Good Friday (Friday)

Acts 3:25, 26 NLT

“And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it.  He gave it to them and said, ‘Each of you drink from it, (28) for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people.  It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.”

I recently completed a series of sermons about the formal trials of Jesus.  What amazed me about these trials is how that in a twelve hour time frame five or six different times Jesus' identity, integrity, and authority were all questioned all in a formal trial setting.  Annas, Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin Counsel, Pilate, Herod, and back to Pilate all played a role in questioning Jesus.  Then Jesus was led to a place call Calvary.  There is something about Calvary!  

I wondered what bothered Jesus the most in the last 24 hours before his crucifixion.  Was it when they tied him and led him to Pilate, the governor? Was it when he heard that Judas had hanged himself? Was it the cry of the people to "crucify him, crucify him"? Was it the beating with whips? Was it the crowning with a crown of thorns? Was it when the people bowed before Jesus and made fun of him, saying, "Hail, King, of the Jews!" Was it when some spit on him? Was it when some of the soldiers "cast lots" for his clothing? Was it the insults from the people that walked by and said, "You said you could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days. So save yourself! Come down from that cross if you are really the Son of God!" Or was it the nails being driven through the hands and feet of Jesus that hurt Him the most?

Unlike many of us, Jesus did not dwell on all of His hurts.  Nowhere in scripture do I hear Jesus saying, "What hurt me the most is..."  What Jesus did think about when on the cross was what came out of his mouth, "It is finished!"  Triumph, not defeat, was on his mind.

"When He was on the cross, I was on His mind."  Not in the sense of remembering all the disappointments of man but remembering that we needed a Savior.  I know for a fact that many times I have disappointed Christ but He has never disappointed me.  Jesus wants us to be a winner not a loser.  He bled that I can be more than a conqueror through Him.  It is by His blood that I overcome sin.

Scripture for today:  Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 22:66-23:56; John 18:29-19-37

At the Passover Meal (Thursday)

Jesus sat down with his disciples for the Passover meal. During the course of the evening Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. Then he did a very symbolic thing in taking a cup, probably pouring into the cup, thanked God for it and gave it to his followers. Another part of that passage of scripture tell us that Jesus "poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples feet" (John 13:5).

Today I encourage you to read the events that unfolded at the Passover meal between Christ and his disciples.  Notice how intentional Jesus was at the table.  The conversation and the actions he did were intentional.  Jesus had a mission to fulfill and in the last hours before his crucifixion he needed to make the best of his time with his disciples.

Life is short compared to eternity.  My prayer today is that I will become more intentional about my conversation with others.  I read recently where you should think about whom you are going to meet today and think about the questions that you may want to ask.

Most of us speak thousands of words a day.  One study showed that the human being on an average will speak somewhere between 7,000 and 20,000 words a day.  That is a lot of words!

Who is it that you will fellowship with today?  Who is it that you will sat down for a meal with?  What can you learn from them?  How can you be an encouragement to those you speak with today?

Make your words count by being intentional about your conversation.  And as Jesus probably poured into the cup as well as the basin of water at the supper table, I encourage you to invest encouraging words into the lives of others.  Pour into someone today words of encouragement as well as allow them to speak into your life.  At the end of the day you should be encourage and an encourager to others.

Scripture for today:  Matthew 26:17-30; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-23; John 13:1-30

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT HOLY WEEK? (Wednesday)

One of my friends once stated that he used to have a pretty good memory but was now to the point that he could hide his own Easter eggs. Memory is a funny thing. Some things seem to be imprinted on our mind while other things we forget immediately.

During Holy Week, the day after the crucifixion of Christ and the day before his Resurrection we see several things that have been imprinted on the minds of many.

Matthew 27:55 (NCV) says, Many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee to help him were standing at a distance from the cross, watching. I am sure that what they saw on Friday was still imprinted on their mind Sunday morning.

On the next day the leading priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. They remembered the words of Jesus when he said, "in three days I will rise from the dead (Matthew 27:63)."  I am sure this was imprinted on their mind.

Then we have the disciples that had followed Jesus but we find in John 20:19 that on the evening of the first day of the week, they were together. The doors were locked, because they were afraid of the elders. These disciples probably had spent most of the weekend together with imprinted on their mind the many teachings of Jesus.

What is it that you remember the most about this week?  What event or words lay heavy in your mind and on your heart?  What is it that leaves a lasting impression on your mind?  Today, may we remember the events of this week and at the same time look with expectation of great things to happen on Easter Sunday! 

Scripture for today:  Matthew 27:62-66; Luke 23:56

FACING CHALLENGES (Tuesday)

The last week of Jesus' ministry on earth, before his crucifixion, he spent a lot of time teaching and a lot of time dealing with confrontation.  On one of these days during this week Jesus was challenge by the chief priests and the scribes, along with the elders of his day with the question, "Who gave you this authority?"  Jesus was teaching in the temple when the "religious people" of his day brutally interrupted him and questioned his rights to be teaching in the temple.  Imagine, someone challenging Jesus and his right to teach while in the temple!

Several years ago I was preaching when a visitor stood up in the middle of the church service and claimed that God had given him the other half of my sermon.  Needless to say this confusion was not of God and disrupted that particular church service.  I felt at that moment that my authority to preach the word had just been challenge.  To this day I am not for sure that as a young pastor I responded wisely to the challenge.

But Jesus knew how to answer every challenge of life.  When Jesus was asked the question "Who gave you this authority?" Jesus in returned asked, "When John baptized people, did that come from God or just from other people?"  The religious leaders fearing if they said, "It came from God," then Jesus would say, "Then why didn't you believe him?"   And if the religious leaders said that it came from people they were afraid of the crowd, because the crowd believed that John was indeed a prophet.

The religious leaders answered, "We don't know!"  Jesus said, "Then I won't tell you what authority I have to do these things."  It seems that Jesus always had the right answer for every challenge, and sometime Jesus just didn't answer the challenge at all!

I learned years ago that I do not have to answer every challenge; Jesus didn't.  Some challenges are nothing more than a distraction and is not worth the energy that we invest in the fight.  If Jesus had answered every question and accepted every challenge, he never would have made it to the cross and died for my sin.  I am glad that Jesus was wise enough to see that some challenges was no more than an attempt from the enemy to cause a distraction.

Don't feel pressured into accepting every challenge in life.  You too need to make it to the foot of the cross and some challenges will hinder your vision of the place that Jesus died for you. There are some things I know I have to confront with God's help, but I believe there are some things that I hear God saying, "Let me take care of this for you."

Thank you Lord for the challenges of life that I never have to confront because you have my front and my back side!

"But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard."  (Isaiah 52:12 NIV)

Scripture for today:  Matthew 21:23-46; Matthew 22:1-46;Luke 20:1-40

Staying Focus (Monday)

“Palm Sunday” was a very emotional time for Jesus.  Jesus entered Jerusalem and multitudes followed him crying Hosanna to the sons of David. But now it is Monday, and Jesus was very much aware that it is the last Monday before the crucifixion.  How will he spend his last Monday here on earth before the crucifixion?  

I turned this morning to Matthew's account to read of one of the first things that Jesus did upon entering the city is that he went to the temple. There he found things happening that were displeasing to him and states "It is written 'My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves (or a hideout for robbers).'"  This always seems to be the emphasis place on this scripture as if we have bragging rights that Jesus would exhibit his anger in the temple.

But are we seeing too much of the wrong that is happening in the church today to see the good?  I have been in ministry leadership for 38 years and it never fails.  If a person loses their focus on God, they will begin to focus on the wrong of others and many times “drop out” of church.  The wrong cannot be ignored, and Jesus did address the wrong at hand by turning over the money changer’s tables and chairs, but that was not his main objective of going to the temple.

Jesus’ main focus was on the blind and the lame in the temple.  Matthew account’s tells us that they were healed, I believed immediately.  He noticed the children singing praises to Him.  In fact, they were repeating some of the same praise that they had heard from the adults the day before.  The leading priest and the teachers in the temple wanted to find fault in the children by saying, "Do you hear the things these children are saying?  Jesus answered, 'Yes, Haven't you read in the Scriptures, 'You have taught children and babies to sing praises' (Matthew 21:16 NCV)."

Can we too look beyond the faults of others to see the needs of the blind or the lame in the church?  How many spiritually blind folks did you see yesterday in church?  Did you notice the children singing?  Did you notice the worship of those around you?  

My prayer this morning is that God will help us today, not looking for the fault in others, but looking for the needs of others.  

 Today, look for someone in need and be a blessing by doing something out of the ordinary for them.

Scriptures for today:  Matthew 21:10-17; Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-48