The stone which had been rolled in front of the tomb remained as if frozen in time.  Jesus was dead.  He’d even said, “It is finished.”  The grave was silent and seemingly satisfied.  There is no “More to the Easter Story” for Jesus to tell because He’s dead.  He’s buried.  This stark reality of death gives us sober time to reflect while Jesus is cold, dead, in the grave at this moment on the Church calendar.  “The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning Him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath…”

Think about it:

Boiled down to its essence, what is truly Christian faith?  It’s what we do with the actual Person, the real work, the true life, and the importantly unique death of Jesus.  These are the defining measures of a Christian. 

It’s not which Christian church you attend or denomination that church belongs to.  It’s not really about church at all.  As I re-write this day’s devotional in light of the raging fire which consumed much of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, I am mindful that people appreciate–even cherish–relics and artwork, statues and artifacts, and the architecture of the Cathedral which remains a magnificent achievement of human hands in devotion to God.  And yet, these are not what makes a church the Church or a Christian a Christian. 

Relics, art, and architecture are works of the material world.  The living Church (made up of Christians) stands worlds apart–visible in the material world but the real work in us was done in the spiritual world.

In the silence of the grave, we must consider what it means to be a Christian.  I’m rather appalled that so much social media commentary now focuses on assigning certain denominations as having heretical views though they are fully Christian…and other Christians are glossing over heresy to appear open-minded and inclusive. 

Notre Dame, being a Catholic church, has flavored some comments with an anti-Catholic sentiment and others an anti-Protestant (especially anti-Baptist) sentiment as tit-for-tat. 

I have truly Christian friends who worship at their local parish of the Roman Catholic Church and ones who worship at Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and nondenominational churches.  Maybe it’s time to get back to basics since there are probably frauds in the pews where faithful also attend in most any church.  Wheat and the tares.

Today on the church’s calendar, it’s Holy Saturday and Jesus is entombed.  On tomorrow’s Easter, the tomb will be empty, and death is defeated… forever. 

This happened because Jesus is God, the work He did on the Cross was perfect and is eternal, and His resurrection proves His victory. 

Heresies do exist, but there are essentials missing in each heresy.  Important essentials like:

• Jesus is Son of Man and fully human.
• Son of God and fully divine since before Creation.
• Both God and man at the same time. 
• God Incarnate.  Word made flesh. 
• The Way, the Truth, and the Life. 
• Perfect Sacrifice for Sin because He was sinless. 
• Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 
• Promised One.  Risen One.  Messiah.  Savior.  Redeemer. Deliverer. 
• Now add who He will be at His return:  Bridegroom of the Church.  King of kings. Lord of lords. Judge of the quick and the dead. 

False religions do exist and there are both close pretenders (often very nice people) claiming to be Christian (like Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Unitarians, and Universalists) and those that reject Christianity wholesale (Islam being dominant and rising). 

On the Church calendar, Jesus is in the tomb today, but someday in the days to come, He will return as Judge.  Therefore, be careful what you believe about the actual Person, the real work, the true life, and the importantly unique death and resurrection of Jesus. 

Thank You, Jesus, that Your Word tells us, “All Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16), and “The word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess”. (Hebrews. 4:12-14)  Keep us in Your Truth and reveal more of Yourself to us each day. Strengthen us for this hour, we pray in Your precious Name.  Thank You, Lord Jesus. Amen.

This is the final offering in our “More to the Easter Story” Lenten Devotionals Series. Tomorrow, there will be an Easter greeting and message. If you received these by logging onto the sidebar of the Seminary Gal Home page or if you have Facebook and you “Liked” my page (Seminary Gal) where they’re always reprinted, I hope you’ll stay on for resuming our Joseph: A Life with Many Colors series which will continue after a short break. I appreciate your encouragement and wish you all a very happy Passover and Easter!

Jesus set down His cup and His betrayer left.  The remaining disciples tried to move beyond the awkwardness by singing a hymn with Jesus, and then they went out to the Mount of Olives.  Matthew 26:31 Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

While the disciples protested that they would stand with Him until the end, Jesus knew better.  The very long bad Good Friday was unfolding, and He said to His disciples,

Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.” (Luke 23:37)

They arrived at the Mount of Olives and Jesus needed to take some time to pray alone to His Father since He was now facing the battle of His life. 

 Luke 23:41 “He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.   44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. 45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.” 

There was no other way to pay for the sin of mankind.  It had to be this.  First the betrayer, then the apprehension before Jesus would say, 53 “Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour– when darkness reigns.”

Indeed, celestial daylight may have broken on the very long bad Good Friday, but it was darkness–spiritual darkness–that reigned. Those in authority fraudulently tried, mocked, and beat Him. They blindfolded Him, demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?,” and insulted Him in every possible way.  They brought Him for sentencing before that double-minded Pilate who finally agreed to crucify Him to satisfy the crowd’s demands.  The Roman guards scourged Him and mocked Him with a crown of thorns and a robe before sending Him–bloody and weary, His back nearly skinless now–to carry His Cross to the place of crucifixion. 

As He went to Golgotha, Luke 23:27 “A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him.  28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.”” 

So, they wept for Him and for themselves.  Those in charge were so consumed with hatred that they had no idea of the battle in the spiritual realm Jesus had been fighting since His Incarnation and more earnestly since His being betrayed.  About the ones carrying out this excruciating execution,

Luke 23:34 “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His clothes by casting lots… 38 There was a written notice above Him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS… 44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When He had said this, he breathed his last.”

The battle was fought.  The battle was finished.  The scattered disciples heard word that Jesus was dead, grieved that they’d fallen away in His hour of need, and assumed the overthrow—the war for vindication—was lost forever.  The women who had been watching the entire time wretched with complete anguish, choking on their tears, unable to stand or control their sobbing.

A rich man named Joseph of Arimathea watched in horror, too.  Being a member of the Council, he had sufficient authority to bravely go to Pilate as evening approached.  He asked for Jesus’ body since He was already dead.  Joseph took Jesus’ body down—it was already cold, lifeless, and Jesus’ final expression being an upward look at heaven and an open grimace of pain.  His eyes had not been closed at death.  Rather, they remained open, but their light was gone.  It was something Joseph would never forget.  That look of pain in death’s darkness layered over upward faith in the eyes of Jesus. 

Joseph had been accompanied by Nicodemus who brought myrrh and aloes to prepare the body in accordance with Jewish burial customs.  Together, they carefully wrapped Jesus’ body in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.  The Sabbath was about to begin so they went home, each to his own, defiled now by touching death, horrified by the events, and remembering every detail of wrapping of Jesus’ dead body still bearing that look.  Before they left, they rolled the stone in front of the tomb, but they couldn’t seal away the memory of being the last ones to touch Jesus’ earthly body and look upon Jesus, this man of so much promise, this man who claimed He was God…a man faithful to the very end, and who died a death He didn’t deserve.

Think about it: 

• How must Joseph and Nicodemus have felt to close the tomb by rolling the huge stone?  What kind of emotions and thoughts do you think they might have experienced as their Messianic expectations met the grave? 
• The women too, the ones Luke 23:55 “who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how His body was laid in it.”  How do you think they felt seeing the stone rolled, sealing Him in, and their having to wait until after the Sabbath to anoint His body?

“The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb” (Acts 13:27-29).  Forgive us, Lord, for our sins which made Your death necessary.  May we never take Your grace for granted. In the precious Name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen.

“More to the Easter Story” Lenten Devotionals conclude tomorrow, followed by an Easter greeting on Sunday. If you received these by logging onto the email sidebar of the Seminary Gal Home page or if you have Facebook and you “Liked” my page (Seminary Gal) where they’re always reprinted, I hope you’ll stay on for resuming our Joseph: A Life with Many Colors series which will continue after a short break. I appreciate your encouragement in this and my gardening ministry. I do this for you.

All signs pointed to the end of His earthly ministry.  So, serving others was top of Jesus’ mind as He did the unthinkable and washed His disciples’ feet in preparation to observe the Passover.  They didn’t quite know how to react to that.  In one sense, honored, even loved, but also vastly uncomfortable, even shocked, that Jesus would do this.  For Jesus, it was the important context to this Passover and what would transpire over the next three days. 

Indeed, Jesus felt all the weight of the remembrance and the solemn sacrifice of the Passover lamb.  Jesus’ disciples, too, felt that this Passover was meaningful in a way totally apart from any prior year’s Passover.  They couldn’t identify why, but it just felt different.  Strangely different even from last year’s when they were newer to the discipleship scene and it wasn’t just the foot-washing that made it unusual.

Jesus put words to this atmosphere saying, Luke 22:15, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

The disciples looked at Him gravely.  There He goes again, talking about suffering.  What does He mean He will not eat it again until the kingdom of God?  What does that mean?  He just got through telling us that it’s not going to happen yet.  No kingdom of God is going to arrive with overthrow.  Jesus won’t be observing the Passover until a much later, undetermined date.  Why does He talk like this?  It confuses me, each man thought.  But no one said a word.  To them, it was a private shame and a conflict of faith not to understand.

17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

Think about it:

• The disciples didn’t have the benefit of what we know on this side of the Cross.  To them, in the flow of events, how might they have understood the new covenant in [His] blood? 
• In  Matthew 26:21-22, Scripture says, “And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?””  How was betrayal something they could all understand?
• Each man asked about whether it was himself.  In what way does that reveal each man must have harbored doubts in some way at some time, perhaps even now? 

Lord Jesus, thank You for the new covenant in Your blood, understood more fully on this side of Your supreme sacrifice.  We thank You, Father, for the Passover for the Jews of Moses’ day and for the forgiveness offered by the blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  Thank You for loving us first and loving us better and eternally.  We praise You for the gift of salvation for everyone who believes, repents, and follows You.  Thank You that salvation is not up to us, but You have done all that is required.  May we each have wisdom to see the gift You offer and to accept it with humble gratitude.  We will not truly understand until we see You face-to-face, but until then hold us fast, keep us strong, and give us perseverance to the very end.  Amen.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2019 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this great look at the Easter story to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular,

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.

The Twelve had come to accept that Jesus was not in a hurry to overthrow the Romans even if maybe one of the Twelve was not committed to stay the course in the way of the other Eleven.  Perhaps it was Judas’ impatience.  Maybe his heart had long been elsewhere.  

Who knows when a man’s heart changes, and a growing disillusionment replaces faith?  Jesus knew the answer, and it grieved Him that part of the plan would include one “doomed to destruction.”

If the end wasn’t coming soon, at least Eleven who would stay the course wanted to know how to know when it was coming. 

Luke 21::7 “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”  

It was not a question arising from faith, but from somewhere else.  Human planning? Curiosity? Countdown? Jesus would not answer the former “when” question, but He’d outline the signs.  In a series of warnings and encouragements,

Luke 21:8 Jesus replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them.  9 When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”  10 Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.  12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.  13 And so you will bear testimony to me.  14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves.  15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.  

Think about it: 

• Why would Jesus give them both warnings and encouragements as it relates to the signs? 
• Read verses 16-36.  What are the warning signs? 
• Encouragement consists of telling the faithful that if they stand firm, they will win life (v 19), that the times of the Gentiles needed to be fulfilled (v 24), Jesus will come in a cloud with power and great glory (v 27) and if they will be always on the watch prayerfully… “you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” (v 36)  Why was it important to include the encouragement following each of the warnings? 
• Had He offered only encouragement without the warnings, what might have happened to their faith?  Had He offered only warnings without the encouragement, what might have happened to their faith?

Thank You, Father, for creating a resilience in our faith through trials and testing.  Thank You for salvation and rescuing us from the powers of evil in this world.  Give us strength to persevere in prayer, more and more as the days draw near to Your return, Lord Jesus.  Amen.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2019 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this great look at the Easter story to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular,

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.

Time was running short.  Only a few days left before His earthly ministry would be completed.  What was good news for some would be very bad news for others.  Either Jesus would be the rock-solid foundation of their salvation or He’d be the stone the builders reject and eventually—after all their chances to repent were exhausted–there would be hell to pay.

Luke 20:1 One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, … 9 He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.

The people scratched their heads as Jesus strategically paused in the story.  Why would the tenants beat the vineyard owners’ servants and send them away one by one?  Surely the tenants would have understood that this vineyard had been a long-term investment by the owner but that without the tenant farmers, the land would be overrun, and wilderness would take over.  They performed their function and would have received their full share.

The owner was only asking for some fruit for his land purchase and expenses in planting of the vineyard.  So why would they do this awful thing?

Jesus’ audience understood this particular parable was about them, the Chosen People.  They themselves were the vineyard!  They knew those responsible for nurturing the Chosen People throughout history until the final vindication were the teachers, the leaders, and the chief priests.  Had these leaders failed?

Consider all the blessings!  They’d had the covenants!  They had the promises!  They had the patriarchs!  They had the deliverance from Egypt!  They had Moses and all the prophets!  They had the Law!  And they had all the prophetic writings, and documented history through generations of kings both good and bad.  Why would their experts and teachers throw it all away?

After Jesus held their gaze through a powerful pause, He continued,

13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’

The people were listening with rapt attention, knowing God was the rightful king of the Chosen People, the owner of the vineyard.  Is Jesus talking about the Messiah?

14 “But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”

Think about it:

• Why did the people say “God forbid”? 
• Was it the treatment of the heir, the tenants’ death, or the reallocation of the vineyard that bothered them?
• Who is God bringing into the Chosen People?
• What is Jesus saying in Luke 20:17 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”?
• What are two ways in which anti-Semitism ought to be abhorrent to Christians?  Read Romans 9-11 for insight.
• In what way is it not “God forbid” but God ordained?

Thank You, Father, for Your plan to include the Gentile world and to fulfill Your promise to Abraham, that he would be the father of many nations.  Thank You, Lord Jesus, for being faithful to the end.  Thank You, that we can rely upon You because You are faithful, and we can trust You because Your Word tells us that You are love. We praise You!  Amen and Amen.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2019 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this great look at the Easter story to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular,

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.

The end of My mission is very near, thought Jesus.  And it was such a shame that those to whom He’d been sent didn’t recognize the time of God’s coming to them.  They would be missing out on so much peace to be had, if only they accepted His teaching instead of rejecting Him.  It was time to clean house and begin His march to the Cross. 

Luke 19: 45 When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. 46 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’ ”

The zeal for God’s house consumed Him.  He knew the importance of prayer, and He was righteously angered at the way mankind had abused the privilege of coming to God in prayer and worship. What had they done instead? They had turned it into just another commercial enterprise springing from greed.  Over money!  Choosing money over God!  As He drove out the sellers and overturned the tables of the money changers, He knew the point had to be made.  This was wrong, wrong, wrong!  It was abuse of the poorest—a monetizing of worship and making actual worship of the One True and Sovereign God an afterthought.

Rejection of the Father takes many forms, and this was among the worst because the offense was against God and man and abused the most vulnerable.

The chief priests and teachers of the law took umbrage at this action.  How dare He!  Just who does He think He is?  This man has lost His mind!  He is seriously out of control.  He needs to be stopped.  Oh, and He will be.  We’ll see to it, they committed to each other.

Here was the problem though: how to do it. 47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.

He was still too popular with the people who would yet come to His defense, the adversaries concluded.  We can’t risk the Romans taking His side.  We’ll need to find a way to divide Him from His followers.  Let’s wait for the right time.

Think about it:

• How is divide-and-conquer still an effective strategy? 
• Read John 17:20-23.  How does unity testify to what is better?

We praise You, God Almighty, for the unity You have in heaven as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  May we be one in purpose and in worship of You so that You will receive all glory!  You are God Eternal and we praise You!  Amen.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2019 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this great look at the Easter story to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular,

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.

The disciples were understandably nervous.  It was both a nervous fear and a nervous excitement.  They could see Jerusalem in the distance.  This was really happening!

Luke 19:28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

Jesus was about to do something remarkable.  He would harken the minds of the observers back to the writings in 1 Kings 1:32-34 and King David’s commissioning of Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet to get a mule for his son Solomon to be anointed as king over Israel.  Jesus was about to do that very thing.  Two were commissioned–in this case disciples–and a donkey no one had ever ridden would bear the King of the Jews.

The disciples, excited to be part of this Messianic fervor, rushed to do their task.  The remaining disciples looked at Jesus, wondering if He knew what He was doing, whether this plan was truly thought out, or how this could be an actual battle strategy.  Was overthrow going to come with a man entering peacefully on a gentle donkey?  Aren’t we supposed to be crowning Him king and getting battle-ready?  Their hearts were pounding as they awaited the arrival of the donkey and return of the two who had been sent.  All the while their minds were a muddle.

Think about it: 

• In 1 Kings 1:32 King David said, “Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” When they came before the king, 33 he said to them: “Take your lord’s servants with you and have Solomon my son mount my own mule and take him down to Gihon. 34 There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon!’”
• How did a prophet, a priest, and a king-to-be enter Gihon in 1 Kings? 
• How would Jesus fulfill prophet, priest, and king in His entry to the Holy City of Jerusalem?

Lord Jesus, we crown You as King of our hearts and our lives!  Reign in us today, we pray!  Amen.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2019 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this great look at the Easter story to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular,

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through on His way to Jerusalem.  When He saw a wealthy tax-collector named Zacchaeus who’d climbed a tree to see His arrival, He said, “Come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” Zacchaeus welcomed him gladly. 

It was a welcome that brought joy to Jesus’ heart and salvation to Zacchaeus (which is exactly what an encounter with Jesus can do).  But it also brought ridicule from certain people and rejection of Jesus and His ministry which would amplify all the way to Jerusalem.

Why Zacchaeus? Unfair! Stupid! Improper!  Luke 19:7 “All the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.'”

Jesus took the rejection and turned it into teaching.  After all, Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). Time was running short and these misperceptions of His ministry needed to be corrected.

Luke 19:11 Because Jesus was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once, 12 He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ 14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ 15 “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. 16 “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’ 17 “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’ 18 “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’ 19 “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’ 20 “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’ 24 “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ 25 “‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’ 26 “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them– bring them here and kill them in front of me.'”

Think about it:

• Did sending a “rejection delegation” keep the man of noble birth from becoming king? 
• Would anything—even rejection or death—keep Jesus from being crowned King of kings and Lord of lords? 
• Notice the attitude of the wicked servant. How did the people react as the mina was awarded to the richest one?  How does the issue of fairness get addressed? 
• This is high-stakes stuff.  Do you think some people view Jesus as not capable of having enemies put to death?  If death is automatic–apart from being given eternal life through the gifts of faith and grace–how is that materially different than having a death sentence carried out? 
• What does it take to be God’s enemy?

Lord God, please forgive us for the times we presume upon You by viewing You incorrectly: assuming You’re too loving to exert Your judgment on our sin, or considering You too harsh as Judge to be approachable. In so many ways we act like the wicked servant, missing Your goodness and failing to produce fruit for Your Kingdom.  Thank You that You “came to seek and to save the lost.” We praise You for giving us every opportunity to repent and find forgiveness.  Father, in sober awareness of Your power and Your holiness, we each repent of our sins as individuals, and we confess the sins of our nation.  We fall upon Your mercy.  We are sinners and deep down we know it.  We need You, Father.  We need Your grace and forgiveness, Lord Jesus.  We need Your indwelling, Holy Spirit, to inspire our living as wise servants in a wicked generation.  Amen.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2019 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this great look at the Easter story to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular,

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.

Jesus was astonished (and not in a good way) witnessing the audacity of mankind. Human pride was something truly horrid to behold…but people were blind to how awful it is.  Some didn’t see it as a sin at all and yet, it was part of what was driving Him to the Cross.  It had to be paid in full whether people could see it as sin or not.

Luke 18:9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people– robbers, evildoers, adulterers– or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

Some in the crowd nodded approvingly.  They were grateful they weren’t sinners like other people and would keep their distance from getting polluted, too.  Jesus’ gaze pierced their thoughts as He continued,

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

Exactly right!  That’s what those in the crowd thought.  Jesus knew they were tracking along simply human lines, so He continued to the point of the story,

14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The people were dumbfounded.  How could He say such a thing?  The righteous man who fasts and tithes and goes to temple to pray doesn’t get justified before God?  “The Pharisee, not the sinner, was doing everything right!” they protested silently.  Why does the sinner get justified?  Jesus never averted His gaze and so He seemed to be analyzing their thoughts all the way down into their souls.  They didn’t get it.  Many of them would never understand.

The disciples were supposed to be different, especially since they’d been following for some time now.  But they too needed a lesson on the beauty of innocent faith and on humility before Jesus could head to the Cross.

Luke 18:15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

The disciples, too, were speechless.

Think about it: 

• The destructive nature of human pride is a very common tale.  What about pride makes it so destructive? 
• When you think about your life, do you ever imagine yourself as primarily sinful or primarily a pretty good person?
• In what ways are the destructive nature of pride and an optimistic view regarding our own state connected? 
• Is it easier to see pride as a sin in someone else’s life?

Thank You, Lord God, for valuing humility and for instructing us in what is good and what You require. (Micah 6:8) Holy Spirit, please give us wisdom to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. Help us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but rather think of ourselves with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of us. (Romans 12:3)

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2019 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this great look at the Easter story to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular,

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.