Comments Off on Waiting on the Sabbath — Holy Saturday
https://youtu.be/W5JSF9dKNoM
Marley was dead to begin with.
That’s the first line of Charles Dickens’ story, “A Christmas Carol.” In 1843, Charles Dickens spent the entire first page of that book explaining just how dead Jacob Marley was. Then he ends his point with “There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.”
Well, the same must be understood about Jesus’ death. It must be fully understood that Jesus Christ was emphatically dead. Jesus willingly endured the humiliation and the pain of the events leading up to the Crucifixion. He willingly endured the nails through His hands and His feet. He willingly breathed His last and gave up His life on the Cross. Jesus was dead.
It was a long night that turned into a darker morning.
Jesus had already been awake for hours. Arrested in a garden. Betrayed by a friend.
They dragged from one trial to another while the city slowly woke up.
First, the religious leaders, then Pontius Pilate, finally, mocked by soldiers who treated the King of Heaven like a criminal. They struck Him and spit on Him. They pressed a crown of thorns into His head and wrapped Him in a robe to laugh at Him. “Hail, King of the Jews,” they said. But their sarcasm accidentally told the truth. Pilate knew Jesus was innocent. Yet pressure from the crowd was louder than his conscience. And so the sentence was given: crucifixion.
Roman crucifixion was designed to be slow and humiliating. Jesus carried His cross through the streets to a hill called Golgotha. Nails were driven through His hands and feet. The cross was lifted. And there the Son of God hung between heaven and earth.
Yet, what’s astonishing is not just the suffering. It’s His words.
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
The Reason He Came
In the middle of injustice, Jesus offered mercy. In the middle of pain, He offered grace.
For hours, darkness covered the land. Then Jesus cried out and breathed His last. The earth shook. The temple curtain tore in two. And a Roman centurion looked up at the cross and said, “Surely this was the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:54)
That evening, a man named Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body and placed it in a tomb. A stone was rolled across the entrance.
It looked like the end.
But Good Friday is called good for a reason. Because what looked like defeat was actually redemption’s beginning. The Cross was not the failure of Jesus’ mission—it was the very reason He came.
And in three days, the world would see that death never had the final word.
Comments Off on Unimaginable Love — Maundy Thursday
https://youtu.be/1MedURt1d1Y
Imagine knowing you had less than 24 hours to live. And you know that betrayal and suffering are coming. What would you say to the people you love most?
That’s the moment we step into today in Holy Week — Maundy Thursday. In John 13, Jesus and His disciples are gathered in the upper room, preparing for the Passover meal. The disciples didn’t know it yet, but this would be their final night with Jesus.
Comments Off on How Will You Respond? — Holy Wednesday
https://youtu.be/dia4_obE57o
How would you respond to being in the room with the most important person in history?
As we head toward remembering the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we see two very different responses to being with Jesus in Matthew 26.
The first response is that of the woman who anointed the head of Jesus with very expensive perfume. This was an offering by this woman given to her Savior.
Comments Off on The Olivet Discourse — Holy Tuesday
https://youtu.be/h6FxrJcXtwE
The Olivet Discourse is one of the most important prophetic teachings Jesus ever gave. It’s recorded in the Gospel of Matthew 24–25, the Gospel of Mark 13, and the Gospel of Luke 21. We call it the Olivet Discourse because Jesus delivered it on the Mount of Olives, just east of Jerusalem, shortly before His crucifixion.
The setting matters. In the Gospel of Matthew 24, the disciples point out the grandeur of the temple. Jesus responds with a shocking prophecy: not one stone would be left upon another. That prompts two questions from the disciples: “When will these things be?” and “What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”
I have a question. “Have you created a picture of Jesus that only exists in your mind?”
A philosopher once said, “Men create gods after their own image.” That’s a sobering thought.
When you imagine Jesus, are you and Jesus in total agreement? Does Jesus love all the things you love and hate all the things you hate?
As we commemorate Holy Week (the seven days leading up to Easter) on this Monday before Easter, we remember an intense moment in Jesus’ ministry. It’s when He cleared the Temple.
I still remember someone handing me a palm branch when I was about seven years old at my grandmother’s Presbyterian church. Since I didn’t grow up going to church, I had no idea why everyone had these branches. Years later, after becoming a Christian, I realized Palm Sunday marks the beginning of one of the most important weeks in all of human history.
Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ. But this week points us to something even greater — the moment Jesus willingly walked toward the Cross to bring salvation to the world.
Nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a colt, just as the prophet Zechariah foretold. Crowds waved palm branches and shouted, “Hosanna!” welcoming Him as King. It was the first time Jesus openly allowed Himself to be publicly declared the Messiah.
“There is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking.” Proverbs 29:20 (NLT)
Speaking without thinking can get people into quite a mess, can’t it? We definitely see this in our world every day. Especially with social media. People post almost everything they say and do online. Not just in the form of videos but also in the comment sections. And too often this ends up negatively.
This is certainly not a recent problem. People did not just discover this phenomenon with the World Wide Web. In fact, Solomon recognized this danger in the 10th century B.C. when he penned the book of Proverbs. Today, access to seeing everyone’s words and thoughts online has only increased their visibility.
Carefree Comments
I’ll be honest, my loose tongue can get me into hot water from time to time. It’s easy for me to sink into making jokes or being carefree with my comments. To my shame, this is often at someone else’s expense. I don’t always consider how my words may affect someone else. Even the most innocent of my nonchalant quips has offended someone. Or at least made them uncomfortable.
Of course, I’m not saying God has no sense of humor. And I’m not saying joking around is always wrong. However, I am convicted to consider, “Am I thinking before I speak?”
Proverbs 15:2 says, “The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.”
Downright Hurtful
I can also be thoughtless in my speech when I am frustrated or angry. Sadly, when walking in my flesh, it can be so easy to sink back into heedless comments. My speech can be cold, dismissive, or thoughtless. Sometimes, even downright hurtful. Unfortunately, those closest to me are the ones who catch a good deal of those reckless words.
And what does the verse above in Proverbs 29 say? In those moments when I speak without thinking, I am worse off than a fool. And if you know Proverbs, Solomon already has a low view of fools. Truly, to have less hope than a fool is pretty hopeless.
Mercy
However, praise Jesus for His mercy that is new every day. Hallelujah for His patient, loving kindness for a fool like me. Along the way, He sanctifies me by His grace to be more like Him in my speech. And at the same time, more thoughtful before I speak.
Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.”
Lord help us (help me) to think before we speak. To be self-controlled with our tongues. Equally important, to be considerate of others and what honors You. Help us to always “speak life” to those around us.
“You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” — Psalm 56:8
This verse encouraged me the other morning. Christians, meditate on what this verse is actually saying. It describes the incredible level of personalized, tender care that God has for us.
We all once lived a life apart from God. We tried to fill the God-void in our hearts with the things of this world. That looked different for each one of us. We’ve all had our own stuff — baggage, sin, or whatever you want to call. It’s the stuff we have dealt with and may even still deal with today.
