A WORD FOR TODAY, April 14, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, April 14, 2025
“Most certainly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life will lose it. He who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him follow me. Where I am, there my servant will also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” John 12:24-26, WEB
Every story follows a pattern; there is a beginning, middle, and an end. The beginning of the story sets up the background, such as characters, setting, and plot. The middle of the story takes us through the story, developing characters and story line. We see the plot thicken as we progress through the pages and a conflict is created that needs a conclusion. At the end of the story, we see the resolution of the conflict.
The Bible is the Story of God and His people. The book starts with “In the beginning” and tells us about God and creation. Throughout the book, we see the development of Israel and the world around them. We meet many characters, each having a purpose in the story. The conflict that is developed is the desire of God to be close with His children, but our sin stands in the way of that relationship. Jesus Christ is the conclusion to His story.
Jesus ministered to God’s people for three years, teaching them how to live according to the promise of God. The Gospels are filled with stories of His healing, teaching, and love. He was loved by many, but not by all. The Word He spoke was difficult to understand and those who were set in their thoughts and ideas could not accept it. The people thought they knew God and thought they were living a godly life. However, Jesus came to share the truth.
Jesus was an incredible teacher because He was able to reach right into people’s hearts through their own lives. He often used examples from their occupations, such as fishing and farming. In this way, the people could understand through real life experiences the spiritual concepts He was sharing. We learn from nature that without death there cannot be life. Jesus had to die so that the seeds for eternal life could be planted in us, and now we too must die to our old selves so that we can have that true life. Eternal life is not just a future hope, it is a present reality because of what Jesus did on Holy Week.
Toward the end of His ministry, Jesus began to show the people, particularly those close to Him, that there was only one way for us to be able to live according to God’s promises. There had to be one final sacrifice. He had to die. His disciples and the people did not understand when Jesus spoke about death, because they saw His life as triumphant. They saw Him as a king among men.
The people thought Jesus was the answer to their prayers, the Messiah they expected according to the promises of God in the scriptures. They wanted to be a free nation. As Jesus gained in fame and following, His disciples pleaded with Him to go to Jerusalem and claim His place. Jesus did not go until it was the right time. As the Passover of His third year of ministry approached, Jesus knew the time had come for Him to fulfill the promise of His Father. It was time to go to Jerusalem. On Sunday of His final week, Jesus entered triumphantly to the cries of Hosanna from the crowds.
Holy Week was a busy time for Jesus. Jerusalem was packed with people. It was a holy week for the Jews; the festival of Passover was just days away and many people were in town for the feast. The streets were packed; the hotels were filled with people who came to the Temple to worship. This was a time of remembrance, and to be cleansed in the Temple by sacrifice. It was difficult to travel many miles with the animals needed for those sacrifices, so local vendors were readily available with birds, sheep, and goats for sale. It was a convenience for pilgrims, and it benefited the Temple treasury. The market was set up within the walls of the Temple, in the Gentile court. Moneychangers were available to trade foreign monies for the specific coins acceptable in the Temple. The Court of Gentiles was meant to be a place of prayer for the world not a marketplace, so when Jesus went back the day after His Triumphant Entry, He entered the courtyard with righteous anger and turned over the tables of the money changers and vendors.
Jesus spent His evenings with His friends Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, traveling from Bethany to Jerusalem each day. He returned to their home after His Triumphant Entry on Sunday, but He had much to accomplish before the Passover celebration. The people had to learn about true faith in God. His teaching was not unanimously accepted, however, and the leaders began to plot against Jesus. Jesus was controversial. Whenever he breezed through a town or village, many would follow and listen. However, there were those who did not believe Jesus came from God. His own village rejected Him. Many claimed He was from Satan. Some tried to stone Him for the things He said and did. The teachers in the temple as well as other religious leaders began to fear his power over people. It did not help when He turned
Tuesday of Holy Week is the most written about day in the scriptures. This was a day of controversy and stories. Jesus spent time in the Temple teaching, where the leaders sent men to catch Jesus in some sort of crime so that they might have him arrested. His authority was questioned, and He was set up with the question about taxes. He warned of false teachers and the end of the age, so that His children would recognize the times He has promised throughout the Word. As He spoke these words, the leaders became more determined to be rid of Him. He seemed untouchable.
The Bible is silent about what Jesus did the day before Passover. While Tuesday is the most written about day, Wednesday has nothing. Jesus knew the time of His death was growing close, why wasn’t He in the Temple trying to reach those that He had not yet touched? I would have felt a desperate need to go continue the ministry until the very last moment, to reach as many as possible. Jesus knew a better way. It is likely that Wednesday was a quiet day of prayer and fellowship with His friends.
In Jerusalem, the leaders were plotting against Jesus. They had to find a way to rid the city of this man they saw as a threat to their power. We do not know exactly when Judas went to the Temple to offer help, however it could have been this day. It is difficult for us to know exactly why Judas would betray Jesus. It is possible that he thought that perhaps putting Jesus on the line would get him to take his rightful place as king. Judas wanted power, but did not understand the kind of power that Jesus was to show. The Gospel of Luke shows us that in this situation, Judas did not have control.
We will look at the rest of Holy Week at the end of the week, but we can already see where the events early in the week were leading. Jesus was upsetting the balance of power. He was proving Himself to be everything He said He was by His miracles and the authority of His teaching. The leaders, both Jew and Gentile, were worried about the possibilities if Jesus was crowned. There would be no happy ending to this story, and yet the events of Jesus’ Passion were exactly as God intended. Jesus had to be planted and die so that He could rise again to give us new life in His true Kingdom.
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