We are going with Jesus through the last week in his life and ministry. We will walk with him as his ministry came to a head, to the pivotal point of his life, and the history of our world. We will go with him through his entry in the Holy city of Jerusalem to celebrate the passover week. There he cleansed the temple. There is taught the final lessons and gave his last instructions and shared his final encouragement's. There he was anointed for his death. He celebrated passover but infused it with new meaning as he was about to fulfill the promise of passover. He began to talk about himself as the lamb, sacrificed so that other might live. He talk about his blood washing the people clean from their sins. Then there was his betrayal. His trial. His torture. His crucifixion. He death and burial. And finally, his resurrection. That’s where we’re going, but to get there, we have to go through the blood.
Let's start with the entry into the Holy City. Matthew 21:1-11
1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."4This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5"Say to the Daughter of Zion,
'See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' "6The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
"Hosanna to the Son of David!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Hosanna in the highest!"10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?"
11The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."
I used to lead an outreach to an inner city school where we, as a church, were invited to run an after school program once a week. We got to play, do crafts and teach the kids a bible story. I was the bible story guy. It was tons of fun. Every year at Christmas I’d involve the kids in telling the story. At first I ask they what Christmas is and it was all Santa and reindeer and presents and stuff. But I’d ask them what it’s REALLY about, they they got it. Oh, the Jesus stuff- Mary and Joseph and a manger and a baby and shepherds and angels and wise men and gifts and a star... They got it. They would start telling all the parts, and I’d help them put it all together. Tons of fun.
Then we got to Easter. Same thing. Tell me about it. Bunnies and eggs. That was pretty much all it was about. But don’t forget the all you can eat brunch at the Cracker Barrel- note to everyone- go to the cracker barrel next time you travel through the states. Then come back and just tell me thanks you- that will be enough. But, then I’d ask what’s Easter really about. They didn’t really get what I was asking. They didn’t really know there was another story, a deeper story, a story not based in fantasy and superstition, but on historical fact. They didn’t really make the connection of Easter to Jesus. And, so it is now for most of the world, that we don’t really make the connection.
Now I’m not going to gripe about this, it is what it is. But it’s vital that we understand this- even if we get Christmas right, even if we remember all the parts and put the whole story together, we still don’t even have half the picture of Jesus.
Let me explain. Today we celebrate what we call Palm Sunday, or Passion Sunday, in the church. This marks the beginning of the last week of Jesus’ life as the Bible tells it. And get this- all four of the gospels, the four books that teach about the life of Jesus, Matthew Mark Luke and John, all four spend at least 25 %, one quarter of their books talking about the events that happened in the last week of Jesus’ life. John, the last Gospel, spends more than half of his book the last week of Jesus’ life. All together, we could say that nearly a third of what we know about Jesus- what happened to him, what he taught, what others said about him, what he did- comes from the final week of his life.
If we want to get the real Jesus right, we have to get this week right. Without this week, we have a lot, don;t be mistaken. Jesus is as a great teacher, a miracle worker with a miraculous birth, a great leader with a great following, a man of compassion who healed the sick and fed the poor and comforted the afflicted. A man who began to change an entire nation. You could take his life so far and you would have a real role model, a hero. You could legitimately ask the question, what would Jesus do? IN fact, it really only makes sense to ask that question if we remove the miraculous birth and this last week. We don;t have the option of being born fully God, fully human. We’re just fully human. And as for this last week, well, we don;t want to do what Jesus did the last week of his life. We can’t do what Jesus did the last week of his life. We could go through the motions I suppose, we could end up dead. But our death would not pay the price of our sins, let alone the sins of the world. Our death would not lead us to resurrection.
No, this last week truly, definitely, once and for all, sets Jesus apart for the mission only he could fulfill. Take away this last week, and you don’t have a savior. You don;t have a resurrection. You don;t have life after death. And if you take that stuff away, well, you lose the engine that drives our faith, the hope that sustains is, the love that God offers to us.
This week begin with a Jesus’ journey into the Holy city of Jerusalem. The city was beginning to swarm with Jews and God-fearers from around the known world. Not only would the nation gather, but people from other nations would make their pilgrimage to celebrate the Passover and the week of unleavened bread. There much that can be said to fully grasp what is happening- Israel in under house arrest with Rome as the power. The natives are restless, revolution is in the air. The crowd that gathered was not some ticker-tack parade, but was more like a swarming mob. A mob ready for blood. A mob ready to make Jesus their leader if he would lead them to victory. They have come together to celebrate the passover.
And when we understand the passover, it makes perfect sense why there is electricity in the air and revolution on everyone's lips. For the passover is all about justice, revolution, deliverance, it’s about coming into a Promised Land. It’s bloody. It’s gross. But underneath it all it points to a cleansing, and it points to something beyond the horizon. Blood, bath, and beyond- that’s what Passover is about. And that’s what Easter is about.
The Passover Celebration was the most Holy of all the Jewish festivals. Centuries earlier God’s chosen people ended up in Egypt. At first they were the welcomed guests, the toast of the town even. But things change over time. They wore out their welcome. The guests grew in number and just their presence became a threat to the religion and government of the nation. It was all part of God’s greater plan for the redemption of the world. In Egypt the nation of Israel would learn what was to be the greatest lesson of their lives- the horrors of slavery and oppression, and God’s promise to bring freedom and life.
After 430 years the captors began killing the slave babies. The people cried out, and God heard their cry for a savior. He sent them the most unlikely of characters. He sent them Moses. After a great escape from the holocaust of baby boys, Moses was raised sleeping in the enemies house. In time he found himself torn- despised by his own people, rejected by the powers, he lashed out, he murdered, and he fled to the desert. To the land where he would eventually lead his people.
God called him to deliver Israel. And so, Moses returned. After performing wonders and miracles through the power of God, it was time for the final performance. It was going to be a bloodbath. And angel of death was going to pass over the land, looking for blood, taking every first born male from every family. The only way to save the children was to make a sacrifice in advance. Each family was to take a lamb without blemish or flaw, to sacrifice it, to paint the doorposts of their house in blood, to roast the meat and eat it in haste. Than night, when the angel came over the land, he would not visit any home where he saw the blood over the door frame. When he passed by he would simple pass over those homes. But wherever they was no blood...well, you know what they say about payback, right?
That night all of Egypt cried out with weeping and wailing and loud laments. Now they no longer worked to keep Israel their slaves, now they wanted them out of the land- the sooner the better. And so, Moses began their journey back into freedom, back into the Promised land. There they would worship God, and they would be his people. A Holy nation, a nation of priests, a nation of people in relationship with God. A nation who would always remember this, what was to be the pivotal moment, the pivotal experience of their lives. A season they were to never forget, always remember, teach to their children. This was the passover.
It was part of God’s plan. But all of this was pointing towards a better way. A way God had been pointing to ever since the moment Adam and Even sinned against God and brought sin into the world and into every human life to follow. God said I’ve been pointing this way since I called Abram back to the Promised land. I’ve been pointing this way since I lead you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery and oppression. I’ve been pointing this way even when you messed up in the Promised Land and you went into exile in Babylon. I’ve been pointing you this way year after year, sacrifice after sacrifice, priest after priest, prophet after prophet, king after king. I’ve been pointing you this way, preparing you this way, leading you this way, and it all points to Jesus.
And all of Jesus’ life points to what is about to unfold this week. The prophesies fulfilled and the parallels with the Exodus story are uncanny, and unmistakable. His birth- he was saved from a holocaust when his parents fled to Egypt. He came out of egypt and back into the Promised land. He was baptized in the Jordan river. His cousin John called him the lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. He was going to become the atoning sacrifice for our sins. He had to. He was the only one who could. He, perfect and blameless, would step in on our behalf. Only someone without sin could be qualified to make such an audacious claim- to be the sacrifice for the world. Only Jesus could make that claim. Only Jesus. The savior. That is what we are going to talk about next Sunday- how does Jesus, on the cross, become our atoning sacrifice?
Jesus- the very name means, The Lord Saves. He will save us- he will save us from this dead end religious system that repeats year after year, sin after sin. He will be the one to point us in a new direction, a new relationship. He will be the one who will make the sacrifice once and for all that will make us right with God.
What do we do with Palm Sunday? Palm Sunday is about Jesus coming into the fulfillment of his mission- to become the savior of the world.
Holy Week is about our need for a savior. It’s about crying our to God, Hossana, save us. It’s about examining what our hopes are, what we believe, what we desire, and from what do we need saved?
Because we all need saved. What do you need saved from?
Guilt and shame...
Sadness...
Boredom...
Lost...
Sin and Death! What we all ultimately need.
Today we want to give you guide for reading through Holy Week. If you have never read the bible before, if you have never prayed before or done devotions before, I challenge you, this week, give this a try. See what this can do for you and your family. Experience what happens when everyday we put our focus on Jesus.
This week we want to walk you through the last week of Jesus. We walk to walk you through each major event. We want to walk you through the last night Jesus has with his disciples. We want to walk you through his betrayal, his trial, his torture, his crucifixion, his burial, his death. We don’t want you to skip to the good stuff, don’t jump all the way to Easter and the resurrection. The good stuff is coming. Victory is coming. Freedom is coming. Life is coming. New light is coming.
No comments:
Post a Comment