The Goodness of God- Holy Week

Bonjour peeps!! It is Thursday, and personally Thursday is inconvenient!! Its the day after youth Wednesday and you've gone to hang out with friends and then you have to wait a WHOLE DAY for Friday! Ok, that is not the best intro but that's all I've got. Sorry.

*WEATHER FORCAST*: It's slightly windy with a chance of bad news from the media. Ok I'm really done trying to be funny now. Ya'll probably think I'm off my rocker. I would agree. So moving on...

TOPIC: HOLY WEEK

Holy week! Probably the most famous week in history in my humble opinion. So here is what happened during Holy week day by day.

SUNDAY- Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. Now, when kings rode out for war they rode a horse, BUT when they rode in on a donkey that symbolizes peace and VICTORY. When Jesus rode in on a donkey that symbolizes that He has already declared victory over sin by sacrificing Himself for us even though he had not died yet. Read Matthew 21:1-11

MONDAY- Jesus cleared the Temple. The only time Jesus became violent while He was human. The temple was a place of worship and was supposed to be kept holy but Luke 19:46 says, "My Temple will be a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of thieves." He made a whip and scattered the money, freed the animals, turned tables, and ran the sellers out. It is also said he spent the night in Bethany, probably with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

TUESDAY- Jesus goes to Mount of Olives. In Matthew 23 they passed the fig tree Jesus withered the day before and talks to them about the importance of faith. Back at the temple, the religious leaders were finally pushed over the edge after what Jesus did. They created an ambush that was meant to place Jesus under arrest but Jesus evaded their traps and gave them a piece of His mind "Blind guides!...For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness...Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?" (Matthew 23:24-33)

They finally reach the Mount and Jesus tells an elaborate prophesy about Jerusalem's destruction and the end age. He tells this through parables, and also talks about the end times and his second coming. It is insinuated Tuesday is also the day that Judas Iscariot negotiated with the Sanhendrin on how he will betray Jesus. That can be found in Matthew 26:14-16.

WEDNESDAY- It is not know really what Jesus did on this day, but it's speculated that after two days spent in Jerusalem, they probably rested in Bethany preparing for the Passover on Thursday. I'm sure the days crawled by slowly for Jesus as He was anticipating Thursday night.

THURSDAY- Also known as Maundy Thursday, Jesus sent Peter and John to prepare the Upper Room for that night. After sunset Jesus washed his disciples feet because He wanted to demonstrate how believers should love one another. Then they had the Passover. "I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won't eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God." (Luke 22:15-16)

As the Lamb, He was about to fulfill the meaning of Passover by giving His body to be broken and blood to be shed in sacrifice for us.

-Luke 22:19-22

Much later He took the disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane where He prayed to His Father in so much agony that He was sweating blood (Luke 22:44) Then Judas and the Sanhendrin along with possibly thousands of people come to arrest Jesus. In the cover of night. His followers flee out of fright, but that was partly a good thing because Jesus had to go through this time by Himself. He was taken to the High Priest and put on trial. The trail was illegal, in many ways because it was night, they had fake witnesses supposedly testify against Jesus but none of the testimonies lined up because it was all lies in attempt to get rid of Jesus. The trial went into the early morning on Friday. Matthew 26:17-75

FRIDAY- The Trial, Crucifixion, Death and Burial. Firstly, Judas was was so overcome with grief and guilt he hung himself. Before the third hour (9 a.m.) Jesus endured accusations, condemnation, mockery, beatings, and abandonment. He was sentenced to Crucifixion which is one of the most disgraceful ways to die. He was mocked by the soldiers and had a crown of thorns placed on his head. He carried his cross up the Hill of Galgotha and was nailed to the cross. "Jesus spoke seven final statements from the cross. His first words were, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34, NIV). His last words were, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." (Luke 23:46, NIV)

Then, about the ninth hour (3 p.m.), Jesus breathed his last breath and died.

By 6 p.m. Friday evening, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus' body down from the cross and lay it in a tomb." Matthew 27:1-62

SATURDAY- "He was layed in the tomb guarded by Roman Soldiers. While his physical body lay in the tomb, Jesus Christ paid the penalty for sin by offering the perfect, spotless sacrifice. He conquered death, both spiritually and physically, securing our eternal salvation:"

"For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God." (1 Peter 1:18-19, NLT)

Saturday's events are recorded in Matthew 27:62

SUNDAY- The end of Holy Week. Sunday morning Mary Magdalene and another Mary went to the tomb to find it standing open with an angel had rolled the stone away the angel was sitting there! "Don't be afraid! I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn't here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen." (Matthew 28:5-6) "On the day of his resurrection, Jesus Christ made at least five appearances. Mark's Gospel says the first person to see him was Mary Magdalene. Jesus also appeared to Peter, to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and later that day to all of the disciples except Thomas, while they were gathered in a house for prayer.

The eyewitness accounts in the Gospels provide what Christians believe to be undeniable evidence that the resurrection of Jesus Christ did indeed happen. Two millennia after his death, followers of Christ still flock to Jerusalem to see the empty tomb. Sunday's events are recorded in Matthew 28:1-13"

BOTTOM LINE: We cannot imagine what Jesus went through. He had never been separated from His Father God and experienced God turning His back on Him because God cannot have anything to do with sin.

Jesus was not killed, he allowed Himself to die because He loves us that much. The Roman soldiers and the Sanhedrin did not kill Him. And the only way can spend our eternity with God is if we except Him. Except Him as our Lord and Savior. The one who died for us.

I pray you have learned something today and take some time to set apart to just pray and read the Bible as we are approaching Easter Sunday.

*comment down below what your Easter traditions are, and how you celebrate!*