Calvary Baptist Church

WRITER’S NOTES:

HOLY WEEK (THE PASSION WEEK)

Holy Week is a time when we reflect on the events of Jesus’ “Passion Week.”  The term “passion” speaks of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  The week reaches its exciting conclusion on Resurrection Sunday.   

THROUGH THE EYES OF JOHN

This week’s holy week services will be recounted in first person through John’s Eyes.  I will be sharing my blog of the Sunday services while Calvary will also be broadcasting the services Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday live on Facebook.   This week’s blog will lead up to and show Jesus’ response to the event we call “Palm Sunday.”   Four events will be explained from John’s point of view.

We had been in Bethany many times. This small town only two miles from Jerusalem was well known to the Savior.  We had stayed there often.  Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha were close friends.

Their home was always open to the Savior and to our ragtag group of followers.  The village, and their hospitality gave us a tranquil place of rest when the crowds pressed in, and the pressure mounted. We relaxed and retreated from the pressures and demands of ministry.

Jesus’ love for this family was so deep and real.  They were our family.  Because of this our hearts ached when we got the news.  We had been twenty-five miles away when word first came that Lazarus was sick.  We had been visiting a village across the Jordan when the servant came to us.

We would have expected Jesus to start on the road to Bethany as soon as we had the news that his friend had fallen ill.  We believed he would restore Lazarus.  Instead, we waited another day before beginning our journey.

Only later did we realize that by the time Jesus received this messenger Lazarus had already succumbed to his illness.  Given that this journey took an entire day, had we left immediately Lazarus would have been dead for two days.  The delay was for God’s glory, but at the moment we would not understand this truth.  Lazarus being dead for four days proved the power of God.

Jesus waited because He always functioned in God’s timing.  He was not waiting for Lazarus to die; his friend had already died.  He waited for the father to tell Him to go to Bethany.  He did it to build the faith of Mary and Martha as well as believers throughout the ages. 

That faith had not yet been born into the hearts of Mary and Martha when they approached Jesus just outside their home.  They heard that Jesus was on the way and raced outside the city to meet him.  Their first words were filled with pain, “If only you had been here.” 

Jesus was not angry with them nor surprised by their words.  He felt their pain with them and wept bitter tears along with his hurting friends.  He wept because they did.  He has always been so tenderly affected by His people, the Good Shepherd connecting with His sheep.

But Jesus also gave a promise, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”^[1]

They did not know the full meaning of Jesus words even when he walked to the tomb where Lazarus’ body had been placed.  Commanding the stone to be removed Jesus called for Lazarus to come forward. 

The crowd was silent as we waited.  We could hear him before we could see him.  A mass of people heard sound from inside the grave.  Shuffling feet came forward and then we saw him.  Still wrapped in his graveclothes Lazarus walked forward.  Gasped greeted his arrival.

The next days were filled with an unimaginable joy.  As thousands of pilgrims made their way through Bethany to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration they heard the news of Lazarus’ resurrection.  Lazarus’ new life could not be denied. 

For some of the witnesses this was not a welcome event.  The religious leaders knew that this miracle could not be denied.  Instead of celebrating they determined that something should be done about Jesus.

 

Over the next four days the Master led our group of disciples to make the two-mile journey to and from Jerusalem each day.  We would make our way to the temple where Jesus would teach and then back to the warm embrace of our friends in Bethany.

One night as we arrived back to our friends’ home we were greeted with a crowd and the sweet smell of fresh bread and freshly cooked meat.  We could tell that we were in for a feast.  Both Mary and Martha were extraordinary cooks and they had outdone themselves. 

Reclining around the low table there are excited gestures and laughter.  The mood is a joyous celebration of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead.

Jesus was seated at the head table next to Lazarus.  What were they thinking as they talked to each other.  Both knew something about the life beyond this one.  The smiles and laughter around the table drowned out their words.  Everyone was absorbed in the meal.  Course after course were served, each better than the last.

No one noticed when Mary got up and left the room.  Just one person moving among so many celebrating people.  Until she came back in Mary did not garner much attention.

When she entered the room, she carried the beautiful alabaster vase.  Sealed tightly to protect the incredibly expensive contents this vase was instantly recognizable.  Families would save for years to purchase the spicy, sweet perfume used to anoint a person upon their death.  What was her purpose in bringing it to the table.

Mary moved with marked determination. She knew exactly what she was doing. We wondered what she was up to until she sat at Jesus’ feet.  She broke the neck of the vase and gently poured the perfume on Jesus’ feet.  She did not just put a small amount on his feet, she poured the entire bottle on his feet, caressing his feet with her hands and the perfume.

And then she did the unthinkable.  She uncovered and let down her hair.  What she did was scandalous.  Only a husband was supposed to view a woman’s hair.  Mary acted with abandon, incredible abandon.  She is resolute in her actions.  She wanted to dry Jesus’ feet and it was all she had.

Mary signified that her most valuable possession and that which represented her glory were secondary to her worship of Jesus.  The only thing she cared about was pouring out her love for Jesus. 

At first Judas resisted, complaining about the waste of money.  Jesus rebuked that thinking.  Jesus said that her sacrifice would be remembered through the ages. And it has been.  We quickly refocused on her worship.  The room smelled of that sweet aroma and her worship stayed in our minds.

 

The crowds continued to grow in Jerusalem.  Jews from around the known world were obligated to make their way to the city.  People came from all over the world to make their sacrifice and celebrate God’s deliverance.

The resurrection of Lazarus was on every tongue.  People wondered who Jesus was and tried to determine what they should believe about Him.  The fervor of the crowd grew progressively intense.

On what seemed to us a regular day Jesus sent some ahead to get a donkey and bring to him.  We thought it was strange because Jesus walked into the city every other day.  We had long since given up on figuring out his motivation.  We trusted His timing.

The ground is rough as Jesus begins.  Still, it is a broad and well-defined mountain track he makes, winding over rock and loose stones.  A steep decline on the left, the sloping shoulder of Olivet above on the right. 

The crowds were amazingly boisterous as we rounded the corner and looked down the hillside from Bethany to Jerusalem.  Every inch of ground was covered with people.  Quickly they all turned and looked our way.   They were focused on Jesus as He rode on the donkey.

The emotions were overwhelming.  It started slowly, but the crowd soon shouted in unison, “Hosanna” which means save us now.  They cried for salvation.  None of us understood the significance of their words.   They were believing that since Jesus had the power to raise the dead, He would certainly soon set them free from Roman oppression.

They shouted until they were hoarse.  They took off their outer cloaks and laid them on the ground in front of Jesus.  Others cut palm branches and waved them in the air as they continued the symphony of words.  Those closest to Jesus laid their branches down with the cloaks.

 

It was a heady moment for those of us who had followed Jesus.  We could hear the groundswell of emotion.  Our heads lifted as we absorbed the moment.  Our steps seemed lighter.  Would we be welcomed into the city?  Would they recognize who Jesus was at last?

Our emotions were quickly brought into control as Jesus stopped for a moment.  You would think he would relish the attention, but He did not.  Far from being elated by the joyous cries of the giddy multitude, Jesus was grieved by the people's superficial attitude toward Him. He knew that many who were hailing Him as the Messiah that day would cry for His death in days.

So, He stopped and he wept.  His words still echo in my heart. "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." (Luke 19:41-44)

He wept.

 

How radically different the worship of Mary and the “Worship” of the crowd.  Jesus sees what is truly in our hearts.  He sees the worship that is genuine, distinguishing that which is motivated by the emotion of the crowd.  Which kind of worship do you offer Jesus this holy week?

Make it your effort to sit at Jesus feet and offer genuine worship.  He is worthy of our worship.