Holy Week

Monday of Holy Week:  Monday, Monday

Monday is not known for being the most hopeful of days. Songs have been written about Mondays. Monday marks the end of the weekend. Though it offers a new start and a new beginning, most don’t see it that way. Monday means back to the grind in most people’s minds.

Jesus’ experiences on Holy Monday are a precursor to the work he would do the rest of the week. On Monday He set in motions the dominoes of instant responses for what would lead to Good Friday. The disciples didn’t seem to have a clue. Coming off of the high of Palm Sunday, they might have had their hearts and minds set on some more of the same for this day. Perhaps they wanted to sleep in after such a draining Sunday. This would not be the case.

Rather, they followed Jesus as He led them on an intense day of mysterious events with important lessons. Monday, in the week that changed the world, would be a day of teaching about prayer. He would rely on the dramatic to drive His teaching home. Unbeknownst to the disciples, Jesus was planning to rock their world this Monday. There would be nothing quiet about this day.

During His previous visits to the Temple, I’m sure it was hard for Jesus to resist throwing a table or two all those times when He witnessed the way the devout were falling prey to the greedy. In fact, John’s gospel has the event of the clearing of the Temple at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. There were either two Temple clearings, or John put it near the front (John 2:12-25) as a demonstration of His Deity. Jesus gave them something to talk about. It wasn’t a miracle or a demonstration of His supernatural power; it was the demonstration of His right as God to demand that the Temple be what God gave it to the Israelites to be. It was a place where God would meet with them. It was a place of prayer, and the religious leaders had let it become a den of robbers.

It was like the lightening, blowing of trumpets, and smoke on the mountaintop that the people saw when God gave Moses the Law and directions for building the temple. This place was built so that people could have a relationship with God, and it was no longer being used for what it was meant to be. Jesus took Monday to set things straight. In dramatic fashion he overturned tables and threw out the hustlers. Jesus was showing that His House should be a house of prayer.

Later, on the road, he saw a fig tree full of leaves but no fruit. Here was a second lesson of prayer for the day and one of the few miracles that week. Jesus cursed the fig tree because it had no fruit. He then challenged the disciples, the witnesses to this event, to discover the power of their prayer.

“Jesus replied, I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, Go, throw yourself into the sea, and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matthew 21:21-22).

So Monday of Holy Week began with a message that prayer should be a priority. How is your prayer life? (Matthew 21:12-22; Mark 11:12-26; Luke 19:45-48)

 Tuesday of Holy Week: Tuesday’s Challenges

On Holy Tuesday, Jesus preached to the most self-righteous, sanctimonious, smug, and pompous group of unrepentant religious people you would ever want to meet. Actually, He taught all week in the Temple, but we will use Tuesday to consider the lessons which He spoke at the Temple.

The entire week, Jesus returned to Jerusalem and spent some time at the Temple. There He spoke to the crowds who were on the verge of following Him. He didn’t go there to reach the crowds who were honestly listening to what He preached. The words He spoke and the messages He brought were for a specific group of people. He mainly came to talk to the religious leaders who had already made up their minds that He was a heretic and, when they engaged Him at all, it was only to confirm their false beliefs. Why He spent the last opportunities of His life reaching out to the most closed-hearted of all remains a mystery to me. He did stir up their hatred of Him, which is what led to the perfect timing—in coordination with Passover—for Him to be arrested and crucified. They had already said that He would not be arrested during Passover (Matthew 26:5), so these escapades in the Temple were most likely what caused them to lose their senses and go ahead and arrest Him in the midst of their most Holy Week.

We should not ignore the important teachings Jesus spoke to them. We need to heed their warnings as we look into our own hearts. The same God they pledged to serve was standing in front of them, and they didn’t recognize Him. How often does that happen to you and me? Do we get so fired up about what we believe God is saying that we miss out on what He says? How often do we do all the talking, begging, and telling in our prayer? When was the last time we really listened to God? Do we have a little haughty, arrogant self-righteousness in us too?

Jesus challenged the religious during Holy Week. How holy are you? What is true holiness? Has your heart grown calloused to Jesus?

Rejecting God is the only unforgivable sin (Matthew 12:31). Luke 22:1-6 gives an overview of this sin:

“Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. They were delighted and agreed to give him money. He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.”

Holy Tuesday challenges us to watch over our hearts. The chief priests were afraid of Jesus. Judas let Satan enter his heart to betray Jesus. Beware of a heart that is self-deceived. It affects eternity. (Matthew 21:23-24:2; Mark 11:27-12:3; Luke 20:20-21:24; John 12:20-50)

 Wednesday Of Holy Week: Taking Back Wednesday

I was born on a Wednesday, and they say that Wednesday’s child is full of woe. Wednesday is the day we will spend focusing on the honest hope that Jesus poured out on His true believers who stayed near Him on the Mount of Olives. You remember that Jesus spent that last week of His life in the vicinity of Jerusalem in two main places—the Temple area during the daytime and retiring to the Mount of Olives at night. Those who followed him to the Mount of Olives were the true believers. They received a different message than what was preached at the Temple and aimed at the religious leaders.

The woes were blasted against the chief priests and teachers. The good news was shared with the ones who were true priests and teachers because they were the ones who understood that He was the Son of God. They weren't listening to Him to catch Him in some kind of crime. The method Jesus used to change the world was intimate, one-on-one communication. His messages on the Mount of Olives were to the ones who would take up His mission of glorifying the Father on earth. Jesus knew when to speak to the crowds and when to spend quality time with the people who were anointed to make the difference in the world. John 12:36 tells us that.

“When he [Jesus] had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.”

In contrast to what we studied about the unbelief of the religious leaders on Tuesday, on Wednesday we look at the way Jesus speaks to those who see Him as who He is, the Son of God. They get a different message.

Jesus tells the folks with Him on the Mount about a time in the future when He will return for them. He hasn't even left yet. And although He has been holding nothing back in warning them about what is about to happen, they only see Him as the Son of God who will rule on this earth now. They don't quite grasp that there will be an “in-between” time.

Jesus senses this, but He tells them what they need to know anyway. He knows they will begin to understand on Sunday. He is merely putting this idea in their minds for future reference. So what does Jesus teach the true believers? He teaches them to be prepared for His second coming. He wants them to fully understand that they should live on this earth with eternity on their minds. He tells them that our lifetimes are a part of the journey, not the destination.

I'm planning for a big trip right now. Part of my preparations will involve packing a bag to carry with me on the plane. I want to be comfortable on my long plane ride. I'm going to pack my neck pillow, and I have other goodies in my bag. There are things I need to think about for the plane trip, but the majority of my planning and thinking has been about the destination. I've been reading travel guides. I've been talking to people who have been there before. I am most looking forward to the destination.

Too many of us live like the plane ride is the destination. We are so busy making ourselves comfortable in the plane, making sure we have the right fixings that indicate a successful life, that we don't even have room in our minds to consider the destination. Life on earth is like a plane ride. We do need a neck pillow and perhaps a blanket and a book to read. Yet how much time do we spend thinking about where we are going? Jesus wants us to think about it every day of our lives. He says it should come into play about every decision we make. True believers listen to Him and look and wait for His return. (Matthew 24-26:13; Mark 13:2-14:2; Luke 21:25-38)

 Maundy Thursday: Maundy Thursday—A New Commandment

Maundy is derived from the Latin word for command. On Maundy Thursday, Thursday of Holy Week, Jesus did many new things. He began the traditional Passover dinner by washing the feet of each of the twelve disciples’ (including Judas). He had never done this before. He also instituted the sacrament of the blood and wine for the first time. He told of a new gift—the Holy Spirit, who would be God’s presence after He leaves. He gave a new commandment. This new commandment was that we should love one another. It is found in John 13:34:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

That would be His last day with His disciples. It was the last opportunity for Judas to repent. It was a very meaningful and foundational time of discipleship and sending-off into the next phase of God’s plan. The new plan would involve first them and then you and me—ordinary people, taking God’s love into the world. Jesus used this night to equip these men who had been in training for three years to take the claims of Christ out to the uttermost parts of the world. They were unaware of what was about to take place in just a few hours, but we aren't. They couldn't take it all in at the time, but it is important that we fully embrace what Jesus said and did on Maundy Thursday.

First off, it was no mistake that Jesus’ betrayal would happen on the evening of Passover. This was part of God’s plan from the beginning. The religious leaders decided not to arrest Jesus during the feast (Matthew 26:5), but that was not their decision to make. From the moment that Moses and the children of Israel experienced the first Passover, they were learning an object lesson for this night. This Passover would change all Passover feasts for all time. Just as the people of Israel were delivered from the bondage of slavery, on this night the children of God were delivered from the bondage and oppression of sin. In Christ we have made a spiritual exodus from the stronghold that sin has had over us.

Second, this Passover began with an act of humble regard for others that is the attraction of the Gospel of Christ. Jesus took off His outer garment and carried out the lowliest of tasks, washing each of the disciples’ filthy, dirty feet. Jesus wants us to fully grasp this new commandment. It is through our fearless acts of love that those without Christ will be drawn to Him. In John 13:35 He states,

“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

After sharing a meaningful meal and teaching them about the good, bad and scary things to come, He told the disciples that they need not fear because the Holy Spirit would be able to come to them. He invited them to practice a new sacrament and taught them how to receive the wine and blood as a remembrance of Him. He let them know that He would not eat of this meal until all work on earth is done and all His true believers are with Him in heaven.

He prayed for Himself, each of the disciples, and also you and me in John 17. They sang together, and then walked in the darkness across the Kidron Valley, awash with blood from the Temple sacrifices, to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He told them to pray.
So much happened, there is not room to write about the conversation of Peter’s denial, Judas’ departure, and more. Take time to read about the intimate dinner Jesus shared with His closest disciples and realize that Jesus longs to be that intimate with you. (Matthew 26:15-46; Mark 14:10-42; Luke 22:7-46; John 13-17)

Good Friday: Good Friday

This is the day that I least look forward to writing about. Yet, it was the second most important day since the creation of the universe, second only to Resurrection Sunday two days later. I remember one Good Friday when our family attended a noon service that included meditating on the Stations of the Cross while walking around the church campus. We were guests at the church, and our son, who was about ten years old, wanted to carry the cross. We tried to tell him No and to allow the others to do it, but he weaseled his way up there and got his turn. After the meditations, we all got in our car to go to lunch; on the way both of our children said that they weren’t very hungry after that experience. When you stop to really think about and meditate on Good Friday, you will feel that way too. There is almost too much evil to take in. The injustices, the blood, the gore, the abandonment; it will take your appetite away.

From Friday around 1 a.m. Jesus was arrested, hastily pushed through six trials by three different courts, Sanhedrin (Jewish), Pilate (Roman), Herod (Political Jews), flogged, crucified and died. He was denied three times by Peter during the night before the rooster crowed. He was abandoned by all except a few followers, mainly women and John. He was mocked and misunderstood by Pilate and Herod. He made seven statements from the cross, but most of the time it was silent agony. Midday turned dark for His final three hours on the cross. Finally, it was over, and all hell broke loose in the Temple—veil torn in two, earthquakes and ghosts rising from the dead. How do you take in, much less summarize, all the events that happened to Jesus in one twenty-four hour period?

If it was all too terrible to think about and write about here, let’s talk about why He did it. What was the purpose of all this terror? Hebrews 12:2b tells us, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

He endured the cross and scorned its shame because He knew on the other end would be the pure joy of sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God. This Lenten Season I have been struck with the reality that the cross was definitely not Jesus’ will. He talked about it so confidently and experienced it so purposefully that it’s easy to overlook that Jesus said the cross was not His will. I asked Jesus what that was all about. I wondered why it wasn’t His will. Everything He said and did told me He thought we were worth saving.

I sensed that Jesus showed me that, just like me, His flesh didn’t want to do God’s will. His flesh had a will. He wanted to save us. He didn’t want to follow Satan’s plan for gaining the whole world offered to Him when He was tempted in the garden, but this plan of God wasn’t an easy will to carry out. His flesh wanted to protect Him from the spiritual and physical pain that He did experience after He surrendered to God’s will. We have Good Friday and a great salvation because Jesus made Himself willing to trust in God’s goodness and believed that there was no other way to save us. Are you willing to accept God’s will for you that you believe in the power of the cross for your salvation? Are you willing to trust in God’s goodness even when He is leading you to the valley of the shadow of death? Good Friday is hard to meditate about but so important to do in order to know the love of God and trust in His goodness through the gory, dark and horrendous details of this day.

Holy Saturday: Myrrh Bearing Women

Recently I’ve been thinking of those myrrh-bearing women who were the first to see Jesus raised from the dead. These women, who loved Jesus so intimately and only left His side when their obedience to God demanded it, were resolute about doing the next right thing even when their world has been turned upside down.

In the same way, I see the women whose homes and families were scattered by the horrific tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma. Their faith made them steel magnolias as they steadied themselves against the horror that entered their lives. There has been great faith in the men, too, but the mothers and grandmothers have claimed my attention and admiration. They remind me of the women who followed Jesus so closely, supporting Him through good times and bad.

Both sets of women become unencumbered with blaming God, falling to pieces quite yet, or running away. Rather like the Oklahoma women who rushed back to the storm to find their children, accepted their losses and praised God for His protection, the myrrh-bearing women gathered their spices and rushed to the grave as early as they were able to give a proper burial to Jesus. They could not tear Him off the cross, but they could do what was in their power. The Scripture is very specific that they watched carefully the actions of Joseph and Nicodemus, who brought linens, spices of their own and a brand new tomb in which to lay Jesus’ body. It seems to me these good hearted men tried their best to care for Jesus’ body in a dignified way; perhaps it didn’t seem dignified enough to these women. There were more spices that needed to be administered, and perhaps the linens were not laid on the body quite right. The men’s actions were a good effort, but the women could not be detoured from their purpose. There was only one problem as they saw it: there was a very large stone too heavy for them to move alone.

What they didn’t know was that the stone would not be a problem; in fact, the myrrh they brought would not be necessary. God had done something they did not expect. Rather than tears and lament, they were going to find angels and be the first to learn and then to see that Jesus was risen from the dead.
A mother was told to expect to find her daughter dead when she got to the school in Oklahoma. She couldn’t turn back. She had to find her child dead or alive. She was one of the blessed moms who found that her daughter had been spared from death. Another woman had accepted that God had answered only her prayer that she is spared through the great winds and not the dog she held on her lap. While she was telling the story to a reporter, her dog whimpered underneath the debris. She gave glory to God for answering both her prayers in the midst of her totally demolished home.

It’s always right to do the next right thing. Pick up your myrrh and go about your sad business. When you are walking with God, never be surprised when what you expect is not what you experience or when you are blessed to take home your myrrh knowing you will need it for another day, but this is not that day. As Isaiah reminds us: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).

Easter Day: Easter Sunday

Easter is the most holy day of the holiest week of the year. It is so important to experience Easter each year. Every Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection, but Easter Sunday is the day we take it all in on a deeper level.

Now that it has been experienced for this year, it is time to integrate the joy of Easter Sunday into every day that I live. What does it mean today that Easter Sunday really happened over 2000 years ago? How does the resurrection of Jesus Christ affect how I live today, and for the coming year?

There remains a lot that doesn’t make sense to me about God, His love for this world and mankind. I don’t fully understand how it is all going to work out in the end. Easter Sunday gives me a preview. It shows me that God is up to something wonderful. He has proven there is a way to fix what is so wrong with this world. Easter Sunday shows me that everything will happen when I least expect it to happen. It fills me with expectation and awe. I don’t have all the answers, but I know there are answers.

Paul said it this way to the Corinthians:

“Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:1, 3-4

We Christians take our stand on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the entire focus of Easter Sunday. It is Christ’s resurrection that assures me of hope. I don’t have to see how everything will work out because I can see how Christ has worked out. I can be assured that Christ finished His hard work in this world. It motivates me to focus on my own hard work. I don’t have to like the work He has given me to do, but I do need to value it. If it was important for Christ to come to this earth and do His work, then it is important for me to live like Him.

If we are thrilled by Easter Sunday so we can be thrilled by cloudy Monday mornings. Underneath the chores that have to be done, the sad news I will be forced to digest, the rotten smells that are part of living in this world, there is hope in the resurrection. Christ has risen to heaven. He leads the way. He didn’t just live again in His former way contained by flesh like Lazarus and the others who were resurrected from the dead. He was the first to rise again into the glory of the full resurrection. We await that resurrection for ourselves and in the meantime we live this life in the hope of glory.

The day after Easter Sunday is a day to get on with the gift of living. It is a day to find the highest meaning and intention in the life God has purposed for us on this earth.

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