It was now two days before Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law were still looking for an opportunity to capture Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the Passover celebration,’ they agreed, “or the people may riot.”
Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy.
Mark 14:1-3a
Holy Week is a busy time in the life of the church. Palm Sunday is filled with little kids waving palms as we shout “Hosannah!” and praise Jesus as King. Thursday is a Maundy Thursday, typically celebrated with a worship service focused on the last supper and maybe even including foot washing in some churches. Good Friday is a day of start contrasts, a deep reverence and thankfulness for the redemption offered to us in Jesus’ death while the sorrow and guilt of sin drawing us to repentance. Saturday is a day that many churches have picnics and egg hunts in preparation for Easter Sunday. But Monday? Tuesday? Wednesday? In most church traditions these are just typical days. No special services. No traditions or liturgies. Just plain, old, mundane days.
If you look at the scripture accounts, this seems to hold as well. There is nothing in Jesus’ day that stands out. In fact, the gospels have varying accounts of what Jesus did. It was just a regular, mundane Tuesday. The priests continued their quest to capture Jesus. Jesus continued to pour into the lives of his disciples and followers. Jesus taught and performed miracles not much unlike other days before. It was, from the perspective of those around Jesus at the time, just a plain old day. Yet, God was at work, preparing all that was to come.
Somedays are just plain, mundane days. Nothing special. Nothing that stands out of note. Yet, even in our mundane days, God is still at work. God is preparing us for what is to come. His will is still being done. And He still has a hand in what is to come. It can be easy to get lost in the mundane and think that this day doesn’t matter. It can be easy to look around and fail to see where God is working in subtle ways. Sometimes we can even get frustrated that the mundane days just seem to stack on each other and we can’t see how God is using these days to do anything in our lives. Yet, God is God even of the mundane days.
Not every day may be spectacular. Not every day bears a significance that we note and remember. Yet every day is a day where God is at work. May we have confidence that even in the plain days of life, God is there, shaping us and shaping the world to His will. Today may we know that God is even God of the mundane!