The letter of 1 John is one that many people are familiar with. There is a focus on multiple themes; from the truth of Jesus as the Son of God and as our advocate, to obedience as evidence of our love and of our faith that is manifested in love for others. But what I want to meditate on this morning is 5 verses found in chapter 4.

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Here we hear the call to love one another. This is not an unfamiliar call (cf. John 13:34,35; 15:12, Romans 12:10; 1 Thess. 4:9, 1 Peter 1:22; 4:8). This is something we all believe and hopefully we strive to do. And how vitally important this is in the time in which we find ourselves. Not only to help care for others in the midst of our ‘shelter in place’ order, but also to be loving and gracious toward others who hold different persuasions in regard to what should be done next as we move out of this season of sheltering. Love is an amazing attribute that we all hope and pray grows more fully in us.

Yet as great as the display of love between humans can be truly beautiful, there is a much greater love - that is the love of God. And John makes clear that his love is most plainly and undeniably seen in Jesus Christ. God sent Christ so that we could live. Ponder that for a moment! And he didn’t just send Jesus to give us some steps to follow in order to know how to live. He sent Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins. Now there is a million dollar word: propitiation. What does that mean?

To propitiate is to turn away wrath. It is the satisfaction of God’s demand for justice. God is holy and righteous - and that cannot be ignored. Our sins cannot merely be swept aside (cf. Romans 3:21-26). They must be dealt with. They must be atoned for. That is what Jesus did for his children. He took the penalty that our sins deserved. He died in our place. This is unquestionably the greatest love ever witnessed.

In the Heidelberg Catechism Question 37 asks (this in reference to a line in the Apostles’ Creed): “What do you understand by the word ‘suffered’?”

Answer: “That during his whole life on earth, but especially at the end, Christ sustained in body and soul the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race*. This he did in order that, by his suffering as the only atoning sacrifice he might deliver us, body and soul, from eternal condemnation, and gain for us God’s grace, righteousness, and eternal life.”

Jesus took the blame and bore the wrath - and because of him - through our faith in him - we stand forgiven at the cross. Take time to meditate on this glorious truth…this wonderful manifestation of the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

"The Power of the Cross" Official Lyric Video As performed by Keith & Kristyn Getty Stream this song and others on our official Spotify channel: https://open...

* For those who read this and wonder if it goes against the “L” in the TULIP - it does not. This, according to Ursinus (the primary author of the catechism), refers to the sufficiency of Christ’s death. It is absolutely sufficient for all, but it is efficient only for those who are God’s sheep (cf. John 10:11, also John 6:37, Matthew 1:21, Acts 20:28, Ephesians 5:25).

In retelling some of the story from the book of Isaiah, Sally Lloyd-Jones writes some of the more memorable lines in the Jesus Storybook Bible. She calls the chapter “Operation ‘No More Tears!’” and it lays out the heart of God to rescue his people. She writes of the baby to be born. He is a Royal Son who will come to the rescue. He will be a King. He will be a Hero. He will make the blind see and the lame walk…but people will hate him and kill him. She writes;

“He will be like a Lamb - he will suffer and die…But he won’t stay dead - I will make him alive again. And, one day, when he comes back to rule forever, the mountains and trees will dance and sing for joy! The earth will shout out loud! His fame will fill the whole earth - as the waters cover the sea! Everything sad will come untrue. Even death is going to die! And he will wipe away every tear from every eye.”

If you’ve been around me at all you’ve heard me quote that line…”Everything sad will come untrue.” God has promised to make all things new (cf. Isaiah 25:8; 35:10; Revelation 21:1-7). To take away our reproach…our pain…our tears. We live in a fallen world, but he will renew it. The resurrection of Christ is that visible guarantee that the Lord will do what he has promised. Come to him all you weary. Come to the heart of our Savior (Matthew 11:28-30).

This morning here is a beautiful song by Andrew Peterson called “All Things New.”

Come broken and weary
Come battered and bruised
My Jesus makes all things new
All things new

Come lost and abandoned
Come blown by the wind
He’ll bring you back home again
Home again

Rise up, O you sleeper, awake
The light of the dawn is upon you
Rise up, O you sleeper, awake
He makes all things new
All things new

Come burning with shame
Come frozen with guilt
My Jesus, he loves you still
Loves you still

Rise up, O you sleeper, awake
The light of the dawn is upon you
Rise up, O you sleeper, awake
He makes all things new
He makes all things new

The world was good
The world is fallen
The world will be redeemed

So hold on to the promise
The stories are true
That Jesus makes all things new
(The dawn is upon you)

Apparently you can download for free here.

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group All Things New · Andrew Peterson Resurrection Letters Volume 2 ℗ 2008 Andrew Peterson Released on: 2010-01-01 Pr...

It is another Monday…and another Monday under ‘stay-at-home’ orders from the governor. Not only that, but (unless something drastic brings about change) there are going to be at least three more Mondays beyond today. And often Mondays are hard enough as it is for many, but when it’s under circumstances like what we find ourselves in…it can be all the more gloomy.

This gloominess can often lead to anxiety.

Anxiety: a.) apprehensive uneasiness or nervousness usually over an impending or anticipated ill. b.) mentally distressing concern or interest. c.) a strong desire sometimes mixed with doubt, fear, or uneasiness.

And there is a weight to that on our lives. Proverbs 12:25: Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

Our hearts need encouragement. We are commanded to encourage and build up one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11). We know that must include more than mere words (James 2:14-16); however, my focus today is on words. A good word can cheer the heart. A good word can bring life back to a weary soul. I think it’s obvious that the greatest word that can cheer the soul is the Word of God…the gospel that calls sinners to repent and by faith come and find rest for their weary souls (Matthew 11:28-30). It is the word that tells us our sins are forgiven and that nothing (literally nothing…not a pandemic, not distress or danger) can separate those who are ‘in Christ’ from God’s love (Romans 8:31-39).

We desperately, moment by moment, need to hear that word. And we can hear that by ourselves in God’s Word, but it is also great to hear words of encouragement from one another. Maybe today…pick up the phone and call someone. Pray for them. Or send them a text that you have prayed for them and you want to know how you can continue to pray. Drop off some fresh baked bread or cookies with a note of encouragement.

Let’s be conduits of the good word that makes the heart glad. And remember this, those in Christ, though literally all hell should break loose, it is well with our souls because Christ regarded our helpless estate and shed his own blood for our souls.

Together for the Gospel Live 2008 - Bob Kauflin Buy album here: http://sovereigngracemusic.org/Albums/Together_for_the_Gospel_Live

When peace like a river attendeth my way 
When sorrows like sea billows roll 
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say 
It is well, it is well with my soul 

It is well with my soul 
It is well with my soul 
It is well, it is well with my soul 

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come 
Let this blest assurance control 
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate 
And has shed His own blood for my soul 

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought 
My sin, not in part, but the whole 
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more 
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul 

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight 
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll 
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend 
Even so, it is well with my soul 

Lately I have been thinking more about the nature of Jesus…not his divinity per se, but his character and his heart. It has been challenging, comforting, and convicting. When I tend to think of the Lord I gravitate towards the high and lofty. Passages like Hebrews 1:1-4:

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

That is well and good to consider and to ponder and to be used to generate praise and adoration in our hearts. But it is not the full story. As I prepared the sermon for today, one of the phrases in Ephesians 4:13 is that believers are to attain to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. The place I went to was Colossians 1:15-19 (another lofty passage on the grandeur of Christ). However, that felt incomplete - and perhaps so lofty that we could easily forget about it.

As believers we are being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). How is Jesus portrayed in the incarnation? In his ministry on earth? He was compassionate (Matthew 9:36). He is gentle and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29). He is full of grace and truth (John 1:14). He is fully resolute in and submissive to the will of the Father (Luke 22:39-44). Even now, risen and ascended he is our high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:14-16).

There is certainly more. We cannot exhaust the grandeur and the beauty of Christ. Take some time today and think through this beautiful reality: we who are united to Christ are being conformed to this image (and I have not scratched the surface of who Jesus is and who he is for us!). [I may likely have more posts related to this topic as the book “Gentle and Lowly” has been the catalyst for this thinking - I do highly recommend it.]

Whatever I need in Jesus dwells and there it dwells for me as I’m being confirmed to his image!

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Jesus, the Lord, my Savior is, 
My Shepherd, and my God; 
My light, my strength, my joy, my bliss; 
And I His grace record.

Whate’er I need in Jesus dwells, 
And there it dwells for me; 
’Tis Christ my earthen vessel fills 
With treasures rich and free.

Mercy and truth and righteousness, 
And peace, most richly meet 
In Jesus Christ, the King of grace, 
In Whom I stand complete.

As through the wilderness I roam, 
His mercies I’ll proclaim; 
And when I safely reach my home, 
I’ll still adore His name.

“Worthy the Lamb,” shall be my song, 
“For He for me was slain;” 
And me with all the heavenly throng 
Shall join, and say, “Amen.

Sometimes while reading Scripture it seems as though it leaps off the page at you. That’s what happened for me this morning as I was reading Psalm 81. This is a familiar psalm for me, but this morning the heart and character of God shone through this psalm with the brightness of the sun.

1 Sing aloud to God our strength; 

shout for joy to the God of Jacob! 

2 Raise a song; sound the tambourine, 

the sweet lyre with the harp. 

3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, 

at the full moon, on our feast day. 

4 For it is a statute for Israel, 

a rule of the God of Jacob. 

5 He made it a decree in Joseph 

when he went out over the land of Egypt. 

I hear a language I had not known: 

6 “I relieved your shoulder of the burden; 

your hands were freed from the basket. 

7 In distress you called, and I delivered you; 

I answered you in the secret place of thunder; 

I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah 

8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! 

O Israel, if you would but listen to me! 

9 There shall be no strange god among you; 

you shall not bow down to a foreign god. 

10 I am the Lord your God, 

who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 

Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. 

11 “But my people did not listen to my voice; 

Israel would not submit to me. 

12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, 

to follow their own counsels. 

13 Oh, that my people would listen to me, 

that Israel would walk in my ways! 

14 I would soon subdue their enemies 

and turn my hand against their foes. 

15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him, 

and their fate would last forever. 

16 But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, 

and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” 

As you read through that psalm - what leapt off the page for you? We see that it begins with a call to give God great praise. God has delivered his people from slavery, from bondage. The allusion is to the exodus, and for believers today there is a greater picture - our redemption from slavery to sin. But what it shows is God responds to our pleas, to our cries. And then when we see verses 8 & 9, God’s heart admonishes and warns his people of danger - specifically of the danger of foreign gods, of idols that we bow down to and to whom we give our allegiance.

And then the folly of that turning to false gods is shown so clearly in verse 10. The image is of baby birds opening their mouths wide as can be for their mother to feed them with everything they need. God is saying to his people - “Simply open up…come to me…and I will fill you with all you need.” Can you hear the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30? What about Psalm 23:5 or John 15:11 or Ephesians 3:14-19?

Yet the Lord will let us suffer in our poor choices to help us to see our own folly. Yet he longs for us to choose the path of blessing, the path of abundance. He is the God who longs to bless us (see v. 16).

Oh may we hear the heart of our God! May we hear the delight he has in his children and how he delights (yes…delights) to care for us and to provide us with abundant blessings. His grace is magnificent. And those blessings are most clearly and gloriously shown to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let us open our mouths wide and be filled with the goodness of our God!!

Two songs this morning. The first is Good and Gracious King by CityAlight. Beautiful words. The second is from The Gray Havens - Storehouse. (Here’s a little information about the song)

"Good and Gracious Kingl" from our new album "Only a Holy God" recorded live at our church St Paul's Castle Hill available to purchase at http://apple.co/2h3...

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

As we continue on with our isolation - and now it has been codified a bit more with a “Stay at home” order from Governor DeWine yesterday. It has me thinking about a good deal of things. But what I want to consider right now is something about who we are. As we face uncertain times, and everyone is going through this, as the people of God, what is it that makes us distinct?

When you think about the American people throughout history you think of resilience. You think about the whole grand American experiment - the melting pot. I think about how advanced we have become in technology. I think about my great grandmother who saw from the first car and first flight to the space shuttle in her lifetime. We have so much understanding of the way the physical world works. But this one is being tested right now by a microscopic virus that has wreaked havoc on much of the world’s economy and psyche as it is causing fear and anxiety to run rampant.

Those things above are really true of so many - but what is it about God’s people that sets them apart? How is it that God’s people are distinct?

Exodus 33:

14 And [the LORD] said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 And [Moses] said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” 

Moses pleaded with the Lord that His presence would continue to go with the people. Moses knew that was what set the people of Israel apart from all others.

[On a contextual note: this pleading came after the horrific golden calf incident. Moses had been delayed on the mountain (40 days) and the people clamored for Aaron to make them gods to worship. Aaron instructed the people to take off their gold and bring it all to him. And he fashioned an idol in the shape of a calf. Then he made a proclamation: Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD (32:5). The audacity to proclaim that the calf he had just made was Yahweh - was the God who brought them out of the land of Egypt. It is easy to see why the Lord called them a “stiff-necked people.”]

Moses understood that context, but he also knew that without the presence of the Lord going with them all - going on was not an option. And by Moses’ intercession, his mediation, the Lord promised His presence. Here is a beautiful aspect to this story: Moses prefigured the intercession and work of Christ on behalf of His people. We could spend much time looking at this, but back to the focus of the presence of God with His people - with those He has redeemed from slavery. God’s presence is with his people - and today that is not an ethnic group, but those who are called out of darkness into God’s marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). God is with the church.

It makes me think of one of the last interactions Jesus had with his disciples.

17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:17-20)

The promise of His presence. That is what makes us distinct. God is with us. He will never leave or forsake His people (Hebrews 13:5). And His presence is empowering. In this time - we (the church) has a tremendous opportunity to be a witness to the power and presence of God.

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Let us rest in His presence, and live as people who know this promise. May we be witnesses to His greatness and glory to all around us, especially in these times of great uncertainty. One thing is certain - those who know the Lord will be with him for all eternity.

This song may not be a perfect fit to all that I have written, but it is a beautiful song about our ability to rest in God’s work and his presence with us.