We put the pause button on Beatitudes this week; as Sunday we began Holy Week. The church around the world is remembering the final weeks of Christ. Some congregations will put a greater emphasis on this week than others. For some they have been journeying to the cross since Ash Wednesday others started the journey this past Sunday. Palm Sunday.
A few weeks ago I was listening to the Christian radio station in town. One of the announcers mentioned Easter is often the forgotten holiday for many in the church. Sure we do big Easter services which are seeker sensitive. We pull out all of the stops so visitors will be entertained. Many this coming Sunday, Easter will proclaim, “He has risen, He has risen indeed.” So for many it has become a pageant a time of celebration. As it should be.
But what about the week leading up to Easter Morning. It was anything but a celebration. It was a time of confusion. Come Friday it will be a time of anger, sadness and disappointment. What we call Good Friday was anything but good for those who were there, all those years ago.
I am afraid the DJ from the radio station was correct. Easter is the forgotten, glanced over holiday of the church calendar. We have forgotten the pain Jesus suffered on our behalf. We have forgotten the fear, anguish and agony of the garden. We have forgotten the fear, anger and disappointment of the women at the feet of the cross as well as for the disciples and other followers of Jesus.
So this past Sunday instead of the Triumphal Entry, I preached on the Suffering Servant from Isaiah 50:4-10. The aim of the message was for the congregation to journey with Christ and His followers to the cross. In Isaiah we learn the servant is one who speaks with authority. John’s Gospel reminds us Jesus is the word of God that He was with God and is God from the beginning. That nothing came into existent without the Word (Jesus).
Isaiah further states God comforts His servant. Throughout Jesus ministry we see him with drawing to be alone with the Father. We know in the garden Jesus will find strength by stating, “Not my will but your will be done”. On the cross Jesus will find comfort in the words of Psalms 22.
One other thing I want to point out from the text is the attacks on the servant will not succeed. I want to switch for a minute and put on the hat of an old time country preacher from Kansas. I can imagine with every lash of the whip, every time the crowd shouted louder and louder crucify him, crucify him, with the pounding of the nails into Jesus hands and feet the devil was rejoicing. Perhaps even doing summersaults. The devil thinks he has won. That is until Jesus says it is finished. That is until the tomb is broken open, Jesus raises from the dead and sin and death is forever defeated.
See this week we celebrate and remember the most important week in human history. But it was a week of confusion, anger, sadness, disappointment and pain. Palm Sunday marked the beginning of the journey of the cross. Of course like I said at Christmas there was a shadow of the cross at the manger. Come Friday it will no longer be a shadow but a reality. Jesus is journeying to the cross, will you take the journey with Him? Will you join Mary and the others and sit at the foot of the cross this week? Will you come desperate to the tomb this Easter Morning. There are several ways to do this. One way is to watch the movie The Passion, putting yourself in the crowd. Seeing the pain your sin caused on the body of Christ. If this movie is too violent for you attend a passion play. Perhaps you are artistic and you need to wrestle with the impact of this week through drawing, painting or writing a poem. Whatever way you do it I plead with you to journey to the cross. To sit at the foot of the cross and see the pain and anguish on your Savior face. Pastor Travis out.
