What A Week

by Pastor Bob Rasmussen

Praise the Lord, Resurrection Sunday is next week, amen? Continued prayers for Gordy and Cindy in their recent loss of Gordy’s son. Well, I had quite the week! It seems often I am saying to Diana, my wife, “What a week!” We all have weeks that are busy. We all have weeks that are good, and some that are bad. And at the end of whatever kind of week we had, we may say to ourselves, what a week.

No other week in history was more important, more busy, more emotional, more of anything than that of the last week of the life of Christ. To fully cover all of the scripture that describe that week, well, we would be here for days. Matthew 21-27, Mark 11-15, Luke 19-23 and John 12-19 all talk about the week of Jesus before His resurrection. That’s about a 1/3 of the gospels – so it is important.

I just wanted to look at some of the things that happened during that week and draw attention to them. The first is when Jesus entered Jerusalem. There was a lot of Expectation of Jesus coming into Jerusalem. The Jewish people had been under the brutal hand of Rome, and many thought that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem as their new king, as the king of the Jews to free them from the occupation of Rome.

Before entering Jerusalem, Jesus says this:

Matthew 21:21 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.

Jesus is doing this for a reason. Normally, one would think that a king, especially the king that is coming to free them, would come in on a horse. That is typically what a victorious general would do!

But the Expectations of the people was not why God was there? Jesus knew what the coming week would be like, and He was on a mission performing the will of God. There was a prophecy to be fulfilled.

Zechariah 9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Just like back then, and even today, there were people who did not believe He is who He says He is. Jesus wanted to make sure, absolutely sure, that people, even today, could look in the Word of God and know that Jesus was, Jesus.

And Zechariah was a prophecy that would be fulfilled so that there was no doubt that what the Word said would be fulfilled. And we see that Jesus enters into Jerusalem, the people are thrilled at His arrival.

Matthew 21:8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. 10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? 11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.

The laying down of garments was a sign of deference and honor. Some have written that is an act of submission paid to royalty, which Jesus was and is, royalty.

In John 12:12, it says that the branches were palm tree branches.

John 12:13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Quite the party for a week that just days later would be greeted with great suffering and death. Palm branches were often used to celebrate victories back in the day, they were also used to honor royalty. Which is appropriate as Jesus is the King of Kings, amen? Also, palm branches also represent Jesus as the high priest for all who believe.

Revelation 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

What a beautiful image. One of the very next things that happens is that Jesus goes to the temple. And when He goes there He is not going there to say, “Hey guys, you’re doing a great job.”

Matthew 21:12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

This is not the only temple that Jesus came to turn over is it? Jesus had to do what He did for us as well.

1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Before Jesus came and did what He did at the cross and rose again, the Holy Spirit could not dwell in man – there was no way for it to happen. Through His death, burial, and resurrection – our sin debt paid; we can be made a clean temple.

The next day was pretty busy for Jesus. Apparently Jesus was hangry – that’s not in the bible but that is how I first looked at the scripture about how He was hungry and came upon a fig tree that should have fruit, but did not, so he spoke over that tree, and it withered away.

Again, this tree, not something that they expected from Jesus – the bible says that they marveled at what Jesus had done. And they ask how Jesus, how?

I am so glad that God does not move based on our expectations. I am glad that Jesus did not just leave that poor tree alone. Why? Because of what He shares in Matthew 21:21-22

Matthew 21:21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. 22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

That’s everything! That is all my hope! That is the power of God that can be in our life.

Jesus then did some teaching with parables and spoke some scripture we are all familiar with

Matthew 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

He’s busy condemning the current status quo of what was the church then, he lays it on very heavy.

Matthew 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. 16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!

That is only 2 of 8 “Woe to you” scriptures. Woe means “grief, anguish, affliction, wretchedness, calamity, or trouble.” So, He is definitely not showing acceptance of what they are doing.

This same day, we’ll call it Tuesday, he speaks on the Mount of Olives and shares what the end times will look like with the apostles, which must have been a little terrifying for them, because they knew what He had done and could do. One of the scriptures from this is one of my favorites

Luke 21:33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

On Wednesday He was in Bethany, and he is visiting Lazarus and Mary is there, and she does something for Jesus.

John 12:3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

Organic Spikenard for organic 1lb of oil I can get you some from the interweb for $2314.00. But oil in the bible is not just about cost, is it? It is about anointing, and holiness – about the Holy Spirit.

In just 36 hours, Jesus will be on the cross and suffering. Here he has this moment before that time and then the very person who would betray Jesus is like what a waste! Why waste the money? Why not give it to the poor?

Sometimes, I forget the humanity of Jesus. He had this huge task, literally saving mankind, through a horrible process – and He gets this moment when someone does something nice for Him, and it gets interrupted or ruined – just leave Jesus alone for a minute.

Anyway, on what I am calling Thursday, and as the clock is ticking down to the time of the crucifixion, we see apostles taking a part of what we now call the Lords Supper, something I think we should do next week for Sure, on Resurrection Sunday.

Luke 22:17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: 18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. 19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. 21 But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. 22 And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed!

I don’t watch many soap operas or anything, but I do watch some other shows, and this is starting to be material for one of those shows. Jesus is calling Him out. I sort of think maybe He is still mad about that thing with Mary and the expensive oil, but we know he is talking about Judas.

Judas would go to the religious elite and work things out to get Jesus arrested on the down low.

But, because the apostles do not see the gravity of what Jesus has said, and the reality of it coming soon, they do what I think many people including myself do, they start to make it all about them.

Luke 22:23 And they began to enquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing. 24 And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.

You’re in the room with the greatest! Your time with Him is dwindling, but they just did not understand. And on the eve of His death, I see Jesus and regardless of whether the apostles get everything or not, He really does love them.

John 13:33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. 34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

They are confused, it is not their expectation – regardless of the evidence, Jesus continues to endure. Jesus knows what He must continue to endure.

Jesus then also took them to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus asks them to pray, and He goes by Himself. Jesus says this:

Luke 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

The cup that Jesus is referring to is the suffering that He is about to endure. When Jesus prays this, He is expressing the human and natural desire to avoid pain and suffering. Jesus is fully God, but He is also fully human. And although He had a perfect human nature, never sinning, not once, He still struggled with the need to accept the torture and shame that awaited Him. His flesh recoiled from the cross.

Jesus knew the only way to endure to the end was through prayer and accepting the will of God. He wanted prayer partners. But every time He took a break, He found them asleep.

40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

Can you imagine the real disappointment in his voice. “I mean really, for just one hour you could not pray with me? Don’t you know how hard this is for me? What I must do is harder than anything I have done, harder than anything anyone will ever do. Come on guys!”

Jesus asks God, if there is ANY other way to get this thing done, can we do that? The struggle was very real and intense. Jesus was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death the bible says. Luke the physician observed that Jesus was sweating blood. I have heard people say that can’t happen, you can’t sweat blood. Really, it’s called Hematidrosis. Although rare, it can be brought on by extreme physical or emotional stress.

Jesus knew of what was to come. The agony He faced was going to be more than physical; it would be spiritual and emotional, as well. Jesus knew that God’s will was to crush Him, to allow Him to be “pierced for our transgressions” and wounded for our healing. Jesus loves mankind, but His humanity dreaded the pain and sorrow He faced, and it drove Him to ask, “Let this cup pass from me.”

Jesus is the betrayed with a kiss by Judas and arrested.

On Friday, they bring Jesus to Pilate for judgement. Then Jesus was scourged. The soldiers, put on a crown of thorns. They mocked Jesus. They could have freed Him, but the crowd chose Barabbas. Jesus carried His cross. Cast lots for His clothes. Jesus endured through all of it, fulfilling prophecies along the way. He was dying, alone, in pain, on the cross. For my sin, for your sin. He saw His mother, can you imagine?

John 19:28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. 29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

The good part of this story, the joy, comes after this. But I want to pause here. Let this be our Friday. This week let us remember what the price of our sin was. Before we jump to the resurrection, let us weigh the weight of our sin debt that was paid for with the life of an innocent man, the only one in history – ever. Think on what Christ endured for us this week. It was only 3 days until something miraculous happens, but I think He deserves more time from us.

The dread, the fear and anxiety – we’re all very real. Nothing but the blood, the blood of a perfect lamb, the lamb of God could save you and me. The beating, the ridicule, the pain that Christ endured for you and me, it was significant. I poked my finger on that crown of thorns, it hurt. Christ had it smashed on His head – not one thorn, but 60-80 by my count – for my sin, for your sin.

Imagine the blood, imagine the pain, imagine for a moment, knowing He could call down the armies of angels at His command, but in His mind’s eye He saw you – and He said no, even though every inch of His body must have been screaming, “Yes! Get me out of here!” But He endured. It was not just a minute, it was hours.

The term excruciating literally means out of crucifying. The cross was the most brutal, painful means to death. Excruciating pain. The ending of this story is wonderful and great, but to honor Jesus, to honor His sacrifice, to honor what He did for you and I, can we just give Him all the honor and praise He deserves for what He endured so the possibility of saving grace could come to be.

Can we just honor Him? Seeing our sin on that cross, literally every sin that we have done, are doing, or will do can be cleansed by the blood of the lamb, by the blood of Jesus – it was not spilled or anything like that – it was intentional, it was REQUIRED, it was poured out with sacrificial pain. Everyone of those stripes He took for you and I – think on that, whipped to a bloody pulp and put on that cross. Holy is the Lord. Faithful is the Lord God. Thank You Jesus for your sacrifice.

What a week….

Thank You Jesus for your sacrifice. Forgive us father for skipping to the good part without thinking about all that you went through, for us. We know now that there was no other way, but You could have just said no – thank you for enduring. Thank you for enduring life and not sinning, thank you for enduring the judgement of crowds, thank you for enduring through the pain and the shame. Thank You for Your Word and fulfilling all Your Word. Thank You for giving up Your life to save ours. We love You Lord! Amen

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.