We Gilbert girls taught 3 year old little Ziggy something very important at an early age. Girls. Don’t. Fart. (Ewww…. Just the sound of that word makes me cringe.) But seriously. We don’t. If by chance an unfortunate little bodily function does occur from a girl, “Ziggy, darling,” we told him, “as the gentleman in our family, you take the blame.”

Now maybe that is not great parenting, and one might feel bad for poor little Ziggy, but at this stage in his life he thinks farts (err, excuse me, we call them “toots”) are hilarious. He laughs and laughs and proudly raises his hand high to claim them as his own. “I take the blame!” he exclaims. So, at least for now, he’s adorable, and our plan is perfect, and all is well.

I just love how Jesus uses simple stuff like 3-year-old potty-humor and toots to teach me profound truths.

This week in staff meeting we dove into the book of Mark, chapter 15. Mark is a concise little book that offers the story of Jesus’ life in snapshots. Chapter 15 tells us about the crowd turning on Jesus, demanding the release of Barabbas, a criminal, and the crucifixion of Jesus instead.

Verse 15 says, “Pilate gave the crowd what it wanted, set Barabbas free and turned Jesus over for whipping and crucifixion.”

This verse makes it sounds like things just happened to Jesus. Like he wasn’t in control. But knowing the back story, we know that Jesus was well aware of his life’s purpose. Jesus accepted the accusations against him that day. He stepped in for the criminal. He raised his hand for the stinky stuff. He took the blame.

There are 39 days plus Sundays remaining in the Lenten season, a time for reflection and preparation before the celebrations of Easter. I pray that we all take some time these next weeks to repent for the stinky stuff in our lives, to reflect on the fact that Jesus raises his hand for us, and to give him all the glory for taking our place on the cross. Our prayers could go a little something like this: “Excuse me. Thank you, Jesus. Alleluia and Amen.”