Dear Northside
It is Easter. For me, it has come really quickly this year!
Many of you answered my encouragement to give up something for Lent as part of your preparation for Easter. How was the experience? Did God speak to you?
And so, here we are in the middle of Jesus’ last week before dying on the Cross and rising from the dead.
We celebrated Palm Sunday last weekend. The people asked in Matthew 21:10, “Who is this?” I wonder what your answer to that question is today? Who is Jesus to you? An ATM? Punch in the right numbers, do the right things, and He will give you what you want? That’s what the people in Jerusalem thought 2000 years ago. And when Jesus did not deliver what they wanted, they crucified Him.
On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus cursed a fig tree, and it withered up and died immediately. Why? Because it looked good on the outside but had no fruit. Do you look good on the outside? Are you producing fruit for God?
On the Monday, Jesus clears the Temple. A place of prayer and the worship of God, turned into a marketplace and thoroughfare. Do we value God’s church today? Why do you come to Northside? Why don’t you come more often? Do you have zeal for the church? What are you doing to make it a house of prayer for the nations?
On the Tuesday, Jesus taught 7 parables. Maybe check them out in the Gospel of Matthew. Imagine yourself in the crowd listening to Him. His teachings still apply today.
Wednesday is called silent Wednesday because nothing is said about Jesus. Where was He? What did He do that day? I am sure lots of people were looking for him. The Pharisees were busy… busy plotting how to arrest and kill Jesus. Maybe Jesus took some time away from the crowds, from Jerusalem, maybe even from His disciples, to rest and to spend time with His Father. He knows His time was coming soon. In the midst of all the hustle and bustle, all the pressures of life, do you take time to rest and recharge your spiritual batteries?
On the Thursday, day 5, Jesus spends the day with His disciples, preparing for and celebrating a Passover Meal with them. We had a wonderful Passover Meal on Wednesday evening with a full house. It was good to have more than half the people doing it for the first time. We see Jesus washing His disciples’ feet, a function reserved for slaves or the lowest servants. How humble is our Saviour? Towards the end of the Passover Meal, Jesus takes the bread and breaks it and says, “This is My body (broken) which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Then He takes the cup after supper and says, “This is the New Covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” The old system of sacrifices is being replaced. His body and blood would be the final sacrifice. And then He gives us a command, “Love one another, as I have loved you.”
What a momentous week. And we have not even arrived at His arrest, unjust trial, death and resurrection. Maybe I’ll continue this next week.
May God continue to bless you this Easter. Pastor Gary