After Holy Week
by Pastor Gene
Like many believers, I always find Holy Week to be exhausting.
By the time we get to Resurrection Sunday we’ve walked with Jesus through a thousand highs and lows – through the joyful, if misguided, shouts of ‘Hosanna,’ to the shocking cries of, ‘Crucify Him, let His blood be upon our hands and the hands of our children.’
We’ve walked with Him through the cursing of the fig tree to the overturning of the tables; from the sublime teachings in the Temple to the secret meeting where He was betrayed by one of His own; from the final bread and wine shared with His disciples to the parched throat that cried out, “I thirst!”
Along the way there were miracles and heartbreak; honest, while ultimately naïve, pledges of loyalty and a treacherous kiss; many misused words and one misused sword; the mocking of the true King of all kings, and His resurrection in the fullness of God’s glory.
The cross, The tomb The Garden. The tears that looked like blood. The foolish rulers – Pilate the coward and Herod the clown. The fickle crowds and the traitor who hanged himself in shame.
We witnessed three denials and one ominous cock-crow. The false testimonies – bought and paid for by those who should have been leading the people to their God. We witnessed our Lord’s dignified silence and met an angel who asked, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here!”
Tired yet?
Well, we should not let this week go by without something of a spiritual debriefing. So, here it is. This blog will be up all week to give us the opportunity to share with one another all that the Lord has shown us through the journey of Holy Week.
May He be glorified in our midst, that wonderous, wonderous One!
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As I was reading Psalm 44 this morning after reading the blog I saw Jesus during Holy Week. God is a holy God and He must punish sin or He would not be just. I am not holy and I have a debt to pay. God has right to judge. And judge He did! He sent His very own Son to be judged for something He did not do. Yes, in the words of the psalm, Jesus was rejected, humbled, plundered, devoured, sold for a pittance, reproached, scorned, disgraced, shamed, taunted, reviled, all for me. How can this be that God would do this for me? The answer is given in John 3:16. LOVE
Help me Lord to learn to love like this.
If there is one word, it is “overwhelmed”. The words of an old hymn run thru my mind this past week: “What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss, to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul…” At the moment when I think I am grasping the magnitude of Gods plan or Jesus’ willingness to surrender to it, I am overwhelmed by the reality of my true inability. It IS wondrous, beyond what my finite mind can imagine…so I bow, again, humbled, trying to better understand and hold onto that understanding so I might simply and desperately cling to the One who gave it all FOR me, Jesus. Twila Paris song “Healed” echoes that again for me, in her final question, I ask it myself…” Passed over and passed by until you claim us. Orphaned and abandoned until you name us. Hidden and disclosed until you expose our hearts. By your death we live. It is by your gift that we might give, that we might live…By Your wounds we are healed (tell me what kind of love is this? )… By Your wounds we are healed (tell me what kind of love is this?)… Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Well put, Lori. Im not sure I know that song ( must look it up !) what came to my mind is “Jesus paid it all all to him I also sent us left a crimson stain he washed me white as snow!”🎼its all so overwhelming; it often brings me to tears. Imy constant prayer is Jesus let me never be insensitive to your sacrifice. May it always be fresh and new so that I never ever take for granted the incredible love and the price you paid for me to set me free ! Amen!
Correction: the song “Healed” is by Nicole Nordeman❤️
It is a very somber thought to know that it was I who betrayed Him, who denied Him, who yelled crucify Him. Shameful at the very least. But for His mercy, His sweet, sweet mercy, I can ask for forgiveness, put it behind me, and by His grace, I can step aside for the Holy Spirit and be the daughter He wishes me to be. I fail so much more than I should, but I will not give up the good fight. All the glory to my Lord and Saviour.
As I’ve considered our Lenten season and the challenges we as a body were given eg. the 20/20 challenge, the daily blogs of Holy Week, and this week’s postscript, I came across a quote that drives home what our goal here has been. “Holiness, it’s the only description of what the church Jesus is coming back for found in the New Testament. We are not told He’s coming back for a “leadership-driven” church, a “relevant” church, a “connected” church, or one with a strong “community,” All of these traits are extremely important to the growth and success of a church, but none of these is the defining characteristic of the bride of Christ”
From the book “Killing Kryptonite” by John Beverly.
As PGene has taught over and over, “Holiness is proximity to God” and those who continue living the challenges of this Lenten season will indeed find themselves closer to Him and more in line with what He wants to find when He returns.