What happened on Wednesday?

Central Family,

What happened on Wednesday of Holy Week?

Did Jesus take some time off after three days of busyness and intense activity?  Did he simply hang out with his friends in Bethany?  Did he heal someone or teach some place? Or maybe he withdrew to a lonely place to pray.  We really don’t have an idea of what Jesus did on Wednesday of Holy Week.  However we do know that about one-fourth of the entire Gospel story is devoted to a single week of Jesus 30 plus years.  Even with all this narrative about Jesus’ final week we don’t really know what he did on Wednesday.  One of the great lessons of Holy Week is that Jesus is so much bigger than what we know. John ends his Gospel by saying “There are many other things which Jesus did.”  We know this today. Jesus does so much more than anyone of us can even imagine or ask. But that’s another topic for another day.  Back to Holy Week!

If we don’t know what he did on Wednesday what did he do on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday?

SUNDAY – On Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem to optimistic and hopeful shouts – but people misunderstood, as we are so prone to do, what God is about.  They did not understand what it meant for him to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. (Matthew 21:1-17; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:29-44; John 12: 12-19)

MONDAY – (read Mark 11:12-19) Mark tells us that Jesus stayed at Bethany and traveled to and from Jerusalem.  Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived in Bethany, about two miles from Jerusalem. From Bethany one would have to walk up the steep and rocky road to Bethpage, down the Mount of Olives into the Kidron Valley and up into the city.  In Mark’s gospel Jesus made this trip on Monday. He climbed the south steps of the temple and drove out the moneychangers.  Does this mean fund raisers should be banned? Of course not! He was acting out God’s judgment on the temple system. The religious establishment had sold out to the Romans. Herod had expanded the temple into one of the wonders of world – but he pledged his allegiance to Rome by placing a large golden eagle (symbol of Roman power) over its gate. Jesus, in the tradition of Jeremiah, Isaiah, Micah and others denounced superficial and showy religion.  God has always warned his people not to just go through the motions, assuming God would bless and protect them even if they were living such a lie. And of course we know that the prophets who spoke is such a way were not honored, but mocked, imprisoned and even executed. On Monday Jesus was beginning the journey to his death!  The temple was going to be destroyed.

TUESDAY – After the pageantry of Palm Sunday and the cleansing of the temple on Monday, Jesus probably should have stayed clear of Jerusalem on Tuesday. To the contrary he makes his way back to Jerusalem and begins to teach in the temple. It is hard to imagine the magnificence of the temple. The largest smoothly cut stone excavated so far measures 44 feet long, 10 feet high, 16 feet wide, weighing 570 tons. Indestructible! And yet Jesus foretold a day when not one stone would be left upon another. Can you picture Jesus walking about in the temple talking, questioning, listening, teaching?  Take some time to listen to what he teaches in the last week of his earthly life? Matthew shares 212 verses of Jesus talking on Tuesday.  If you have not read the story take some time and listen to Jesus teach you in Matthew 21:23-25:46.

What about Thursday?  What’s MAUNDY? Lord willing, I will share some more thoughts tomorrow.  But for now plan on joining your Central Family at 12:00noon or 7:00pm for MAUNDY THURSDAY WORSHIP. Lunch will be served following the noon service and a number of our sons and daughters will be receiving their first communion at the 7:00pm worship.

In Christ’s Name, WELCOME!

Paul

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