Forward Movement is an official, non-profit agency of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to create compelling content for Christian living. Since 1935 we have published the quarterly devotional Forward Day by Day, as well as pamphlets, booklets, and books that encourage and nourish people in their lives of prayer and faith.
SATURDAY, August 29
Mark 14:43-52. A certain young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, but he left the linen cloth and ran off naked.
The beginning of Jesus' final confrontation with the powers of the world and the evil that holds them hostage takes place in a garden--Gethsemane. There Judas his betrayer comes to force the hand of God, to push Jesus into the kind of action that Judas believes is necessary. In the chaos and conflict that ensues, the disciples all turn tail and run. In Mark's account alone we hear of the young man who is stripped of his garment and flees naked.
In another garden long before, the confrontation with evil begins. The first man and woman are tempted and force the hand of God, believing that they can be equal to God. When they see as God sees, they realize that they are naked--completely vulnerable and thus not capable of being gods.
We are, all of us, naked before God, stripped bare of our illusions and our excuses. Evil seeks to exploit our vulnerability. Jesus goes to the cross to clothe us in God's love and mercy.
PRAY for the Diocese of Sialkot (Pakistan)
Ps 20, 21 * 110, 116, 117; 1 Kings 7:51-8:21; Acts 28:17-31
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