Potency

 "I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you," John 19:10.

So here's Jesus, captive of the mightiest human power on earth. The discussion turns to Power. Authority. Potency. Don't you get it, Jesus? You're here, fastened by human might. Soon to be nailed by it to a wooden frame. Power to make you do what you don't want to have done to you. Power: Capacity to act freely as one chooses. Everybody wants it. Power to freedom. Power to make stuff happen. And, so, Jesus. Who could have called ten-thousand, battle-hardened, God-trained angels to destroy the world and set him free, as the poet says. Jesus. Who could have. Didn't. Now, that's power. Power to transform deluded, impotent humans. Mercy. Mercy. Mercy.

Today we seek out a brother or sister and share mercifully with each other. We remember God's power to change human hearts at the place called the Skull. That blood-spattered place of mercy. The mercy seat. And, together, we give thanks.