Devotion for Maundy Thursday – Good Friday- Holy Saturday
We are, now, in the middle of Holy Week. We are in the middle of the Passion of Christ. We might ask the Passion of Christ? Yes, the week started with the glorious entry into the city of Jerusalem. But did you witness not only the Glory of the parade and the support of the people, but the passion as well. Did you miss the little tidbit on that early morning? Were you there for the little tidbit?
Let us go back to the prophesy of Daniel, one of the greatest profits. Yes, the Daniel that God saved from the Lions. He was also a great man of Persia, the third most powerful man at the time in Persia, the leader of the cult “Maji”, the greatest of the Maji for his ability to interpret God’s messages to the kings and lords of Persia.
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Daniel 9:24-26 (msg)
24 “‘Seventy sevens are set for your people and for your holy city to throttle rebellion, stop sin, wipe out crime, set things right forever, confirm what the prophet saw, and anoint The Holy of Holies.
25-26 “‘Here is what you must understand: From the time the word goes out to rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the Anointed Leader, there will be seven sevens. The rebuilding will take sixty-two sevens, including building streets and digging a moat. Those will be rough times. After the sixty-two sevens, the Anointed Leader will be killed—the end of him. The city and Sanctuary will be laid in ruins by the army of the newly arriving leader. The end will come in a rush, like a flood. War will rage right up to the end, desolation the order of the day.
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Here Gabriel is giving to Daniel the message from God, that an anointed one, or God walking on Earth, will come. And he will come in 483 years. The Hebrew nation has 483 years from the time permission is given to rebuild the Temple to “throttle rebellion, stop sin, wipe out crime, set things right forever”. The Hebrew nation must prepare for the anointed one.
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Fast forward back to Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, 483 years after the word was given to rebuild the temple.
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Luke 19:41-44 (msg)
41-44 When the city came into view, he wept over it. “If you had only recognized this day, and everything that was good for you! But now it’s too late. In the days ahead your enemies are going to bring up their heavy artillery and surround you, pressing in from every side. They’ll smash you and your babies on the pavement. Not one stone will be left intact. All this because you didn’t recognize and welcome God’s personal visit.”
Jesus was in the passion of the events that has now started with knowing the effects that would take place. These events would bring about his horrific death. These events would bring about the eventual destruction of the city and the temple and the way of life the nation had known since that encounter between Abram (Abraham) and Melchizedek, the king of the city Salem (later to be called Jerusalem) and priest of God Most High.
Then comes the anger of Christ in and his cleansing of the temple, the passion of the last Passover meal, the agony in the garden, the betrayal, the trials, the people turning away from him, the beating, the nails penetrating the wrists and the feet, hanging on the cross. We can only go so far in understanding and feeling the pain and suffering that Christ went through, for us. We can only go so far to say that we were there. To reach the Glory of Easter morning, we must go through the passion of the week, we cannot skip from Palm Sunday to Easter Morning.
May the Peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus