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[Pastor Dave shares his reflections on the week that
marks Jesus’ final days before He died on the cross.
To help us reflect on the events of the Lord
throughout this week, he is sharing one note per day
to highlight what Scripture tells us Jesus was doing
on that particular day. The days are listed in
latest to earliest.]
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FRIDAY |
A
couple of weeks ago I went down to the Chapel in
the Woods, a simple, natural clearing on our
back property where we have placed terracing and
benches. It’s a great place for reflection and
prayer.
I had gone there on a Tuesday evening a few
minutes before others would come for prayer and
found the benches already occupied. The
threesome sitting there greeted me when I walked
up. I told them that I was a pastor (and they
didn’t run away, screaming). They introduced
themselves, all high schoolers, and we chatted
for a few minutes.
During our brief time together I mentioned that
Easter was coming and invited them to the 6:30am
Sunrise Service that would be held right there
in the Chapel in the Woods. They seemed
genuinely interested. Then I told them about our
Good Friday evening service.
When I said “Good Friday” one of the teens had a
quizzical look on her face, so I explained, “We
call the day Jesus died ’Good Friday’”,
immediately realizing how incongruous that must
sound to someone who doesn’t know the story.
So, I proceeded to explain (the two minute
version) that Jesus died on the cross for our
sins. He paid the price for our forgiveness. He
invites everyone to place their trust in Him for
eternal life. Good Friday is good for us.
When I finished, the gal with the quizzical look
on her face turned thoughtful and said, “I’ve
never heard that before.”
On this Good Friday, listen to the story as if
you’ve never heard it before.
Jesus of Nazareth lived a perfect life. He
taught as no one had ever taught, loved as no
one had ever loved, and performed miracles by
the power of God.
At the end of the His three year public
ministry, Jesus turned His face toward Jerusalem
and walked into what He knew would be a crucible
of unparalleled suffering.
On the last night of His life (Thursday) He was
betrayed by a friend, delivered over to His own
people and condemned for blasphemy. During that
trial He was denied three times by another
friend.
Early on Friday morning He was turned over to
the civil authorities who condemned Him to death
by crucifixion for treason.
He endured a brutal beating called “scourging”
(called “the halfway death”) and then was force
marched from the place of beating to the place
of execution. There, soldiers nailed His hands
and feet to a wooden cross and raised the cross
to an upright position.
Jesus hung on the cross for six hours on Friday.
While on the cross He took care of His mother
and gave salvation to a fellow sufferer. He
spoke a word of forgiveness to His tormentors,
suffered physically like few ever have and
suffered spiritually like no one ever has.
At the end, having accomplished the work He came
to earth to do of offering Himself as a
sacrifice for your sins and mine, He cried out,
“It is finished” - and breathed His last.
Today is Friday. We call it Good Friday. At
first blush it is an odd name for us, Jesus’
followers, to give to the day our Lord died.
On THAT Friday not one of Jesus’ disciples would
have dreamed of calling it “good.” Not then. But
that was Friday.
By late on Sunday morning, of course, everything
had changed! Jesus was alive!! And today you and
I now see the events of that Friday in a whole
new light.
Nothing has changed concerning the suffering of
Jesus. It was still an unfathomably terrible day
of torment for Him. But now, in light of the
empty cross, we see the redemptive meaning
behind the cross. And we call it good.
On the cross, Jesus suffered and died to bring
us to God. He died, not as a martyr and not as
an example. He died as a sacrifice. He took the
punishment that was due us. And now, anyone who
believes in Him (John 3:16) has eternal life.
Good Friday is good for you IF you have believed
in Jesus. If you have never placed the treasure
of your trust in Him for eternal life, do so
now.
Run to Jesus and find mercy, forgiveness, a
clean slate and a fresh start. Let His, “It is
finished” be applied to your soul. Trust Him for
salvation and you will understand just how GOOD
Good Friday really is.
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THURSDAY |
We
expect loyalty from friends. We expect friends
to have our backs when life turns sour. And in
the same way, we want to be loyal to our
friends. We want to give the gifts of support
and presence when our friends face hardship. We
want them to know that we will be there for
them. They can count on us when the chips are
down.
Jesus’ Thursday revealed friends who were NOT
there for Him. On Thursday we get a glimpse of
the lonely road He travelled to meet His destiny
with torture and crucifixion.
With little more than twenty four hours of life
left, Jesus gave His disciples orders to prepare
a room for them to enjoy a meal together. All
thirteen of them gathered in that upper room in
a home in Jerusalem to eat. During supper, Jesus
rose to take care of the important detail that
none of the twelve had wanted to do. He - the
Lord and Master - washed their dirty, grimy
feet.
Then, resuming His place at the table, He spoke
of a betrayer in their midst. He predicted loss
of courage for them all. He predicted Peter’s
denials. He told them of His own soon-to-come
departure and of the ministry of the Holy
Spirit. He told them of persecutions to come and
of their secure future in Him. (See John 13-17)
Late on that Thursday night, they moved from the
upper room to the Garden of Gethsemane. There
Jesus prayed, asking Peter, James, and John to
watch and pray for Him. They promptly fell
asleep - x 3.
When a mob of soldiers and priests and servants
came to arrest Jesus (Judas’ kiss of betrayal
identifying Him as “the one”), the disciples all
fled into the night, leaving Him alone to stand
trial all night long where He suffered numerous
indignities and illegalities.
The indignities included mocking, blindfolding,
and slaps in the face. Certainly mild physical
abuse compared to what He would suffer later.
The illegalities included the place and time of
the trial, a too-quick verdict, conflicting
testimony by the witnesses, and much, much more.
While His trials were going on, Simon Peter -
Rocky! - was denying that he even knew who Jesus
was.
On Thursday we look at Jesus and see raw courage
and undeterred resolve and unalloyed love.
No doubt Jesus would have enjoyed prayer support
in the Garden. No doubt watching the disciples
flee into the night was painful. No doubt that
listening to Peter deny Him wounded Him deeply.
But none of that trumped His loving commitment
to continue with the plan that would have Him
offering Himself on Friday as a perfect
sacrifice for people like me and you, people who
so obviously need deliverance from the power and
penalty of sin.
Today, we worship a loving Savior who was
willing to go it alone, to bring us to God.
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WEDNESDAY |
Sabbath rest. In 2014 we know little of Sabbath
rest. Ours is life-on-the-go, always on the
move, pedal to the metal, in touch, online,
connected, 24/7.
To say the least, this is not what God intended.
He orchestrated a week that included rest to
give time to recuperate from work and time to
refresh for more work.
The normal pattern was six days on, one day off,
a pattern that followed God’s creative work.
(Genesis 1-2) But rest is helpful and useful and
allowable when necessary, even when it doesn’t
follow the 6/1 pattern.
Jesus’ final Wednesday was a creative exercise
of Sabbath rest.
Tuesday was a breathless rush of activity to
activity, confrontation to confrontation,
teaching to parable to equipping to rebuke.
Tuesday went hard from sunrise to sunset with no
rest.
Not so Wednesday. Wednesday is the silent day.
There is no record of Jesus teaching on
Wednesday. No prophecies and no confrontations,
no parades and no parables. Jesus used Wednesday
as a Sabbath rest for His soul before the
suffering of the cross fell.
That is not to say that Wednesday was not
productive. It was VERY productive. He rested on
Wednesday. On Wednesday He regained energy lost
from an over-busy Tuesday and on Wednesday He
refueled for the ordeal ahead.
Wednesday marked two days and counting, forty
eight hours, before His passion. He rested to be
fully prepared to do what He had come to earth
to accomplish, to die on the cross for your
sins.
On Wednesday we worship a Savior who loved us so
much He rested so that He could give Himself
when the time to give came.
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TUESDAY |
I’m
easily distracted. Maybe it’s due to living in a
world of constantly updating social media,
newsfeeds, blogs, and Facebook. For me, focus is
a perpetual challenge. In fact, if it is true
(as I was told years ago) that “the main thing
in life is to keep the main thing the main
thing,” then I will admit to struggling with the
main thing!
According to the author of the book of Hebrews,
Jesus knew every temptation we will ever face
(2:18), which means that He may well have been
tempted to lose focus on the main thing. Unlike
me, Jesus never lost focus. He never took His
eyes off the ball of what was REALLY important
before God - even when constantly bombarded with
the attempts of enemies to derail Him.
Tuesday was the busiest day of the last week of
Jesus’ life. He went hard from very early until
very late and much of His Tuesday activity took
place in the Temple. On this final Tuesday,
scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and others tried
to trip Him up with tricky questions. He
remained fixed.
Sandwiched in between these intense
confrontations with religious leaders and His
final scathing indictment of them for hypocrisy
(see Matthew 23), we come across one of the most
touching scenes of His life.
From the far side of the Court of the Women,
Jesus watched as a “poor widow” gave a tiny
amount of money as an offering at the Temple in
Jerusalem.
After watching her, He showcased this woman’s
generosity, telling His disciples that she “put
in more” than all the other wealthier people who
gave that day because she gave sacrificially.
(See Mark 12:38-40; Luke 21:1-4)
Sacrifice.
Jesus was especially focused on sacrifice on
Tuesday, knowing that His own sacrifice on a
Roman cross was only seventy hours away. He
never lost focus on what was important to God.
On this Tuesday we worship our self-sacrificing
Savior.
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MONDAY |
I
suspect that all of us have had the experience
of coming close to something we have anticipated
for a long time. The Spurs enter the week before
the long-expected playoffs. A woman with child
begins to feel Braxton-Hicks contractions. A
marathoner passes the twenty mile mark.
In each case, there is a sense that we have
turned a corner. We are on the homestretch. One
last push and there will be a payoff for all the
discomfort, effort, pain and waiting.
After the Triumphal Entry of His last Sunday,
Jesus went back to Jerusalem on Monday. Among
the events of that Monday was a visit that He
considered as noteworthy as any boxer considers
the bell sounding the final round.
Philip and Andrew approached Jesus with news
that some non-Jews (Gentiles) were seeking Him.
“We wish to see Jesus” were their exact words.
That - being sought out by people who were not
the people of God, prompted Jesus to say, “The
hour has come for the Son of Man to be
glorified.”
We remember that Jesus came to seek and to save
that which was lost. When the lost came seeking
Him, He knew the time was upon Him. Less than
ninety six hours and He would be hanging from
the cross. His race was almost run.
What GOSPEL (good news!) that Jesus didn’t stop
at mile 20. His last week has begun. He’s not
finished yet and He will press on until the work
He came to accomplish is finished. On Monday, we
worship our faithful, persevering Savior.
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© Copyright 2014
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:: Northwest
Community Church ::
:: 8900 Guilbeau Road | San Antonio, Texas 78250 | 210-680-3041 :: |
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