The Olivet Discourse

This morning, the day before Passover, Jesus and his disciples headed once again into Jerusalem. As they reached the summit of the Mount of Olives they came to the fig tree that Jesus had cursed yesterday. It was completely dead with scarcely a leaf left on it. Even if it had been cut down the tree wouldn't have died so quickly. This is the first miracle performed by Jesus that destroyed rather than healed. It must have seemed just as odd to Jesus' disciples as it does to me that he would curse a tree. As with everything that Jesus did in his life it must have had a purpose but there is no record anywhere that would explain why he did what he did.

One possible explanation that I've heard that makes sense to me is that Jesus used it as an example of the danger of hypocrisy. If you think about it, the tree was a hypocrite. A fig tree normally bears fruit at the same time that it leafs out. This tree had leaves which would suggest that it would bear fruit but upon closer inspection it had no fruit. This could be compared to a person who pretends to be something good but in actuality isn't. Jesus did to the tree the same as he did with the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees yesterday and attacked them quite forcefully.

I can only imagine that after the first two days that they spent on the Temple Mount that Jesus' disciples were on constant watch for retaliation from the Sanhedrin or for another confrontation but none came. At one point one of the disciples commented on the majesty and beauty of the Temple. Jesus responded by drawing their attention to the Temple and telling them that soon there would not be one stone left upon another. Remember that this temple took forty years to build and it contained massive stones. This prophetic statement must have seemed impossible to them but they probably remembered that just two days earlier as they made their grand entrance into Jerusalem Jesus had stopped on the path coming down off of the Mount of Olives and made the same prophecy about how Jerusalem would be surrounded by their enemies and destroyed and that not one stone would be left upon another. These last few days with Jesus must have been very solemn days.

As they left Jerusalem and returned to Bethany they got part way up the Mount of Olives and then suddenly Jesus turned and led them on a path that lead off of the main road. He found a comfortable spot and together they sat there and admired the beautiful view they had of Jerusalem. Finally Peter got the guts to ask what must have been on all of their minds. He referred back to the comments that Jesus made while they were in the temple. He asked Jesus when these horrible things would happen to Jerusalem and then almost as an afterthought he reminded Jesus that he had told them that he would return before the end of the world and he asked what signs they would have of his return.

The response that Peter received to his question was probably a lot more than he had expected and includes most of Matthew 24.

4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)
16 Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there;
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, 

to give them meat in due season?

46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;

49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;

50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,

51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The disciples must have looked out over the beautiful city of Jerusalem and tried to imagine the horror that was to come. Jesus then told the parable of the ten virgins. He told them that his return would be like the bride groom at a wedding. In Jesus time the groom traditionally prepared for his wedding at the home where he and the new bride would be living. Meanwhile the "bride to be" was preparing at her parents home. When the time for the wedding came the groom and his male friends would parade through the streets to where the bride was and pick her up and lead her back to their new home where the wedding would be performed. The entire time as they are marching through the streets they are calling out for their friends to join them. Once they all return to the grooms home the wedding is performed and the partying begins; sometimes lasting through the night. 

In this parable there were ten virgins waiting for the bride groom to come so they could join in the celebrations. Five of the girls were unprepared and their lamps ran out of oil. While they were off getting more oil the bridegroom came by and the five virgins who were prepared joined the party but the five who were not prepared missed it. 

Jesus ended saying, "Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."

Jesus then shared the parable of the talents and following this story he described how the Son of Man shall come in his glory and sit on his throne and divide his people as a shepherd divides his sheep from his goats. He will then set his sheep on his right hand and invite them to enter into his kingdom for when he was hungry they fed him and when he was thirsty they gave him drink and when he was a stranger they took him in, naked and they clothed him. When he was sick they visited him and when he was in prison they came unto him. The people shall then ask when they did all of these things and the Lord shall tell them that "inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

The prophecy that Jesus gave regarding the destruction of the Jews and his second coming includes details about the last days as well as prophecies regarding the time shortly after his death. Less than forty years following his crucification the Jewish revolution became so great that the Romans realized they had to put it down once and for all. At one point the Romans entirely surrounded Jerusalem and for some unknown reason they retreated. When the Christians at that time saw this they remembered Jesus' prophecy "and when ye shall see Jerusalem compass with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains." 

The Christians did flee to Pella, a city on the east side of Jordan and they were spared. The Romans came in and killed more than a million Jews. Judea ceased to exist as a nation of Jews. 

On another note, it was probably today, the day before Passover, that Judas went to the Sanhedrin with his offer to lead the Temple guards to Jesus in a quiet and secluded place and to identify him. Oddly enough, he chose to identify Jesus by kissing him.

Cleanse the Temple, Again

Today, two days before Passover, when Christ and his disciples walked from Bethany to Jerusalem it was a much quieter walk. There must have still been many people who came out to see them but there weren't the crowds experienced the day before. This time however when they arrived at the top of the Mount of Olives they came across a fig tree that was completely leaved out. This was a bit unusual for this early in the year but Jesus and his disciples were quite excited because a fig tree bears fruit at the same time it's leaves come on. When they went to pick some fruit to eat however there wasn't a single fruit on the entire tree. When Jesus saw that the fig tree bore no fruit he said, "Let no fruit grow on this tree henceforth and forever". This must have seemed like a very strange thing for Jesus to say but Jesus offered no explanation and simply carried on towards Jerusalem.

Most people are well aware of how Jesus cleansed the Temple by driving the "money changers" from it but many are not aware that he did that again at the end of his ministry just before his crucifixion. This cleansing probably took place on this day, three days before he died. There is also a single line that mentions that Jesus would not allow anyone to "carry vessels" through the temple. What was probably happening is that people carrying freight and making other deliveries to various parts of Jerusalem were taking short cuts through the temple grounds. Apparently Jesus put a stop to this as well as driving the money changers from the Temple once again.

The commotion caused by Jesus throwing out the money changers apparently drew the attention of the Sanhedrin who immediately came out and demanded of Jesus by what authority he thought he could do such an act. Jesus, as he so often did, answered their question with a question of his own. He told them that he would answer their question if they answered a question of his. He asked them if John baptized with authority of God or with his own authority. The Sanhedrin knew right away that they had been trapped, if they said it was on Gods authority then Jesus would ask them why they didn't accept John as a prophet but if they said he acted on his own authority then the people would be angry because most of the people accepted John the baptist as a prophet. The Sanhedrin responded that they couldn't say who's authority John acted on so Jesus simply replied that he couldn't answer either.

The people loved it. Most of them saw the Sanhedrin as a bunch of self righteous men who took advantage of their position and were far too removed from their lives. They loved to see them get embarrassed like this. Jesus then told a parable of a man who had two sons. He gave his son's a job to do and one of them refused to do it and went on his way. He later felt bad about what he'd done and went and did as his father had requested. The other son told his dad that he would do the job he'd been asked to do but then he left and didn't do it. Jesus then asked the Sanhedrin which of these sons did the will of their father. The answer was obvious but when they answered saying "the one who at first refused him"; Jesus looked them in the eye and told them that Harlots and Publicans would enter the kingdom of God before they did because the Publicans and Harlots believed John but they didn't.

Just in case they didn't see the comparison Jesus went on and told another parable about a man who built a large vineyard and hired people to run it for him while he went in a far away land. When harvest time came the man sent servants to collect the proceeds from those who were hired to run the vineyard. When the servants showed up for the money those who were in charge of the vineyard beat them and even killed some. When the servants didn't return the owner sent more servants but they too were beaten and killed. Finally the owner sent his own son saying to himself that surely those running his vineyard will have respect for his own son but when those in charge saw the owners son coming they killed him thinking that they would be able to keep all of the fruits of the vineyard.

Those who loved Jesus and were with him couldn't have missed the fact that Jesus was referring to himself as the Son who was killed and it must have dismayed them to hear him once again talk about his own death like this. The Sanhedrin however didn't get it at first because when Jesus asked them what would happen to those in charge of the vineyard they replied that the Father would destroy them and put others in charge of his vineyard. Jesus only nodded and gave them a moment for it to sink in.

Later on this same day Jesus was confronted once again by some Pharisees who tried to trap him in his words. In response to this Jesus delivered what may have been his most forceful attack on the Pharisees yet calling them hypocrites. How they make themselves beautiful on the outside but are filthy on the inside. He compared them to a tomb that is painted to be beautiful and white on the outside but is filled with the bones of dead men. During his entire life Jesus had been very patient and loving towards the sinner but it appears that the one thing he can't stand is a hypocrite. Following such an excoriating attack it is almost no wonder that the Sanhedrin hated him so much that they actually wanted to kill him.

The Sanhedrin was furious but they saw how the multitude loved Jesus and they didn't dare do anything  while he was surrounded by so many who loved him. It was probably this day that they looked for someone who would be willing to betray Jesus and let them know when and where he could be taken without all of the crowds around to witness it.

The King Enters Jerusalem

If a king in ancient Israel wanted to declare war on another city he would ride into that city mounted on a horse or in a chariot. If that King wanted to enter another city in peace he would announce his intention by riding into that city upon a donkey. Four hundred years before Christ, the prophet Zechariah prophesied "Rejoicing greatly , O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is just and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass." 


Jesus left the home of Mary and Martha three days before Passover to go into Jerusalem. Bethany is at the bottom of the Mount of Olives opposite from the side of the mountain that Jerusalem is on. This meant that in order to enter Jerusalem they had to climb to the top of the Mount of Olives and then go down the other side.

As Jesus and his disciples neared the top of the Mountain the road passed near by the town of Bethphage. As they came to the road that led to Bethphage Jesus stopped and asked his Apostles to go into the town and there they would find a donkey tied up and with it would be a colt that had never been ridden by man. They were to bring the colt to him. He told them if anyone asked they were to tell them that the "Master has need of it".

The Feast of Tabernacles is a time when the Jews would celebrate their acceptance of Jesus as their King. They did this by waving palm branches or branches with fruit on them and calling out the words "hallel" meaning "Praise" and "Yah" meaning "Jehovah". These two words came to be "Hallelujah" or "Praise to the Lord". When those with Jesus recognized the significance of the donkey they spontaneously lined the road to Jerusalem and waved palm branches calling out "Hosanna" meaning "save now" and "Hallelujah" meaning "praise to the Lord".

By this time with the many miracles Jesus had performed, not the least of which was the raising of Lazarus just a few days earlier, his fame had spread throughout the land. He was famous. People had been watching for him and when they saw him coming they ran ahead to the let others know he was coming. The road was lined all the way into Jerusalem with people waving palm branches and throwing their cloaks and robes on the pathway before him. It must have been a very exciting time.

As they reached the summit of the mountain and began to descend into the Kidron valley the view of the Temple Mount must have been spectacular. The shouts of Hosanna and Hallelujah would have become even louder. Suddenly Jesus came to a halt and as he looked over the temple and the city of Jerusalem a sadness came over his face and tears to his eyes. His disciples must have wondered how things could go from jubilation and excitement to such sadness so quickly. Finally Jesus spoke and paraphrasing he said, "Oh Jerusalem, if only you knew what lay ahead for you, but you are blind and can not see it. The day will come when your enemies will surround you on all sides and destroy you so completely that not one stone will be left upon another." Finally he moved on towards the city and entered in through the Golden gate as a King.

The Sanhedrin

After Jesus brought Lazarus back to life the Sanhedrin was in an uproar. The Sanhedrin was a ruling body that consisted of members from the Pharisees, Sadducees and other highly ranked members of Jewish society. When they saw the large number of people who followed Jesus (especially after Lazarus was raised from the dead) they became very concerned that they would lose their power but they were also concerned that the Romans would become concerned that so many Jews were following what they (the Sanhedrin) thought to be a rebel. It was about this time, a week before Passover, that the Sanhedrin decided that they would have to kill Jesus.

While the scriptures aren't clear, it was also about this time that Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha came to Jesus to anoint his feet with a very expensive ointment that she carried in an alabaster box. It must have been a solemn moment as she did this but as she finished Judas became angry and chastised Mary for wasting such an expensive ointment when she could have sold it for a large sum of money and given it to the poor. Jesus came to her defense and told Judas that it was a good thing she had done. He told him that the poor would always be among us but what Mary had done would always be spoken of as a memorial to her. Jesus then alluded once again to his death saying that Mary had come to prepare his body early for it's burial.

It seems clear that those who were close to Jesus had to have known what was coming.

Lazarus is Raised from the Dead

Bethany was a small town on the eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives. It is only two miles from Bethany to the Temple Mount but it is a steep climb from Bethany to the top of the mount of Olives and then an even steeper drop down into the Kidron Valley and then another steep climb up to the Golden Gate leading into the temple complex. It took two days for Jesus to get to Bethany from Jericho so apparently he wasn't in too much of a hurry. Large crowds surrounded Jesus every where he went so it is almost certain that as he entered into the town of Bethany he was greeted by a lot of people. Like any small town, word traveled fast that Jesus was in town and when Martha heard this she came to meet him on the road into Bethany and was obviously very distraught. She pointed out that if he had been there then Lazarus would not have died. She still showed faith however when she mentioned that she knew that God would still grant Jesus anything that he asked. He told Martha that her brother would live again but Martha assumed he spoke of the resurrection. He then told her to go get Mary.


When Martha returned with Mary she ran to the Savior and fell to her knees and repeated the exact same words as her sister saying, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Jesus saw her there sobbing and was filled with compassion and weeping himself  he asked her, "Where have you laid him?"


A crowd of several hundred people followed Mary and Martha to the tomb where Lazarus had been laid. The funeral preparations had all been completed four days earlier so Lazarus laid in the tomb completly wrapped in linen clothes much like an Egyptian mummy. 

The tomb was sealed with a large stone that could be rolled away and as they arrived at the tomb Jesus asked Martha to have them remove the stone. She was shocked and responded that he had been dead for four days. Jesus said nothing so she then added that by this time he would stink. He then went to the two women and said, "Did I not say unto you that if you would believe, you should see the glory of God?"


The stone was rolled away and Jesus went to the entrance of the tomb and lifting his face to Heaven and said, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me, I know that thou hearest me always . But I say this because of the people who stand by here. I say it that they may believe that thou has sent me."


He then said, "Lazarus! Come forth!"


I imagine it was a few moments before Lazarus, still wrapped tightly in the white linen burial cloths made it to the door of the tomb. Imagine the reaction that must have been made by the crowd gathered to witness this wonderful miracle. 


Jesus finally commanded those with him to "Loose him and let him go."

Update

It has now been twelve days since Lisa left me. Last week Sarah was home so that was no problem and all this week I have been so busy that I've hardly noticed she's gone but sitting here all day in an empty house is a bit strange. I can't wait for her to get home. She's coming home on Tuesday. In case I never mentioned it before, Lisa's has gone to watch Kira and Justin's boys while Kira and Justin went to Peru on a humanitarian service trip. Justin and a bunch of other dentists are doing free dental work on a bunch of Peruvians. Kira has been blogging about it and it sounds like they're having some wonderful experiences. You should check it out on her blog here. Kira actually pulled a guys tooth. I don't think she would get to do that in Calgary.

Today I kept myself busy just tidying up the house before Lisa comes home. I did go for a six mile run though. I'm getting ready for the Ragnar Relay coming up. Alan Bird is forcing me to push myself. Last year I ran about 14 miles. This year he has me running 19 miles. One of my legs is eight miles long. I'm a little nervous about that one but the six mile run today wasn't that big of a deal so eight should be fine. I've got a month left to get myself in shape. I'm looking forward to it. Ben is running it with me so that is even better. Nineteen miles is getting so close to a marathon that I think I should just keep training and do one. I love running. I don't like running on roads so much but on my six mile route I have laid out I'm only on the road for about half a mile. Check out my route.

Here is a shot from the trail I run on. Beautiful isn't it? I'll have to take another shot from the crossing across the creek. That's even better. I'm a little bummed with Martha though. I have this program on my phone (Martha is my phone) that tracks my runs. It has an option at the end where I can upload the run to Facebook. Last year it always up loaded a map but this year it says it's uploading a map but it doesn't. I wanted people to see where I run but I guess I'll quit boring all the facebook people. 

--------------------trivia--------------------

Scientist at MIT believe they have done what most of us thought was impossible. They've found a cure for the common cold (along with 14 other viruses). 

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Off to Jerusalem

I can only imagine what was going through everyones minds as Jesus stayed in Jericho for another two days. Since Jesus had said that Lazarus' illness was "not unto death" they probably told themselves that he would be OK otherwise why wouldn't Jesus have headed out right away? Finally, on this day, Jesus suggested to his party that they go to Jerusalem. His disciples were at first alarmed that he was going to Jerusalem because the last time they were there the Sanhedrin had tried to kill him but Jesus calmly rebuked them and told them that his friend Lazarus slept and that he needed to go wake him. He then declared that Lazarus was dead. Can you imagine the shock of those who were with Jesus? They all knew how close he was to this family. Every time they went to Jerusalem they always stayed in this home and now Jesus had sat around Jericho for two whole days knowing the whole time that Lazarus was dying. Even though Jesus had declared that he went to "wake" his friend the concept of actually raising some one from the dead was so unbelievable that they couldn't have imagined that it was possible in spite of what he said.

A message from Bethany

On this day, just a couple of weeks before Passover Jesus received word from Bethany that his very good friend Lazarus was deathly ill. He was told that he'd been sick for some time and was getting worse. Lazarus's sisters, Mary and Martha were also very dear friends of the Lord and when they heard that Jesus was in Jericho seventeen miles away, they quickly sent word asking for Jesus to come to their aid.

I'm sure everyone in the party expected that they would immediately be breaking camp and heading for Bethany but when Jesus responded that Lazarus' sickness was, "not unto death" and then carried on with business as usual they couldn't believe it.

Zacchaeus

Jesus and those with him passed through Jericho on their way to Jerusalem. Living in Jericho was a man named Zacchaeus who was the chief publican in that city. Publicans were the tax collectors for the Romans and so were despised by all Jews. They viewed publicans as traitors. Since Zacchaeus was "chief among the publicans" we can assume that he was very wealthy. Zacchaeus had obviously heard about Jesus and really wanted to see him. It had only been a few months earlier when Jesus healed a crippled woman in Jericho and Zacchaeus would have certainly heard about that and maybe even witnessed it himself. Zacchaeus went to meet Jesus as he and those with him entered the city but the crowd was large and Zacchaeus was just a short man so he had no hope of getting close. Zacchaeus then noticed a large Sycamore tree along side the road and he decided to climb the tree in hopes of getting a better view of the Lord. As Jesus neared the tree he looked up at Zacchaeus and asked him to come down because he and his disciples would be dining with him that night. Zacchaeus was thrilled and gladly welcomed Jesus into his home. The crowd was angry that Jesus would choose to eat with a sinner such as Zacchaeus and when Zacchaeus heard this he quickly responded that he would give half of his wealth to the poor. This was in stark contrast to the rich young man who was unable to make a similar commitment so shortly before. 

The Rich Young Man

It probably took Mary and her friends most of a week to meet up with Jesus and his disciples in the Jordan River valley just north of Jericho. This would have been about a hundred mile journey. On this day about three weeks before Easter a rich young man came to see Jesus asking him what he could do to obtain eternal life. This wasn't the first time Jesus had been asked this question, several months earlier a Pharisee asked this same question trying to trick him and Jesus answered with the story of the good Samaritan. The rich young man was sincere in his question and Christ told him he needed to keep the commandments. The young man wanted to know which commandment he had to keep. The disciples who were with Jesus must have thought this was odd since it seemed obvious that we should keep all of the commandments but Christ was patient and listed off the ten commandments. The young man must have sounded quite arrogant when he responded that he had kept those commandments his entire life. Christ then told the young man that if he sold all that he owned and gave it to the poor then he would have riches in Heaven. This was too much for the young man who then quietly left. Christ then told his disciples that it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven. 

It was also about this time when Jesus said to his friends and disciples the following:

"Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:

And they shall scourge him, and put him to death..."

This announcement must have been a major shock to many of the people travelling with Jesus but to his close friends it was not anything new. Jesus had been hinting for some time that he would be killed. Still, this was perhaps the most blunt statement that he had made yet that he would be killed.

Sarah's Spring Break

If the timing of Sarah's spring break was good for Mackenzies wedding it was bad for Lisa. Several months ago Kira and Justin asked Lisa if she would watch their boys while Justin made a humanitarian dentist trip to Peru to fix the teeth of those who could never otherwise get the help they need. Of course Lisa was more than happy to do this but how could she have known that she would have to leave just two days after Sarah came home for spring break? So with a heavy heart Sarah and I put Mom on an airplane Tuesday morning and then it has been just the two of us this week.

Before she left however we had to celebrate Alex's birthday on Monday. Our boy turned 21. That is almost unbelievable to me. Since Alex is Chile we used our missionaries as proxy. They both have birthdays in April anyway so it was good timing.

I think Sarah had a very relaxing time and she is quite happy to be going back to Utah with a nice sun burn on her back. We had planned all week that Friday night we would go camping. The plan was to camp on the beach at San Elijo State Park. I checked out the availability of camping spots and since there were quite a few openings I decided not to make a reservation. That was lucky for me. As it turned out we had the worst storm in nearly a year.  I took Friday afternoon off from work and went with Sarah to run a few errands for her. Since her mother wasn't home I had to be mother as well as father. On our way back from shopping we looked out towards the ocean and the sky was as black as night and it was still the middle of the afternoon. Up until then I had still held out hope that we could go shopping but when I realized that the weather man was right we went to plan B. We camped in our family room.I don't know if you can tell what Sarah is doing in the picture but she is roasting a marshmallow in the fireplace. I have to admit that it was quite cozy sitting by the fire, watching a movie and listening to rain just pour down.

I did miss my air mattress however and somewhere during the night I had to cave in and move onto the couch. That floor is way too hard and my hips were killing me. There is something about a storm outside that makes a warm bed feel so much more comfortable. It was a good sleep.
Saturday morning Sarah and I decided to use our final few hours together to go for a walk on the beach. The rain had stopped at our house but when we got out of the car at the beach it was still coming down pretty hard. You may notice that in the picture we had the entire beach to ourselves. It was a really fun walk but we didn't go very far.
Finally it was time to take my baby to the airport. This has been the longest I have gone without seeing Sarah in her entire life and her next stint away may be even longer. It was tough saying goodbye to her. I think Lisa and I may have to make a trip to Utah in the next few months.
After I got home I decided that I had to get a long run in. I run during the week but I can't normally go more than three or four miles before it gets dark so I try and do a long run on the weekend. The problem is that last Saturday was Mackenzies wedding so it didn't happen then and the week before I had business meetings and so this would have been the third Saturday in a row that I would miss out on my long run. The rain had pretty much stopped so I decided I just had to go for it. Yes, you can guess what happened, I didn't get a half mile out and the skies opened up on me. I mean the rain was coming down so hard that it was bouncing off the pavement. As you can imagine I aborted the run. Tomorrow I HAVE to get at least five miles in.

I miss my wife.

----------trivia----------

Haiti and Lichtenstein by complete coincidence ended up having identical flags. 

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Mackenzie Got Married

Well this has been a busy few weeks. I don't think I'll post everything is one entry since that would probably bore most of you to the point that you won't read it all anyway. I will just touch on the highlights. Last weekend Mackenzie got married. Many of you may remember Mackenzie as one of Alex's girlfriends back in high school. While they were going out we became very close friends with Mackenzie and her mother so even after Alex and Mackenzie parted ways we stayed in touch and have been a part of her life as she has grown and headed off to college.
Lisa had been offering to help Mackenzie out with her wedding plans but I think she felt bad asking for help until about a week before her wedding. Within a very short time several of Mackenzie's plans fell through. I don't know just what happened but I do know that her flower person cancelled, the cake cancelled and some other people too. Lisa, being the kind hearted woman that she is jumped in to help her out and after having four kids get married she does know a thing or two about putting on a wedding. The wedding was beautiful and everything went off flawlessly
Mackenzies timing was perfect for Sarah. Sarah was one of Mackenzie's bridesmaids and she just happened to be home for spring break this week.

 

--------------------trivia--------------------

In many parts of Europe it was traditional to supply a newly married couple with enough mead for a month, ensuring happiness and fertility. From this practice we get honeymoon or, as the French say, lune de miel.

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Christ is Preaching in Perea

With Easter approaching I thought it would be interesting to chronicle the last few weeks of Christ's life. I did this last year and while I have no idea if you enjoyed it I know that I certainly did. For that reason, and also because I think it is good for all of us to remember the importance of Christ in our lives I'm going to repeat this series of blogs again this year. 


As the life of Christ is told in the gospels we sometimes find contradictions in the stories by the different writers. I believe this can happen for a number of reasons. Each person telling the story see's it from a different angle. Some things may be more important to one person than to another and so he will describe it with more detail. We all know that if there are several witnesses to an event you will get slightly different stories from each of them. As I tell the story of Jesus I will do my best to make it consistent with the scriptures but please forgive any inconsistencies. Hopefully you will accept my account in the spirit in which it is given.

Today, March 11, is twenty eight days before Easter Sunday. On this day, nearly two thousand years ago Christ was in the land of Perea around Jericho. He had been in Jerusalem during the feast of the Tabernacles (in October) and rather than head back to Galilee where he lived he had decided to preach in Perea instead. His mother, of course, lived in Nazareth and since we know that she went to Jerusalem with her son it was probably around this time that she went to meet up with her son in Perea. It is likely that at this point Jesus mother Mary was a widow and we can assume that she traveled with a group of close friends who most likely included friends and family of the apostles who were with Jesus and hadn't been home for some time. 

Happy Birthday Oreo

One hundred years ago today in a factory in New York City, the Nabisco Company started making the Oreo Biscuit. Since then nearly 500 billion of those little "biscuits" have been sold. Personally I've never been a big fan of Oreo's or for that matter anything chocolate. There are a few things "chocolate" that I like such as chocolate milk for example but not many. Just a few weeks ago Ben was here visiting and Mom and I decided to forgo her health food kick for the evening and we all went and bought one item each of our favorite junk food. Anyone who knows Ben will know that he loves Oreo's and has probably tried every variation (of which there are hundreds) of Oreo's made. On that night Ben taught me how to eat an Oreo properly. I think Oreo's may have now become one of my more favorite junk food items. Let me share with you how it is done.

1) Hold the Oreo in a glass of milk immersing the cookie half way into a glass of milk for about five seconds.
2) Let go of the Oreo and watch it float sideways in the milk
3) Just as the cookie is about to sink below the surface of the milk quickly grab it and shove the whole thing in your mouth.

I've uploaded a video for you just in case the instructions weren't clear enough.

Enjoy.

--------------------trivia--------------------

"Oreo” is the seventh most popular cat name in the United States, just behind “Shadow,” “Tigger,” and “Baby.”

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Spinal Muscular Atrophy

As most of you probably know, my oldest grandson Evan was born with SMA. SMA stands for "Spinal Muscular Atrophy". It is caused by a missing or mutated SMN1 gene. The SMN1 gene produces a protein called SMN protein that sustains the protective lining that surrounds normal nerve cells. The severity of the symptoms depends on how many back up genes you have. Some people have plenty of backup genes and some don't have any. A baby born with out the SMN1 gene and no back up genes will not live to see his first birthday. With out enough of the SMN protein the nerves that control voluntary functions of our body (arms, hands and even swallowing) begin to waste away and eventually they will fail altogether.

It is surprising to me that before Evan blessed our lives I had never heard of this disease before. One in every forty people are missing at least one of these genes but they don't know it because every human being has two sets of genes, one from your mother and one from your father. One in 6,000 babies born however are unlucky enough to receive two sets of  bad genes, one from each of their parents. It is in fact the most common genetic childhood disease and the number one genetic killer of children.

What is amazing about SMA is that it may well be the first genetic disease that can be cured. It is the first disease that they are trying to treat with stem cells and at least two different treatments are seeing good results in animal studies. Unfortunately it can be a long road from animal studies to a cure. The first cure is an attempt to grow new nerves using stem cells. This treatment would also be a cure from spinal cord injuries. The doctor treating Evan told me that they have successfully grown new nerves in a rat. The problem is that the nerve in a rat is about an inch long while the nerve from my spine to my hand is a nearly a yard long. A much greater challenge.

The second treatment is actually preparing to go to human trials and our little Evan is being considered for this trial. I know little about it but what I've been able to read it sounds like they have an injectable SMN protein. One shot and your nerve cells are protected for several months. It works in a Monkey now we need to see if it will work in a man. I don't think this shot will allow Evan to grow stronger but what a blessing if it will prevent him from getting worse. It would be an even greater blessing if a new born child could receive these shots and live a normal life. A friend of mine develops tests that are used to screen new borns for serious diseases like SMA. He told me that they don't screen for SMA because even if a child is found to have it there is nothing they can do for him. Now perhaps they will start screening them.

My daughter Kira (Evans mother) is a professional Oboe player. She is trying to draw attention to the disease and has made the following video to try and get her  hero Josh Groban to help her write a song for her Oboe that she can dedicate to all those families who are living with this affliction. I guess it couldn't hurt to try. If you feel so inclined perhaps you can "like" her video and share it with your friends. Wouldn't it be great if Evan could actually see a cure in his life time. 

Rosalie

This last weekend Brandon blessed his little Rosalie. We haven't missed any of our grandbaby's blessings yet so we just had to be there for Rosalie. Normally we would just fly out to Texas but a significant amount of the junk clogging my garage belongs to Brandon so I figured we would take advantage of the opportunity to get rid of it and drive out there. So that is what we did, we piled all of Brandons stuff in the back of the van and as soon as Lisa was done work on Friday we headed east on I-8. Even though Brandon and Serene now live in San Antonio they've spent the last six months in Arlington (Dallas-Ft Worth area) so they chose to bless the baby there. That meant our drive would be nearly 24 hours long and since Lisa is new enough in her work that it is difficult to get time off we chose to drive straight through. The theory was that we'd switch off driving but what really happened was that when I got tired Lisa drove and gave me a couple of hours of sleep and then I'd resume driving again. That happened twice so I made the drive out there with four hours of sleep. 

It was actually a rather enjoyable drive because Lisa and I have rarely had the chance lately to see much of each other so having her stuck in the car with me for twenty four hours was rather nice. I don't know what it is about Texas but I think it doesn't like my wife. This was her third time visiting there and every single time it has been lousy weather. We drove through El Paso just as the sun was rising but since we never saw the sun even once on Saturday we could only guess it was rising. As the sky grew brighter rain started to fall and as the day went my the rain got harder and harder. 

We pulled into Arlington around one o'clock Saturday afternoon and Brandon and Serene pulled into town around three so we laid down and slept for a couple of hours. When my alarm went off it was so hard to get up but I knew my grand daughters were coming so I forced myself. About the time I got the sleep out of my eyes Brandon and his little family showed up. What a treat it was to see them and especially his girls. They wore garbage bags for rain coats and plastic bags to cover their hair. They were darling. 

The plan was to go and see the world famous Stock Yards in Fort Worth but with the rain we had to rethink the plan. After a short discussion we decided to go there anyway. In spite of the rain we enjoyed ourselves tremendously. We didn't see much but just being with Brandon and Serene made it fun and we could have been anywhere. Grandma could help herself and she just had to give Sydney and Hayley a ride on the merry go round horses and then we happened to be there just as the cattle drive made it's way down main street and in addition to that we checked out the shops and one of the museums and took a look at the stock yards. You might also be surprised to see how six months in Texas has changed Brandon. He's gone from this well dressed business man to a country bumpkin wearing a sheep skin jacket and a cowboy hat. Actually there is a pretty cool story behind the sheep skin jacket and he is just trying on the cowboy hat in a store. 

We finally decided it was time to eat and being in Texas we just had to go for a good old Texas barbecue. The barbecue place I went to on my first visit to Texas almost exactly thirty years ago I was sad to learn is now a Honky Tonk music joint and was closed when we wanted to eat so we tried out a nearby place that I think turned out to be just as good. We walked in the front door and there was all of our the meat we could choose from right there on the grill in front of us. We ordered our brisket and sausages and found a table and enjoyed our food. It was very good.

Even though the evening was still quite young both Brandon's' family and Lisa and I had traveled a long way and we were all ready to go to bed. It was still pouring rain so Brandon and I went and got the car and drove back to pick up the girls. We then headed back to Arlington and hit the hay. I slept like a baby and the alarm went off way too early. We ate breakfast, packed up our bags and then headed to church. 

Brandon gave his little girl a beautiful blessing and I expect she is going to grow to be a very bright and gifted woman who will do much to further Gods work here on the earth. After church we all headed over to the Quinn's where we enjoyed another great meal of brisket. This was perhaps even better than the brisket we enjoyed in Ft Worth. I guess brisket is big in Texas and I'm not sure why I haven't known about it until now. I think I'm going to be looking for it the next time I go shopping for a good roast. It is very delicious. We enjoyed visiting the Quinn's and then since we had another long drive ahead of us we bid them all fairwell and headed south to San Antonio. Since Brandon and I love to solve the worlds problems when we get together we convinced the women to ride together if Brandon and I took the babies with us. I think we're much better and ignoring noisy children than they are so we had such a good visit that we were in San Antonio before we knew it. 

Brandon and Serene have found themselves a very nice house in what appears to be a very lovely neighborhood. We received the grand tour of their home and then went to bed. The weather Monday morning was thankfully very nice. We had a relaxing breakfast, I helped Brandon with a few things around the house and then we went and enjoyed a nice lunch with Heidi and Trent. Heidi was one of Kira's room mates at BYU. We got to know them pretty well so when we learned that Brandon and Serene were moving to San Antonio we just had to see if they were anywhere close to Heidi and Trent. As it turns out they only live about two miles away from each other. They aren't in the same ward but they appear to be in the same stake.

After enjoying same good old Little Caesars pizza it was time for me to head back west. Lisa couldn't bear to leave her little grand babies so soon so I left her behind while I headed back to work. San Antonio is a few hours closer to San Diego than Arlington is but I still had a good twenty hour drive ahead of me and nearly 1,300 miles of highway. I was a little intimidated by the drive ahead of me but I kissed everyone good bye and had Martha show me how to get out of town. Since I wasn't too anxious to die yet I promised myself that as soon as I got tired I would find a place to park and climb in the back of my now empty van and have a nap. I found numerous to keep myself occupied. I had some great phone calls with Sarah, Alycia, Ben, Evan, Landon and Kira and then I played with some cool apps on my phone including some cool speedometers and altimeters and then I decided to check out some of the songs I've been collecting.

As you may know, I'm not much of a music person. I will much rather listen to talk radio than to music and I prefer a nice quiet house to one with music disrupting my tranquility. Even still there are a few songs that I really do enjoy. Since they are so rare however when I do find one that I like I download it into Martha. I never listen to them but my collection has grown somewhat over the years. Since there is a lot of empty space between San Antonio and San Diego there are hundreds of miles where my radio could not pick up a single station.

Normally I use those quiet moments to try and invent things in my mind but after a while even that tends to succumb to weariness. That is when I decided to plug Martha into the Vans sound system and check out those songs I've collected. Believe it or not I've got at least two hours of songs on there. I actually went through the list twice.

Finally I began nodding off and decided it was time to find a place to take a nap. It was two o'clock and I was quite surprised to see that I actually made it to Tucson. I parked in the parking lot of a little diner and crawled into the back of the van and told Martha to wake me at four. I had a peaceful two hour nap and then climbed in behind the wheel and carried on.

Every Wednesday morning I have a conference call with one of our customers and since I'd promised to have some information ready for them I decided to go straight into work. I got there just before noon. I'm sure after my long trip I smelled pretty badly so I tried not to get too close to anyone but I finished up the work that I'd promised and then headed home.

I thought I'd relax and watch a show on TV but I didn't even make it five minutes. I woke up and rewound the show and tried again but I didn't make it any further than I did before. After a third failed attempt I gave up and went to bed. It was a long but wonderful weekend.



Hayley still loves her Grandpa

Sydney normally doesn't pay much attention to me but on this visit she was very different. She actually acted like she likes me. She is a beautiful little girl and getting so big.













Heidi and Trent and her family.

Me saying goodbye to my Grand daughters.

Twenty hours and 1,300 miles.