habakkuk wrote of the arrival of the Holy One, whose praise filled the earth.

Habakkuk knew that he was living in precarious and troubled times, but expressed a faith that could still rejoice in the Lord. The assembled multitude at the Triumphal Entry didn't know of the trouble that was building all around them, but they were about to be replaced by a murderous mob calling for the death of Jesus. His closest followers would run away. Peter would betray Him.

But the Lord, who turned sea and river to dry land, who turned water to wine, and who turned a grave into victory, turned Peter's impulsive sand into restored rock.

That same transformed Peter later wrote instructions for the Lord's people to “put away” all the unreliable aspects of worldly character, and allow the Lord to build His people, His transformed “living stones” into His “spiritual house”.

May His living stones still praise Him!