This Week With Jesus

Easter weekend acrivities mostly dont include Saturdays. Friday and Sunday get the press. The crucifixion and resurrection command our thoughts. But don’t ignore Saturday. You have them, too. Much happened on Friday. Man rejected God. A d God He made himself heard on Friday. He tore the curtains of the temple, opened the graves of the dead, rocked the earth, blocked the sun of the sky, and sacrificed the Son of Heaven. Earth heard much of God on Friday. But what about the silent Saturday "the day between the struggle and the solution? God knows Jesus is in the tomb, why doesn’t He do something? Think about this: if God had resurrected Jesus in 15 minutes after His death, would you have believed in resurrection? Or would you doubt He ever died? Saturday underscores the full conviction of death and underscores the resurrection. Or, in your case God knows your career is in the tank, your finances are in the pit, your marriage is in a mess. Why doesn’t He act? What are you sup...

Maundy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter, believed to be the day when Jesus celebrated his final Passover with His disciples. Most notably, that Passover meal was when Jesus washed the feet of His disciples in an extraordinary display of humility. He then commanded them to do the same for each other. Christ's "mandate" is commemorated on Maundy Thursday---"maundy" being a shortened form of mandatum (Latin), which means "command." It was on the Thursday of Christ's final week before being crucified and resurrected that He said this last commandment to His disciples. Jesus and his disciples had just shared what was known as the Last Supper and he was washing their feet when he stated: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" (John 13:34). Many people and churches observe Maundy Thursday with a Communion service and a foot-washing ceremony. These traditions...

Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Lent is nearly over, and different people have practiced different forms of sacrifice through this time. Fasting, giving up some things, making a change for the better are some. Bringing in change, overcome negative or bad habits, reviving faith and sacrificing self for renewal in God are some outcomes which we try and achieve during this time. For some, it ends at the end of the period, for a few it continues to the next lent when we further renew ourselves. It seems, every lent is Gods battle to renew us. For us, it is a battle between self-seeking motivation, self-will and folly on the one hand and God's expectation on the other. The human mentality which tells us to enjoy the day with physical pleasures as against our aspiration to enjoy the day with Gods peace. This has been depicted so well in the painting by Peter Bregel th...