Shock and awe

"... an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word." Luke 1. 1-2

On the eve of Holy Week it's time to take a break from all the philosophising and simply gaze in awe. We know what that entails. We do it when we admire a gorgeous view, or hold a new-born baby... or witness Scotland winning away from home!

The events of Holy Week are breath-taking both in their drama and in their significance. That the Creator and Ruler of the Universe would submit to public humiliation, physical and spiritual torture and the most ignominious of deaths - and all the love's sake, love of the very ones who were so mistreating him, love for generations yet to be born is... well, awesome?

Sometimes we get impatient for Jesus to come back, end all the suffering and usher in the New Creation. But that is to deny others who deserve their chance. After all, to be saved you have to exist and Jesus promised to return - but only when the times were fulfilled, in other words when creation - as we know it - has reached its full complement. So our story continues yet - for this week anyway - time pauses and we hold our breath...