A Hop, a Skip and a Jump!

Walking with Jesus through Holy Week In Scripture and Prayer

I wish the reason I got up early on Easter morning was the same as Mary Magdalene’s. She went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body with burial spices; I was hiding Easter eggs.

I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to be Mary—the one who cared for Jesus while He was alive and then knelt at the cross as He died. To feel the earthquake, hear His words, and then see Him on the path. And most of all, to be the one to tell the disciples. Jesus truly loved her.

We weren’t there on that first Easter, but this Sunday, as we sang “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” I felt His love surround me, and the Holy Spirit opened my heart to a new way of living—living with Him more fully, more openly, and more willing to serve Him.

And I thought hiding those silly Easter eggs was going to be the best part of my day!

Thank you for joining me as we’ve walked our path to join the Holy together.

EASTER SUNDAY
John 20:1-9: Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally, the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.

Pray With Me

Dear Precious One,

Today, you opened our eyes to see you in a new way. May we sit with you and honor you as we continue to serve you.

Your loving one.

Walking with Jesus through Holy Week In Scripture and Prayer

Good Friday is the day I come to church with a purse full of Kleenex—and if there is a crucifix of Jesus anywhere, I lose it. The thought that anyone would torture my Lord brings me to my knees. After all, what did He do?

He helped the blind man see. He raised Lazarus from the dead. He made the paralyzed man walk. He healed the official’s son. He fed the five thousand—and I could fill this page with more. Yet that wasn’t the kind of “plan” people expected. Jesus wasn’t building an earthly kingdom. He was calling us to believe: to believe the Good News, and to love the Father with all our heart, soul, and mind. If you think about it, that’s not really too much to ask, is it?

But the priests were so afraid of losing their place in the earthly kingdom that they couldn’t even reach for Jesus’ robe. The bleeding woman could—because she believed. She knew that if she could only touch Him, she would be healed. She had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

On the Friday before Easter, Jesus was crucified at Golgotha between two thieves. And after He died for our sins, Joseph of Arimathea laid Him in a tomb. The Servant of God suffered intensely to provide healing and spiritual restoration for us—for you and for me.

Even Easter eggs can’t soften that. I miss Jesus more on this day than any other time of the year.

GOOD FRIDAY
Isaiah 53:1-5: Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely, he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Dear Jesus,

I had to call you by name because my heart is so much. All I can really say is

I love you.

Thank you for your life

Walking with Jesus through Holy WeekIn Scripture and Prayer

Maundy Thursday is the day in which we recognize and celebrate when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and established the act of communion at the Last Supper. This was a profound time in which Jesus ministered and taught his disciples. They could not understand why Jesus would wash their feet. He was Lord and he was their master, surely it should be the other way around. But Jesus taught them about loving one another, humility, and servanthood. Peter wouldn’t let Jesus wash his feet. He didn’t feel worthy of Jesus touch.

Jesus makes the meaning unmistakable: his disciples are to follow his example. Servanthood is not beneath them; it is the way they are to treat one another. The foot-washing becomes a living lesson that greatness in Christ.

And remember, let Jesus keep washing you. Regular confession and a regular receiving of grace will let you stay squeaky clean at His table.  Your friends will be there to greet you, and Peter might even hand out the towels and John will surely have Easter Baskets for all who sit with the Father.

MAUNDY THURSDAY
John 13:12-16: When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

Pray with Me:

Oh Dear One

You wash my feet each day and I feel your touch as your knowledge is shared.

It makes me want to be closer to you so I may be your child. Guide me so I may share my love for you with others.

Bring me the Soap

Walking with Jesus through Holy Week In Scripture and Prayer

Unknown to all, a spy had joined the gathering in Mary and Martha’s house. Jesus and the disciples had come for dinner with them and to see their brother Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Mary was so thankful that she knelt at Jesus’ feet, poured a pound of expensive oil on them, and wiped them with her hair.

Across the room, Judas Iscariot was stunned by what he saw as a frivolous use of such costly oil. What could Mary be thinking? Scripture shows what Judas was really thinking—about himself. Mary, on the other hand, was too busy loving Jesus to be concerned with anything else. Her devotion only hardened Judas in his decision to turn Jesus over to the chief priests. Judas was the spy.

You might be thinking, “I’d never be Judas.” Often our betrayals of God are smaller: little compromises, quiet justifications, and subtle exits we make from God’s presence. Sit with that—and know Jesus will come, tap you on the shoulder, and bring you back to Him.

SPY WEDENSDAY
Matthew 26:14-16: Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So, they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Dear One,

I could never be a spy. I serve only you and I pray that when I slip away for a moment you are there to bring me back. I pray you will grab me and return me home to your table.

The Unwilling Wanderer

Walking with Jesus through Holy Week In Scripture and Prayer

Holy Tuesday is another travel day for Jesus and the disciples. They were making their way back to Jerusalem from Bethany, and once again the barren fig tree appeared before them. He couldn’t let this teaching moment pass. Jesus began to talk to them about faith, fruitfulness, and spiritual insincerity. The day before he had turned over tables in the temple, so I imagine spiritual hypocrisy was on his mind.  There were no bunnies or Easter baskets waiting for them in Jerusalem, just people hungry to hear our Savior’s word. 

Jesus teaches in the temple, answers questions on His authority, encourages genuine love, warns against hypocrisy, and discusses judgment and God’s fulfillment. I wish I could have been in the audience. I would have shared my bunnies with Him for sure.

Isaiah 49:1-4: Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.” 

Pray with Me

Dear Traveling Man,

Walking the roads from town to town had to be a difficult for you. When we don’t listen and you have to get angry an turnover tables just to get our attention I know it hurts your heart. I pray you forgive us and give us eyes to see and ears to hear.

Your walking companion.

Walking with Jesus through Holy Week In Scripture and Prayer

Who is your chosen one? In what do you delight? My husband would hope that I would say he is my chosen one, and he is. This week, I find my delight in Easter baskets, chocolate bunnies, and of course, eggs, then I top it off with the faces of five smiling grandchildren hunting Easter eggs. What could be better… except maybe a new Easter dress.

Those are the things that make me smile as I look ahead to the days to come, and as I reflect on Easters past.

But my true delight is in knowing this Scripture is true: the Chosen One came in the body of Jesus Christ, and I feel the Spirit every day. As Jesus made His journey to the cross, on this Holy Monday He traveled from Bethany to Jerusalem. There He cleansed the temple by overturning the tables of the money changers and merchants. He also cursed a barren fig tree on the road and spent the day teaching in the temple before returning to Bethany for the evening. I’m not sure He was delighted in anything He saw that day.

It makes my Easter bunnies sound a little silly, but I do know He delights in us because we are His. And new dress or not, He loves us just as we are.

Isaiah 42:1-4 Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.

Pray with me:

Oh my dear servant, let me serve you and hear you call my name. May I be a delight in your eyes and share your love with all who want to walk in your way. 

Walking with the Spirit

Palm SundayWalking with Jesus through Holy Week In Scripture and Prayer

Oh my, did the children come walking down the aisle of your church this morning waving palm branches? That is my favorite Sunday until the one when Mary runs into to tell everyone…oops spoiler alert.  I’ll stop here with that train of thought. If you didn’t get to see that perhaps you’ll remember the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey with everyone shouting hosanna claiming him to be the Mesiah. Days before, Jesus wept because he knew what lay ahead. I remember the “happy” and put the “hurt and pain” away in my back pocket. I guess that’s because I know Jesus is there is handling all my little discomforts of life.  The least I can do to keep my pockets empty.

Philippians 2:5-11: Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

Walking with Jesus through Holy Week In Scripture and Prayer

I remember when Easter was all about the bunnies, colored eggs and the goodies that were going to be in our son’s baskets. I have a memory of an Easter when we lived in Lubbock that it snowed, and we had to hide eggs in the snow. This might be the norm for some of you, but for this Texas girl, it was quite a surprise. I still have bunnies around my house and eggs in the yard, and I’m going shopping this afternoon to get those baskets filled for our grandchildren, but Jesus grabbed my heart and told me He needed a walking partner, so I’m hopping on the path with Him this Easter. I bet by the time I get to the tomb on Easter Sunday I’ll be skipping to greet him so I can jump into his arms. I pray you’re along with me.

HOLY SATURDAY
Romans 6:3-11: Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.  In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Pray with me,

Oh, Holy One sometimes your word is so hard to understand. But I do know that since you died for me and I am your child, it makes no sense for me to misbehave but I do, and you are there for me, picking me up, holding me and forgiving me. I am so blessed to be yours. Open my eyes that I may see the glory before me as we walk together this week.

Your blessed child