Journey to the Cross 2017, Day 38

Thursday, Day 38:  PASSOVER             

Countdown – 3 days

Reading for today:
Matthew 26:17-29
Mark 14:12-25
Luke 22:7-38
John 13 & 14 (+15-17 for full discourse)

Exodus 12 (especially verses 7 & 22)

The synoptic gospels record some of the basic facts – from varying points of view, of course – but John was there. He and Peter were the two disciples who were sent per Jesus’ instructions to prepare the Passover feast. They had undoubtedly celebrated two or three prior Passovers with him, so when it came to the day of Unleavened Bread – and time to make preparation – they asked him where – and he told them.

The annual seven-day celebration of Passover commemorated the Israelites’ escape from Egypt, when God directed the people (through Moses) to bake unleavened bread for their journey – bread that would not spoil – and then slaughter a lamb and put its blood on the outside of the door casing on the top and sides of the door frame so that when the angel of death ‘passed over’ their homes would be spared. It was a huge celebration every year after that – in remembrance of the miraculous deliverance of the Jewish people from 400 years of captivity in Egypt.

The lamb they were to eat would have been slaughtered at sundown (the night before in our thinking) – as that was the beginning of their day –  and the daylight hours would be spent doing the food preparation for the dinner they would share later in the day. 

It was customary for a servant to wash the feet of the guests when they entered a home. It was a practical and appropriate gesture. They wore sandals, and the dusty – or occasionally muddy – roads soiled their feet. On this night, Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. In fact, in John’s report of the evening, Jesus modeled the kind of behavior He wanted His followers to emulate. It is tender reading – both a mirror and a plumb line....

Matthew lets us know that there was more than one cup. I don’t recall what tradition says about how many there were in their remembrance celebration – and it doesn’t really matter – but what does matter is that Jesus used this moment to change the celebration to be about Him from that Passover forward instead of about the history of the Israelites.

There is a discrepancy of whether he gave them the bread first or the cup first. I’ll acknowledge that – then move on.... The words He said are reported differently as well, so the following is a summarization – with the intent intact – though they are certainly not precise quotes.

The Passover feast used unleavened bread – just as the Israelites would have baked in preparation for their flight from Egypt. Jesus took a crisp wafer of unleavened bread and graphically snapped it between His hands, then passed it to his disciples and said, “This is my body, broken for you....  Take and eat. Do this in remembrance of me.”

He also took the cup, gave thanks, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.... Drink all of it....”

The most bizarre thing is that John reports 5 long chapters of information –  most not mentioned in the other gospels – and he doesn’t report on this ‘sacrament’ at all.

Just a couple of additional observations: John may have felt the others already covered that – and he could fill in all of the other details they missed. He was there. Jesus would have followed the prescribed Passover, which slaughtered a perfect lamb to become the substitute for sin – and now He made this a model to be followed with a different application.

The Passover meal would go into the night, and in ‘their day’ move them from Thursday to Friday, since Friday (for them) began at 6 p m...

And – as a ‘sacrament’ that we follow, the words of institution say, “As oft as you do this, do this in remembrance of me.” They did it once a year – and only once a year – at Passover, at the ‘Feast of Unleavened Bread.’ And every time it was done from that day forward, instead of remembering the Israelites being rescued from the land of Egypt under Moses’ leadership, those who were followers of Christ celebrated the amazing gift of God’s love poured out for man...the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world…Jesus’ sacrificial gift which freed us from the curse of sin.

I realize I am being repetitious, but the importance of what he changed Passover to be is monumental and is worth reiterating.  

I cannot write all the things that fill my heart....  In John’s account, it appears they leave the Upper Room at the end of Chapter 14 – but on their journey to the Mount of Olives Jesus continues teaching them.... Re-reading these words now with all of this clearly in mind: knowing Judas has left to betray Jesus – yet Jesus’ focus is on final teaching moments – with some of my most favorite messages shared – between the upper room and the Mount of Olives, as they cross the Kidron Valley....

Read them for yourself, from His perspective.... I am the vine, you are the branches.... My command is this: love each other as I have loved you....

What amazing love....

Jesus gets no sleep tonight….

Journey to the Cross 2017, Day 37

Postscript for April 12  for yesterday's post.   I am repeating it here in case someone already read yesterday's and would miss my addition:

Oh my goodness!  I was just given the insight to understand Jesus' cursing of the fig tree.  I was bewildered because it wasn't even fig season.  This morning the Holy Spirit provided the revelation in response to my query.  (Thank you, Lord!)

Jesus, as Creator, knew the trees – just as he knows us – and he would have known that this particular tree didn’t produce any figs in the prior season.  He cursed the tree for not producing any fruit – and it hadn’t been! 

I am reminded that sometimes there are those who profess to be Christians but who aren’t producing any fruit.

That is the proof for Christian faith.  And if the tree is not producing – or in our case, the vine, then it is pruned…. 

Lord, help me be fruitful!

Wednesday, Day 37: The Final Week 

Countdown – 4 days

Reading for today:
Matthew 26:14-16
Mark 14:10-11
Luke 22:1-6


Jesus very likely went back to Bethany on Tuesday evening, and since the evening is the true beginning of the Jewish day, he was there Wednesday morning.

Wednesday is a quiet day as far as Biblical records show. Jesus may have spent the day quietly with friends in Bethany, may have spent the day alone in quiet contemplation, or ‘more of the same’ – talking to people who came out to Him on the Mount of Olives. We don’t know. What we do know is that the prince of darkness was working overtime in his attempt to destroy the Prince of Peace. Today’s readings make that very apparent.

We’ve known for several days that the Chief Priests and Pharisees were looking for a way to kill Jesus. In the accounts we’ve read they didn’t plan to do it during the Feast of the Passover because there were just too many people in town, and they feared a riot...but all of the events over the recent days were just too much for them. Jesus enraged them by not quelling the worshipping crowds on Sunday when He rode into the city in a way that clearly declared His status as Messiah. Jesus had the audacity to overturn the money-changers’ tables and drive out those who were selling doves. Jesus dared ask the Chief Priests and Pharisees a question instead of answering theirs when they asked by whose authority He did these things. Jesus was going to cause them to lose their political place if they didn’t silence Him. It was all about self-preservation in their view. They didn’t realize they, the religious, were being used as pawns in Satan’s direly destructive devious plan.

They were searching for a way – and Judas, one of his ‘devoted’ followers provided them exactly what they wanted. They must have thought it was “God’s will” when it worked out so ideally for them! Luke tells us: ‘Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus.’

This is a Lola ‘bunny trail’ – me trying to understand what Judas’ line of thinking really was. Was he in it for the glory – believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and wanted to ride his coattails to personal aggrandizement and position? Did he recognize Jesus truly was the Messiah and feel Jesus needed a nudge to pull out all the stops and be the militant-victor-type many believed the Messiah would be? Did Satan somehow deceive him into ‘taking things into His own hands’ to help that happen – convincing him that the end justified the means? Did he start out good – and then fail because of too much temptation in being the one who handled the money for the group? Was he just purely self-centered and a tad miffed that Jesus reprimanded him for saying the Oil of Nard Mary poured on Jesus’ head should be sold and given to the poor. Did he think it unfair that he didn’t have that money at his disposal? I don’t know.... We do know he had an unhealthy greed for money.... Perhaps that alone was his Achilles’ heel.  But he was one of the chosen.  He walked with Jesus.  He heard what Jesus taught.  He saw the miracles....  He is of all men to be most pitied.

We know that those who wanted Jesus destroyed were delighted with the arrangement, and that their scheme involved Judas’ giving Jesus to them when no crowds were present so they could do their dastardly deed in secret. Plotting pitiful perpetrators of unparalleled proportion.

Back at the ranch – meaning what was happening with Jesus and his followers – we just don’t know. In Jewish tradition the evening began the day, so they could logically have begun their preparation for the Passover feast ‘last night’ – any time after 6 p m on Tuesday – which to them would have been Wednesday.... I don’t know.

What I do know is that Jesus’ heart was full – and heavy. Full of love for us, and heavy for all that was soon to come....  He couldn’t know exactly what the pain would feel like – but He knew it was going to be horrific. He knew the events and the timing. He knew He would suffer intense agony. All for you. All for me. What amazing love.

Journey to the Cross 2017, Day 33

Friday, Day 33:        Countdown – 9 days

Reading for today:
Matthew 26:6-13
Mark 14:3-9
John 11:55-57 and 12:1-11
John is the only one of the Gospel writers who tells us that Jesus arrived 6 days before the Passover, and I am using his statement for establishing this portion of my timeline. Matthew and Mark’s accounts have led some to believe that Mary didn’t anoint Jesus with the expensive oil of Nard until the next Tuesday, but I hardly see how that could be possible. I’m not a scholar – and we don’t know for certain – but this is where I am dealing with that event and I think it fits. It also puts us on a day-by-day linear path in our journey toward the cross. 

We know from history that the whole ‘Feast of Unleavened Bread’ lasted a week. We also know that Jesus waited until just the right time to go up to Jerusalem. His journey to Jerusalem takes him through Bethany where He just raised Lazarus from the dead about 2 months earlier. On this night, Jesus is being entertained at the home of Simon the Leper. The dinner is in Jesus’ honor. I suspect Simon was a leper Jesus had healed. He wouldn’t have been hosting dinner if he were still a leper – but the moniker stuck....

We note that Lazarus is one of the guests at the meal – and that Jesus’ dear friend Martha is there helping serve. But not Mary. Mary, in gratitude for all Jesus had done for her family, including raising her brother from the dead, has brought a very expensive jar of perfume, and as Jesus reclines at the table – as was the custom in that day – she comes in and pours about a pint of the costly perfume onto his head. A pint is 2 cups. It would have soaked his hair and spilled down onto his clothing. John alone tells us that the woman was Mary. John alone tells us that the one who objected was Judas Iscariot.

Greedy Judas is infuriated at the waste of a year’s earnings:  money he says should have been spent helping the poor – and with what we know about him, more realistically intent on lining his own pockets.... Jesus defends her, and asserts that what she has done will be told throughout time for as long as people tell His story....

The scent of the Nard wafted through Simon’s home. Being so expensive, I doubt it washed off right away. It was a gift that lived on and ‘kept on giving’ for awhile....

The large crowd of Jews that came that evening to see this Jesus, who raised Lazarus from the dead – and to see Lazarus who was raised – certainly would have smelled it. Another story. Another memory. Another detail.

And while all of this wonderful was occurring, John lets us know that the Chief Priests are making plans to kill not just Jesus, but Lazarus as well. Lazarus was a liability, for because of the miracle of Jesus’ resurrecting him from the dead, many people were placing their faith in Jesus. All thorough criminals destroy the evidence, and that is what the religious elite were plotting.

It just amazes me that with so great a Savior performing such amazing miracles that they chose to pursue death instead of life – Eternal Life at that! What is sad is that it is the same today. In spite of all of the evidence that surrounds us, many do not see the Truth. Lord, as you walk with us, make blind eyes see!

Humor for today: More Bulletin Bloopers:
The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.

For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married Friday evening in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.