Albert Einstein once said that “life is a preparation for the future; and the best preparation for the future is to live as there were none.” If that statement sounds like it both makes sense and it contradicts itself, then that’s probably because it is a paradox. A paradox is a statement that, in and of itself contradicts itself. When Jesus was walking with His disciples, for instance in Mark 9:30-32, He says:

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.

Jesus seems to be communicating a paradox — He will be killed and then rise after three days? At the end of this passage, we read that the disciples “did not understand the saying…” and that’s often how a paradox can make us feel, a little confused. So, then, why are we hosting a mid-week service and calling it Paradox Wednesday?

Here are two brief reasons for why we felt that a mid-week service such as this would be beneficial to our church family and anyone else who attends.

We Are The Disciples

It’s easy to read a passage of scripture such as Mark 9:30-32 and critique the lack of understanding the disciples had as Jesus foretold of His death when we have. have two thousand years of hindsight. Additionally, it’s even more convenient to look down at the disciples when we have access to the Holy Scriptures and can see that this is, in fact, Jesus’ third time in foretelling his death.

But the point here is that Mark 9 is taking place only a matter of days before what we now call, Palm Sunday or the Jesus’ triumphal entry (see Mark 11) and while the disciples may be confused at Jesus’ statement, no matter the repetition, their hearts and minds are centered on Jesus bringing about political revival not cosmic reconciliation. In turn, we are no different than the disciples. That is, though we have access to the word of Christ (Colossians 3:16), we, often, relegate our understanding of Jesus’ work for something other than the restoration of our hearts. We too easily dismiss the clarity of Jesus’ paradoxical statements because our hearts are attentive on something else.

We may have hindsight to the words of Jesus, but that doesn’t mean we are fixed on the purpose of Jesus.

Holy Week Preparation

Each year at Storehouse McAllen, we pause our current sermon series to invest time in Holy Week which primarily consists of Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Resurrection Sunday. This year, we decided to introduce a mid-week service before Holy Week to better serve and prepare our congregation for the significance of Holy Week.

To be clear, you won’t see anything historical about something called, “Paradox Wednesday” or find it in any church calendar. For us, this is an opportunity to serve, equip, and help prepare our congregation for Holy Week so that their hearts are fixed upon the person and purpose of Jesus for them.

In the end, this is mid-week service is something that we believe to be a good introduction to Holy Week and if does nothing else than preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, then this will have been a success. Paradox Wednesday is simply a way to prepare our hearts to remember once more that God entered into human history as the man Jesus Christ to die for sinners, not just like the disciples, but you and me.

We would love it if you joined us for our Paradox Wednesday service taking place on Wednesday, April 6th at 6:30 p.m. at the Old Church Winery!