We are in the middle of Holy Week, and on Thursday night we will gather online for our Maundy Thursday service and hear the story of Jesus' final days. It has become a bit of a Holy Week tradition of mine to pull out this wonderful little story from Brennan Manning and give it a read. May it bless you in these dark days of Holy Week, as you consider the story of Jesus' saving work on the cross.

From The Signature of Jesus, by Brennan Manning

There is a story of an old man who used to meditate early every morning under a big tree on the bank of the Ganges River. One morning, after he had finished his meditation, the old man opened his eyes and saw a scorpion floating helplessly in the water. As the scorpion was washed closer to the tree, the old man quickly stretched himself out on one of the long roots that branched out into the river and reached out to rescue the drowning creature. As soon as he touched it, the scorpion stung him. Instinctively the man withdrew his hand. A minute later, after he had regained his balance, he stretched himself out again on the roots to save the scorpion. This time the scorpion stung him so badly with its poisonous tail that his hand became swollen and bloody and his face contorted with pain.

At that moment, a passerby saw the old man stretched out on the roots struggling with the scorpion and shouted: “Hey, stupid old man, what’s wrong with you? Only a fool would risk his life for the sake of an ugly, evil creature. Don’t you know you could kill yourself trying to save that ungrateful scorpion?” The old man turned his head. Looking into the stranger’s eyes he said calmly, “My friend, just because it is the scorpion’s nature to sting, that does not change my nature to save.”

Sitting here at the typewriter in my study, I turn to the symbol of the crucified Christ on the wall to my left. And I hear Jesus praying for his murderers, “Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.”

The scorpion he had tried to save finally killed him. To the passerby, who sees him stretched out on the tree roots and who shouts, “Only a madman would risk his life for the sake of an ugly, ungrateful creature,” I hear Jesus answer, “My friend, just because it is fallen mankind’s nature to wound, that does not change my nature to save.”