What Is Holy Week All About??
As we enter Holy Week, the holiest week of the year, we walk through the last events of Jesus' life here on earth. We will remember his Supper with his disciples and gut wrentching prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Maundy Thursday). In the garden, he asked his disciples to watch and pray, and he went to His Father to discuss what was going to happen on the cross on Good Friday. As an aside, it is a little ironic to call it Good Friday, when what happened to Jesus was really quite "bad". Yet, it accomplished for us the forgiveness of our sins. As the reading from Hebrews says today, "If you have received forgiveness from the blood of innocent goats and calves sacrificed, how much more will the Son of God's innocent blood cleanse you from your sin. Although Good Friday was quite bad for Jesus, it accomplished for us the salvation we could never transact on our own. I hope you can find a place this Holy Week to meditate on what the Son of God did for you. As I taught our Confirmation class last Sunday, I asked the kids, "If you ever doubt whether God loves you look at the cross where Jesus proved God's love.
And then of course we have Easter. The day we celebrate Jesus' resurrection from the dead. When Jesus rose from the dead, he proved once and for all He was the Son of God. Though some would not believe, the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus is the greatest piece of evidence for what we believe and stake our lives on. On Easter, death has lost its sting, and we do not have to fear it anymore. Because He lives, though we will die some day, yet shall we live.
Can you tell me any better news! This is why we call it "Good News", not "Bad News". It is Good News because if we believe in Jesus, we have eternal life. Or we could says as well, "we have the eternal kind of life". So I have a question for you? Have you ever seriously considered these truths and applied them to your life. I am not sure God could do much more to show you that you are of inestimable value. God has given us the greatest gift of all, a relationship with the One who created us and wants to be in our lives now and forever. As I have considered these truths in my life and found them to be true for me, this is a prayer that has been helpful as a response to God's grace.
"Heavenly Father thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to die for my sins on the cross. As I receive that gift through faith, may my life be an evidence of Good News for all the world to see. Thank you for Holy Week, that through Jesus' life, death and resurrection I can believe and be made whole. And now I can really live. Amen."
Isaiah 42:1-9
The Servant of the Lord
42 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
4 he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”
5 This is what God the Lord says—
the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,
who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,
who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it:
6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,
7 to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
8 “I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not yield my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
9 See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you.”
Psalm 36:5-11
5 Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.
7 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
10 Continue your love to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 May the foot of the proud not come against me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
Hebrews 9:11-15
The Blood of Christ
11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here,[a] he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining[b] eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[c] so that we may serve the living God!
15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the law.
And then of course we have Easter. The day we celebrate Jesus' resurrection from the dead. When Jesus rose from the dead, he proved once and for all He was the Son of God. Though some would not believe, the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus is the greatest piece of evidence for what we believe and stake our lives on. On Easter, death has lost its sting, and we do not have to fear it anymore. Because He lives, though we will die some day, yet shall we live.
Can you tell me any better news! This is why we call it "Good News", not "Bad News". It is Good News because if we believe in Jesus, we have eternal life. Or we could says as well, "we have the eternal kind of life". So I have a question for you? Have you ever seriously considered these truths and applied them to your life. I am not sure God could do much more to show you that you are of inestimable value. God has given us the greatest gift of all, a relationship with the One who created us and wants to be in our lives now and forever. As I have considered these truths in my life and found them to be true for me, this is a prayer that has been helpful as a response to God's grace.
"Heavenly Father thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to die for my sins on the cross. As I receive that gift through faith, may my life be an evidence of Good News for all the world to see. Thank you for Holy Week, that through Jesus' life, death and resurrection I can believe and be made whole. And now I can really live. Amen."
Isaiah 42:1-9
The Servant of the Lord
42 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
4 he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”
5 This is what God the Lord says—
the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,
who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,
who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it:
6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,
7 to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
8 “I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not yield my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
9 See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you.”
Psalm 36:5-11
5 Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.
7 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
10 Continue your love to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 May the foot of the proud not come against me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
Hebrews 9:11-15
The Blood of Christ
11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here,[a] he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining[b] eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[c] so that we may serve the living God!
15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the law.
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