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The richness and freshness of scripture never ceases to amaze me.  There is so much depth and breadth in this week’s parallel account focus on the temptation of Jesus, it would take pages to communicate what has been running through my heart and mind.  So much is familiar, yet in the midst of all that I have read and heard taught in the past, the Spirit has gifted some discoveries this week that are entirely new.

Although it was not at all new to me that the baptism of Jesus and his period of temptation in the desert were the launching point of his earthly ministry, I saw something in them that I had never seen before.  That “something” is a unifying thread of identification.  As I read and studied the accounts of Jesus being tempted in the desert, the stories of his baptism lingered.  Maybe it was Mark’s vivid language describing the Spirit’s prompting on the heels of Jesus’ baptism that didn’t allow me to simply move on to the next event.  Look at the language several translations use in Mark 1:12 to describe the action of the Spirit…

“immediately drove him”  (ESV)
“immediately … drove Him”  (HCSB)
“immediately … impelled him”  (NASB)
“compelled Jesus”  (NLT)
“pushed Jesus”  (MSG)
“immediately … driveth him”  (KJV)
“forced Jesus”  (CEB)

Impelling just doesn’t sound comfortable, does it?!  This force of language caused me to sit a while with the two events together.  As I considered and prayed, the word “identify” began to echo in both stories.  I could start to see the truths of Jesus identifying with his Father in his obedience in baptism, and identifying with us in being impelled into the desert to be tested.  I had always believed that this was God’s plan to prepare Jesus for his ministry, but why did I believe that?  Did Jesus need to be toughened up or tested before he took his Father’s message on the road?  I think the obvious answer to that question is, “No.”  So how about this idea of “identification?”

A great beginning (and possible ending) can be found in the following verses from the book of Hebrews…

Hebrews 2:18
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

We may not be able to directly identify with the specifics and severity of the testing Jesus endured, but have you ever been tempted to satisfy a material need at the cost of a spiritual one?  Or have you ever been tempted to not trust what God has promised he would do?  And is not the central issue of temptation, one of simple trust?  Trusting that what God has for us is better than the delectable thought or thing Satan chooses to put in front of us.

I had a bread-to-stone (first temptation) moment a couple of years ago while serving a meal during our church’s week to host a group of homeless men and women.  I arrived the first night overly eager to do whatever I could to meet the human need of the precious guests we were privileged to serve that night.  As dinner started I moved swiftly, precisely and accurately delivering drinks.  Back and forth I went, paying particular attention to creams, sugars, ice, no ice, just half please, no-cup-just-the-can.  All the while engaging in polite conversation.  That was, until a woman named Elaine (whose name I will likely never forget) asked me a simple, but convicting question.

Elaine was sharing a table with Linda, Venus and Ken, and it looked like they all needed a refresh on drinks (drink man to the rescue).  After fetching them, I returned and took a seat.  Elaine was nearly finished with her dinner, and was beginning on dessert.  After an initial greeting, Elaine asked, “Aren’t you going to eat with us?”  I quickly responded, “Ahhh, no.” (it was said in a polite tone, but sometimes words can be so inadequate to express the proper sentiment).  My mind began formulating a hundred reasons for my polite denial, all from a place of humility and service.  “I was not there to eat, I was there to serve.”  “I had dinner before I came, and if I ate it would take from a guest.”  But as I processed all that in preparation to respond, her words echoed back and I felt the conviction of a single, critical phrase at the very end of her question.  “… with us?”  Elaine wasn’t asking whether I was going to eat, but that’s the question my head responses were answering.  Her question was relational.  Her words were an invitation to a greater and deeper need, and I almost declined with my intentionally humble response.  She gave me a “mmmm hmmm” sort of glance, like she had just gotten me.  And she had.

She followed up with a comment about the richness of the brownie she had just taken her first bite of.  “How about dessert?”, she asked.  “Yes, ma’am.  I think I’ll try one of those brownies”, I answered.  I had been caught in the midst of choosing to satisfy a human need over what I, in that moment, discovered was the will of God for my life that night.  I was there to simply be there.  It was not what I would do that would make a difference, it was my simple choice to be there.  My presence, my ear, my shoulder, my time … these were what God was asking for, and what the Spirit could use.

In being baptized, I publicly identified with God … just as my Savior did.  In being impelled into the desert to be tempted, Jesus identified with me … and the stone-to-bread moment at dinner that night.  Thank you, Jesus.  And thank you, Elaine.  I pray for you wherever you are today.

Do you ever come to a turn in the road and sense that your emotional tank is on empty? It may not sound spiritual to admit it, but I do. As you advance in your journey, I am inclined to believe that you (like me) often feel like you are running on fumes. If not careful, you will find that your emotional equilibrium has many “tank drains” with very few “fill-ups”. If you have followed Christ for any length of time, you can glowingly articulate key verses of Scripture that give hope. But if you are honestly struggling to not “stall out”, something needs to change. My trust is the next few thoughts are just the journey fuel that you need this week.

Over the years a friend from another century has blessed me. He is my friend because of his mentoring in my life through his journey. Hudson Taylor was serving God in China, sacrificing for God’s purpose and running on empty. Something happened that changed his life forever and the principle is timeless. From the book of his life, Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, look at what happened.

“Then came the question, is there no rescue? Must it be thus to the end-constant conflict, and too often defeat? How could I preach with sincerity that, to those who receive Jesus, “to them gave he the power to become the sons of God” (i.e. Godlike) when it was not so in my own experience? Instead of growing stronger, I seemed to be getting weaker and to have less power against sin; and no wonder, for faith and even hope were getting low. I hated myself, I hated my sin, yet gained no strength against it. I felt I was a child of God. His Spirit in my heart would cry, in spite of all, “Abba Father.” But to rise to my privileges as a child, I was utterly powerless.”

If you have ever sensed that your emotions were starting to stall-out, you probably have a strong connection with what Hudson Taylor felt. But there was a fill-up on his travels. In a letter from a friend, the Holy Spirit opened him to the answer. It was short, but life changing.

“But how to get faith strengthened? Not by striving after faith, but by resting in the Faithful One.”

He was trying too hard to generate faith, and not understanding that he could simply rest in the Faithful One. He grabbed the principle and stopped striving.  Rest came! Our culture is all about striving to succeed. Although we know better, I can do it logic bleeds into our spiritual journey. For years, I was working (striving) to have His rest. Are you willing to quit trying so hard to grow in faith, and willing to rest in the Faithful One? When the emphasis moves from our striving, to His all-powerful, infinite care for us, there is a change that takes place. I call it rest!

Life will continue to have its travel twists and turns, but you no longer need to feel like you are running on fumes. God’s design is not for His children to feel empty. He is waiting to give you a fill-up of emotional and spiritual energy for the next leg of your journey. It won’t cost you $4 a gallon and you can’t generate the fuel on your own. Stop trying so hard to be faithful, and listen to my mentor: rest in the Faithful One.

You have your struggles, and I have mine. I am frustrated by taxes this week, and you probably have had some stumbles also. Life as we know it will always have a new issue right around the corner. Because of these impending circumstances, our tendency is to exert a disproportionate amount of mental energy on ourselves. Perhaps I should be more direct … we are selfish. But with all the struggles of this past week (and every week for that matter), we are at our best when we look beyond our own needs, and consciously model the life of Christ … the greatest Giver.

As this week comes to a close, you can easily recall some of your biggest frustrations.  But the world you live in also has others with hurts, burdens, money struggles and a litany of other problems.  The challenge for you and me: realizing that those around us need someone (you and me) to reach out and care. You don’t have to be compulsive in looking to meet needs, just be willing to look around.  What does the Word say?

Proverbs 12:25
An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.

Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

I have often been helped by the healing touch of a friend’s counsel.  Without a doubt there are those in your world today who need a kind word.  Be a conduit of God’s grace.  Stepping beyond normal boundaries may be in the Lord’s design for you today.  Some of you wonder how you can reach out, with so much already on your personal plate.  But if as Mark 10:45 states: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many, how then can we ignore the opportunities to care that are placed before us?

If you are anything like me when frustration is high and spiritual energy is low, you want to look the other way.  But when I am down and hurting, “please, someone give me a word”. The truth is that we all need kind, healing words.  And as Christ followers, we also need to give them.  Isaiah 50:4 (which I believe speaks of Christ) has an insightful take for anyone caring to reach out.

Isaiah 50:4
The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.  He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.

I believe that all Christ-followers should seek to emulate the words above to have an instructed tongue (because of what we let the Father teach us).  Our tongues can be avenues of sustaining the weary.  The design of God for believers is a life of giving, not just when we feel like it.  So use the grace you have received to be a conduit of healing for the weary. If you were in a season of difficulty, what would you need?  Someone in your life may need the same today. Look around right now! Who needs your touch?

Before sharing a few thoughts to encourage your journey this week, I wanted to give my heartfelt thanks to Mark Robb, a partner with us in the ministry we have at Journey onWord. For eight days he shared his thoughts with the desire of helping each of us focus on the path that Jesus took from triumphal entry to the cross and His resurrection. It takes great energy to write one article, much less eight, in a short period of time. I trust that you were blessed and encouraged by Mark’s writing.

So, what now? What difference do the life, death and resurrection of our Savior make in our everyday ordinary existence? By the time you read this post, you have likely started back into your normal weekly activities. Stress points will come from all sides, and the pace of our journey can easily drain spiritual energy. We’ll make some mistakes and have some failures this week. There will be some moments of laughter and joy, measured by frustration and disappointment. But what practical difference will the life, death and resurrection of Christ bring to you this week. It can, and should, be the core of how we operate in a stress-filled, fast-paced world.

If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, His death and resurrection give you hope beyond the struggles of today and this week. His life gives all believers a pattern to live by while navigating all the “stuff” of our everyday ordinary existence. While reading Mark’s posts last week, I saw Christ navigate well to the cross, and understood afresh what His sacrifice and resurrection mean to me. Combining that with some reading of my own, let me encourage you this week with two principles.

First, knowing what Christ did for us can only lead to one conclusion. The words come from a book by Brennan Manning called, Abba’s Child. An ordinary man was challenged by a spiritual mentor to view his life this way; “Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. God’s love for you and his choice of you constitute your worth. Accept that, and let it become the most important thing in your life”. If you are in Christ, live this week in the reality of how beloved you are by God. And nothing can separate us from His love! When you and I define ourselves as beloved by God, our everyday ordinary activities are viewed through a different lens.

Looking at the life of Christ (even as He headed to the cross), helps me reflect on another principle that I gleaned from that same book. Another ordinary man understood his beloved-ness from God and was changed. Notice his perspective. “Taken captive by now, Yaconelli has no space left for anxiety about tomorrow”. The words, taken captive by now, convicted me. And as I look at the life of Christ, He was always in the moment. Even hours before the cross, He took time to wash the disciple’s feet. So much of our frustration in life comes from what might happen tomorrow, but being taken captive by now helps you and I rest in a safe place.

In our everyday ordinary existence, Christ’s life, death and resurrection mean everything. Our hope for eternity and joy for today come through life in Christ. But do we consciously think about it? As we start back to our ordinary lives today, remember that you are beloved by God … look at what He did for you!  Use Christ as your example and be taken captive by the moment. What a difference it will make!

He is risen!  He is risen, indeed!

What an amazing day we find ourselves in the midst of.  It’s resurrection day!  The day that serves as the cornerstone of the Christian faith, for we serve a risen Savior!

We have walked the path of holy week, and my desire was to write my way through it with an entirely open mind.  A basic roadmap in hand of what I expected to find each day, but a sincere prayer that it would be a week of surprise and substance.  He has answered that prayer in such a deep and meaningful way.  Along the way, I have noticed unfamiliar details that led to very familiar applications.  I have also seen very familiar scenes that have resulted in completely unfamiliar resonance.  I have come to treasure the entirety of Lent as a proper advent to the story of God’s redemptive plan for all humanity: a perfect lamb, a cross, and an empty tomb.  And this “final” week as a proper crescendo to the climax of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

The power and significance of resurrection day is unmistakable and is quite known to me.  But as I studied, something I had not noticed before lept off the page.  My study found me in the gospel of John.  I love the book of John.  Expecting to study and then write about the truth and power of the resurrection, it took only a couple of verses to experience some disillusionment with this writer that I love.  Allow me to share it with you, and hopefully, make a meaningful and relevant application for our lives today.

In chapter 20 of John’s gospel we see Mary arriving at Jesus’ tomb early in the morning.  She finds his body gone and runs to tell the others.  She arrives at Peter and John first and tells them the news.  John writes in verses 3-4 …

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over …

Wait, wait … back up a second.  Did you hear what John just said?  Yes, I know he and Peter started running after hearing the news from Mary.  Who wouldn’t have?  But do you hear John’s commentary on what apparently was a race?!  In the second sentence of verse three, John shares the apparently critical detail that he beat Peter to the tomb.  He is the faster runner, and he got there first.  Ok, that sounds a little vain.  But alright, maybe we should cut John a little slack and just chalk that up to him pointing out what really happened.  No vanity, just fair and balanced reporting.  Well, that might be Ok if you stopped reading at verse 4.  But let’s read on at verse 6, shall we …

Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and …

Ok, wait.  Did he just point out again that he beat Peter to the tomb?  ”Then Simon Peter, who was behind him …”  Oh, no he didn’t!  Oh, yes he did, and he isn’t finished.  Read verse 8 …

Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.

There it is again!  ”… the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first …”  Ok John, what’s the deal?!

This might seem like a pretty harsh rebuke of John, but let’s look back at a couple of the other gospel books and maybe pick up on a broader pattern that applies to more than just John.  In Luke 9:46 we find all of the disciples in the middle of a debate …

An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest.

And in Mark 10:35-37, two of the disciples make a bold request …

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

I guess these disciples weren’t picked because they were perfect.  And you know what? Neither were we.  These few passages of scripture are a great reminder that we can be in the middle of God’s work and be weak in the flesh.  John’s boasting was on his way to Jesus’ tomb, and James and John’s brash request was immediately after Jesus had explained to the disciples that they were heading to Jerusalem where he would be betrayed, turned over to the chief priests, condemned to death, mocked, spit on, killed, and three days later he would rise.  Now pay attention to the words at the end of John’s account of him and Peter racing to find an empty tomb …

(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)  John 20:9

Huh?!  Wait, weren’t they with Jesus when he detailed all that was going to happen, including rising three days later?!  They certainly were, but apparently they were also a little too preoccupied with the questions of greatest and right and left hand.

The real message of Easter is that Christ took the full weight of our sin, chose the cross road, and paid the penalty in our place.  He fulfilled everything he said he would do, including conquering death by rising and returning to his Father.  But as I learned very vividly this week, there are plenty of other lessons which are key to our spiritual lives that were taught and demonstrated by Jesus during his “last” week on earth.

I have learned so much during my intentional walk through this week, and I am so thankful to those who have walked it with me.  He is risen!  He is risen, indeed!!

And by the way, that real message of Easter I just mentioned … it’s for everyone!  It’s certainly not just for those who already believe and already know most of the stories I have been talking about this week.  If you don’t know Jesus, we would love to talk with you and share the good news that is the reason for this season of Easter.  Click here to send us an email.

The quiet of my surroundings seems to echo the silence in scripture of the most “famous” Sabbath in history. While it would be interesting to know what the disciples and other followers of Jesus were doing or thinking on that day, God has purposed to leave that curiosity unanswered.  Maybe it’s because God knows that we would try to emulate it, and then add to it.  You know, sort of like the ancient’s did to the Passover celebration in corrupting the temple or we moderns have done to Christmas.

It seems quite appropriate for there to be silence on this day.  The pause of quiet between the gravity of suffering and separation on Friday and the brilliant burst of joy and redemption on Sunday, serves us well in properly absorbing and processing all Christ did for us.  It creates the right amount of contrast between the grays, blacks and brilliant whites, the death that should have been ours and the hope and life we can now claim.

Be sober, and be vigilant … Resurrection is coming!

Friday in the “last” week of Jesus is a dark day.  It is a day that is infinitely difficult to put into words.  It almost begs to be experienced and not merely “told.”  But Friday is also a blessed day.  It is the gateway through which we must pass that leads us into the peaceful silence of Saturday and then onto resurrection!

Friday in the “last” week of Jesus begins with a new kind of Seder.  There is so much meaning and symbolism in what Jesus does with the traditional elements of Seder.  I encourage you to seek out commentary on it, and maybe we’ll even write about it next holy week.  Like the law that Jesus fulfilled and didn’t abolish with the institution of grace, he takes the bread and the 3^rd cup of wine and transforms them into a new Seder.  The bread that was so central to the story of Israel’s exodus now becomes his body, and the 3^rd cup of wine (the cup of redemption) becomes his redemption of all people in the form of his shed blood.  In just a few words, Jesus takes the central feast in the most significant Jewish festival and transforms it into the communion feast, where all who know Him are welcome. 

Although I could talk about Seder all day, it is in the garden where I want to land for today’s post.  After Seder and singing a hymn (I wonder what the hymn was), Jesus invites the disciples on a walk.  When they arrive at Gethsemane, he instructs the disciples to sit while he goes off to pray.  He invites Peter, James and John to continue with him, and then the Bible says, “…and he became deeply troubled and distressed.” (Mark 14:33b NLT)  He continues in the next couple of verses to share with Peter, James and John, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.  Stay here and keep watch.”  Jesus continues on further, and then under the weight of something no one has ever felt before he falls to the ground.

“Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.“ (Mark 14:36 NLT)

I have heard those words so many times before … “take this cup from me.”  For so long, I attributed those words to the suffering he knew was coming on the cross road: being betrayed and denied, being rejected by his own people, the physical brutality at the hands of the Roman soldiers, the spikes driven through his hands and feet, the thorns as they dug into his flesh.  I have come to believe, however, that those words don’t refer to the brutal emotional and physical suffering that is to come; rather, they refer to the most significant three hours in all of human history.  The hours when, for the first and last time ever, there was a separation in the Trinity.  The cup of suffering that Jesus was praying would be taken from him, was separation from his Father.  This was the deepest pain imaginable to Jesus.  To give up the communion that sustained him during the entirety of his human experience, meant giving up everything.

As I readied myself for bed last night, those thoughts were on my mind.  The thoughts began to connect with a personal truth that I have shared with friends and family so many times in the past.  Namely, that I have learned and experienced so much about God in my role as a father.  In that quiet space, with the thoughts of separation running through my mind, I began to feel intimately connected with the heart of God.  I became captured by a vivid memory of a weekend where my wife and two sons were visiting her parent’s house for an extended weekend.  I miss my family terribly when we are separated, and that night their absence seemed especially painful.  On the way to bed, I walked into each of my boy’s rooms, grabbed a pillow from their bed and took them to my room.  I spent some time lying in bed praying and holding tightly to both pillows, while laying my head on my wife’s.  In the memory of that moment I drew close to God.  Jesus, a son with a heavenly Father, chose separation.  He wished for any other possible way, but he chose it.  For him it was a pain infinitely worse than the cruelest torture and death, but He was about his Father’s business … the business of redeeming the world.

Jesus chose the cross today.  He chose and endured separation today.  He died for us today.  Praise God!  And even more, praise God that as our next week begins in just two days, life and hope begin anew!  We must sit a while with Friday.  Resurrection is incomplete without it.  But God’s redemptive story doesn’t find its punctuation today.  He is Risen!  He is Risen, Indeed!

The following is an estimated timeline of Good Friday in the “last” week of Jesus based on research I have done.  This has been extremely meaningful in my observance of Good Friday.  I trust you will find it meaningful as well.

Thursday (our definition of the day)
6:00-11:30pm
Passover Seder – Jesus and his disciples
11:30-1:30am
Garden of Gethsemane

Friday
1:00-1:30am
Confrontation in the garden; Jesus arrested.
1:30-3:00am
Trial 1: Annas, former Jewish High Priest for 16 years; Jesus receives initial physical abuse.
Trial 2: Current Jewish High Priest, Caiaphas, and the Sanhedrin Court; Jesus bloodied by abuse.
3:00-5:00am
Imprisonment at Caiaphas’ palace.
5:00-6:00am
Trial 3: All the Jewish elders, including the High Priest, scribes and whole Sanhedrin. They decide to ask the Roman government to kill Jesus.
6:00-7:00am
Trial 4: Hearing before Roman governor Pilate, who declares, “I find no guilt in this man.”
7:00-7:30am
Trial 5: Hearing before Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great who had jurisdiction over Galilee; Jesus refused to answer any questions so Herod returned him quickly to Pilate.
7:30-8:30am
Trial 6: Pilate repeatedly tried to release Jesus but the Jewish leaders continued to object. Pilate physically tortured and beat Jesus beyond recognition seeking to satisfy the Jewish leaders. However, the Jews still demanded that Jesus be crucified. Pilate resists but eventually gives the order to execute Jesus.
8:30-9:00am
Pilate’s Roman soldiers take Jesus into the court (“Praetorium”) and continue to mock and torture him, including driving the “crown” of thorns into his skull.
9:00am-12:00pm
Jesus forced to carry his own cross to Golgotha; Crucifixion
12:00-3:00pm
Jesus hangs on the cross for 3 hours separated from his Father.
3:00pm
Jesus dies.
before sundown
Jesus is buried.

It is only the context of our modern definition of a day that allows me to choose the inspiration for today’s post.  What I write about did not, in fact, happen on the calendar day Thursday as the Jewish people would have defined it.  Aligned with the truth and timing of creation, the ancient’s day began at sundown.  Therefore correctly understood in context, the event where I draw my inspiration actually happened in the early hours of Friday in Jesus’ “last” week.  And while its significance is my primary motivator, its timetable in our context makes it “fit” well for today. 

In traversing days, I am also leaving the gospel of Mark, where so much of my scriptural references have come this week.  And if you permit me a minute to chase a “squirrel,” I want to share my excitement about this quarter’s focus on the Journey onWord site.  Over the past few years spending time in all four of the gospels during holy week, I have come to love their uniqueness and diversity.  Uniqueness in choosing different stories or events to tell, and diversity in their perspective or emphasis on the stories and events they share.  This quarter I am looking forward to not rushing through the entirety of them and slowing down to look at one specific story or event each week, so I can pour over what each of the writers has to share about it. (Now back to our regularly scheduled “squirrel.”)

You likely know today’s story well, and for most of my life I thought I knew it well too.  But it took only a matter of minutes, a few years ago in the midst of a Sunday School class full of 3^rd to 6^th graders to truly experience the story and convince me that I didn’t really know it at all.  Its collision with my Christian sensibilities has forever changed the way I view or approach communion.  It’s the preamble to the first communion, the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.

Overall, Thursday in the last week of Jesus must have been one of preparation.  There is not much said other than Jesus giving the disciples instructions on finding the room and preparing it for the Passover meal he would share with them later that night (or early the next morning, to be contextually correct).  John chapter thirteen’s beginning finds us at the scene of the Passover meal.  And before anything gets going, John begins with these words in verse 1…

Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

The full extent of his love … OK, brace yourself; this is going to be huge!  The God-man who up to this point has: made wine from water, fed thousands starting with only scraps of food more than once, healed people from miles away or with the mere touch of his robe, and raised people from the dead is about to show the full extent of his love.  This is going to be epic!

Jesus gets up from the table, takes off his outer clothes, wraps a towel around his waist, grabs a basin, fills it with water and begins to wash the feet of his disciples.  Wait a minute … Huh?!  Is this right?  This is the full extent?  This is love?  Yes, yes, yes … and for all the other questions, YES!  This is a Jesus-sort-of-kingdom moment.  This is the sum total of his last-shall-be-first teaching.  This is the King who was born in a feed trough in a stable.  This is the King who rode into his coronation parade on the back of a young donkey.  This is the King who was anointed by an unnamed woman in the house of a leper.

And as Jesus calmly but confidently answered Peter’s challenge to this foot washing, He sent a clear message to his disciples and to the countless generations that would follow …

So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. (John 13:14-15 MSG)

In removing his clothes and taking this posture, Jesus Christ showed us the standard for his kingdom.  To belong, you must become a servant, because in his words in the very next verse …

No servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. (NIV)

This is the King who left his Father’s side with one, and only one, purpose to fulfill.  This is the King who is not being led along but is intentionally walking towards the cross.  This is the King that will take all sins for all time on himself and endure the worst possible suffering (literal separation from his Father) for me and for you.  This is MY King, and I earnestly pray that he is YOUR King as well.

This is my challenge to you before resurrection day ends.  Find someone, and wash their feet.  Seriously, do it.  And do it in the King’s example.  We don’t still wear sandals as our primary footwear, and our streets are not composed of the same grit and substance as the streets of the ancient’s. I do not believe that Jesus’ command was simply to humble yourself and serve others because people wore open shoes and walked on dusty roads.  I think we should all be obedient in the same way he was.  Take the challenge, and I think it will change you.  I think it will affect you in ways that you never could have expected.  If you take the challenge, I would love to hear about it.

He is Risen!  He is Risen, Indeed!

In traveling through the seven days that comprise a week, Wednesday represents the apex.  Also referred to as “hump day,” the connotation of Wednesday is that the uphill climb toward week’s end is about to encounter its highest point, and once it is reached “it’s all downhill from here.”  We don’t find much difference in the Wednesday of the last week of Jesus.

In my studies preparing for today, I came across a literary technique with an odd name that is ascribed to the gospel writer Mark.  It’s called the sandwich technique and describes Mark’s pattern of breaking up a story by inserting another seemingly unrelated story in the middle of it.  This middle story typically has big action or significance (meat), and on further reflection it begins to draw the outer story (bread) in with a very common theme or application to create a unified “sandwich.” 

We find our first slice of bread in the first two verses of Mark chapter 14, where we get a window into the plot that is beginning to brew amongst the religious leaders.  The chief priests and teachers are looking for a “sly way” (v1) to capture Jesus and kill him.  It is still true that, although there may be some unrest beginning to brew, Jesus is still very popular amongst the people.  The leaders are extremely concerned about a revolt, if they don’t play their cards correctly.  We get our second slice when we jump down to verse 10 and see Judas approach the chief priests for the purpose of handing Jesus over to them.  They consider this a great windfall and talk terms of a deal, and he begins to look for opportunity.  Things are certainly reaching their apex and will begin to move rapidly downhill from this point.

At the very crest of the events of Jesus’ last week, we pause and hear of an amazing story of an unnamed woman and her blessed initiative.  The setting is a meal at the house of Simon the leper.  The scene fits.  Doesn’t it?  Are you at all surprised that Jesus would be enjoying a meal at the house of a former leper?  Yeah, me neither.  Jesus is reclining at the table with the other guests and, contrary to proper etiquette, a woman (who would normally only approach the table to serve the men who were eating) walks up to him with an alabaster jar.  The jar is full of what is described as “very expensive perfume, made of pure nard.” (Mark 14:3 NIV)

Doing some research, I found that nard comes from very remote regions of the Himalayas in modern-day China, India and Nepal, so it would stand to reason that this assessment of its value is right on.  It is suggested that perfume in this quantity and of this value would likely have been a treasured family heirloom or inheritance.  I think it is fair to say that this would be the prized possession of this woman and would amount to most, if not all, of what she had of value in this world.

She approaches Jesus, breaks the bottle, and pours it over his head.  Did you notice the second action in the sequence?  I believe there is deep significance in her breaking the bottle.  The unnamed woman did not simply uncap the bottle and measure her pour.  She broke the bottle, making an irreversible commitment that its entire contents would be spent in the anointing of Jesus.  A whole vessel would allow for restraint and the possibility to keep some for herself.  Or even give the appearance of pouring it all out but still allowing for an amount to be hidden and saved.  A broken vessel is an exposed vessel.  There is no hiding in a broken vessel.  And a broken vessel is a submitted vessel.  One that can no longer be used for its prior purposes but rather given up fully to the purpose it was broken for.  This is the gift of this unnamed woman, not only of her perfume, but of herself.

Immediately on seeing this act, those who were in attendance began to criticize her harshly.  What in the world was she doing?!  Does she not know how valuable the perfume was and how much money could have been gained from its sale and given to the poor?!  It is important to understand that alms for the poor was a very integral part of the Passover celebration.  Much like our modern celebration of Christmas, it was customary to be very generous to the poor during Passover season.  So in their own reasoning the guests saw the horrible injustice and waste in this apparently frivolous act.  In their own reasoning, that is.

As quickly as they began, Jesus jumped to the woman’s defense and put the rebuke back on them.  “Leave her alone … she has done a beautiful thing to me.” (v6)  In his divine, kingdom vision he saw the moving of her spirit to anoint him for burial; a broken and complete sacrifice to honor him and prepare his body for what was to come.  It was not customary for a criminal’s body to be anointed for burial.  Knowing this would be his Son’s fate, God authored this beautiful and purposed act.  Jesus chastises the guests with the truth that they will always have the poor amongst them to offer their help to, but they will only have him for a very short time.  And lest this be interpreted as a selfish statement, Jesus is quoting the Old Testament text of Deuteronomy 15:11 where God says, “There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.” (NLT)

I see a few parallels here to the events and lessons of yesterday.  First, the reality of kingdom purposes in stark contrast to the purposes of the natural world.  In their focus on perfume and money, the guests miss the point of the kingdom act of anointing.  They are focused on the denarius, while Jesus and the unnamed woman have the Father’s kingdom on their hearts.

Then there is the greatest commandment and Jesus’ answer to the teacher of the law the day before when he questioned, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” (Mark 12:28) In breaking the bottle and giving it up to its final and divine purpose of anointing, the woman loved the Lord her God with everything she had.  Jesus words, “She did what she could” (Mark 14:8a), is the same language he used the day before in describing the widows offering.  In response to what she did, Jesus promised that throughout the remainder of human history “wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” (Mark 14:9)

An unnamed woman in the house of a leper approaching her Lord and pouring out the entirety of the most valuable thing she possessed in life.  That is the delicious meat in a sandwich that is otherwise trying to be spoiled by two moldy pieces of bread.  Eventually, that bread is discarded and the meat wins.  He is Risen!  He is Risen, Indeed!