Palm Sunday has passed. Now we approach the heart of Holy Week and a series of events that are not easy to understand. In this light a verse from Jeremiah seems more than apt. “You will be in the right, O Lord, when I lay charges against you;” says the prophet, "but let me put my case to you. Why does the way of the guilty prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?” (Jeremiah 12:1).
Several things about this verse strike me. First, the prophet acknowledges that God is right and will remain so. God’s sovereignty is not open for debate or about to be challenged. It remains a fact, no matter what we say or do. Yet while Jeremiah knows this he still has the courage to “lay charges against” God. Something is troubling the prophet, causing him anger, and he wants God to know about it. “…Let me put my case before you,” he says. And God indeed allows it. And what a case it is, too. Why, asks Jeremiah, do the guilty and treacherous seem to make out so well while the righteous seem to suffer terribly? “You may be Lord of all,” Jeremiah is saying, “but I think you have really screwed this one up. Now show me how I’m wrong.”
As Holy Week progresses we, too, may accuse God of screwing things up. Jesus, the word of God incarnate, will be tormented at the hands of the unrighteous and will eventually die. Is that really necessary? Is it fair? God is sovereign and rules over all. But this can’t be right. And setting Holy Week aside, what about the world today? How much must the good and gentle folks among us suffer? How much must God’s people deal with before God will act? Why do the evil ones seem to do so well and the rest of us so poorly? These are tough questions, but they are fair ones, and God is willing to listen. Then, in God’s own time, we will have an answer, one that involves Jesus’ death, one that reminds us of the love poured out for us from the cross and tomb. Our sovereign God will be in the right. But our charges will not have been wasted because in challenging God we have set ourselves to witness what God is up to. And that is a very good thing, during Holy Week and beyond.
Prayer: Lord, we know you are right, but we are confused and confounded this week. Help us to accept your love and to trust in your work though Jesus Christ. Amen.
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