“When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, He set His face to go to Jerusalem”. – Luke 9:51
Throughout the ninth chapter of Luke the writer tells how Jesus tried to prepare His disciples for what would occur in Jerusalem. The twenty-third and twenty-fourth chapters describe the events of Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection. Jesus knew what would happen in Jerusalem, but those closest to Jesus were blinded to His preparatory words and actions. Here the disciples are recorded as arguing among themselves and desiring to see fire consume an unbelieving town instead of preparing themselves for what was to come. When the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophetic words came, they were all caught completely by surprise. As we read through the Gospels, we see how Jesus was preparing Himself, His disciples, and His followers for the sacrificial offering He was about to make.
Walking in light of Jesus’ example, we also should prepare our hearts and lives as we remember and celebrate the events that occurred in Jerusalem. Join us in gatherings and daily devotions as we prepare ourselves as a church. We will prepare ourselves through a series of daily scripture readings and devotions that the staff has written which will be dispersed this Thursday. Use these devotions for personal meditation or for a family time of worship. Martin Luther wrote, “meditation done rightly on the suffering of Christ for a day, an hour, or even one quarter of an hour is better than a whole year of fasting, days spent singing psalms or even one hundred church services.”
As we will gather corporately, we will be focusing on three words to center us on the sacrifice of Christ: rejected, cursed, and exalted. This Sunday, we will remember that even in the adulations of Palm Sunday Christ was rejected by the masses. On Good Friday, we will gather at 7pm at the Factory to remember that in the cross Jesus was cursed. And lastly, we will gather on Easter Sunday to celebrate the truth that Jesus is exalted through His resurrection from the dead. May we begin the work of preparing our hearts, thoughts and lives to remember the passion of Jesus.
Sincerely,
Pastor Andy