He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Those are words that the believer can rightly speak every day, every moment of his or her life. This truth is not something we remember only one Sunday a year, but every day of the year. It is part of what the church has confessed from the earliest time: “…the third day he rose again from the dead…” (The Apostles’ Creed) and “…the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures” (The Nicene Creed). We confess this truth because it is the bedrock of our faith. If there were no resurrection we would all be fools and we would still be in our sins (1 Corinthians 15:17-19). [Remember to watch the final video in the series from Crossway]

But the truth is Christ has risen from the dead! The work of redemption was not only finished, but proven true in this glorious display of the power of God. Christ redeemed sinners from the curse of the law. That is something we must all grasp. And when we do it makes the truth so much more powerful.

I remember going to the Together for the Gospel conference in 2008. And there R.C. Sproul spoke on Galatians 3:10-14, and it may be one of the more powerful and faithful expositions of Scripture I have ever heard. I miss this man. He has had a tremendous influence on me and I would encourage you to take the hour and watch the message below. It will deepen your appreciation for the work of Christ on your behalf. Listen and let it lead you to deeper worship of our risen and reigning Savior!

10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. 

There are so many songs I could pick for this day, but this one has words that speak well to the reality and the joy of what Christ did for us: “The Power of the Cross.” But it must be paired with this song: “Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed.” When we speak today, there is no separation between the cross and the resurrection. They are the work of God on behalf of sinners like you and me, and praise God they are!!

This message is from the 2008 Together for the Gospel conference. Purchase this conference as a digital download: http://www.ligonier.org/store/together-for-...

One final guest post by Tristan this week.

What should we make of this day––a day between the anguish of Christ’s death and the triumph of his resurrection? Do we go on mourning, or do we rejoice because we know what comes next? I think that both responses are appropriate, but neither seems completely satisfying given the limbo in which Holy Saturday leaves us. So let’s look at what Scripture tell us about this day.

Very little is recorded. In fact, it’s only Matthew who offers us any account of the day’s events. In chapter 27, beginning in verse 62, we read:

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that imposter said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

Interestingly enough, Matthew doesn’t focus his attention on the response of Jesus’ disciples and friends. Rather, he is concerned with how those opposed to Jesus respond to his death and impending resurrection. And their response tells us two things.

First, it’s fascinating that, for Jesus’s entire earthly ministry, the Jewish leaders wanted him dead, but, now that they’ve accomplished their goal, they still feel like they’ve left the job undone. In their effort to drown out Jesus’ words, they can’t help but sense that he may have been telling the truth all along. They’d heard Jesus predict his resurrection over and over, but what if he really would rise from the dead on the third day? The chief priests and Pharisees haven’t chosen to submit to Jesus, but their inability to completely disregard his words tells us that they know that he speaks with authority. And this authority transcends even Jesus’ earthly life.

Second, notice how Jesus’ enemies label him. They call him an “imposter” and tell Pilate that, if the disciples steal Jesus’ body, then “the last fraud will be worse than the first.” This is what the chief priests and Pharisees think of Jesus––he’s a deceiver, and his movement is a hoax. But they also seek to prevent what they fear will be more deception. Why? Perhaps it is because they understand the significance of the resurrection. If Jesus actually rises from the dead (or, in their thinking, if Jesus’ disciples can convince the crowds that he’s risen from the dead), then he has been telling the truth. And if what Jesus said about his resurrection is true, it assures us that all that he ever said is true.

Holy Saturday prompts us to reflect on the authority and truth of our Savior’s words. Jesus’ lifelessness on this day may have caused his followers to question if he would rise again as he had said. And, in a world where decay, disease, and death seem to have the final word, we may live in the uncertainty that is Holy Saturday. But, yet again, Jesus assures us with his words: In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

And the song for today: Ah, Holy Jesus, How Have You Offended?

Holy Week, Day 7: Saturday Saturday, April 4, AD 33. To continue through the week, follow the link below for Resurrection Sunday: https://vimeo.com/89509380 The link for Palm Sunday: vimeo.com/89013208 The link for Monday: vimeo.com/89117797 The link for Tuesday: vimeo.com/89651201 The link for Wednesday: vimeo.com/89420035 The link for Thursday: https://vimeo.com/89420081 The link for Friday: vimeo.com/89429101

Today I am providing another guest post by Tristan. I so wish we could be together this evening for a service. I pray that today you meditate on this most important of days in the ministry of Jesus. Without this suffering, we would have no hope.

On Good Friday, the Church remembers Jesus’ death on the cross. And while it can be a bit off-putting to call something so terrible as death “good”, in this case, that label seems to be the most appropriate term at our disposal if we understand it properly. 

There are a number of places where the word “good” is used in Scripture, but it is perhaps most familiar to us in the creation account found in Genesis 1. As God knits together heaven and earth, fills the sky and the sea, allows the dry land to flourish, and, at last, creates man in his own image, there is this refrain: And God saw that it was good. The creation account finds its culmination in verse 31 where the text tells us, And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. In the beginning, God creates, and his creation is good. But this “good” isn’t the same “good” that I might use to describe freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies or an evening spent with friends. It is not the bottom tier of the “good, better, best” spectrum. No, this “good” is as good as it gets. In fact, the Hebrew word tov, which we translate “good,” actually has connotations of perfection or wholeness. It is as though God has said about his creation: “My work is complete; it simply cannot be improved upon.” 

And this is the same understanding of good warranted by its usage to describe the Friday on which our Savior was crucified. When God declared his creation good, it was in perfect relationship with him. But our sin destroyed this relationship. By violating God’s commandments, we made ourselves unfit to stand in his presence. That is why we need Jesus. Our only hope of returning to the goodness of Eden was through the death of a sinless Savior. 

In the account of the crucifixion we learn that, as Jesus breathed his last, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom (Mt. 27:51). In the Old Testament, the veil existed to keep the people of Israel from the direct presence of God. It’s not as though God didn’t want to have a relationship with his people. In fact, he created us for loving relationship with him. But, because God is also just, he must respond to sin by punishing it. He knew that, as a sinful people, Israel could not avoid his wrath with their sin unatoned for. The veil was a reminder that there was no way for them to be in right relationship with God on their own. But with Jesus’ death, all of that changed. Jesus is the way to the Father. 

In many ways, Jesus’s final words echo those of his Father at creation. As Jesus cries It is finished, he declares once and for all that his work is complete. It is perfect. It cannot be improved upon. Jesus’s death for our sins means that, by believing in him, we are on our way back to Eden, to the new heavens and the new earth, to perfect union with God. And that is good news indeed!

And then let me add another song choice - this one by Andrew Peterson. It is a meditative song that goes through the last words of Christ from the cross, appropriately called “Last Words (Tenebrae).” And because of the large repertoire of songs for this season, here is a great hymn: “There is a Fountain Filled with Blood.”

Holy Week, Day 6: Friday Friday, April 3, AD 33. To continue through the week, follow the link below for Saturday: https://vimeo.com/89436644 The link for Palm Sunday: vimeo.com/89013208 The link for Monday: vimeo.com/89117797 The link for Tuesday: vimeo.com/89651201 The link for Wednesday: vimeo.com/89420035 The link for Thursday: https://vimeo.com/89420081

Today I am turning over the blog to a guest post - Tristan has written an excellent devotional in regard to what happened on this day.

“Maundy” is derived from the Latin word mandatum, translated “commandment.” It refers to Jesus’ words in John 13:34: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” Jesus said this on the day he instituted the Lord’s Supper, prayed in Gethsemane, and was given over to be crucified. But with so much action, why do we define the Thursday of Holy Week simply by Jesus’ words to his followers in the hours before his death? I think it is because these words serve two functions. 

First, they summarize what has come before. When Jesus spoke to his disciples in John 13, it’s not as though he was springing something entirely foreign on them. The Old Testament had clearly commanded love of neighbor (Lev. 19:18). So why did Jesus call his commandment “new”? Well, in all of Israel’s history, no one had seen obedience to this commandment modeled perfectly. The Israelites had a sense of what it required, based on all of the other commandments that God gave them, but they’d never seen this neighbor-love on full display. Now, Jesus tells his disciples that they are to love one another “just as I have loved you.” In other words, Jesus’ life and ministry are intended to give us a picture of what obedience to the law looks like. On Maundy Thursday, we remember that Jesus didn’t just fulfill the law; he perfected our understanding of it.

Second, Jesus’ words also foretell what would come to pass in the next 24 hours. In John 15, Jesus says, This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you (v. 12). Notice that Jesus repeats what he said just a few chapters earlier. But then he offers an even more radical notion of love. He continues, Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (v. 13). Self-sacrifice, Jesus says, is love on display. In the past, Jesus had instructed crowds of followers to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Mt. 5:44). He had told a parable about a Samaritan who was a neighbor to a Jew (Lk. 10:25–37). And just that night, he had knelt down in the presence of his disciples and washed their feet, setting an example of humility and servitude (Jn. 13:1–20). All along, Jesus had shown in his life and ministry what love for one another looked like in the day-to-day, but it is in his death that he offers the greatest example of love. On Maundy Thursday, we anticipate the lengths to which our Savior went to show his love for us.

Maundy Thursday invites us to reflect on the life of Christ, to learn to imitate him, to obey him. But it also invites us to marvel. No one had ever seen love like this. No one had ever known love like this. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God (I Jn. 3:1a).

And for your listening pleasure: O the Deep Deep Love of Jesus

Holy Week, Day 5: Thursday Thursday, April 2, AD 33. To continue through the week, follow the link below for Friday: https://vimeo.com/89429101 The link for Palm Sunday: vimeo.com/89013208 The link for Monday: https://vimeo.com/89117797 The link for Tuesday: https://vimeo.com/89651201 The link for Wednesday: https://vimeo.com/89420035

It is Tuesday of Holy Week and it sure seems as though things are ramping up in the interactions between Jesus and the religious leadership. What happened the day before was not something that sat well with the Jewish leadership. Jesus was illegitimate in their eyes and he was taking the attention away from them…he was usurping their authority and power in the eyes of the people.

Tuesday was filled with interaction - much of it involved the religious leaders seeking to trap Jesus in his words. But they couldn’t do it. You can’t trick perfection. You cannot trip up the Holy One of God. In fact, they were consistently shut down in their attempts through the gracious and pointed words of Jesus.

There is much to read and consider in this day, and I certainly cannot write on all it, so let me briefly highlight the parable of the tenants.

33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” 

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: 

“ ‘The stone that the builders rejected 

has become the cornerstone; 

this was the Lord’s doing, 

and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” 

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet. (Matthew 21:33-46)

Clearly the tenants are the Jewish leaders who are fighting against Jesus. But they have rejected the truth. They have rejected the stone upon which everything is built. There is fulfillment of prophecy here - Isaiah 8:14 and Daniel 2:44, but more importantly the call is to see Jesus as who he is. He is not some usurper of authority; he is the ultimate authority He is the one upon which all stands or falls. And he is asserting what is rightly his. He is the cornerstone, chosen and precious (1 Peter 2:6-8). He is the one we are called to believe and to realize that there is salvation in no one else (Acts 4:11,12).

It is amazing that the perfect Son of God gave himself to be wounded for us so that we could know life and salvation.

Here is a song to meditate on this day - “O Sacred Head Now Wounded.”

Holy Week, Day 3: Tuesday Tuesday, March 31, AD 33. To continue through the week, follow the link below for Wednesday: https://vimeo.com/89420035 The link for Palm Sunday: vimeo.com/89013208 The link for Monday: https://vimeo.com/89117797

It’s Monday of Holy Week. What we see on this day in this last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry is that he curses a fig tree and he cleanses the Temple. Why? Why does he do this?

Well, he comes upon a fig tree and he sees it in leaf. The presence of leaves signified that there should be fruit (even out of season), but there wasn’t. It looked as though it would have fruit, but it didn’t. And so Jesus cursed the tree.

Next he comes to the Temple. Let’s look at Mark’s account in chapter 11.

15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.

There is a relation between these two events. Jesus judged the fig tree for showing forth the signs of fruit, but not producing any. He judged the Temple for not being the place of prayer, the place of worship. It had the appearance of a place of worship and holiness, but it was not functioning in that manner. In a sense, both the tree and the Temple were hypocritical - they had the appearance of the right thing, but weren’t producing the fruit that was to be present…and he judged them both.

Isn’t that too true of all of us? Are we not all hypocrites? Do we not all deserve the judgment of God?

Praise God for the work of Christ to die for sinners and to take the judgment we deserve upon himself!! Without that work, without Christ, we would all be without hope. But by the grace of God, the love of God, we have a sure hope in what Christ did for sinners.

2 Corinthians 5:21: For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This week I’m going to try and highlight hymns/songs about the passion of Christ. For our first installment, the great hymn “Alas! And did My Savior Bleed?”

Holy Week, Day 2: Monday Monday, March 30, AD 33. To continue through the week, follow the link below for Tuesday: https://vimeo.com/89651201 The link for Palm Sunday: https://vimeo.com/89013208

This is the start of Holy Week. It doesn’t have the same feel that we would expect, but it doesn’t take away the reality of what we celebrate and remember. This is a week set aside to remember the final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Though we celebrate the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus daily as believers, there is something that feels a bit more special about this week. Not only is it more on the mind of believers, but the whole world seems to know that this is Holy Week, no matter what they actually know about it.

For this week I’m mainly going to post a little bit about each day (I may say something else related to what we are all going through right now - so I have to say ‘mainly’). A number of years ago Crossway put together some great graphics and short videos about each day of Holy Week. We generally understand what happened on Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter morning - but what about the rest of the week? These videos and graphics will help guide you through those days. Take the time and read the Scriptures and mediate on this final week of Jesus’ life.

Remember, in the midst of a global pandemic, there is nothing more solid, nothing that needs to be remembered more clearly, nothing that needs to be celebrated more than the solid and life-giving truth of Jesus and all he went through on behalf of his children. Let the pain of this time point to the beauty and sure hope of our resurrection with our Lord. Let the despair and anxiety lead us to the hope and surety of Christ. Let the disrupted nature of our lives point to what Jesus gives us with his life - peace with God (Luke 24:36; cf. Isaiah 9:6; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:14; Colossians 1:20).

Let’s take time this week and focus on who Christ is and what he has done for us (let us do it as together as we possibly can though we are ‘socially distanced’ from each other). Let this truth be the true anchor of our soul - and let us pray for and find ways to share that truth with others.

Holy Week, Day 1: Palm Sunday Sunday, March 29, AD 33. To continue through the week, please follow the link below for Monday: https://vimeo.com/89117797