Week 15 - Jesus chooses His Way

Theme:

Jesus chooses to do what He feels called to do. He will face temptation, but He knows what He has to do.

What I may wish to ask:

That I can choose together with Jesus, that I can make the same choices He made. That I can live my life in the same way He lived His life.

For a few moments I don’t need to think about anything and I don’t need to do anything – just to close my eyes, breathe and simply be present in this stillness and silence. Present for God.

Music: Roep onze namen Huub Oosterhuis, Tom Lowenthal

Roep onze namen

Dat wij U horen

Dat wij weer ademen

Dat wij U leven

Call us by our names

so that we can hear You,

so that we can breathe again,

so that we may live You

Spotify Link:

https://open.spotify.com/track/3kWKhZGfJhyaaJ1f8eyFqA?si=1fb87bae57374c0f

YouTube Link:

https://youtu.be/xITaTh4xLME?si=0FemqlhN_7RzXAwW

Mark 3: 1 – 6

Again, He [Jesus] entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. And they watched him, to see whether He would heal him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come here.” And He said to them, “Is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out, and immediately held counsel with the Hero′di-ans against him, how to destroy him.

I use my imagination to enter into this story. I look for a place in this synagogue and take my time to pay full attention to what I see and hear happening around me in this story. I allow the surroundings to really get through to me – the people, the sounds, the atmosphere in the synagogue.

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There are a number of different people present in the synagogue: someone who is bringing healing, someone who is seeking healing, an onlooker who observes everything in silence, a disciple who wants to learn, and someone who is doubting and asking questions. What am I doing there?

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Jesus knows what He has to do and does allow himself to be distracted by rules or criticism from other people. He follows his calling with determination, regardless of the resistance which He encounters. I look back at my own life and try to recognize the moments in my life when I, just like Jesus, didn’t care about the rules and criticisms of others and just did what I knew I had to do.

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I look back at these moments and try to discern whether they are telling me something about my deepest convictions, about the way that I may follow in life, about what I am called to do.

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