So we just got back from the appointment at Royal Melbourne with the transplant specialist. A transplant is still on the cards even though a donor didn’t come back from the international registry. The first option is a transplant from donated umbilical cord blood, which they’ve done a search for. The backup option is to still use my sister as a half match, which apparently is still a very good option and has been quite successfully done overseas. We’ll know which way we’ll go and have a date for he transplant in the next two weeks.
A transplant is not without risks, however. 15% of people die from complications relating to the procedure. There is also a small risk of scarred lungs, disfiguring of the skin or permanent weight gain. It’s also a long process, with many weeks of me feeling particularly sick. So it’s not an easy path, but it dramatically improves the likelihood of being cured of leukemia. But the doctor is quite upbeat about how I’ve been tolerating the chemo so far, as well as throwing out the standard line about how young and fit I am. (It’s been many years since I’ve been called young and fit). So morale is high again now that we have a clearer picture of what lies ahead (many more months of treatment).
Reflections on Matthew 26:57-75 Read the passage
The trial of Jesus by the Sanhedrin was a farse. It was illegal to hold trials at night under Jewish law. Two witnesses were required to successfully prosecute a defendant, which is why they paraded a series of false witnesses against Jesus, trying to get a charge to stick. In the end the high priest short circuited the whole process and addressed Jesus directly. Jesus wasn’t obliged to respond but again shows his willingness to drive the whole process forward to the cross. When asked if he’s the Christ, he took the opportunity to up the ante by quoting Daniel 7:13, the cosmic presentation of the Messiah in the OT (v64). Given our discussion of chapter 24 we also see Jesus connecting his coming death, resurrection and ascension with the coming of the Son of Man.
Immediately following is the account of Peter’s threefold denial. Ironically, as Jesus is being punched and told to prophesy (v68), Peter’s denial is fulfilling Jesus’ previous prophecy. Peter’s denial is particularly pathetic and damning on a number of levels. It’s under the scary gaze of the servant girl that Peter begins his denials (v69). Peter’s curses in v74 are probably aimed at Jesus rather than himself (there is no ‘himself’ in the original). All of this happens after Peter was so adamant that he would never abandon Jesus. It must have been a very long weekend for Peter. Yet if Peter can be forgiven then surely there is nothing that we can do that God is unwilling to forgive. Peter’s denials remind us of the significance and power of what Jesus is in the process of doing in the courtyard of the high priest… dying for the sins of the world. To hold that your sins can’t be forgiven is to claim that Jesus’ death lacks power. So don’t you dare to think that God can’t forgive you, but come to him in repentance believing that Jesus’ death is everything he claimed it to be.