Daily Devotion for Lent 2024, Day 40 Holy Saturday

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?  A disciple is not above the teacher, but every disciple who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.  Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye."

                                                                        Luke 6:37-42 (NRSVue)

 

This passage also reads a little more somberly on Holy Saturday.  One thing about death is that it usually quells our sense of judgment.  

The old saying, "do not speak ill of the dead" crosses cultures and comes out of such antiquity that its origin is untraceable.  When I am eulogizing someone, I try to paint the deceased in the best light possible.  One person at a funeral thought I was a little too glowing and made the remark that they weren't the saint I painted them to be!

I responded that they were in Christ and that God sees them through this lens in judgment.  We don't stand on our own merits but through the grace of Jesus.  We should try to see our brothers and sisters in the same way God sees them - especially in death.  

If I am too judgmental and this is the measure I share with everyone else, people close to me may begin to wonder, "Does he see me in this way too?"  I can certainly see how this is a pit that is easy to fall into.  

Many times, the difficult thing for us in judging the dead may be that we have some unresolved anger toward them.  Sometimes this anger may revolve around them dying and leaving us.  It can stir up abandonment issues that are often difficult to name.   

I wonder if the disciples were feeling something similar on this day so many years ago.

Did they second-guess Jesus' behavior or did they blame themselves?  Did some think, "We should have tried harder to talk him out of coming to Jerusalem during the Passover."?  Did the anger that comes with grief centralize around the Roman authorities or the Jewish leaders?  This kind of anger can certainly blind us.  We might even fall into a pit.  What kind of measure do you think they allowed for their enemies at this point?

What if this was how we always saw people?

This is helpful for us to realize that our capacity to be gracious often rises and falls depending on our circumstances in life.  We all know what it is to blow up at someone who happened to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.  Overreaction comes when our tank is empty.

The most important thing for us is to be self-aware at these times.  To recognize when we don't have it together.  And to admit it and ask for a little grace.  I believe that in this way, we can have a better chance of avoiding hypocrisy.  And if we've extended the same grace to those around us, we are more likely to receive it when we need it.

Sometimes our own blind spots are difficult for us to identify.  If you had to make a list of your top five places that you have difficulty with in relationships, what would they be?  Sometimes if we name the log, it begins to shrink!

Prayer for the day:  Gracious God, guide us on this day as we revisit the grief the disciples had for our Lord.  Help us to recognize who we are with all of our faults and misgivings but also for all of our strengths and gifts.  Let us be thankful for the totality of our identity and allow your Holy Spirit to shape our negatives that they may actually inform our assets.  May this understanding allow us to live into becoming more grace-filled people who are generous in how we see others.  We pray this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ who pulls us out of the pit.  Amen. 

Photo by nick fullerton via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

 New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.