This is Holy Week and the symbol for this holiday is the Cross. All over the world the Church is remembering how Christ came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. The Church is remembering how Christ was betrayed, arrested, and crucified. And all this solemn remembering ends with great celebration, because though Christ died the word testifies He rose again.
It hit me this morning that I let myself get caught again. These holidays have a way of sneaking up on me and then I’m annoyed because I feel like I’m missing something as I try to catch up. Here’s the thing, I don’t want to take anything for granted. This week I want to remember and I want the remembering to bring me to deeper places of healing and the only way to get at it is to walk in it.
I find myself wondering, what the cross looked like as Christ moved closer to his destiny. The faithfulness of Christ utterly amazes me, because while he walked this earth, he subjected himself to human conditions. Fully God, yet he limited himself so that we could learn from his example. He demonstrated spirit-led power while suffering horrific expense to his physical body. I cannot get my mind around this immense grace.
So here goes. I’m stepping in, closing my eyes as I purposefully walk through the events leading up to the cross. Wanna come? I believe with all my heart that God will meet us in this story, because He delights to show his heart when his children come looking!
The Cross from Bethany
Two days before Passover, Jesus was eating at the table of a man named Simon. While he sat at the table a woman came in and sat at his feet. Even more peculiar, was the jar of expensive perfume she broke open and poured over his feet (Mark 14).
Can you picture it? Tears and perfume mingled together to wash the feet of Christ. Burdened for this consecration, the woman used her hair to wipe off the dirt. What a picture of humility.
Those who sat around the table were offended by such extravagance. The perfume could have yielded a year’s wages, so the disciples perceived this gesture as wasteful. These men were so focused on duty they missed the chance for devotion.
Jesus knew what was coming. He had a full view of the cross and still he walked through each step with grace and dignity. Jesus received her gift as she poured out sacrificial love on his feet. His feet—of all things! And you know what? It wasn’t really the feet; it was the dirt she was after. She intuitively knew that he was not worthy, of the filth.
But Jesus replied, ‘Leave her alone. Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me? You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time.
Mark 14:6-8
What does it look like today, to love Jesus? Would you be willing to break open an expensive jar of perfume to pour over his feet? I hear the Holy Spirit whispering, “What is your jar perfume?” These are good questions to pray into as we move through this holiday.
The Cross from the Upper Room
What does the cross look like from the window of the upper room? Jesus was surrounded by his closest friends, trying to enjoy what he knew would be their last meal together. He sat at the table knowing that one of his friends was going to betray him for a guilty pleasure. What did that feel like?
Scripture tells us that he called the betrayal out. He announced it which created a chorus of denial. But Jesus knew. He knew that Judas had traded his devotion for silver.
Betrayal hurts–period. But these men, they were his closest friends. I wonder if there was an expectation that they would have a better grasp of the truth, after all, they had the benefit of first hand witness. They saw the supernatural miracles of God and still missed the main point. Jesus came that everyone would know intimate devotion with God.
As I sit there, in the upper room, taking it all in, I hear this question in my heart. What do you trade your devotion for?
Oh.
Stepping into the deep places with the LORD requires going to the hard places and answering the hard questions. It’s easy to judge Judas, but as I sit here taking this all in, the Spirit of the LORD convicts me and reminds me that my heart can be just as greedy. What do you see and hear? Don’t tap out. Stay in this place and allow the LORD to uncover and dig out the yuck. He will heal that hole if you let him.
The Cross from the Road to Gethsemane
Every step of the way, Jesus called out the heart condition. He revealed hearts that missed opportunities for devotion, he uncovered greed, and as they walked to the garden Jesus called out their fear.
On the way, Jesus told them, ‘all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say, God will strike the Shepherd, and all the sheep will be scattered.
Mark 14:27
The disciples were horrified at this prophetic word and vehemently denied it. Peter especially vowed to stand firm, but Jesus knew how it would all turn out. Scripture tells us that Peter denied knowing Jesus three times that horrible night. As Jesus made his way to the cross it was like he was he was trying to draw out all the sin, because that was the mission, to take sin to the grave.
Jesus calls out fear because he knows the spirit of fear is insidious and he knows how it partners with pride. Pride and fear will not serve you well, so when Jesus speaks to it, listen to his heart. The heart of Jesus is always for your healing, so when fear comes up you need to recognize it, repent of it and cut it off. When the Holy Spirit convicts the heart it is the way of healing.
What are you afraid of? As you stand there with Jesus, knowing the reality of the cross, can you receive his embrace? Can you hear the sound of love in his voice as he invites you to come? Lean into that and listen to the heart of the Father.
The Cross from the Garden
The account from Gethsemane is just very sad. The end was coming, but the disciples were in complete denial. Who can blame them, I guess, after all, they had seen Jesus do some impressive supernatural stuff. Surely he could beat the chief priests again.
When they arrived at the garden, Jesus gathered a couple of the disciples and invited them to come into the olive grove with him. His plan was to go deep and get low with the Father, but he needed support.
The request was simple:
He told them, ‘My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.
Mark 14:34
Keep watch. He just wanted his friends to be there. BE THERE. He didn’t ask them to do anything else. Jesus took his human grief and laid it out before the Father, because he knew these well-meaning friends could not help the situation. The only thing they could do was to be there and be fully present.
Can you relate? These guys blew off his request. They fell asleep. I want to judge these men, but I know I can’t. In my heart know that there are times when my weakness overrides the request of the LORD.
Abandonment was the place where Jesus stood and surveyed the cross in the garden. What sorrow he must have felt as he came face to face with that harsh reality right before he was betrayed by one of his own.
Let me ask you this: How do you assume the position of presence with the LORD?
Because that is exactly what he wants from us—to be still and wait with him. The whole reason Jesus went to the cross was to open the way for intimate access with the Father.
The Cross During the Arrest
Judas arrived along with soldiers who had been sent by the chief priests. As per the arrangement, Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss in exchange for 30 pieces of silver. Chaos ensued and when the enviable took seed, the disciples deserted Jesus.
Do you know what the chief priests charged Jesus with? They tried really hard to gather evidence about what he’d done, but in the end they had nothing. The final charge was an attack on his identity. After all their harassment they asked him if he was the Messiah.
Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.
Mark 14:62
The Priests were horrified and accused him of blasphemy (Mark 14:63).
These religious men studied the Holy Scriptures, so they were aware of the prophetic words regarding the Messiah. Jesus fulfilled these prophecies and they were offended. Their unbelief was the open door to their sin.
When I look at the cross from the courtyard interrogation, I have to ask about the issue of unbelief, because unbelief is a big deal. Left unchecked, unbelief can lead away from the very place you want to go. What are you struggling to believe the LORD about?
As I contemplate this part of the story, I feel the Holy Spirit reminding me of my humanity. Unbelief opens the way for the enemy to dismantle faith, but I don’t have to give myself to that. The starting place is just to believe God.
Can I just encourage you, dear one? Press in and let your heart go to that place. I can’t promise is won’t be hard, but it will lead to healing.
The Cross from the Trial
The religious spirit and the political spirit often work in partnership. You can recognize them from their handiwork. They operate using manipulation tactics, fear, and control. Go ahead, read the Gospels and you will see the how unbelief opened the way for evil to take root.
It is very interesting that the Priests were able to get Jesus to the cross because they really didn’t have anything to actually charge him with. In the end, it was a religious charge of blasphemy, because they didn’t believe he was the Messiah. Then they demanded punishment from the Roman Governor, Pilate.
The case was beyond thin and Pilate knew it. He did everything he was supposed to do and still came up empty. This man was so sure that killing Christ was wrong that he tried to absolve himself from the process by symbolically washing his hands. He was so smooth that he convinced the entire mob to assume responsibility for the crucifixion. (Matthew 27:19-26)
One week earlier, the same mob was celebrating Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. The Scriptures tell us that Jesus came to Jerusalem and was celebrated (Mark 11). Within the week, Jesus was betrayed, abandoned by those who were closest to him, arrested, stood trial, and was crucified.
In this place, Jesus stands in his identity. He doesn’t defend himself; he simple stands on the truth.
Umm, Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever really looked at it like that before, how about you?
When everything around you is falling apart, accusations flying, and you have nothing left, what do you do? Can you rest in your identity as beloved child of God? Do you believe and trust him even when circumstances contradict his word?
At the Cross
The last part of the story describes the killing of Jesus. I always struggled as a child to understand why we celebrated this day calling it, “Good Friday.” This is not a good story to read. It’s a hard story. He was beaten, flogged, mocked and then nailed to the cross. He hung as blood dripped from his body, hour after hour after hour.
Scripture tells us, that when he died the earth shook, the temple veil tore from top to bottom, and the tombs opened as the bodies of godly men and women were resurrected (Matthew 27:50-53). The priests were convinced that Jesus death would prove their charge, but even as Jesus died the Romans declared, “This man truly was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54)
Contemplation and self-examination are important disciplines in our faith walk. It’s important to walk through, remembering the cross as you do a soul-check, but you also need to resist the temptation to just stay at the foot of the cross. Don’t do that. Jesus died, but three days later he raised from the dead. He took the sin of humanity to hell and he left it there.
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:2-6
