WATCHWORD:
1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. 2 So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor. 11 … Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied. Matthew 27:1-2,11
2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:2-10
Meditation:
Blood Sport
On any given weekend, stadiums, pretty much throughout the world, are packed to capacity with rabid fans, totally dedicated to their teams throughout the NFL, major and minor league baseball, Soccer, college and community. Occasionally, you hear stories of riots breaking out and blood being shed over one game or another, not by the athletes, but by the fans! In some parts of the world, soccer is actually referred to as a “bloodsport” in the sports section of newspapers.
But, you know, that is not new. A different kind of bloodsport was just as popular in first Century Rome. In the ancient world, human life was regarded as cheap and as result death was kind of a commodity of the “sport” of gladiatorial fights. It’s hard for us to imagine that these fights to the death were so popular throughout the Roman Empire. People were disappointed if they were deprived of their weekend executions!
This awful “sport” was finally ended by Emperor Honorius in 404 AD. The story is that a simple monk, named Telemachus, followed the crowd into the Coliseum and, horrified by the bloodshed, jumped into the arena, trying to put an end to the killing. The crowd was so incensed that someone interfered in their “sport”, jumped in and beat the monk to death. The death of a single defenseless monk, the sight of his lifeless body lying in his own blood, sobered the crowd, and, we are told, silently left the arena. Shortly after that, the Emperor ended the competitions.
Martin Luther King, Jr., in our own time, would say that “the man who has found nothing to die for is not fit to live.” Throughout the history of Christianity, ordinary people have found something to die for in Christ Jesus.
According to historian Michael Grant, “The most potent figure…in world history…is Jesus Christ, the maker of one of the few revolutions which have lasted. Millions of men and women for century after century found his life and teaching overwhelmingly significant and moving.” A singular life that gave cause, through faith, for ordinary people to find something to die for.
You and I, our old lives nailed to the Cross, walking with Christ from the empty tomb. We found something to die for, did we not? Amen.
Jesus During Holy Week:
Sunday, Zechariah 9:9: Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem enflamed the Jewish leadership and made the Romans very nervous. That evening He returned to Bethany and dined with Lazarus and friends and spent the night.
Monday, Jesus and his disciples returned to Jerusalem. On the way He curses a fig tree for not bearing fruit, representing God’s judgment. He found the temple filled with dishonest money changers and commerce and began overturning their tables and clearing the Temple, saying, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”
Holy Week Prayer:
Lord God, six days before his death, your son sat with Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead, and ate dinner with his friends. Once again, your gospel tells us, Martha served, and Mary knelt at Jesus feet to anoint them with costly perfume. The disciple who was about to betray him, said it was a waste. He didn’t care about the poor, just wanted to fill his own pockets and make Mary feel ashamed. Lord God, often we cannot discern what is best: when to pour out costly perfume for your sake, even if the world thinks it is a waste. When to be busy serving, or when simply to rest at your Son’s feet and learn. Give us ears to hear you and eyes to see you, for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen,
