THE ENTRY

Luke 19: 28-40

Plush in Mary’s guarded womb
with scent of heaven recent in his brain,
he rocked along the roughhewn road to birth.

But Mary felt it all, the jolt of every up
and downward mile by the Jordan’s forest,
hills and flatlands, threat of thieves and lions.

She so young to bear the weight,
fullness of the God-child wanting out—
Oh, but he would out and ride again, though not

on that threadbare road. This road’s laden
with cloaks and fronds. Clamor of songs
and shouts disrupt the air, but the donkey

bears her load without complaint
and all of it heavy: She hears that other strain
in the fugue of hosannas, the devil’s interval

no one else can hear except perhaps
the innocent one on her back laboring
toward a hill, a skull on this day of adoration

-Suzanne Rhodes

YOUR KING COMES TO YOU Rus Huffstutler Original Acrylic ”Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounting on a donkey, on a colt… — **YOUR KING COMES TO YOU**
Rus Huffstutler
*Original Acrylic*

”Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounting on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9
Christ comes to us gently and humbly to bring us peace, to guide us into righteousness and transform us into a New Creation so we can boldly worship Him as LORD. Christ served us by doing for us what we could not do for ourselves, paying for our sins on the Cross as an innocent substitute. Now, we get to serve Him.
If we expect Him to grant us wishes as we want because of our deeds or religious practices, we would be positioning ourselves as LORD and King. Christ is our LORD God and our King - we worship Him and serve Him not the other way around. He reigns as the only King of our lives.
*“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” - Romans 12:1*
*Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Romans 12:11*

ROYALTY, TRIBUTE, SACRIFICE Lucy Kelley Original WatercolorRoyalty, born in a manger. Tribute, recognized and celebrated as Savior. Sacrificed, on the Cross for great Love — **ROYALTY, TRIBUTE, SACRIFICE**
Lucy Kelley
*Original Watercolor*
Royalty, born in a manger. Tribute, recognized and celebrated as Savior. Sacrificed, on the Cross for great Love

THE ALLEGORY

Luke 19:41-48

Daughter, I’ve brought you a dove.
True, it’s neither gold nor gown
such as you’re used to, and I’m sorry.
Don’t be afraid, come near. Her body
is a boat that sails in skies near God.
Feel her trembling heart, the silky feathers.
With this gift, I pass the peace to you.

My child, who left the way and wears
harlot’s rings: May she not see
her father’s helpless tears as I remember
her small hands flying high among the lilies.
I long to see her true face and cry to You,
my Adoration. Return her gaze to You
and quench this chilling fire in my bones.

-Suzanne Rhodes

THE BETRAYAL

Luke 22:14-23

From the beginning he loved the man,
though his nature was kin to the goat,
and said, “Come, I’ve saved a place for you,”
and there, smiling at his friend beside,
he blessed the wine, the bread, the bitter herbs
and all the men reclining.
The friend leaned in, as if moved like the rest
at the Master’s weighted words spoken over his last
Pesach, feast of his body and blood in perpetuity
“until I drink with you again in my Father’s kingdom.”
Then with a knowing hand Jesus fed his friend

the dripping sop, sorrow of garum, the fish sauce

THE SUPPER BOWL Beth Erbe GlassThis piece is inspired by the poem, “Betrayal,”by Suzanne Rhodes.I’ve always loved glass in all of its forms. I constantly look for ways to push it in new ways and share it with others. In this piece, I chose to create… — **THE SUPPER BOWL**
Beth Erbe
*Glass*
This piece is inspired by the poem, “Betrayal,”by Suzanne Rhodes.
I’ve always loved glass in all of its forms. I constantly look for ways to push it in new ways and share it with others. In this piece, I chose to create a woven basket bowl to mimic a serving dish that would have been commonly made anciently with fibers or wood. By creating it in glass, I’m bringing the Last Supper into our current time and place where Christ’s sacraments are still available to each of us.

THE PASSION

Luke 23:26-56

Won't somebody feed me,
find me in the dark:
my head, stone-heavy on my chest,
my bones brittle as winter.

In my dreams I always see the kingdom of God.
In my heart I hear the white peals summoning past
all pity, past the bruised brow where sadness never sleeps
and the hunted creature slips into thorny nightfall.

In my dreams, in my long-ago life you strode with me
over the high hills, free as the capering goats
and with me down into quarantined towns
where a single word was enough to break the bars

of incurables and thieves. I thought so then, but now
my tongue has swelled to woolen thickness and my skin
is ablaze from a thousand stings and I confess, with tears,
I don't believe the light.

THE CONFRONTATION OF THE CROSS Terri Stricker Original Acrylic on CardboardThis piece is inspired by the poem, “Passion,”by Suzanne Rhodes.The Confrontation of the Cross was painted as an expressionistic design of the common, though powerful symbol … — **THE CONFRONTATION OF THE CROSS**
Terri Stricker
*Original Acrylic on Cardboard*
This piece is inspired by the poem, “Passion,”by Suzanne Rhodes.
The Confrontation of the Cross was painted as an expressionistic design of the common, though powerful symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to redeem sinners. Clearly, the evangelistic Message of the Cross confronts each individual with the choice to accept the Savior‘s beautiful gift of salvation or to reject this gift of eternal life.
This expressive artwork is framed with reflective glass which reflects the viewer and thus includes the viewer as the one who is confronted with the life-giving choice. Rhodes’s poem, “Passion” describes the agony of The Cross and provides crucial insight into Christ‘s amazing love and suffering for humankind. The viewer must participate in accepting God’s gift of eternal life.
This painting stands as testimony to the gift of God and the confrontation of the Cross.

The Affront of the Cross

The Cross compels explicit confrontation!
Will you, O man, diminish what He paid?
Uncouple this from gauzy incarnation!
When God-Man summons, you should be afraid!
Straight-on, your image fuses to the glass.
Are you the one, the Judas? Fix the kiss
To seal betrayal. Lurch to Hell’s crevasse
As one who reverences the Serpent’s hiss . . .
. . . Or in obeisance, humbly take a knee.
Acknowledge blood-drenched crown of thorns and nails
Piercing flesh! He set aside divinity
To bear the Cross – most selfless of travails.
The Cross of Christ will not coerce, it woos
In silence. Let the keen observer choose.

Renée Oelschlaeger

Response to The Confrontation of the Cross

ASCENSION FRUIT

Luke 24:1-12

I caught the fruit before they pinned me in harlequin time
and ate it whole: a small, ripe sun, a joy inside my ribs
as the pitch-black storm riddled my heart
and made a riddle of souls I sheltered there.

But even as I rose and sank on the bleeding tree,
as the wind shrieked denials to my fraying will
and the howling hills drew close to savage their spoil,
I felt a current escorting me up from the fret of flesh,

the faces of scorn and desire, from the wrecked
earth full of bones I know will live, O Glory!
How strong the ladder of Your arms to raise me
shivering, newborn, into jubilation bursting forever.