Day 40 of Lent, Saturday, March 30, 2013

Today's Reading: Luke 23:26-56

Luke gives a rich tapestry of the passion scene in today's reading.  The women who are present throughout Luke's gospel continue with Jesus until the very end.  They follow him as he carries the cross and are present at the cross when he dies.

Roman Centurion from Passion of the Christ.  Although
excessive in violence for my tastes, the film offers
excellent visuals in sets and costumes.

We also have a variety of people shown such as Simon of Cyrene, who carried the cross beam for Jesus as well as the two criminals executed with Jesus.

We have the Roman centurion who seems to come to deeper conviction about Jesus.  And we have Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the council who was in the minority  among his peers when it came to the identity of Jesus.

I wonder if the early church in Luke's day (writing about 50-60 years after Jesus' earthly ministry) would have had a richer lore about these people than we have today.  They were people of faith who were important to the story - each attesting in their own way to who Jesus was for them.

As we consider the story of Jesus in our own lives, we must also look to the variety of people of faith that we encounter.  Some believing much as we do while others have a different understanding of God.  Some may be more faithful than we are while others may scorn our beliefs.

At the end of the day, we are reminded of the words of Jesus only found in Luke, "Forgive them Father for they don't know what they're doing."

This is the end.  And yet...