Act II

The stage is set.  The cast is assembled.  It all begins, the story we have heard so many times before.  In this case, we know the ending of this story – or do we?  The real beauty of this story is that there isn’t an ending.  It is really the beginning.

Jesus is on trial because of his radical teachings. Those in power find fault with what he is bringing to the people.  He is stirring up the population with his stories about God.  He is introducing some shocking ideas.  He acknowledges the least of men tax collectors and the outcasts of society.  He even spends time with women, acknowledging what they can bring to a new faith.  Some have bad reputations and are reported to be prostitutes.  What sort of man is this Jesus that he challenges the status quo?  He seems to be asking for trouble.  The thinking is that this rabble rouser needs to be eliminated before he causes an uprising with his ideas and teachings.  He seems to have no support.  The Disciples who have followed him, joining with him when he asked them to “follow me,” are in hiding.  Even Peter has denied knowing him three times, and the crowd chants, “Crucify him,” “Crucify him,” and chooses Barnabas over him.

It seems like this should be the end of the story, but it is only the beginning.  Not everyone abandons him.  Mary, his mother, stands at the foot of the cross as he breathes his last breath.

We are now at Act II.  It is up to us as Christians, “little Christs”, to continue the story.  Can we do it?  Will we do it?  How can we not do it if we call ourselves Christians?

Will the transformation be seen that has and is taking place in us?  In 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 are found these words: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.”

Are you ready to be transformed?

Are you ready for Act ll?

~Ken Bauman

River Valley Chaplain