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Ibis ad crucem! You shall go to the cross! With these three words Pilate condemned Jesus to die by crucifixion. In this Lenten series we have been paying visits to several places where Jesus stopped as he with his disciples made his final journey to Jerusalem to die.
It’s Passover festival in Jerusalem, the holiest season in the Jewish year. Thousands upon thousands of Jewish pilgrims have been travelling toward the Holy City to remember and celebrate God’s rescue of his people from long and heavy bondage in Egypt. As Jesus enters Jerusalem riding upon that lowly donkey, the mood of the thronging multitude turns deliriously jubilant. The people walk beside him as he rides, and laud him loudly as “King of the Jews.”
In these Lenten meditations we have been paying a visit each week to a place where Jesus stopped as he with the disciples made his final journey toward Jerusalem. Our aim in doing this is to be attentive to our Savior as he makes his way toward his God-appointed destiny with suffering and death on the Cross for us. As his church, the Body he so much loves, we want to be present to him in his sufferings, and to show our love for him. We long to be close to Christ, for we cannot get enough of his presence.
Jesus never hid his scars to win a disciple, nor lured anyone into following him by promising an immediate jackpot of blessings. On the contrary, he was forthright in declaring that to follow him would cost a person dearly. Jesus told his disciples that if to carry out his Father’s will was going to end up costing him not less than everything, it would cost them dearly too.
During each remaining week of Lent, we shall visit a place where Jesus stopped as he with his disciples made his final journey toward Jerusalem. We’ll note the people he met there, the words he spoke to them, and the decisions he made in order to be ready to take on the excruciating task which lay before him—to endure unspeakable humiliation and torture, and then at the end to die on a cross. Our only purpose in retracing the steps of his journey: to attend carefully to what our Lord did for us, and in response to offer him our adoration and worship.
If you worship in a church where the music reflects the CCLI Top 25, then you may be surprised to hear that many Christians still love singing and praying from hymnals.
Pentecost Sunday is a day to celebrate, with full-throated thanksgiving and joy, Jesus' sending of his Holy Spirit. And, Pentecost Monday and the entire succession of days during Pentecost season, are a time of summons and challenge. Pentecost season is a time for the church to remind believers of their daily, lifelong call to bear witness to their Lord and to engage in his mission.
This daily Lenten devotional was created by the worshipers of Church of the Servant Christian Reformed Church. It is used by permission of Church of the Servant.
“On the third day He arose again from the dead.” By these words in the Apostles Creed, Christians are declaring, forthrightly and unequivocally, a radical conviction, full of cosmic implications. He is stronger than death. His triumph over the grave ensures the defeat of any pretender to his authority and rule.
On some points of doctrine, honest Christians honestly disagree. On one point, however, all do agree: The cross lies at the very heart of the Christian message.
Mouths are for eating. No fewer than 700 times Biblical writers mention the vital role that eating plays in maintaining one’s health. Eating is important to physical health, of course—that goes without saying. But Scripture also uses eating as a metaphor for how God’s people can maintain spiritual health and grow in fellowship with their Creator and Redeemer.
Consider the amazing dexterity of our hands. With them we care for our bodies: we wash, feed and groom ourselves. Think, too, of our remarkable ability with our hands to bring blessing or cursing upon others, to help them or to inflict deep hurt. The power of touch, whether for good or ill, is immense.
