Conversations on the way to the Cross 7: The Precaution

The chief priests approach Pilate

"But the man's dead, dammit! What possible trouble can he cause now?"

"Undoubtedly he is dead, sir. Your judgement was most... satisfactory. But we are concerned..."

"He's dead, he's buried, and that's not enough? What do you want from me?"

"Well you see, Mr Governor, this impostor had the bad manners to predict that he would come back to life, three days after he was killed. Which, naturally enough, is impossible - "

"Although there were those rumours about that man Lazarus... "

"Nothing but superstition, Nicodemus! As I say, the thing is impossible. But I wouldn't put it past some of his friends to decide that it would be a nice publicity stunt. All it takes is for the body to disappear, a few rumours to start..."

"...and we go from dead charismatic rabbi to immortal Messiah. Not a good idea, I'm sure you'll agree, Mr Governor."

"You'll be wanting a guard for the tomb, then."

"Precisely, sir. Just for a few days, you understand, until the danger has passed."

"And his friends? Are they likely to mount an attack?"

"They are under observation, but their leader's death seems to have knocked the spirit out of them. I think the presence of an armed guard will provide sufficient deterrence."

"Right then. See to it that the miracle-worker stays in his tomb. You know what to do.

"And I don't want to hear one more word about Jesus of Nazareth!"

Matthew 27:62-66

Other Conversations from the Cross
1: The Donkey
2: The Commotion
3: The Authority
4: The Anointing
5: The Betrayal
6: The Burial

8: The Resurrection

Comments

Dove Valley Walk: finding the mouth of the Dove

The Bonnie Prince Charlie Way was really just a fill-in walk until I could start my next big excursion. Gloopy though the BPC was, I knew it wouldn't actually be flooded, whereas the bits of ground I was tackling next had had ducks paddling on them for most of the winter. The grand plan is to start from my house in Findern, reaching the start of the River Dove. I can then follow the Dove to Uttoxeter, making up my own route, as this section has no official waymarked path. At Uttoxeter I join the Staffordshire Way up to Rocester, then the Limestone Way beyond that. It stays near the Dove for a while longer. Then it cuts across the southern Peak District to reach Matlock. At Matlock I can pick up the Derwent Valley Heritage Way, heading south through Derby to reach the River Trent at Shardlow. The Trent has its own relatively new Way, leading back to Repton and then, eventually, home. The map shows a rough idea of the route. If only it would stop raining long enough for me to get a

A Place at the Table: Spiritual Formation Book 12

"God has ordained in his great wisdom and goodness that eating, and especially eating in company, should be one of the most profound and pleasurable aspects of being human." Miranda Harris had been intending to write a book for years. She'd got as far as a folder full of notes when she died suddenly in a car accident in 2019. When her daughter, Jo Swinney, found the notes, she decided to bring her mum's dream to fruition. A Place at the Table was the result. I thought this was going to be a nice friendly book about having people over for dinner. In one sense it is, but it's pretty hard-hitting as well. Miranda and her husband Peter co-founded the environmental charity A Rocha, so the book doesn't shy away from considering the environmental aspects of what we eat and how we live. They also travelled widely and encountered hunger at close quarters; the tension between seeing such poverty and believing in a generous God comes out clearly in A Place at the Table.

Flexitarianism

Hey folks! I learnt a new word today! I can now proudly proclaim myself to be a flexitarian . Yes, I wish that meant I'm in training to be a trapeze artist. Or that I'm a leading world expert on the chemical properties of stretchy materials. All it actually means is that I don't eat meat that much. Well, big deal. That lumps me in with a majority of the world's population, many of whom have no choice about the matter. So why the need for a fancy new word? Because, it seems, that we in the prosperous West have come to regard having bacon for breakfast, chicken sandwiches for lunch and a steak for dinner as entirely normal. But also because we in the prosperous West are starting to realise that might not be an entirely good idea. You know about factory farming, of course. The images of chickens crammed into tiny cages and pigs which never see the sunlight, which we push out of our minds when we reach for our plastic-wrapped package of sausages in t

Martha's Marvellous Munchies

Search This Blog