The Last Days of Jesus

This week is fearful and confusing for Christ-followers, as we seek to walk with Jesus in the last days of his life on earth.  Yes, the resurrection is coming, but we first experience the terrifying, bewildering events in the last days of Jesus’ life on earth.  Unfortunately, most followers take the easy skip from the Palm Sunday parade to the Easter resurrection.  Can’t say I blame them. 

Who wants to see your beloved Teacher arrested on trumped-up charges, betrayed by a friend, and deserted by the rest of the so-called followers?  The trial scenes in the temple or Herod’s place are not easy.  The sight of Jesus’ being beaten is heart-breaking for us helpless followers, at least those of us who dared to watch the whips snapping up the lines of blood on his back.  (This was the R-rated part of The Passion movie.)  Then they put that crown of thorns on his head to mock Him, & one guard actually spit on Him. 

The soldiers forced Him to carry his cross on the road leading outside the city, until He fell down, too weak to get up, when a bystander is drafted to carry it the rest of the way.  Some of us followed the long, winding road to the hill outside Jerusalem where He was nailed to a cross like a rotten criminal left to die a slow, excruciating death.  With the crowd there, we watched the last hours of life slowly drain from his body in agony. 

This week, we’re challenged to deny ourselves and stand up for our beloved Jesus, but like the disciples, we fail, we deny the Master, desert Him when authorities make Him suffer.  But don’t give up; keep walking with and following Him.  This hard, dark path leads to good.  Pray to God for strength and courage.  Ask the Savior to forgive your failures.  Seek the Spirit amidst other followers. 

It’s sad that some churches have no service on Good Friday (which was actually Black Friday or Death Friday) or Maundy Thursday.  How can we have a new life without experiencing the death of our Master or ourselves?  Read Matthew 26:17 – 27:44 or John 18:28 – 19:37.  A short version can be found in Mark 15: 1-39. 

This Thursday is Maundy Thursday - that last night in the upper room, when the Teacher washed his followers’ feet, shared the bread and the cup, and his last words. Maundy Thursday gets its name from the Latin word mandatum, which means "commandment." Near the end of the Last Supper, the Teacher said, "A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another."  (John 13:34)

If you do not attend a church, you’re welcome to come to First Presbyterian Church, Hugo; our Maundy Thursday service will begin at 7 PM.  The service will include communion, chimes music, Scriptures and songs on the path to the Cross. 

Enter the Humility Gate

As Jesus traveled toward Jerusalem and the cross, knowing the suffering that He would have to endure there, He submitted his desires and will to his Heavenly Father’s will.  That is true humility. 

Philippians 2:6-8 describes the humility of Jesus “who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!”

If you had the choice of living equally with God in heaven, or being asked to sacrifice your life for others on earth, which would you choose?  If you deserve to be treated as royalty, would you accept being treated like a servant without complaint?  How do you respond when treated poorly?  That’s why humility is one of the hardest things for us humans.

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was built on the site where Jesus was born. Every tourist must stoop to enter it.  The main entrance is so low that only a small child can enter it without bending over.  The door was designed to prevent medieval warriors on horseback from riding into the sanctuary to slaughter Christians there.  That danger no longer exists, but the low door has not been raised.  You must bow down to enter the place where the Savior was born as a lowly human.  This is known as the “Humility Gate.”  It reminds everyone who enters, no matter what their status in life, that they must enter into the presence of God humbly. 

During these weeks before Jesus’ suffering and agonizing death, we need to get down on our knees or bow our hearts humbly before the Master.  Have you ever considered God’s humility through the Son’s life?   God’s Son became human in a poor, humble scene in a barn or cave, not in a castle or fine medical facility.  Jesus served sinners and unloved outcasts like Zaccheus.  He called himself a shepherd - an occupation that was looked down upon by middle-class folks because shepherds were dirty, ceremonially unclean, and thus not allowed to worship in the temple.  Shepherds were not allowed to testify in a court of law, because everyone knew that shepherds were untrustworthy thieves.

Jesus was the "Good Shepherd" who associated with the despised, the leper, the prostitute, fraudulent tax collectors and the Samaritan.  Jesus reminds us, “those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12)  Like a slave, He washed the disciples’ feet, which was the lowest act of service that one could imagine.

During these weeks of Lent, may we enter through the Humility Gate, as we recall the Master’s humility.