Holy Week Tuesday : Events In Jesus’s Last Days

 

Holy Week Tuesday dawns beautiful in my area. A light frost covers the ground as I walk out to warm the car for our daily commute to my daughter’s school.

In the background, my thoughts are on what I will write about the Holy Week for today.  How can I make it real for my readers?

I know this is my first year that I have honored Holy Week in its entirety. As a Baptist Protestant,  Lent eludes me because it is something not stressed in my church. We focus on the actual day of Easter with Sunrise Services and special musical programs. I challenged myself this year to think about the week leading up to the Holy Holiday.

Why? I want to draw closer to Jesus Christ.  My life is so mundane. I clear my head, close my eyes. I want to see the time and events of that week firsthand …..

On Tuesday, Jesus went back to the Temple to preach. He refused to be silenced about what he perceived as the failure of the religious leaders to guard the hearts and minds of His people from sin and destruction. He seals his fate with His fervor, calling the Jewish priests and religious leaders: vipers who looked like whitewashed building, beautiful on the outside but dried up, ugly bones on the insides. He called them hypocrites who would not escape the fires of hell. (Matthew 23)

The Priests plot against Him and try to get Him to commit blasphemy so they can arrest Him. He answers their questions in a way that he remains innocent.

Later, Jesus and his disciples depart to the Mount of Olives in Bethany. Once they arrive, he begins to teach them about the end times and the future persecution of the Jews and church.  His goal to prepare the disciples to establish His church on earth.

He explains that He is going to leave this world and go to heaven. He also promises that when He leaves, the Holy Spirit would come and comfort them.  When he leaves, Satan would destroy Jerusalem and Holy Temple.

He returns again to stay the night with friends. The day ends peacefully, but Jesus knows in his heart the end is even nearer.  It amazes me the love that Jesus had in His heart for us. He knew He came to die.  His concern was not with Himself but with preparing the disciples whom He loved dearly for what was to come. He wanted them ready to lead His religious revolution and set the stage for establishment of His church here on earth.

The tumultuous events of Tuesday and the Olivet Discourse are recorded in Matthew 21:23–24:51, Mark 11:20–13:37, Luke 20:1–21:36, and John 12:20–38.

Holy  Week Tuesday

 

You knew that in less than three days, you would die;

Yet your main concern, teaching and preparing

the men you love

For the end, for the future

to Build a Church that the

Gates Of Hell Would Not Prevail Against It.

How you loved those men and your Bride to Come

Every member of Her body so important to you

That you would allow your own body to be damaged beyond compare.

I wrote today’s Holy Week Tuesday blog post as I heard about the terrible bombing in Brussels.  Jesus died for  Muslim terrorists. He died for their sins too.  How could they attack during a Holy Week? Do they not honor Christ and His message of love and forgiveness. They seem cruel and inhuman. I can only imagine how transformed our world would be if these terrorists would accept the love of Christ and stop their senseless killing.

I pray for Belgium tonight. I pray for our country as well. I pray for safety and an end to the hate this Holy Week.

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This post is written for Day 22 of the March Slice of Life Story Challenge,

I will also join several of the hops listed on my Link-up Parties page.