Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city, and a huge crowd of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet him, shouting, ‘The Savior! God bless the King of Israel! Hail to God’s Ambassador!’ Jesus rode along on a young donkey, fulfilling the prophecy that said: ‘Don’t be afraid of your King, people of Israel, for he will come to you meekly, sitting on a donkey’s colt!’”
John 12: 12-15 (TLB)“Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father… So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him…After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, ‘Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.’”
John 13: 1, 4-5, 12-15 (NLT)“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
John 19: 30 (NIV)And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land[a] until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “E′lo-i, E′lo-i, la′ma sabach-tha′ni?” which means, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’… And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God!’”
Mark 15: 33-34, 37-39 (RSV)“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?’”
Matthew 16: 24-26 (NLT)
Entering Holy Week yesterday, we paused with millions around the world to recognize Palm Sunday. That day over 2000 years ago when Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, made His triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem.
People greeted Him waving palm branches, anticipating that Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah, was coming to take over the rule of the day.
Yet instead of entering boldly on a stallion carrying their anticipated new ruler and king, Jesus entered riding on a donkey colt, a symbol of peace and humility.
The conquering King of Kings—humble, loving, healing, and saving. The people anticipated an exciting moment for the day, but Christ was on a mission for the world for eternity.
For you and for me.
Then gathering His disciples for the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday, in the Upper Room, He first washed their feet.
All of them. Even Judas, the one who would betray Him.
Then continuing with His mission, the next day, Good Friday, betrayed and heading to His inevitable crucifixion, He was beaten, whipped, spit upon, cursed, and while bleeding and in pain, was nailed to a wooden cross in the third hour (9:00 a.m.), and then had the cross raised between the crosses of two thieves on a hill called Calvary.
And in the growing darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour (noon to 3:00 p.m.) Jesus Christ marked the final three hours of His life on that day.
Until He said, “‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
And when “Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”
While “the centurion, who stood facing Him, saw that He thus breathed his last…said, ‘Truly this Man was the Son of God!’”
Jesus’ life leaves us with an example, and a call to us each day to touch the world with Him and for Him, reflected in this beautiful anthem by Buryl Red and Ragan Courtney, entitled “In Remembrance of Me,” sharing in part—
“…In remembrance of Me heal the sick. In remembrance of Me feed the poor.
In remembrance of Me open the door, and let your brother in, let him in…
In remembrance of Me, search for truth. In remembrance of Me always love.
In remembrance of Me, don’t look above, but look in your heart, in your heart.
Look in your heart for God.
Do this in remembrance of Me. Do this in remembrance of Me.
In remembrance of Me.”
More than a moment. It was mission for our lives, our world, for eternity.
In remembrance of Jesus Christ—the King of Kings.
In His Name–Scott
You will be blessed by this beautiful Communion Hymn, “In Remembrance of Me” by Buryl Red and Ragan Courtney.
