Third Sunday in Lent

“Jesus did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.” O Lord, you know our restless hearts for they were created by you; our hearts are made for you; our hearts belong to you, our hearts are loved by you.  O Lord, you know the very essence of our human nature, the core of our being, the depths of what we are made of. You know every detail about us for we are wonderfully created in your image and wonderfully made in your likeness. You know everything about us; all that is good, all that is bad, all that is beautiful, all that is true, all that is lacking, all that needs to be made new. No one more than you understands the one thing that separates us is the one thing you could never be.  The one thing you were willing to die for is the one thing that was not meant to be. You are good and all goodness flows from you. Sin is evil and all that is evil is sinful and could never flow from you. Sin flows from darkness and deceit; light and truth flow from you. Sin separated us from you, O Lord and how sad that is. Sin continues to separate us from you, O Lord and how sad that continues to be. How sad it is, O Lord that we are like you in all things but sin.  How good it is that you are like us in all things but sin. You alone can help us for you have come to our aid, you have come into our sinful existence, you have come into our fallen nature. Two hearts are now united as one but divided by sin. Two natures are separated by indifference but destined to be whole and one again. Why would one so perfect, so holy, so pure, so innocent be sin for me? Why would one so beautiful, so sacred, so lovely, so kind take the blame for all that we thought, all that we said, all that we did and all that we failed to do? Why would the Creator of the creature, the Potter of the clay, the Shepherd of the sheep become so lowly, so vulnerable, so weak to be like us? Why would the Parent of the children, the Master of the slaves, the Teacher of the disciples, the King of the subjects become so easy to win over, so easy to defeat? Because God is love and in love we were meant to be.