honey, wake up.

This is a passage from King’s Cross, by Timothy Keller— a great book that takes an in-depth look at the life of Jesus in the gospel of Mark. At this point in the book, Keller is addressing Mark 5: 21-42 (read the whole story, it’s good!).

p. 67-69:

Do you think it is odd that when Jesus arrives at Jarius’s house he says that the girl is just sleeping? The parallel accounts of this story in Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels make it clear that Jesus understands she’s dead. She’s not just mostly dead; she’s all dead. (Woo! Princess Bride reference!) Then why does he make that reference to sleep?

The answer is in what Jesus does next. Remember, Jesus sits down beside the girl, takes her by the hand, and says two things to her. The first is talitha. Literally, it means “little girls,” but that does not get across the sense of what he’s saying. This is a pet name, a diminutive term of endearment. Since this is a diminutive that a mother would use with a little girl, probably the best translation is “honey.” The second thing Jesus says to her is koum, which means “arise.” Not “be resurrected”; it just means “get up.” Jesus is doing exactly what this child’s parents might do on a sunny morning. He sits down, takes her hand, and says, “Honey, it’s time to get up.” And she does. Jesus is facing death, the most implacable, inexorable enemy of the human race and such is his power that he holds this child by the hand and gently lifts her right through it. “Honey, get up.” Jesus is saying by his actions, “If I have you by the hand, death itself is nothing but sleep.”

But Jesus’s words and actions are not just powerful, they are loving too. When you were little, if your parent had you by the hand you felt everything was okay. You were wrong, of course. There are bad parents, and even the best parents make wrong choices. But Jesus is the ultimate Parent who has you by the hand and will bring you through the darkest night. The Lord of the universe, the One who danced the stars into place, takes you by the hand and says, “Honey, it’s time to get up.”

Why would we want to hurry somebody this powerful and this loving, who treats us this tenderly? Why would we be impatient with somebody like this? Jesus holds us by the hand and brings us through the greatest darkness. What enables him to do that? In his letter to the church in Corinth, 2 Corinthians 13:4, the apostle Paul says Christ was crucified in weakness so that we can live in God’s power. Christ became weak so that we can be strong. There’s nothing more frightening for a little child than to lose the hand of the parent in a crowd or in the dark, but that is nothing compared with Jesus’s own loss. He lost his Father’s hand on the cross. He went into the tomb so we can be raised out of it. He lost hold of his Father’s hand so we could know that once he has us by the hand, he will never, ever forsake us.

I think this is such a beautiful glimpse at Jesus’s compassion and power. It made me wonder, what would it look like if every day, I woke up with the image of Jesus inviting me to greet the day— talitha koum? I painted the picture above to put next to my bed as a reminder that he is calling me each morning to “get up.” To leave death behind and live. To praise him for one more day, and to be bold and compassionate, because he’s got my hand.

“Wake up, O Sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

–Ephesians 5:14

ἀγάπη is a battlefield.

Let me start with how much I LOVE this song:



In fact, I’m pretty sure Pat Benetar is one of the only reasons I managed to pass high school P.E. You see, back then there were few things I hated more than the thrice-weekly runs that made up the majority of our Physical Education class grade. Years of ballet class (and a natural clumsiness that any of my friends can attest to) had made me anything but a track-star. But nevertheless, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I’d begrudgingly trudge my way around the track, relying on my ipod to keep pace. And of course, at the top of my ultimate playlist was Pat Benetar, pushing me onward.

Then, earlier this summer, I discovered (and immediately became obsessed with) this cover by Thao & Mirah.

New, Improved, LIVE: Thao & Mirah - "Love is a Battlefield" from The Bay Bridged on Vimeo.

Both songs were promptly re-added to my “most-played list” on itunes.

All that to say, I think my relationship with God could use a little more spandex and 80s bar-fight fierceness.

It sounds ridiculous, but it all comes down to the simple, yet profound truth in Pat Benetar’s iconic words— love IS a battlefield. It is not passive, weak or half-hearted, and if we make the mistake of treating it as such we will quickly find ourselves being conquered by our enemy, losing the battle.

About a year ago, I listened to a sermon (May 23, 2010) that illuminated Matthew 22:37, where Jesus cites Deuteronomy 6:5 as the most important commandment:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

In this verse, the authors of the NT more or less make up a new word to translate the essence of the Hebrew word for love into Greek: ἀγάπη, or agape.

Scholars believe the word may represent one of any number of combinations of pre-existing Greek words. I’ll go into the others later, but for now I’ll just stick to the first theory of origin:

A mix of αγαν and ποιειν, meaning to act vehemently or intensely.

Fiercely. Ardently. With passion.

This is not a weak love. This is a love of action, a love worth fighting for. This is the way we are called to love God— with all our heart, soul and mind.

And this is the way we MUST love God if we are to have a real relationship with him, because unfortunately, (sing it with me now…) love is a battlefield.

It reminds me of this passage from the book Captivating, by John & Staci Eldridge, where Staci describes the personal time she set aside to spend with God:

“I made room for it in my life’s schedule and fought to protect the time. Whether it required unplugging the phone, arranging childcare for my young boys, or staying up after everyone was asleep, it was worth it. I became captivated by his beauty. It was rich. It was good. And it was opposed. To pursue intimacy with Christ, you will have to fight for it. You’ll need to fight busyness. You’ll need to fight accusations. You’ll need to fight the Thief that would steal you Lover’s gifts to you outright.”

Throughout Captivating, the Eldridges reveal God as a divine lover who passionately pursues us and wants to restore us to who he created us to be. Yet they also call attention to the opposition we face from an enemy that wants desperately to separate us from the healing power of God’s love.

Jesus fought for us. He took on the evil of our sin and died on our behalf, only to rise again as conqueror. His love is fierce. And the more I begin to know him, the more I want to follow his example.

His and Pat Benetar’s, of course (Seriously— fierce!). :)