Maundy Thursday, April 17, 2025
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ~ Romans 5:6
Written by Bob Claus | Hospital Chaplain
This passage prompts questions. Such as, what does this passage mean in itself? How does this small part of God’s message inform me about God’s purpose? What strikes me as important and relevant to my experience, maybe to anyone’s experience?
What strikes me is the word, helpless. In Greek, it means, “weak,” but it can also mean, “having insufficient resources.” At what point in your life have you experienced feeling “helpless,” a time when you had “insufficient resources” to overcome what was troubling you?
Recently, I met a middle-aged man who had been denied a life-saving lung transplant that left him confused and disheartened, but he displayed such “inner resources” of confidence and faith that I advocated to the medical team to review his case. They did and are working with him to provide resources that will help him live longer, but without a lung transplant.
The truth is this: none of us has “sufficient resources” of health or wealth to overcome death on our own. The paradox is this: that Jesus died so that we might have “God’s resources” and the Spirit as an Advocate so that we supply what resources others need for all aspects of living. What we do with God’s resources matters and shows our love for God and neighbors. “My grace is sufficient for you, for Christ’s power is made complete in (our) insufficient resources.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
Prayer: Give us this day our daily bread, and all else necessary to sustain the life you have given us. Amen.
Join us for our Maundy Thursday service:
Thursday, April 17 | 7 pm | Chapel