April 6: We are Nothing without Christ
♫ Music:
Saturday, April 6
We are Nothing without Christ
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Poetry:
The Hastily Assembled Angel Considers the Kingdoms of Dogs and of People
by Shane McCrae
The hastily assembled angel wanders
And has through cities centuries of cities
And countries and millennia of cities
And countries and of women and of men there’s
No hurry now though he was hurriedly
Once brought to being and bears the scars of that
Though slowly in the Earth though slowly he
Eventually began to wonder what
The hurry had been for and if he could
Have been a better angel or have done
Better the job he did if once
They’d made him the other angels had allowed
Him to meet God for he has been uncertain
As people are uncertain he has nev-
er been as certain as dogs are who sniff
The wind that moves the curtain and see behind the curtain
STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS
I cried last week. This was not a brief shower of tears but a torrential downpour. For a moment, life on this broken planet got to me. My helplessness to stop the pain and death manifest around me made me feel miniscule, powerless, and fragile. This day was a reminder of a truth that I fight: I am finite, weak, and often unable to see past the temporal.
In this season of Lent I am reminded of the sorrow of Jesus’ followers. Their hearts ached and their lives were forever altered as their friend and the Savior that they had grown to follow and to love was crucified. Roger van der Weyden portrayed this emotion and agony in The Descent from the Cross. His work depicts the moments after the crucifixion and disorienting raw emotion. His friends and family were helpless to stop the terrors they had observed Jesus endure. Grief stricken and weak, his mother falls and John, his beloved friend, upholds her. With numb and aching hearts, heavy souls, and tearful faces, those whose lives Jesus touched dutifully hold the nails and lower His body from the cross to prepare for him for burial. Their faces depict the weariness and disillusion that death brings. They did not know what we do, that in three days the glorious resurrection was coming.
For a season, when his followers gazed upon the limp body of Jesus, it appeared that all hope was lost. The hands that once touched and healed others were now pierced. The voice that calmed the sea and raised the dead was silenced. The one who spoke of establishing a kingdom was now to be buried in a borrowed tomb. His limp and broken body was all that remained, and the one who had been so wise and strong on this earth appeared weak and finite in death.
In actuality, the apparent weakness of Christ was an act of His great strength. Jesus, the Son of God, allowed himself to be cursed, broken, and beaten without retaliating because of our sins, for our salvation. His obedience in suffering and death resulted in redemption and resurrection life for all who believe, and his resurrection strength is now available to us through the power of His Spirit.
The apostle Paul described his own struggles in being finite with an understanding that I confess I am yet to fully grasp. As he penned the second letter to the Corinthians he referenced Christ’s power when describing his own weakness, his thorn in the flesh, as he stated: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore. I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak I am strong.”
Prayer:
Lord, first and foremost, we thank you for the very costly sacrifice and the pain that Jesus endured for us, for our salvation. We confess our weakness, and ask that you would fix our eyes on Jesus as we walk this broken earth. Teach us to remember that in our finite states that you are infinite and strong and give us eyes to see beyond the temporal moments to what is eternal. Strengthen our faith as we press into you and as we wait for the renewal your Holy Spirit. We are grateful that you choose to bless us with your strength and ask that we would always give you honor as you work in and through us.
Amen
Suzanne Welty
Associate Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork:
The Descent from the Cross, 1438
Rogier van der Weyden
Oil on Oak
7’ x 8.5’
Museo Nacional Del Prado, Spain
The Descent from the Cross (or Deposition of Christ), depicts Jesus being lowered from the cross, his lifeless body held by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. His grieving mother, has fainted, falling into a position that reflects that of the crucified Christ. In this way, they become both graphically and symbolically connected. Mary has fainted, but will recover. Jesus has died, but will be resurrected. The moment of greatest grief and weakness, therefore, also holds the potential of the greatest power. Art historians have commented that this work is said to be the most influential Netherlandish painting of Christ's crucifixion, and it continued to be copied and adapted on a large scale in the two centuries after its completion.
About the Artist:
Rogier van der Weyden (1399-1464) was an Early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commissioned single and diptych portraits. Known for his expressive pathos and naturalism, his forms are rendered with rich, warm colorization and a sympathetic expression. He was internationally famous in his lifetime and received commissions from, amongst others, Philip the Good, Netherlandish nobility, and foreign princes. However his fame lasted only until the 17th century largely due to changing tastes and he was almost totally forgotten by the mid-18th century. His reputation was slowly rebuilt during the following 200 years and today he is known, with Robert Campin and van Eyck, as one of the three great Early Flemish artists. His vigorous, subtle, expressive painting, and popular religious renderings had considerable influence on European painting, not only in France and Germany, but also in Italy and in Spain. Rogier van der Weyden also introduced new religious iconography in his paintings by depicting patrons participating in sacred events and diptychs featuring the Madonna alongside patrons in prayer.
About the Music:
“Constellation Vintage Moon: Prelude, BWV 846 with excerpt from Adagio, BWV 1005” from the album BachSpace
About the Composer:
Johannes Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and, violinist of the Baroque period. He established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Mass in B minor, the The Well-Tempered Clavier, two Passions, keyboard works, and more than 300 cantatas, of which nearly 100 cantatas have been lost to posterity. His music is revered for its intellectual depth, technical command, and artistic beauty. The keyboard prelude from BWV 846 is most recognized as the setting for the Ave Maria by Charles Gounod.
About the Performers:
BachSpace: Etienne Abelin, Tamar Halperin, Tomek Kolczynski
BachSpace is the genre-breaking project created by Swiss sound designer and composer Tomek Kolczynski, violinist Etienne Abelin and pianist Tamar Halperin from Neue Meister. The ensemble combines famous violin and keyboard sonatas by Johann Sebastian Bach with electronic compositions to create new entities. This technique, which was referred to as a "pasticcio" in the Baroque era, lends the themes and motifs of Bach's music a contemporary dimension. BachSpace has performed at Montreux Jazz Festival, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Thüringer Bachwochen, the Bachfesttage Koethen, the Niedersächsische Kulturtage, DRIVE Berlin, Klassik Underground Munich of the Bayerischen Rundfunk, Lounge Amadé at Würzburger Mozartfest, and Gare du Nord Basel.
About the Poet:
Shane McCrae (b 1975) is an American poet. McCrae was the recipient of a 2011 Whiting Award, and in 2012, his poetry collection Mule was a finalist for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and a PEN Center USA Literary Award. In 2013, McCrae received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. His poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Best American Poetry 2010, American Poetry Review, African American Review, Fence, and AGNI. He is the author of the poetry collections Mule (2011), Blood (2013), Forgiveness Forgiveness (2014), The Animal Too Big to Kill (2015), and In the Language of My Captor (2017). McCrae was an Assistant Professor in the Creative Writing program at Oberlin College from 2015-2017 and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Creative Writing MFA program at Columbia University.
About the Devotional Writer:
Suzanne Welty
Associate Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Biola University
Suzanne Welty is an Associate Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders who earned her EdD in Educational Leadership, Teaching and Learning from Azusa Pacific University. Welty specializes in diagnosing and remediating communication, behavioral and social challenges of individuals diagnosed with Autism, and other developmental disabilities. In addition, Welty has a passion for missions and has spent many summers in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Germany and finds joy in visiting, praying for, and encouraging those who are serving Christ world-wide.