I’ve been doing some thinking about this week we call Holy
Week. For some reason this year it has hit me in a whole new way. This is my 27th
Easter and while it has always been an important season to celebrate, the real
magnitude of it is sinking in this time, deeply sinking in. Yes I have always
understood what Easter means. It means that Jesus Christ committed an act of
utmost mercy when He knowingly faced persecution, torture, and death on the
cross so that we, dirty, broken, and undeserving sinners, might have eternal
life and not receive the punishment of death we so richly deserve. But perhaps one
thing I have never deeply considered is the events of Holy Week in their
entirety. I started thinking about all this on Palm Sunday and then I stumbled
upon John Piper’s book Love to the Uttermost: Devotional Readings for Holy
Week. And wow, is this really transforming my thinking!
I always go about
Palm Sunday like it’s a normal day, not really stopping to reflect upon the fact
that on that day Jesus “set his face towards Jerusalem,” which means He knew
full well He was setting his face towards death. When he entered Jerusalem that
day, He knew what was coming and He knew the price He would be paying for all
of us. He knew He would be persecuted, beaten, tortured, and then hung on a
cross to die with the weight of the world’s sin on His shoulders. And He did all of this of His own free will. I
go about Good Friday like it’s just a normal day, not stopping to think about
how on this day, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice and paid the ultimate price:
He died on the cross to save me from my sins and was buried in a tomb. Instead,
what I always seem to focus on is the celebration of His resurrection from the
dead on Easter Sunday. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a phenomenal thing to
celebrate because without His death and resurrection life would be a hopeless
waste for all of us. But this year, the events leading up to that resurrection
mean so much more to me. I wonder how, for so many years, I have been able to
go about the days of this week so normally, never stopping to give thought or
honor to what my Jesus must have been experiencing in these days leading up to
His death all those years ago. He was, after all, human, just like you and me.
This week I am striving to fix my gaze on Jesus Christ and
to remember, appreciate, and be humbled by what He endured during His final
week on earth as He prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to save me and you.
And you know, given how much and how often we fail Him, and how we can so
easily go on about our days, consumed with our lives, never giving thought, homage,
or even a simple “thank you” to the price He paid for us, if He had it to do
all over again, you know He would in a heartbeat.
That is a love like no other.
“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done,
but because of his mercy.” Titus 3:5
Download your free copy of Piper’s book and allow the intense love of
the Father to transform you, too.
