As I’ve been making these posts throughout the week, there’s a tension rising in me as Good Friday approaches that brings a mixed sense of both dread and joy. It’s crazy to think about now with the gift of hindsight but even with all of Jesus’s predictions of His coming death, the disciples, understandably, still didn’t really get what was about to take place. Every year around this time, I see the same phrase being posted and shared around social media: “it’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming.” I understand the sentiment, but at the same time, I want to encourage you not to jump ahead to Sunday too quickly. The disciples didn’t know Sunday was coming.
Let the weight of Thursday and Friday sink in, remembering that it was our sin which Christ bore upon the tree. Jesus truly died, in real time and space, at an actual location on earth, at the hands of the Romans after being betrayed by His own and conspired against by the Jewish leaders, actually bore the wrath of God on our behalf, and actually, physically died, in the public square, in front of real, human eyewitnesses. The Western church’s increasing flippancy toward deeply spiritual matters often encourages us to skip ahead to the empty tomb without dwelling on the horrors of Calvary, but we can, and must, consider the unthinkable cost of sin.
Holy Thursday - Events
Jesus eats the Passover Meal with His disciples, known as The Last Supper
Jesus encourages and teaches His disciples in what would become known as the Upper Room Discourse
Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane
What was the significance of The Last Supper occurring at Passover?
Just as the Old Testament Passover Lamb was sacrificed on the night that God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:1-13), and its blood was used to mark their doorframes so that God’s wrath would “pass over” their households, the time had now come for Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, to be offered as a once for all sacrifice to free His people from slavery to sin. And just as Israel was commanded to observe the Passover Feast each year in remembrance of their having been freed from Egyptian slavery, Christians today are to memorialize Christ’s death in communion, the Lord’s Supper, until he returns. Jesus Christ is the better and final Passover Lamb for the people of God.
Read the Upper Room Discourse (John 13:1-17:26)
“In what we know as the Upper Room or Farewell Discourse of John 13-17, Jesus announced His betrayal and denial; foretold His death, glorification, and departure from this world; promised the coming Holy Spirit; and prayed in preparation for all that was to take place” (Ligonier). Think about what it must’ve been like to sit in the upper room with the Lord, to see Him, in his final hours, washing the feet of the disciples, and praying.
What is the significance of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane?
The disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, which lead to man’s enslavement to sin and death, occurred in a garden (Eden). Jesus, the “Second Adam,” wrestled with the reality of what obedience to God’s will would mean, asking that, if possible, the cup of God’s wrath would pass from Him, sweating blood in His anguish and distress. Ultimately, the Second Adam chose obedience to the Father and the redemption of fallen men in a garden (Gethsemane). Man fell by disobedience in a garden, and man was redeemed by Christ’s obedience in a garden.
This quote is long, but it’s important:
Such facts show us that the trial Jesus faced was not merely physical in nature, as horrible as that aspect was. Many others throughout history have faced a horrible physical end with more composure, but Jesus was in turmoil because He was going to death as the Sin-Bearer, as the Lamb of God who would bear divine wrath to atone for the sin of His people. We can scarcely imagine the horror of this prospect. The God-man, pure and unstained by any sin of His own, was going to become sin so that in Him His people would become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). The Savior was going to suffer the full weight of all the sins of His people. He was going to experience the separation from God's blessing that impenitent sinners endure in hell. Little wonder, then, that He asked for another way to bring about the salvation of His people.
Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane manifests His true human nature. According to His divine nature, the Son of God knew that the cross was the only way to save His people. But according to His human nature, He asked if there could be another way, if our salvation could be purchased without such a high cost. But in this, Jesus did not sin, for He was committed to following God's revealed will even if it would cost Him His very life (Mark 14:35–36).
Go In Strength
Consider what the Lord’s Supper represents; the broken body and blood of the spotless Lamb of God, a perfect sacrifice for sinners. If you have a church home where you regularly take communion, recommit to ensuring that you do not do so lightly. As my pastor says before we drink the wine, “the most precious blood ever shed, and it was shed for you.” If you don’t have a church home where the Lord’s Supper is administered, I encourage you to find one and attend this Sunday.
Contrast Eden with Gethsemane, and the Second Adam with the first. Christ has truly saved believers from slavery to sin; Christ has truly conquered death on our behalf. By God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, salvation is ours. What an amazing reality, only because of what Jesus was prepared to do in obedience to the Father’s will.
Pray. Spend time with the One who gave everything for you.
May your Holy Week be a time of repentance, faith, meditation, and prayer.
See you tomorrow.
In Christ,
LC
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