Todays Life

Matthew 27:61-66    NKJV

Pilate Sets a Guard

⁶² On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, ⁶³ saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ ⁶⁴ Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.” ⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶ So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.

Holy Saturday brings us to a very solemn point in the week but it sets the stage for the miracle and power of Easter. It like all the other days in Holy Week holds some great value for us when we stop and reflect on the activities and God’s work and purpose in each day.

The religious leaders of the day had gotten what they wanted with Jesus dead and in the tomb. Per Jesus prophecy to His friends that “the shepherd would be struck and the sheep would scatter” His apostles are hidden away in mourning and sadness that he is dead and in the tomb. Their grief is so great they don’t yet have the capacity to reflect on His life and His promise to rise from the dead so they only see him as dead and in the tomb.

Both of these groups have different beliefs and faith yet both of them see Jesus as dead and in the tomb. His value has been extinguished and His ability to help or make a difference in their lives died with Him. Their hope is sealed away in the box of the grave, and there is no logic or reason that lets them see Him outside the box.

How often do we join them in our lives– we know the promise he gave us, yet we all too often see him as confined to the box we have him inside our Bibles. We keep him there by the limits that logic and reason put on our lives. We in our despair and hurry to fix something that we need Him for leads us to feeling lost and alone.

In reality we run the risk of any of these 3 positions in our lives affecting our service for God.

1. We may be prideful of heart ( like the religious leaders ) and think we plotted and schemed to get our way in something we deemed as important only to realize we have out smarted ourselves and were on the wrong side of the issue. The biggest challenge here is to find a way to set our pride aside and come to God for forgiveness and to change our future way of living.
2. We can experience a close walk with Jesus when things are going well ( like His apostles )  and then we feel not so close when life brings us difficult circumstances. We feel like we are living in our day to day challenges so the leap of faith required to get us back to where we were seems just too big so we spend our time in sadness and separation from God.
3. Sometimes we fail to take Jesus out of the box and we become convinced that he must have left us.  In reality He never went left or right of His purpose for us but we move off track and then our faith is not strong enough to overcome the boundaries our logic and reason have put around us.

May God strengthen us today as remember the day of loss and sadness found in Jesus death and burial. May the light of Hope he has provided in our faith remain alive in us for Joy cometh in the morning.

Luke 23:44-46  (NLT)      The Death of Jesus

⁴⁴ By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. ⁴⁵ The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. ⁴⁶ Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.

Good Friday or “Black Friday” as it is referenced by Christians remembers the terrible injustice that was taking place while Jesus had been locked in the dungeon of the high priest’s house over night. Early in the morning He was brought before Pontius Pilate, who transferred the case to Herod. Herod promptly sent Him back to Pilate who, sometime in mid-morning, bowed to the pressure of the Temple leadership and the crowds and condemned Jesus to a horrible death by crucifixion. In the late morning, Jesus was taken by soldiers through the city and up the hillside of Golgotha. By noon He had been nailed to the Cross, where He hung in agony for some three hours. Jesus died at around three in the afternoon. Our text today picks up there and we focus on a point the Gospels all convey that we often read past. We want to see it today and its connection in God’s plan and what is means to us. Maundy Thursday set forward the connection between the Old Covenant and the New One in Jesus blood being shed once for everyone, as a sacrifice for our sins. The final physical connection God set in place to provide for was access to Him. Sin in the Garden had separated us from God that required seeking forgiveness with a sacrafice offered by the preist on our behalf. With a perfect sacrifice in Jesus, we would no longer require a priest to intercede on our behalf to God, but we could go directly to Him in prayer. Black Friday is known as a day of prayer and reflection on Jesus life and death. A time to ponder the sacrifice that was made for us and the power that He provided us at His death. 3:00 PM was the time on Friday, the day before the sabbath, that the Passover lambs were to be sacrificed. The scripture records in all the Gospels that it was at 3:00 PM that Jesus died and gave up the human spirit he held in His body here with us. The scriptures all point to what seems like a footnote ⁴⁵ The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle.  we find this note in the Gospels as a remote occurrence in result of Jesus death. Once the perfect lamb of God was sacrificed for our sins the priest going behind the temple veil would no longer be needed. The scriptures say it was torn from the “top to the bottom” so no person could be connected to it. May we today, on Black Friday, pray and reflect on Jesus love for us in his obedience to the cross and also to God’s love in giving Him that we might ALL have access to directly to Him. This will help us close the gap we may feel from Black Friday to a Good Friday.

Hebrews 10:19-20

¹⁹ And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. ²⁰ By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.

Luke 22:14-21    (NLT)
The Last Supper

¹⁴ When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table.^[a]15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. ¹⁶ For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”

¹⁷ Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. ¹⁸ For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”

¹⁹ He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

²⁰ After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.

Maundy Thursday is an alternate name for Holy Thursday, the first of the three days of solemn remembrance of the events leading up to and immediately following the crucifixion of Jesus. The English word “Maundy” comes from the Latin mandatum, which means “commandment.”  The Gospel of John records some of the details from this night and it shows that it started with the customary washing of the guests’ feet usually done by a servant but on this night done by Jesus. Jesus explained to His friends that He did this to show forth an example to them that the leader had to first be a servant both in physical service and of the heart. His “New” Commandment he gave them in Vs 34 of Chapter 13 was to “Love one another “ as in His example of service by putting others first.

One of the sacraments of the Church today also came from that night. The observance of communion in remembrance of Jesus sacrifice for the worlds’ transgressions. Our Text comes today from the gospel of Luke so we can understand how God provided this bridge from the Old Testament to the New Testament gospel and how the cross became that bridge that allowes all to come directly to God in Jesus Christ.

The scriptures tell us that on the day of the Passover celebration Jesus sent two of His apostles into town to prepare the meal. Vs 14 above picks up as the meal starts.

Jesus tells His friends that He has been looking forward to this time of fellowship them. He is not looking forward to the cross but to the result it will bring His friends when His love for them takes Him there. Vs. 17 says He took a cup of wine and after giving thanks He handed the vase to them to share among themselves. Jesus had said earlier in His ministry that He “had not come to abolish the Law ( Old Covenant ) but to fulfill it. We find from the garden of Eden to the Cross of Jesus no forgiveness is possible without the shedding of blood. In giving one cup to share among many Jesus honors the Old Testament covenant of one priest going out to many offering the blood sacrifices on their behalf for forgiveness. Vs 18 is the blessing and eating of the bread which Jesus says is His body that was given for us. The physical bridge to God was Jesus on the Cross as His body was given for us. Vs 19  records the second cup of wine that Jesus explains is the “New Covenant” between God and us, an agreement Jesus says is confirmed by His blood, that will be poured out for everyone. This represents the New Covenant – One cup poured out into anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as their salvation through his blood that will be shed on the cross.

May we celebrate Maundy Thursday today in Holy Week by thinking on the New Commandment to love one another as Jesus loved us and to remember the New Covenant made with us that through Him we might each be forgiven of our sins under His blood that was poured out for us on the cross.

Matthew 26:1-5 / 14-16  (NLT) The Plot to Kill Jesus

26 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, ² “As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man^[a] will be handed over to be crucified.” ³ At that same time the leading priests and elders were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest, ⁴ plotting how to capture Jesus secretly and kill him. ⁵ “But not during the Passover celebration,” they agreed, “or the people may riot.”

¹⁴ Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests ¹⁵ and asked, “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶ From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.

Wednesday brings Jesus into more conflict with the religious leaders which ends in him explaining that he has tried to bring them together but they have refused so they will be judged. Our text today picks up here in Ch 26 and after Jesus taught these many things the scripture says He told His apostles and friends that in two days he would be delivered to the religious leaders and be crucified. The 26^th chapter also records that this was the night when Judas decided he would betray Jesus to the chief priests and going to them he asked them what they were willing to pay him in exchange for his help in arresting Jesus. They agree on 30 pieces of silver and the die is cast for the completion of Judas’ betrayal and also God’s plan of salvation. This is one of those fascinating examples of how God’s plan can be so different, even backwards, of our vision into the future we have planned.  Judas was the banker of the group and the scriptures tell us that he sometimes helped himself to the money in the groups bag without approval. Judas had joined this band of apostles that traveled and lived with Jesus for some 3 years now. In that time they had seen His works and power and in understanding the Old Testament prophecy of the messiah that was to come they were convinced that this Jesus was indeed Him. The challenge for them was that they saw and felt that it was being completely fulfilled in their day and that Jesus would take of Jerusalem with a military might and establish his rightful place on the throne. This though was not Jesus calling or purpose on His first visit. He was born of a woman into this world of sin that we live in to understand all of our stresses and temptations so he would be aware of what we see in this life. I have to wonder if the apostles including Judas were waiting for some small conflict in the temple to boil over into a battle at which time Jesus would call forth the heavens and defeat evil once and for all ? When this did not seem to be happening fast enough for them maybe Judas took matters into his own hands and to see if he could force Jesus to go ahead with the battle and conquer evil. We can find the “take control” attitude of Judas in our own lives sometimes.

How often do we find ourselves where our plan does not seem to be lining up with God’s but we know our own lives really well so we make a decision to move it along like we think it should go, only to find out the hard way that God’s plan will always eventually win out. I would challenge us to understand that we have betrayed God in a manner of speaking. We have impeded His plan and blessing for others, that now has created some very serious consequences for those involved. Judas’ story should keep us mindful that we cannot control God’s plan and there are no shortcuts. The journey may be where God can use our lives to help others see him in this life. Why would we want to shortcut that out of our lives at any price ?

Matthew 21:18-22 Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

¹⁸ In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry,¹⁹ and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the fig tree withered up.²⁰ The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”²¹ Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. ²² You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”

In the ending of our last text from Matthew 21:18-19 we find that Jesus also set in place a visual example for His apostles that took place on His way into Jerusalem this morning ( Tuesday ) and even though Matthew 21:19 says the tree withered immediately for some reason the apostles don’t ask about it until the next morning on Wednesday. Tuesday held more confrontation with the religious leaders in the temple and many of Jesus famous parables to help make real His work, the Kingdom of Heaven and His resurrection to those that were listening. I would like for us today to look at the bookend of these teachings at the real life physical example he set for them and the spiritual significance of the curse of the fig tree.  We won’t get bogged down in the popular culture discussion of whether it was time for figs or not but simply that we know from the date of Passover that it would be spring and some form of fruit should have been present with the leaves. It does not matter because Jesus example was on producing fruit spiritually by using the physical fruit of the tree and that day there was none. Jesus then confirmed the outcome of producing no fruit by condemning the tree to whither. This is a foreshadowing to the Jews that in refusing to accept Jesus even if they look religious, with leaves, they would wither from not producing fruit for Him.

Jesus moves the discussion in the spiritual direction of Faith.  Jesus explains that if we believe in Him on faith and we come to Him in prayer without doubt God will bless our prayer. May this example be clear to us – if we work hard to exhibit all the outward signs of a Christian but our hearts are not connected to Jesus and producing fruit then we are a vine with no root system and will soon wither and die. While if we believe and live in faith we can ask God for all of our needs and he will bless the smallest seeds of our faith to come forward and yield fruit for Him.

On Monday, the day after Jesus entry into Jerusalem, the scripture finds him returning to the town and into the temple. On the way into the temple were tables occupied by moneychangers who sold sacrifices to the temple visitors to offer up for their forgiveness. This process of religion was followed but human nature had allowed it to become a set of unethical business transactions. There was an unfair exchange of money at inflated prices for imperfect animals to sacrifice. When Jesus observed this, he was angry and drove them out of the temple. His simple but forceful assertion defined the purpose of the temple and the place they had allowed it to become . The temple was to be a place of prayer not of cheating the followers that were required to offer a sacrifice when they came to worship. This can provide a vivid check point for our service and lives today as God’s Church. Paul recognized our bodies as a temple for God and encourages the Church in Jesus Christ to offer our lives as a living sacrifice to God.

Romans 12:1-2  (NLT)  12 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

The translation of a living sacrifice is to give our daily lives ( sleeping, eating, working, leisure ….. ) in service to God. Paul says that is our path to true worship of God. We sometimes allow sin to become a part of our lives and it hinders our relationship with God. Jesus provides the same opportunity for us to allow Him to help point out thru the Word where we may be off track. May His Word help drive out the sin in our lives, so that out lives are an acceptable life that we live to Honor God.   

The people gathered on the first Palm Sunday were very enthusiastic to see this Jesus that they had heard so much about. Their interest were certainly at a peak because they heard Lazarus was with him and the story going around was that Jesus had raised him from the dead ? As he came into town Matthew records in Vs 9 that the people shouted that “ he Came in the name of the Lord”. The gospel says that the town was in an uproar and people asked – “ who is this ? “ and other people in the crowd identified Jesus as a Prophet from Nazareth. With the number of people Jesus had reached at this point being in the thousands it is certain that some of these people had seen at least a few of His miracles and listened to His teaching. Yet after all that, and being in His daily presence, they still don’t know exactly who He was so they labeled Him a prophet. The title of Prophet would be an admirable one for any of us but it was a misguided label to put on the Creator of our lives and the door to our eternal life. I think at some age as we grow and mature that question, ( Who Is This ?) comes to our minds. We cannot let our mind make the decision for us as to Who Jesus is in our lives. Our minds’ like those gathered as Jesus entered Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday, search for a logical and reasonable identity to put on Jesus. The decision comes from the heart and recognizing who He really is, and who He really should be in our lives.

We often think that our house is full of many things – children, laundry, empty or ½ empty water bottles, snack paper, dust bunnies ………. It can sometimes be overwhelming. If part of a snack or some not so recently used sports clothes are in the mix then parts of the house may smell a little funny. There are also good things for our house to be full of  – Love, family and the great smell of cooking food. The smell of food tells us in our minds that a time of thankfulness and fellowship is close at hand.

         Mary and Martha’s home was the site of a fellowship meal for their friend Jesus. The scripture says Lazarus, who Jesus had raised from the dead was also in attendance. It was a celebration and fellowship to be shared with Jesus, family and friends. The house was most likely full of the smell of food and the sounds of fellowship. Mary just as she had done before finds Jesus while Martha serves the guests. She anoints Jesus feet and the scripture says the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. The house was full of friends, family and food when the fragrance from Jesus filled the room. If the house is filled with Jesus then it brings purpose to everything in the house. Are our homes filled with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit? If so then all the other things that fill it are a part of our purpose. If God is not present in the house then it is just full of stuff – stuff has no purpose and creates stumbling blocks instead of steps to serve Jesus like Mary.

Mark Twain said, “Never put off until tomorrow that which can be done day after tomorrow”. While that is a humorous anecdote on our human nature it has a ring of truth to it. We all feel like our world gets busier and busier so we need to prioritize our activities. In the alignment we end up moving some things out further and further because we just can’t do it all. The things we move most often are areas where we know the affected people will have the most patience with us, like our family and close friends. In the short term of today that may work ok but tomorrow can only absorb so much, and then we find ourselves moving our schedules out beyond tomorrow which can cause even our closest relationships some strain. When we begin to feel that stress James’ words should ring in our ears – tomorrow holds no certainty for us even though many of priority actions seem urgent to us. There is no urgency beyond our family that should change our important activities. All of  our plans should always be mindful of the brevity of life and the gift we have to share today with each other. Never let urgent replace important ( ever ) and never see the ones you love and leave them without telling them how you feel. It may feel like it is a little silly but it could be most valuable silly thing you will ever do, if the mist you see today is gone tomorrow.

Matthew 6:16-18  (NLT)

¹⁶ “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. ¹⁷ But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. ¹⁸ Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

In the time of Lent we often give up something, or fast, so we can take time to reflect on our lives. Our hope is that in giving up something it will help us focus on our lives and our relationship with God. It could be an actual fast from food, or a meal, and it could be giving up a block of time that we replace with a study of God’s word and prayer. The purpose of Lent is consistent regardless of the path we take to get there.

Jesus reminds us from this excerpt from the sermon on the mount that while a fast is a physical act of some type the relationship we seek to improve is of the heart.  It is no different from our path to salvation as Christians. We hear God’s word in a physical manner but our decision for him takes place in our hearts and spirits before we make a public confession followed by baptism. It is not important that others know when and how we worship God as long as our worship is in truth then God who knows all things will provide for us in every need that we have in life. The example Jesus gives here of a hypocrite is to make a physical show off our efforts to please God. Jesus says we should go about our day to day lives looking normal and let our heart serve God’s spirit and His purpose for us. Once we are secure in our faith God will reward us by opening doors for others to clearly see our faith based on our actions, just not the actions we may have chosen. God’s reward like His plan of salvation will always improve and enrich our relationship with Him and with others if we are open by faith to His leading in our lives.