MAUNDY THURSDAY SILENCE

“When the hour had come, Jesus sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, ‘With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.’… [When the supper was over], He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, ‘Pray that you may not enter into temptation.’ And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.’ Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”  (Luke 22:14-20, 39-44 NKJV)

The liturgical mood of Holy Thursday is complex.  It begins with grandeur… Yet quickly enough the mood shifts as the liturgy moves to its conclusion.  The momentum of the Passion story asserts itself and we find ourselves aware of the coming, dark events, the necessary descent before the rising.  We move, as it were, into the garden with Jesus where He retires and waits.  We, like the disciples with whom He pleads to remain, watch and pray.

Traditionally, the Maundy Thursday service has no closure.  We leave the church unaccompanied by music or benediction or blessing.  The altar is stripped of the celebrative dressing.  The church is left stark and bare.  We hear the footfalls echo as we leave in silence. 

-- Wendy M. Wright in “The Rising” 

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BORN A SAVIOR

“Come, Thou long expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in Thee.
Born Thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever, now Thy gracious kingdom bring.”
(Excerpted from “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” by Charles Wesley)

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”  (Luke 2:11)

The whole life of Christ was a continual passion; others die martyrs, but Christ was born a martyr…  His birth and His death were but one continual act, and His Christmas-day and His Good Friday are but the evening and morning of the one and the same day. 

-- John Donne in his “Sermon of Christmas-Day, 1626”

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PALM WAVING

“The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting, ‘Hosanna!’ ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Blessed is the king of Israel!’ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: ‘Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.’ At first His disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about Him and that these things had been done to Him.”  (John 12:12-16 NIV)

The coupling of Palm Sunday on the same week in Jesus’ life as Good Friday (a name betwixt in paradox) is playing to our temptations as I’m sure it played for Jesus even more profoundly. The fanfare that might come with a noble life, let’s say, might give us gratification and notoriety. Jesus knew about fleeting applause better than anyone, but He also understands fickle hearts. He understands our hearts in the first order, given the turn of events that leads to His death. In a true sense, our lives must follow Jesus through His passion. We must see His suffering and our need. If we stay on the street corner waving palms, we won’t understand either one. 

-- Zach Kincaid, from an article called “Palm Waving” on www.cslewis.com

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THE PATH TO THE CROSS

Where did the path to the cross actually begin?

The path began, not in the court of Pilate, but in the halls of heaven. The Father began His journey when He left His home in search of us. Armed with nothing more than a passion to win your heart, he came looking. His desire was singular -- to bring His children home. The Bible has a word for this quest: reconciliation.

“God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19 NKJV). The Greek word for reconcile means “to render something otherwise.” Reconciliation restiches the unraveled, reverses the rebellion, rekindles the cold passion. Reconciliation touches the shoulder of the wayward and woos him homeward.

The path to the cross tells us exactly how far God will go to call us back.

-- Max Lucado in “He Chose the Nails”

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THE PEOPLE ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM

“Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.”  (Mark 11:8 NIV)

This was Jesus’ announcement that He was indeed the long-awaited Messiah. He chose a time when all Israel would be gathered in Jerusalem, a place where huge crowds could see Him, and a way of proclaiming His mission that was unmistakable. The people went wild. They were sure their liberation from Rome was at hand. While the crowd correctly saw Jesus as the fulfillment of these prophesies, they did not understand where Jesus’ kingship would lead Him. The people who were praising God for giving them a king had the wrong idea about Jesus. They expected Him to be a national leader who would restore their nation to its former glory; thus, they were deaf to the words of their prophets and blind to Jesus’ real mission. When it became apparent that Jesus was not going to fulfill their hopes, many people would turn against Him. A similar crowd would cry out, “Crucify Him!” when Jesus stood on trial only a few days later. It takes more than participation at a praise gathering to be a true friend and follower of Jesus….

Like the people on the road to Jerusalem that day, we have much to learn about Jesus’ death and resurrection. We must not let our personal desires catch us up in the celebration and shouting lest we miss the meaning of true discipleship.

-- From the “Life Application Commentary - Mark”


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A SONG OF PASSION

NOTE: Today, March 29, 2018, marks the 19^th anniversary of our SOUND BITES Ministry™.  It was begun in 1999 in memory of my son, Dustin, who had died on March 29, 1998 -- now 20 years ago. As we continue to move through Holy Week, I would invite you to share how God has used SOUND BITES to minister to you… and invite you to share SOUND BITES with others, inviting them to subscribe. Thank you for your support over the years. -- Rev. Dave Wilkinson

A SONG OF PASSION

“And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”  (Mark 14:26 NKJV)

How fitting that on this very night Christ, the coming King, would give voice to songs penned centuries earlier just for Him… Imagine the Son of God singing these words as the seconds ticked toward the cross… “The Lord is with Me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?... The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes.”

Whatever Christ sang as the Passover meal concluded that night, the words had significance for Him that the others never comprehended. I wonder if His voice quivered with emotion. Or did He sing with exultation? Perhaps He did both, just as you and I have done at terribly bittersweet moments when our faith exults while our sight weeps. One thing we know: Christ, above all others, knew He was singing more than words. That night He sang the score of His destiny.

-- Beth Moore in “Jesus, the One and Only”

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GOD’S PURPOSE AT THE CROSS

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”  (Isaiah 53:6)

“Suffered.” This word carries not only the everyday meaning of bearing pain, but also the older and wider sense of being the object affected by someone else’s action. The Latin is ‘passus’, whence comes the noun “passion.” Both God and men were agents of Jesus’s passion: “this Jesus, delivered up according to the plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23, from Peter’s sermon). God’s purpose at the cross was as real as was the guilt of the crucifers.

What was God’s purpose? Judgment on sin, for the sake of mercy to sinners. The miscarrying of human justice was the doing of divine justice. Jesus knew on the cross all the pain, physical and mental, that man could inflict and also the divine wrath and rejection that my sins deserve; for He was there in my place, making atonement for me. “All we like sheep have gone astray… and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

-- J.I. Packer, quoted in “His Passion: Christ’s Journey to the Resurrection”

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THAT'S WHAT LOVE DOES

Would you do what Jesus did? He swapped a spotless castle for a grimy stable. He exchanged the worship of angels for a company of killers. I wouldn’t do it, but Christ did! If you knew that only a few would care that you came, would you still come? If you knew that those you loved would laugh in your face, would you still care? Christ did. He humbled Himself. The palm that held the universe took the nail of a soldier. Why? Because that’s what love does. It puts the beloved before itself. He loves you that much, and because He loves you, you are of prime importance to Him.


--  Max Lucado in A Love Worth Giving




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