Today is “Super Tuesday,” a day in which some presidential candidates will vault ahead in their pursuit of their party’s nomination, and others will experience great disappointment. As a nation, we are waiting with bated breath to see what happens next.

Today is also the day of another snowstorm here in central Michigan. We are projected to see 6-10 inches of snowfall by this evening. Looking outside right now, I see a snow-covered road and beautifully dusted pine trees. It’s beginning to look a lot like winter. Time will tell how much today’s snowstorm will affect people’s lives, in terms of cancelled events, power outages, and auto accidents.

Today is March 1, as well – the first day of a new month. Who knows what this month will hold? The presidential race will surely change; hopefully our weather will, also. As one Facebook friend wrote today, “March truly comes in like a LION.” An old adage suggests that if March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb. If the weather looks horrible on March 1 (like it does today), then in a few weeks it will look much better. One can hope, anyway.

But I see another layer of meaning in that saying. On this “Super Tuesday,” we are focusing our collective attention on a few individuals whose names appear on ballots in thirteen states. Many lions are competing for supremacy in the power struggle of our political system.

If March begins like a lion, how will it end?

It will conclude with a Super Thursday. One individual will get up from his place at the table, pick up a servant’s towel, and wash the feet of his followers. Together they will share a somber meal which memorializes how God provided freedom in the past and which symbolizes how God will provide redemption in the near future.

March will conclude with a Super Friday. One individual will carry his own instrument of torture to the place where he will be executed. He will not retaliate against those who harm him, even though he has infinite power to do so. He will cry out to God in agony. He will forgive his executors. He will extend grace to a fellow prisoner. He will die in glorious ignominy.

March will conclude with a Super Saturday. One individual will lie lifelessly in a sealed, guarded tomb. His followers will mourn, grieve, and wonder what to do next. They will wait.

March will conclude with a Super Sunday. That one individual will be resurrected, will come back to life again. He will appear to his closest followers and change the world. He will give reason for the angels to sing loudly and unendingly, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12 NIV)

While March is starting out like a lion, remember that it will end with a Lamb. While today we watch many political lions struggle for power at each other’s expense, remember that one Lamb has laid down his life for his friends.

Come worship Jesus, our Savior, at the end of this month:

• Maundy Thursday, March 24, 7pm: We remember the final hours of Jesus’s life. To symbolize the death of Jesus, we extinguish seven candles that have been lit one at a time through the season of Lent.
• Good Friday, March 25, 12pm: We gather with fellow believers from many congregations in our area to remember and give thanks for the death of Jesus. (The location of this service will be announced soon.)
• Holy Saturday, March 26: We wait.
• Easter Sunday, March 27: We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with a worship service at 9:15am, a light breakfast fellowship at 10am, and another worship service at 11am.