HOLY TUESDAY

Our journey continues as we walk with Jesus through Holy Week with an albeit troubling day. On the other side of history, we may take comfort in Jesus’ prediction of his own death, but can you imagine being one of his followers or a Greek who had traveled to hear from Jesus himself and the scene unfolding around you? Just as Jesus is at the height of his popularity and fame, after all of the celebrations we witnessed just two days ago, his tone turns to a future where the necessary thing is the hardest to hear.

For the believer, with the knowledge that this prophetic parable would come to pass, you may be tempted to see this as something exclusive to Jesus. Certainly, He was the only Son of God, the only one who was able to lay down his life for the salvation of many, but what does it look like to live so selflessly for those who now claim His name, who call themselves Christian? We may read passages like Mark 11:24 and see the power that is available to us through prayer, but do we wield it the way that Jesus did when, even though his soul was troubled, he said to his Heavenly Father, “Not my will, but thine be done?” Do we live with such obedience because we long for a world in desperate need to hear the voice of God? If all you prayed for today was given to you, how many people would know Jesus as Savior as a result?

And for the wonderer, how can it be that the whole crowd surrounding Jesus on that day heard that voice? How many people do you know who would willingly lay down their lives for the sake of another? What about for a stranger? Are you starting to see Jesus’ mission this week, his single-minded focus on being obedient to the task in front of Him so that the outsider could be brought inside, so that he could, as the people cried out, save?

Each day is bringing us closer to the conclusion. Are we prepared for it?

———

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive

Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve

Because Thy promise I believe

Oh, Lamb of God, I come, I come