Read Matthew 27

It’s been said that “Jesus is God’s psalm for the world.” This is why we love the Psalms so much, pray the Psalms, read, recite and memorize the Psalms. Every one of them was written before Jesus ever took an incarnate breath, yet His character drips from them. We could say that we pray Jesus when we pray the Psalms.

When we read the 23rd Psalm, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” Who leads us through the valley? Who eases our fears, but Jesus?

But it’s not so comforting to see Jesus in the 22nd Psalm, though it is Jesus we see, and clearly. From the cross, Jesus utters the unthinkable opening line from that gut-wrenching psalm, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

We’ve studied the Trinity, the mystery of the God who exists and has always existed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We confess and believe that Jesus has just as much claim to the title “God,” as the Father or the Spirit, and yet we hear Jesus uttering this God forsaken plea. It’s too much for us to wrap our minds around that the One who abandons and the One who is abandoned is God.

The One who abandons and the one who is abandoned is God.

This sounds like utter nonsense. We’d like to resolve this tension, give God His armies to reign like a proper king, but that would rob Jesus of His authority. To resolve the tension is to confess a God other than the one we see in the face of Jesus on the cross.

Continued tomorrow…

Read John 13:1-17

Now read this reflection, from Peter’s perspective:

Last night, all of us got together to keep the Passover. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised when Jesus got up from the meal and bowed before each of us and began washing our feet.

But I was. I was quite surprised, and a little offended. What business does the Lord have washing my feet? Jesus is no slave. We’ve come all the way to Jerusalem, to His Father’s temple, to the place where all authority sits, and Jesus wants to act like he doesn’t have any power? It’s just this sort of behavior that makes so many priests and teachers and crowds and authorities want to get rid of him.

I’m the servant. I serve Jesus. I’ve given up my livelihood to follow him, and now he wants to be my servant? Wash my feet? No, I needed to wash his feet. So I offered.

But he said that if he didn’t wash me, then I’d have no part with him. So of course I asked him to wash all of me. If being washed by him draws me closer to him, then I want a full bath! Wash my hair, my hands, all of me!

Then Jesus says that I’ve already bathed. I don’t need a bath. I’m already clean. Which is it? It’s hard to describe how confused I am. He explained something about loving one another and another thing about servants not being greater than their masters. Jesus is being reckless, washing our feet. Somebody around here is going to get a big head if he keeps serving us.

• What is it like for you to envision this story through Peter’s eyes? How might God be inviting you to respond?

Read Mark 11:12-19

In the 10 Commandments, in Exodus 20:5, the Lord says “…I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.” This sounds odd to modern ears, but the point is clear—God knows who he is, that he is the only one worthy of worship, allegiance, and obedience, so our constant turns toward idolatry are a violation of reality. God isn’t petty to be jealous, he just understands how reality works!

From age twelve, Jesus “had to be in [his] father’s house,” and in a similar way, is jealous against violations of God’s singular holiness. And Jesus is overwhelmed at the corruption, abuse, and swindling taking place in the temple courts. His words capture it well: “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

As Jesus makes his way to the cross, the culmination of this Holy Week, he makes a couple things clear: 1) God’s house is for prayer, not commerce, and certainly not robbery 2) God’s house is for all nations, that Israel is not to erect barriers to the nations coming to the temple courts for prayer.

In Mark’s telling of the gospel story, this was an essential act for Jesus establishing his authority and revealing his character and priorities on the way to the cross.

• How will I elevate God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through my actions today?

Read Luke 19:28-44; 23:18-23

This week we are at a crossroads: we’ve shouted the “Hosannas” of Palm Sunday, but we know that the “Crucify” of Good Friday is only days away. Praise and palms will give way to pain and passion. This story of our Lord Jesus in this Holy Week invites us to admit the twistedness of our hearts, the fickleness of our decisions, and our tendency to go unthinkingly along with the loudest crowd.

You and I were not there to shout ‘Hosanna,’ and we were not there to shout ‘crucify,’ but we carry both shouts in our hearts. Hosannas ring loud and clear when we proclaim the good news, selflessly care for the poor and the widow, when we forgive, and when we helplessly place ourselves in God’s care. We shout ‘crucify’ in our sin, cowardice, oppression, and our attempts to mold God into our own image.

Thank God that Jesus did not choose between the two crowds, casting lots for precisely whom he would or wouldn’t carry the cross, pour out his blood and empty himself. He doesn’t choose between praise or pain—he receives both. He doesn’t choose between the procession of palms or the passion of the cross—he makes both journeys. God so loved the whole world, and in this act of Jesus, love finds its purest embodiment. Jesus embodies the love of God so that you and I could see it more clearly. We are loved more than we can imagine.

• Our question today is this—which shout will rise louder from our lives on this day?

As we learn about the Passover in the book of Exodus on Sunday, this week we will walk through the final week of Jesus’ life on earth as He prepared to be our Passover Lamb.

Read John 12: 1-26

• Has there been a time in your life where you’ve sacrificed for Jesus in a way that others thought was extravagant?

I think of the sacrifices in my life being like “little deaths.” I read once that the soil is full of death—it has to be in order to bring good life out. It’s such a paradox, how death actually allows for good life to come forth.

• Looking back, what are some of the hard things, pain, sacrifices, suffering that has happened to you as you’ve followed Jesus?
• Spend some time praying right now asking Him to show you how He has brought life from those past sacrifices.
• And ask Him to give you courage to follow Him going forward from today.

Ahhh, a Sunday to Sabbath and rest with the Father. Rest.

Hi! My name is Marty McGinn. My wife Corey and I have been married for almost 20 years. We are parents to three teenagers and a ten-year-old. We are part of the North by Northwest Home Group led by Dale and Cathy Shreve. I spend most days preparing lessons and teaching students math. In my free time I enjoy reading, running, and playing music. After writing this devotional, I recognize that I desperately need to spend more time praying.

Read Ephesians 6:10-24

Paul wrote this letter from prison. Perhaps he was even chained to a Roman soldier. No doubt he saw firsthand the protective equipment they wore and the weapons they had. But Paul also recognized that the Roman soldier was not his enemy. Verse 12 states that people are not our enemies; Satan is our enemy. We are no match for Satan, but he is no match for Christ. Whether we recognize it or not, we are caught in the middle of a very real spiritual battle. Verse 16 implies that we are being shot at! We need to protect ourselves from the enemy using the armor God provides and the shield of faith. We can fight back with the Word of God and prayer. 2 Corinthians 10:4 states that our weapons are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. Our strength does not come from our own resources; it comes from the Lord (verse 10). I’ve read to the end of the Book and I know who wins! (See Revelation 19-22.)

Paul did not ask others to pray for the removal of trials, but for boldness to speak and to stand for the gospel (verse 19). Would I pray the same way if I were in his shoes?

Here are some other questions to ponder:

• Do I recognize that I am in a spiritual battle?
• Do I prepare my mind each day as if I am going into a spiritual battle?
• Do I pray for others as if they are in a spiritual battle?