Good Friday - Holy Place

Have you ever stood in a Holy Place?  Moses did before the burning bush. Joshua did before the commander of the Lord’s Armies near Jericho. Mount Sinai was a Holy Place when God met with Moses. There were others like the inner courts of the Tabernacle and in the Temple.

Even today, we may find places that seem Holy. Many battlefields, the sites of blood shed for freedom and for liberation of a people, have that feeling of Holy. Kneeling down and touching the ground at such places and you realize that the trees and grass there have been fed by the blood poured out here many years before.

One other place. Golgotha. Calvary. The place of the Cross.  

Tradition and oral history before that, and archeology point to a rocky site, formerly just outside of the walls of Jerusalem and now within the walls of a church as the site of this Holy Place.

It was here that Peter tells us, “Jesus himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

The blood of the son of God was shed here on the Cross, poured out as the sacrifice for the sins of the world.

An outcropping of that rock still exists today, weathered and cracked.

Whether this is the actual rock on which blood was spilt is unknown, but it is very much like the place where Jesus died on a Friday. 

That place was Holy because, “Jesus entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12)

At a Holy Place very much like this, God has brought us near to Him. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13)

Holy Week Thursday - Taking Care

I used to travel often for work, spending many days or weeks away from home. As the last day of the trip arrived, the routine became more significant to me:  “This is the last time I will walk this path this morning. This is the last time I will see this view. This is the last time I will drive this road in this country.”

I knew what day would be last at those locations and so I savored each last moment and action.

If we knew which event, which day, which time would be our last, what would we do? Who would we spend it with?

On the Thursday of what we call Holy Week, Jesus knew that day would be the last full day of His ministry. The last full day before the day of His death. How did He choose to spend that day? 

The Gospels tell us that Jesus spent the evening eating and talking with His closest friends.

“And he said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.’” (Luke 22:15).

And not just any meal, but a meal of remembering. Looking back to the God’s liberation of His people from enslavement. And looking forward through the bread and the wine, Jesus prepared His friends for the sacrifice He would soon make to liberate all God’s creation.

Jesus prepared His friends for what was coming. He washed their feet to show them how to serve each other. He spoke to them to be ready for the difficult times ahead. Jesus comforted his friends, He promised them they would never be left without God’s comfort and presence, He prayed for his friends.

In short, Jesus spent His last full day taking care of His friends.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1)

Holy Week Wednesday - Remembered

Recently with an online gathering of friends, we discussed some of our ancestors and how we remember them. In some cases it was our own experiences with our ancestors (like the grandfather and his practical jokes) and other times it was the stories passed down to us. There was the adventure of the two brothers who had once been tried for murder (and acquitted), possible American Indian relations, tales of traveling on foot or wagon to new towns. We remembered the ancestors who fought is past wars, both for the winning sides and for the losing sides. The lawman who gave his life for his community. The ancestors who farmed land that later became part of one of the largest cemeteries in the region, and who were buried in the land they had once farmed. 

We then talked of how we might be remembered by our grandchildren and their grandchildren when they see our faces in the old pictures, or carry-on the stories that have been passed down.

On what may have been the Wednesday of Holy Week we have a story of Jesus returning to Bethany for a meal with his friends. During the meal, a woman came into the room and anointed him with an expensive perfume.  If this sounds familiar to our Saturday story (the one John tells us in his account of the Gospel), it may be the same incident placed at a later time during the week by Matthew and Mark, or it may be a similar but separate meal and anointing (middle Eastern writers often wrote thematically rather than chronologically).

In either case, Jesus responded with grace to her act of sacrifice for him.  

“She has done a beautiful thing to me...She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” (Mark 14:6,8-9)

We may not know the name of this woman, but we remember what she did. She is remembered every time we tell the story of Jesus.

Holy Week Tuesday - Stones

“Some of Jesus’ disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down” (Luke 21:5-6).

Back in 2017 we had the opportunity to visit the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. We stood near the base of the temple complex, walking alongside and touching the great foundation stones that were placed to support the platform on which Temple stood.

We also were later able to walk on the Temple platform itself, seeing the buildings and mosques built many years, decades, centuries after the Temple was destroyed.

The stones that provide the foundation that supported the Temple are still there for us to see. As for the Temple itself, as Jesus had said, not one stone of the Temple He and the disciples saw was left standing, and the rubble was later removed and newer places built.

On that Holy Tuesday, Jesus didn’t just speak of the soon-to-come loss of the Temple. He also taught his disciples about being wise and preparing for the final days. He taught them to be faithful to God and to what God was entrusting to them. Jesus taught his followers to take care of the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the needy, the sick, the prisoner. Jesus gave of himself for his followers to build on His foundation. 

A foundation that would last long after the teachings of the leaders of that time had crumbled.

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).