A strange, disturbing, and, ultimately mind blowing path to joy. We have now entered into the Holy of Holies of God's plan, our salvation, the week in which Jesus Christ offered Himself up as the sacrifice for the sins of the world, instituting and giving us His Holy Supper, taking His place in a grave, to take the sting of death away from the grave in which we will one day be. If you haven't been thinking about those precious days, read now, see Him in Scripture, and receive the Gift.
Palm Sunday - Christ rides in on a donkey. Palm branches are waved in front of him. People recognize him, crown him.
Monday - Christ overturned tables in the temple. He was angry. He cursed a fig tree.
Tuesday - The disciples see the cursed fig tree on their way back to Jerusalem from Bethany. Christ, unafraid, confronted Jewish leaders. The plot to kill him begins.
Wednesday - Chief priests, elders, and scribes continue to plot and He continues to teach. Satan enters Judas. The darkness of story is about to unfold as Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread approaches.
Thursday - Christ reinterprets Passover. He breaks bread and shares wine with his disciples. Communion. A new ritual.
Friday - A death kiss from Judas early Friday morning. Peter denied him three times. Pain, hurt, anger, the weight of it almost unbearable, yet he bears it. The crucifixion, the hanging of the impossible dead.
Saturday - Confusion, grief, and anger for those who loved Him. He was laid in the tomb. A guard was supposed to watch to make sure nobody took the dead body.
Sunday - Glorious Sunday. Mary found an empty tomb. Emotionally wrought she speaks to Him, thinking He was someone else. "Rabbini!" The shock of seeing the risen Lord. She ran to tell others, she proclaimed, "He is alive!"
Something new was born that week. Hope. Love. Peace. Mercy. Joy. All intermingled, wrapped in sacrificial form. A loving, sacrificial lamb, echoing a Jewish tradition of God saving you, passing over doors, overcame death. He is a gift that overcame death.
He brings life at its fullest. He is the Gift. He is hope. He is love. He is peace. He is mercy. He is joy. He is.
Palm Sunday - Christ rides in on a donkey. Palm branches are waved in front of him. People recognize him, crown him.
Monday - Christ overturned tables in the temple. He was angry. He cursed a fig tree.
Tuesday - The disciples see the cursed fig tree on their way back to Jerusalem from Bethany. Christ, unafraid, confronted Jewish leaders. The plot to kill him begins.
Wednesday - Chief priests, elders, and scribes continue to plot and He continues to teach. Satan enters Judas. The darkness of story is about to unfold as Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread approaches.
Thursday - Christ reinterprets Passover. He breaks bread and shares wine with his disciples. Communion. A new ritual.
Friday - A death kiss from Judas early Friday morning. Peter denied him three times. Pain, hurt, anger, the weight of it almost unbearable, yet he bears it. The crucifixion, the hanging of the impossible dead.
Saturday - Confusion, grief, and anger for those who loved Him. He was laid in the tomb. A guard was supposed to watch to make sure nobody took the dead body.
Sunday - Glorious Sunday. Mary found an empty tomb. Emotionally wrought she speaks to Him, thinking He was someone else. "Rabbini!" The shock of seeing the risen Lord. She ran to tell others, she proclaimed, "He is alive!"
Something new was born that week. Hope. Love. Peace. Mercy. Joy. All intermingled, wrapped in sacrificial form. A loving, sacrificial lamb, echoing a Jewish tradition of God saving you, passing over doors, overcame death. He is a gift that overcame death.
He brings life at its fullest. He is the Gift. He is hope. He is love. He is peace. He is mercy. He is joy. He is.
Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn't, and doesn't wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering us his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. (Romans 5:6-8, The Message)
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