Maundy Thursday – April 6th

Prayer: Ask the Lord to show you how to be more like Christ as you read today’s passage. 

Reading: Matthew 26:17-75 and Zechariah 13:7

Growing up I attended a traditional church that had a Maundy Thursday service before Easter. It was always a memorable time of reverent worship and contemplation. The quiet weight and physical darkness of the service leading into Good Friday has stuck with me over the years, and I was reminded of those somber Thursday night services as I read and prayed about what to share from today’s scriptures. In these crucial last hours of Christ’s life, we can learn how Jesus and His disciples chose to battle at ground zero of the invisible war that was being waged. Let’s look at the warnings given, the preparations made, the weapons used, and the outcomes realized in this battle.

The Warnings. As any good leader does, Christ in his perfect love and wisdom reveals to His disciples what is about to transpire so that they will be prepared for battle. First, He gives a clear warning of the betrayal that is to come. He then goes on to warn of His coming death when He quotes our passage from Zechariah and says, “For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’”Lastly Peter is told that he will deny his Lord three times. These warnings were to help His followers to be as prepared as possible for what was to come.  

The Preparations. A good leader doesn’t just give warnings to his followers, but he also walks alongside them to lay preparations for battle. Jesus does this by having the disciples gather to begin the Passover meal, and in a beautiful and moving moment of unity He says a blessing as they break bread, and drink wine to exemplify the New Covenant He would soon be battling to establish. To finish their preparations, Christ leads them in worship by singing a hymn before finally moving to their battlefield at Gethsemane.

The Weapons. In this time of unimaginable anxiety, and dread, Jesus chooses to fight this battle to the cross with the weapon of prayer. With full knowledge of the coming horrors of physical pain and death, crushing betrayal and abandonment, and the emptiness of His Father turning His face away, Jesus fights this war lying on His face communing with God. This is in stark contrast to what we see just a few moments later when Peter attempts to fight the battle with a sword under his own strength.

The Outcomes. Despite all the preparations, warnings, and examples, we see the disciples sleep through battles, wield ineffective weapons, and rely on their own strength. Ultimately this ends with the disciples fleeing the scene and Peter denying his Lord three times. Contrast this against the perfect example of victory in our Lord Jesus. He fought His battle with prayer and was victorious in obeying his Father’s will. He did not succumb to any temptations to flee, to sleep, to deny who He was to his enemies, to call upon legions of angels to save him, or to execute justice with a sword in His own strength.

Jesus won the greatest battle against sin and death by yielding to His Father’s perfect will and trusting in His perfect plan through prayerful obedience. We must look to Christ’s example daily as we fight against our own sinful desires, and the powers of darkness that surround us in a fallen world.

Reflection Questions:

• What battles are you currently fighting in your spiritual life?

• How are you doing with being prepared for battle (i.e. community and accountability with fellow believers, communal and personal worship, prayer, time in The Word)? 

• Can you think of a time in your life when you fought like Peter? Like Christ? What was the outcome?

Wednesday - April 5th

Prayer: Ask God to open your heart to His Word as you read through these passages.

Read: Matthew 26:6-16 and Zechariah 11:12-13

I would venture to say that the woman anointing Jesus with oil and Judas’ betrayal of Jesus in Matthew 26 are two of the most well-known stories among Christians. The Gospel of Matthew is preached during the Easter season in churches around the world. Zechariah 11, on the other hand, is probably not as common to hear during the weeks leading up to Easter. At first glance, it seems to have nothing to do with the death and resurrection of Jesus…or does it?

When reading these verses separately it may be difficult to see but when read together, it’s hard to miss the prophecy in Zechariah giving a glimpse of what would happen roughly 550 years later. If you dig deeper, you can see the following themes from Zechariah 11:12-13 directly correlate to the betrayal of Jesus by Judas in Matthew 26:

1.    Zechariah was portraying himself as a shepherd “of the flock doomed to slaughter”with the responsibility of rebuking the false shepherds who led the flock astray. For Jesus, we were the flock doomed to slaughter and the religious leaders of the time were the false shepherds.

2.    Zechariah and Jesus were both valued at 30 pieces of silver. 30 pieces of silver was the minimum amount allowed to be charged for a person during that time – the value attributed to a slave.

3.    Zechariah rejected and subsequently threw his 30 pieces of silver to the potter working in the house of the Lord. Later in Matthew 27, Judas is eventually overcome by guilt and tries to return his silver to the Pharisees who use it to buy a potter’s field.

So, what does this mean? Simply put, God is sovereign and in control of every single situation. The betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus were always His plan, right down to the 30 pieces of silver that would be paid for Jesus’ life - the price of a slave paid for the savior of the world. During this Easter season, reflect on God’s sovereignty and trust that whatever you are facing, He has a plan for you. He loves us enough that he sent His only Son, the king of the world, to live the life of a servant and suffer the death of a criminal. A burden that Jesus willingly shouldered for each and every person who places their face and trust in Him.

Reflection Questions: 

• Why is it important to constantly consider and meditate upon God’s sovereignty over our lives?  

• In what situations do we often question God’s plans? What can we do in those situations to realign ourselves?

• Does your perspective change when you realize that Jesus was valued at the price of a slave? Look at your life and consider how much you truly value Jesus.

Tuesday – April 4th

Prayer: "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!"(Psalm 139:23-24)

Read: Matthew 21:18-23:39 and 26:1-5 (This is long, but go for an overall sense of the themes.)

Barnabas, our missionary friend in Thailand, is a tree expert (and of plants, in general). He used to walk on foot all over the forests of Thailand and Burma and can now name trees and their vast culinary and medicinal purposes. It is quite impressive! Now, there are lots of ways to identify different kinds of trees, but one of the easiest (especially for someone ignorant like me) is to identify them by their fruit. The same is true of people - people are identified by the fruit they bear. To be clear, the Bible absolutely teaches that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone (Eph. 2:8-10; Rom. 3:28, 5:1, 11:6; Gal. 2:16; Titus 3:5). But, the Bible is also clear that good works are the evidence of that saving faith (Jam. 2:14-24; Matt. 5:16; Heb. 6:10; 1 John 5:13). So, what kind of fruit are you bearing?

Our reading starts with a strange encounter between Jesus and this figless fig tree. What is happening here? The tree looks like it should have good fruit but it doesn't have any. So, Jesus curses it?! This sets the scene for a number of accounts between Jesus and the religious leaders. These leaders look like they should have good fruit, but what kinds of fruit do they have? They repeatedly challenge Jesus. We also read several parables where He lays out the kinds of fruit they have. The tension rises in Chapter 23 as Jesus lists seven "woes" of evidence against them. Ultimately, these leaders respond in 26:1-5 with the worst fruit - they plot to kill Him. What fruit am I bearing in response to Christ? 

The goodness of the Gospel cannot be fully appreciated without facing the bad news. To enjoy the celebration of the Resurrection, we must take some repentant self-reflection. It is my sin that led Jesus to the cross. Where do I challenge Jesus' authority (21:23, 22:17, 22:28, 22:36)? Am I the son who obeysor just the son that saysI will obey (21:31)? Am I a wretched tenant who refuses to hand over the Master's vineyard (21:39)? Am I an irreverent wedding guest who isn't dressed properly (22:11)? Jesus declared His "woe" evidence against the hypocrisy of the leaders; do any apply to me? Am I a white-washed tomb (23:27)?  Or conversely, is there enough evidence to "convict me of being a Christian"? The glorious reality is that even as we fail our Lord, He offers us forgiveness. He offers us the Cross to remind us of the weight of our guilt for which He has already paid. His Resurrection provides the means to make us a brand-new creation - to bear new fruit. So, bear fruit in accordance with whom He is making you to be! 

Reflection Questions: 

• In line with the above questions, what kind of fruit are you consistently bearing? Is there enough evidence to "convict you of being a Christian"? 

• Confess any bad fruit in your life. Repent and move forward. Praise Him for the reality that you "are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Eph. 2:10).

Monday - April 3rd

Prayer: Ask the Lord to give you a heart to love what He loves and hate what He hates. 

Read: Matthew 21:12-17, Isaiah 56:1-8, and Jeremiah 7:11

What angers you? What instantly raises your hackles and tempts you to use words that wouldn't go in a sermon? I was thinking about this in my own life. And sadly, too many things came to mind way too fast. When the fitted sheet pops off the corner of the bed while I am lying in it (>Pfft! < “The sheet came off! My life is ruined.”). Getting stuck in traffic (“That light isn't getting any greener!”).

Matthew 21:12-17 has two quick accounts. One (v12-13) sees Jesus driving out those who turned God's Temple into a Wal-Mart. “Let's use God's place as a way to make a buck! “And the other, v14-17, tells us that the chief priests and scribes saw people coming to Jesus, and Jesus helping those people, then those people praising our Lord, then the chief priests and scribes being indignant over that whole scene. 

Each story is full of lessons in their own way. We can talk about how Jesus placed a premium on prayer and reverence, and examine His zeal for the holiness of God being sustained. We can talk about the power of Jesus to heal, the way He draws those who recognize that He can meet their need. We can even do a little homily on the appropriateness of worship as a result of encountering the work of God. And this would all be good and apply.

But I want us to take one giant step back and look at something these two stories have in common: both feature a response of anger. One from our Lord, one from the chief priests and scribes. Jesus displayed a righteous anger over the flagrant disregard for the things of God. The chief priests and scribes displayed a sinful anger over people drawing close to Jesus. I know when I read the Bible, I want to think that I am one of the good guys, one who gets it. But you and I may be more scribe and less Jesus in our anger than we would want to admit. 

How often do we see God's name blasphemed, His character misrepresented, His glory ignored for the sake of human selfishness – and we are just indifferent? We are like those crowds plowing through the Temple that day, “I guess this is just how it is. Oh, well, what can you do?” Would any of us care enough to start flipping tables with Jesus? “But I wasn't there that day, Jeff!” No, but you are there today when people have elevated self over God's glory. You've sat in churches when a man-centered gospel was preached instead of God's Gospel in Jesus Christ. When immorality of all kinds is normalized in our culture, sewage piped into our homes through the internet and TV. WHERE'S the anger? 

And we've been that other passage, too. The verses 14-17 one. When someone comes out of addiction to receive Christ, and we shake our heads. When someone is truly born again through prison ministry and are upset that “those people” are coming to my church. When someone tearfully and passionately gives their testimony and we roll our eyes, “Oh, puh-lease! I can't believe he would get up there looking like that and talking like that.” WHY the anger?

Jesus showed anger over the sin the chief priests and scribes allowed. The chief priests and scribes showed anger over the worship Jesus allowed. Have we been too often guilty of getting this all backwards: tolerating the sin, but being indignant over the true work of God?

Reflection Questions:

• What instantly makes you angry? Is this something that would anger God? Why does it anger you?

• Is there anything in your life that you are tolerating that our Lord certainly wouldn't tolerate?

• Do you sometimes get indignant and annoyed at the things that maybe, just maybe, God is doing in (or through) people?