“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Good Morning and Happy Easter. Welcome to Coffee Corner, come on in and find a seat. Don’t forget to sit 6 feet apart. Oh, for goodness sake, just sit wherever you feel like. Don’t forget to get your coffee, tea or water in the back. I would love to tell you where today’s coffee is from but I threw away the bag and can’t remember. Getting old stinks does it not? Any hoot, today’s coffee is a dark roast with hints of chocolate. I hope you enjoy.
This year as I prepared for the Easter season I just could not stop thinking about the last week of Jesus’ life, particularly the last 24 hours. So for this session of Coffee Corner, I thought I would speak on the timeline of Holy Week. I believe there is much we can learn. You better buckle in and hold onto your seats for this will be a rather quick recap. Are you ready? Let’s go.
Holy week starts with Monday and is highlighted by Jesus entering the Temple and clearing it out. "Is it not written "My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers." (Mark 11:15-17) Jesus said this because the marketplace in the temple is where people used unbalanced scales and charged exorbitant prices for inferior sacrifices. Is your temple, your life, a house of prayer or is it like the temple in Jesus' day, a house full of lies, greed and irreverence. As we come to God each one of us becomes a temple of the Most High and he expects us to treat our bodies, minds, and lives as we would a physical temple. So how are you treating your temple?
Holy Tuesday we see Jesus teaching for the last time in the Temple and during this teaching Jesus predicts his death. However, even more important, Jesus invites us to come enjoy his sacrifice. And yet that seems wrong for us to enjoy his sacrifice, does it not? And yet we should enjoy it for through his sacrifice we are made clean and are grafted into the family of God.
We arrive at Holy Wednesday. This is the day that Judas agrees to betray Jesus for a mere 10 pieces of silver. All the while we also witness Mary pouring expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet and washes his feet with her hair. The contrast is striking. This reminds me of the Jesus’ question of “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Matthew 16:26). Here is where Christ is waiting for us to make our decision, will we sell our souls for this world or will we give all we are to live eternally with Christ?
Maundy Thursday begins the dark hours with Jesus offering his body and his blood at the last supper. We also experience Jesus taking on the role of slave and washes the disciple’s feet. At this time, only Jesus really understood the significance of these acts. Not till his death and resurrection will we and the disciples understand the life changing significance of these acts. Jesus was giving us all a way to participate in his sacrifice. Every time we eat the bread and drink the wine (or the Welches grape juice as we practice in my church) we join in Christ’s suffering and celebrate in his resurrection.
And after the supper Jesus goes to the garden to pray. None of us can even imagine the stress Jesus was under this night. Scripture tells us that as he prayed his blood was like blood. As a matter of fact, it was not just like blood it was actual blood. People who are under a tremendous amount of stress can actually sweat blood. This is called hematidrosis. We must remember Jesus knew exactly was in store for him and in his humanness, he was scared and in anguish. He even asked God to not make him do it. However, in the end Jesus relented and followed God’s will.
We now arrive at Good Friday. The next 24 hours Jesus went through were probably the most horrible any of us can imagine. It begins with Judas betraying him with a kiss. We then read Jesus went through not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 trials.
Then comes the beatings. The Roman soldiers were experts at torture. They studied and learned how to inflict the most pain without killing someone. The torture started with simple punches and mocking. This was just warming the soldiers up and softening up Jesus. Then the fun, if you can call it that, that actually started. They started to whip Jesus. Now they would accomplish this they would tie the prisoner up so the person could not move. The whips they used would have little curved pieces of bone weaved into them so that when the whip hit skin, it would not only slap but would dig in and literally rip the flesh off.
Here is where they would take their time as if they did it too fast the prisoner would pass out or die. By the time they were done whipping Jesus his back would be nothing more than blood and shreds of flesh hanging off. Oh, but they did not stop there. In their zeal to inflict as much pain as possible the soldiers made a crown of thorns and then shoved the crown onto Jesus’ head. Now these thorns were not only thick but were also probably poisonous, so when they pushed the crown of thorns onto Jesus’ head the thorns dug in and caused Jesus’ head to swell to probably twice it’s normal size. Simply amazing that Jesus could withstand all of this.
And yet we are not done. The soldiers then strapped at least the cross beam, if not the whole cross, to Jesus’ torn and battered back. Can you even imagine the pain Jesus felt every time he moved with the cross attached? He was then forced to march to Golgotha. Golgotha was about a mile and a half outside the city. During this march people lined the street and mocked, spat, and through stuff at Jesus. the pain was so bad that Jesus fell several times and finally he could no longer carry on. At this point, the soldiers “enlisted” Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross for Jesus. I sure bet Simon thought he was lucky, not.
Then once they arrive comes the hammering of the nails into Jesus’ hands and feet. Once that was secured, they lifted the cross and the cross slid into the hole and came to a jarring halt. Even without the beatings, death by crucifixion is one the worst ways to die. The person actually dies from asphyxiation. In order for the person on the cross to continue breathing they need to boost themselves up as much as they can and hold themselves in a correct position. Slowly the person loses strength and will so that they no longer can lift themselves up they end up dying from not being able to take a breath. To hasten this process the soldiers often broke the legs of those being crucified so they can no longer use their legs to push themselves up. This was not necessary for Jesus as he died more quickly than anyone thought he would. Which I am sure was a disappointment for the soldiers.
I explained all of this to impress on all of us the length God went to save us from eternal death. I want to stress here that we choose our own destiny’s. God does not punish us and send us to hell. If fact, his last wish is for any of us to go to hell. But through our choices we choose hell. When we refuse to come into relationship with God, we choose death. Through God’s eternal love he sent Jesus as a way to show how much he loves us and when we believe in Christ, we get grafted into the family of God.
OH, this would be a sad story if it stopped at the death of Jesus. And yet it is not the end. For there is a Saturday and then there is Sunday. But first let us stop at Saturday. On Saturday, Jesus descends into Hades. Now, let us take a quick rabbit trail. A proper understanding of the word Hades is not what we commonly refer to as Hell. Hell is a place of eternal punishment and torment. Instead, if we read scripture properly Hades is the place of the dead. We could go on and there is some controversy here but let us not get stuck on Hades vs. Hell, but let us concentrate on and celebrate the fact, that Jesus is no longer there. While he spent time there, he did not stay there. And through his stay we join in and are victorious over death as well.
This leads us to SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY (say this in a Monster Truck announcers voice). Oh, praise God for Sunday. Sunday, or Easter, is the most glorious day of the year. This is the day that God rose Jesus from the grave and Jesus walked out of that tomb. Jesus defeated death and in turn we can defeat death as well. We no longer need to fear death for WHOSEOVER believes in Jesus, will have eternal life. To believe in Jesus means to follow in his ways, to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love others as ourselves. As we strive to do this all our sin is washed away, blotted out, God no longer remembers them, and we are considered Holy in his eyes.
If you do not know this freedom, if you have never experienced God’s love, I pray that you wait no longer. Believe in Christ, confess and turn from your sins and you will have eternal life. Talk to God and say “Dear Heavenly Father, I come confessing that Jesus is Lord, I believe in my heart that Jesus came to Earth, suffered, died, and rose again to save me from hell. I confess I have fallen short and with your help I pledge to turn from my sin and follow you. Amen!” Then rise up and begin your new life in Christ.
Well,
that is all the time and space I have this month. OH, there is so much more I could say and I hope you tune in the coming months as we continue to walk through the bible together. May God bless you this Easter season and may you feel his presence in a new and refreshing way.
Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Jonathan
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