Holy Tuesday Reflection: God's Name Glorified
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On the first three weekdays of Holy Week when the Chapel is not holding online services, Chapel ministers are writing one reflection for each day. Reflections are being posted by 7:00 p.m. each day. The reflection for today, Tuesday, April 7, from Chapel Community Minister Rev. Breana van Velzen is based on John 12:20-36.
Gary W. Charles describes the gospel of John as having the “theme of death woven through like a coiled snake ready to strike.” This Holy Tuesday certainly feels as though death is lurking in the corners, in the air, in our homes and stores, and with our neighbors. Death is always there—it never left. But this year, humanity collectively looks death in the eye and glares back. In this season of Lent, of waiting and of walking slowly alongside our Lord as he is put on trial and executed by our love of violence, we can as one body feel the interminable walk to Good Friday. Grief and fear haunt us, even as trees unfurl their leaves and birds greet the dawn.
Do not despair! For it is written, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” That voice from heaven, according to Jesus, was meant for the people, not him. He continued later with “walk while you have the light, so that darkness may not overtake you.” God is not the cause of our suffering, nor is God a vengeful, angry God. God’s lovingkindness was shown through God declaring over and over again, I love you. God gave Godself over to us all, and died on a cross. God glorified God’s name, redeeming it in the name of love, so that death would hold no power over our lives. We have been given light, so that we cannot lose our way. God knows suffering with every particle of God’s being, and God has not abandoned us. God never has and never will.
Jesus said these words so that the disciples and the crowds might be prepared for the rest of the week. They would be prepared for death, despair, and grief. They would be prepared for violence and denial. They would be prepared for God no longer walking among them as a human. This Holy Tuesday, I encourage you: do not despair. Though God is preparing us for Good Friday, though we continue to wait and watch, God is also our light. God is our hope, and God has promised to glorify God’s name. So find God all around you this week, in every part of creation. See how life is eternally renewed. Peace be with you. Amen.