I Killed Jesus

The Garden of Gethsemane sits silent, awaiting its place as the most famous garden since the first on in Eden. Where the first battle was lost by a man, this battle is about to be won by a man, the man--Jesus Christ. The battle is won here before it is won on the cross come Friday. The moon hovers over the night and the wind blows through the trees, over the body of Jesus as he lies pressed the ground crying out to God for what is to come. Everything is at stake, everything. The most important three days of Christ's life is about to begin.

THURSDAY
The battle begins here in the Garden. Isn't it amazing how God uses a garden to once again to showcase a choice, the ultimate choice, between life and death. What will Jesus choose? The easy way? The safe way? He cannot. He will not. He chooses God. The climax of Holy Week truly starts on Thursday with the Last Supper and Christ's call of radical love and then His truly remarkable battling with God in the Garden. What is Jesus' first action when He steps into the Garden? With all that is at stake, with all that is about to happen, what does Jesus do. Dr. Luke tells us his gospel, chapter 22 verse 39 "And he came out and went to the Mount of Olives. And when he came there, he said to his disciples, pray. And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed."

This is ridiculous. Jesus is God. And yet in this moment He still goes before His Father and begs for His will. For Jesus obedience is absolutely nonnegotiable. It is a must. And yet it is not without tears and sweat and even some pain. Prayer can be a full-contact sport. That is pray that is God all about. Prayer filled with passion, overflowing with honesty, and birthed in the heart of someone who is trusting God to act. As Jesus moves toward the Cross and towards the Resurrection He gets on His knees and He prays and lifts up His cries to God. In the same way, let us be challenged to pray this day, to pray for the preparation of our hearts for Friday and Sunday.

SCRIPTURE:
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." 41He 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." 43An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. -Luke 22:39-44

RESPONSE/ACTION:
Pray. Pray for your heart and that all that God yearns to do within it will be done over these next few days. And pray with honesty, asking God to act and to move and to stir your deepest affections for Him. He is always for you. But He delights in the prayers of His people. Prayer is the foundation of any world-changing movement. Just look to the Garden. The Second Garden.

FRIDAY
The nails pierce the hands of Jesus. They are driven down hard and strong, tearing through his bones and skin and chaining him to the Cross. His hands and legs have been nailed. The cross of thorns sits atop his head. Blood flows down from His face, blood flows down from his wounds. Blood flows everywhere. Blood to cover us. Blood to appease God. Blood shed with a deep joy for the sake of love. "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." -Hebrews 12:2-3. He has scorned the shame of the cross for God's sake, for our sake. At the heart of Christianity is the humiliation of its Savior. Tortured and abused, mocked and left alone he has his eyes fixed, never shifting, never moving. Jesus knows exactly where he is going and he doesn't miss a step.

SCRIPTURE:
"And they came to that place, Skull Hill, there they crucified Him. And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." -Luke 23:33-34

RESPONSE/ACTION:
Forgiveness is at the very heart, the very core of God. It is who God is. Jesus does not get angry with those who are torturing him, who are killing him. He prays to God that He might forgive them. Why? Because those killing Jesus that day, those Roman soldiers, those religious leaders, those people that we often think we would never be if we were there. Those killing Jesus that day, those people are us. It is our sin that put Jesus there. We killed him. Or perhaps more accurately it was God who crushed His own Son, but it was for our sake, for our sin that God's wrath had to be appeased. But you must see yourself as those killing Jesus, as those for whom Jesus is praying. He is praying for you. That is you trust Him, there you can find forgiveness. For while we still sinners, still enemies of the cross, Christ died. Live in that this Good Friday.
Even as you were killing God, He was loving you and praying that you would know forgiveness from Him.

SUNDAY
Did somebody say Resurrection??? This is THE DAY! Jesus Christ has triumphed over the grave! Christ is Risen! Three words which change everything! Everything. He was more than a man, He was indeed God. What a magnificent day Easter Sunday is. The darkness of Friday has given way to the light of Sunday morning. Satan has been defeated. God wins. Evil loses.
This is a day of great celebration and thanksgiving for all that God is done. It is all so wonderfully true. This is something to celebrate you! And to share with others! The Cross was not the end, it did not kill Jesus Christ, and my sin did not ultimately separate me from God because of the cross and that fact that Jesus triumphed over it.

SCRIPTURE:
For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. -2 Corinthians 5:14-15

RESPONSE/ACTION:
Live lives worthy of the Gospel. If we truly believe this story, this great tale of what God has done then we must speak of it. It was never meant to be a secret, to be something we just danced around, but to be something that we sang about and told others about. Trust Christ! See Him as All-Sufficient! He is All-Precious! His love compels us! We must act! Billions are headed to a Christless eternity and we have the only means of salvation. Fear God. And then you will fear nothing else. And go and lives in the city and the culture which cry out, in creed and deed "HE IS RISEN!".

He is risen indeed,
R.D.