Reliving the Passion ... A Book Review

Walter Wangerin Jr., Reliving the Passion: Meditations on the Suffering, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus as Recorded in Mark (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1992)

In this necessary book Wangerin, a skilled wordsmith and devout follower of Jesus, leads us to our personal “reliving” of the suffering, death, and resurrection of this unusual man from Nazareth. Wangerin insists it is necessary. It is, after all, history’s greatest tragedy. Yet it is a cosmic triumph. Any alleged triumph that does not deliver us from life’s greatest tragedy – our death – is no triumph. We need to see how His awful death overcomes ours. We need to see how our “sin” has brought death upon us and Him. We need, as Wangerin argues, “to see our sorrier selves,” in these events and our need of His “holy self.” We need to see the path He took in life and how this is the way He calls us to walk with Him. We must learn that “it is the experience of genuine grief that prepares for joy.”

And so he guides us, over 41 days, through every nuance of one emotion after another. We wonder at the love of a woman who lavishes costly ointment on the Master. We steal through the streets of Jerusalem with His followers, clandestinely arranging for what would be their final Passover with Him. We see Him betrayed, renounced, falsely condemned, ridiculed, brutalized. We watch Him die. We realize the depth of His resolve as he deliberately chooses to taste every drop of the “cup” of pain He is asked to drink. The infinite reach, and deep compassion of His love tears at our hearts. Watching Him die we see clearly, perhaps for the first time, the supremacy of His power.

Wangerin dramatically leads us through all of it, every bit of the story, right to the door of the empty tomb. He does this in 40 stages; “40 devotions” he calls them. They “best fit the forty days that lead to Easter (except the Sundays)” he explains, “as you will be participating in an ancient practice of our Christian Church: observing Lent, examining grace, understanding the crucifixion as the moment of marvelous love and your salvation, and giving God thanks for a resurrection which promises your own in the end.”

For the past five years I have done as Wangerin’s suggested. “Reliving” these days with Jesus has deepened my love for Him. I will continue the practice until I see Him face-to-face and can hear Him tell the story personally.

Thank you , Walter Wangerin, for this inestimably valuable gift!

The Most Important Holiday in the Year

In just one more day the most important Season of the year begins. Spring is upon us! Well, despite the privilege of living in the friendly climes of the Southwest of the United States, that is not quite true. Lent is upon us! Rooted in the Latin for “spring” Lent is the Season in which we Christians celebrate the events leading up to Easter – the Universal Spring!

Just yesterday I received an e-message from a Friend describing this cosmic event. With her permission, here are her observations.

“Lent is the period of fasting, penitence, and self-denial traditionally observed by Christians in preparation for Easter. Lent is 40 days, but spans a period of 46 (the 6 Sundays in Lent are not counted because each Sunday represents a "mini-Easter", a celebration of Jesus' victory over sin and death. It runs from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday (Easter). The forty days represent the time Jesus spent in the desert, where he endured temptation by Satan. Many people decide to give up a favorite food or drink (e.g. chocolate, alcohol) or activity (e.g., going to the movies, playing video games, etc.) for Lent.

Will you join me in this challenge? The idea is that you give up something that you don't want to give up.... otherwise it wouldn't really be much of temptation and trial would it. Use this as an opportunity to draw closer to Jesus, in anticipation of our Easter celebration! Oh, and if you want to know what I'm giving up... eating out, which I do several times a week... and I'm including visits to Timmy's in this too!
I'd love to know what you are giving up... oh and just to be clear, Lent starts this week on Ash Wednesday, 25th February.
Love Joanne”

For those of you who don’t live in Canada, or haven’t been privileged to visit that great Land, “Timmy’s” is short for Tim Horton’s, the greatest Donut/Coffee chain in the world.

I responded to Joanne yesterday. I shared with her, and all to whom she’d sent her message, that I have become a serious observer of the Lenten Season. In addition to a personally crafted “fast” I’ve adopted a reading regimen that I strongly recommend to all serious Christ-followers. It’s the reading of one book over the 46 days Joanne has written about. The author, Walter Wangerin, is one of the most skilled writers I’ve read. He’s written extensively. But the book I’m telling you about is a short work titled, Reliving the Passion: Meditations on the Suffering, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus as recorded in Mark. Wangerin has organized the book so that it can be read, one brief chapter at-a-time, through the 42 days – counting the Preface and the Day of Resurrection of our Lord – of this momentous Season. Each chapter can be read in the length of time it takes to eat a candy bar or drink a soft drink. Isn’t that what “giving up something,” is, as Joanne suggested, really all about? Setting aside, for our Lord, time we normally use for something else.

This discipline has been, for me, a most invaluable experience of Christ’s presence and has resulted in a deepening intimacy with Him.

You, too, will benefit from it!