It seems that Tuesday of this week in Jesus' life was a busy day. I'm not 100% sure on these details, but it looks like this is correct, though each Gospel has it laid out a little differently. None the less, much was happening on this day in Jesus' life, and He had much to complete before Friday. Here is what I believe happened.
The first thing in the morning Jesus curses the fig tree.
Jesus' authority is challenged in the temple.
Jesus teaches in parables and confronts the Jewish Leaders.
Jesus laments over Jerusalem.
Jesus foretells the end of the age.
The Greeks ask to see Jesus.
The Olivet Discourse.
Judas agrees to betray Jesus.
Each night it appears that Jesus stayed in Bethany, about 2 miles away from Jerusalem, possibly with Lazarus, Mary and Martha. What a glorious time this must have been for them. I wonder if Jesus was even more focused than usual? The Bible doesn't record for us any time that He laughed, but I would think this would not have been a time of much laughter for Him.
How much more was He teaching them than He had been previously? He only had a few days left; if I knew when my last hours on earth were, I would be giving many final instructions. His final instructions were much more important than mine could ever be. Did they understand more today than previously? Isn't it awesome that He has left us His final instructions that we can read whenever we like? Should we not be more interested?
The power of sin in Judas' heart had to be incredible. For him to spend 3 years with God incarnate and turn his back on Him and sell Him for a few dollars is unthinkable, but this was all the Father's plan and Jesus tells us that no one took His life, but He laid it down willingly, and Judas was just part of that plan.
As I am thinking about this week, much differently than before, I am humbled by the fact that Christ would go to such lengths for me; He calls sinners to repentance just for His glory. He doesn't need our praise to make Him great; He is already great, we just get to worship Him because He allows it. We can have righteous thoughts about our Great God, because He draws us to Himself, and gives us the righteous thoughts.
We would have been the people going on with our daily lives, busy before the "holiday weekend"; making preparations for the guests coming over; all caught up in the celebration of what? Oh, we totally missed the point of the celebration by being so busy.
What will this Tuesday hold for you? Are you thinking about the seriousness of this week? Is this week any different than any other week of the year, but it happens to have a "mandatory church day" affiliated with it? Or, is this the most amazing week of your entire year?
God left Heaven to come to earth and be killed for you and me and this week is the week when we celebrate His sacrifice on our behalf; should we not be more serious this week? Should this not cause us to stop and reflect on the cost?
Lord, may we be a thankful, humble, repentant, grateful and worshiping people. May our lives reflect the life that You gave to us. May we be lights in a dark world. Give us boldness to tell of Your greatness. This is a most glorious week. A week that cost You Your life, to give us ours. If we are silent, the rocks will cry out in our place, so may we NOT be silent. Thank You for Your unspeakable Gift. May we be excited to share the Good News with others.
No comments:
Post a Comment