Digital Easter Experience 2020

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Though Jesus had been to Jerusalem several times, His final entry into Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives on the day we call “Palm Sunday” was significant because He was entering as a humble King. In fulfillment of prophecy, Jesus entered the city on  a colt, which symbolized humility in victory, in contrast with the pride of a king arriving on a war horse. On His entry, a week before his Crucifixion and death, people laid down their cloaks and small branches of trees in front of Him. The people sang from Psalm 118, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord…” as they anticipated the coming of the kingdom of God.  

Reflection:  

• Why was Jesus displeased with the market happening in the temple courts?  
• How can you model your life after Christ’s humility?  

Step of Faith:  

• Take a moment to thank the Lord for being the humble King. Invite him to show you where there may be harmful pride in your life.

As Jesus was coming near the day of his death, He did not keep company only with his friends but continued to minister to others. One of His encounters was with a woman who poured all of her expensive perfume on His head. Some of those observing this could not understand why she would honor Jesus at such expense to herself. They believed what she did was wasteful, but Jesus called it “beautiful”. Focusing on money rather than on the Lord would be a temptation Judas Iscariot faced as he sought to betray Jesus to the chief priests. At the end of the Passover meal, Jesus demonstrated to the disciples how they could depend on him for their very lives.

Reflection:

• The woman sacrificed a valuable possession to honor Jesus. What’s one way you can honor Jesus today?  

• Jesus remained closely connected to the community, even when trouble was approaching. How can you lean into your community in the midst of uncertainty?

Step of Faith:

• Choose a person in your community to encourage. Send them a message of hope or a care package.

“Gethsemane experiences” are defined as places or occasions of great mental or spiritual suffering. On the night before He died, Jesus visited the Garden of Gethsemane with His three closest disciples, Peter, James, and John. It was here that Christ shared deeply in our human condition - pain, anxiety, fear. These feelings of distress overtook Jesus as He wrestled with the torture and humiliation He knew was ahead of Him. As he prayed throughout the night, he periodically returned to His disciples to find them asleep, unable to keep watch for Him during His time of deep need. After hours of prayer in deep distress and sorrow to the point of death, Jesus was ready to face the path his Father had laid before him.  

Reflection:

• When was a moment in your past that the Lord sustained you?
• Is there a painful circumstance that you just can’t seem to let go of?

Step of Faith:

• Invite the Lord to speak healing into any broken place in your heart.

Moments before his arrest, Jesus told his disciples that he would be betrayed “into the hands of sinners.” A crowd led by the chief priests, scribes, and elders of the Jewish people and Roman soldiers treated Jesus like a criminal although he had never sinned. No court, Jewish or Roman, could find a witness to convict him, Jesus endured injustice for our sins and saw the glory that was coming. Like Peter, who denied Jesus three times, we too are tempted to deny Jesus when trials come. The grace and mercy of Jesus is certain help in times of trial because he willingly endured injustice and death for us and came again in glory.

Reflection:

• What would it have been like to be a disciple and witness the arrest of Jesus?

Step of Faith:

• Many Christians around the world are persecuted for their beliefs. Take a moment to pray that they will be strengthened and protected.

In the Roman Trial, when Jesus was taken before the governor Pilate, no fault was found in him, However, after succumbing to the pressure of the people around him, Pilate pronounced the fatal sentence on Jesus, and He was crucified. Above his head on the cross, where he was crucified, the Romans hung a sign that mockingly said, “THE KING OF THE JEWS”. Imperial Rome dealt with a security risk in typical fashion, but Jesus, the suffering servant, was starting a revolution like no one had ever seen before.

Reflection:

• What is one thing about Jesus’ trial that surprised you?

Step of Faith:

• Read about Jesus’ trail in a Bible translation that you don’t usually choose. See if you notice any other details.

When the centurion who was overseeing Jesus’ crucifixion saw how Jesus died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” There were many things that happened that day that the centurion had never seen before. For example, after Jesus was crucified at nine in the morning, darkness fell over the land for three hours. The curtain of the temple was torn, from top to bottom, in two. But something else must have opened before the Centurion who surely had seen so many crucifixions before. He was a most unlikely person to be the first to recognize the true significance of Jesus in his death. The first verse of this Gospel of Mark proclaims what the Centurion saw at last: the good news of the Son of God is that he came to die for the sins of even the most unlikely and undeserving.

Reflection:

• How was God weaving together a story of sacrifice during the day of Jesus’ death?

Step of Faith:

• Make one sacrifice today that will bless someone else.

In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, the Apostle Paul writes of the things that happened in these days as being “... of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…” Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection changed the course of history forever. These events are the foundation of our faith today. Jesus’ death paid the penalty for our sin and his resurrection gave us an eternal promise that we, too, can live with him forever in a new heaven and a new earth. While our time here is fleeting, his kingdom is not. It’s forever. No more pain. No more suffering. No more persecution. We can look to his eternal kingdom with hope and have peace knowing this Easter what Christ did for us at Calvary.

Reflection:  

• The resurrection happened long ago, but it still applies to our lives. How does the resurrection influence the way you live today?

Step of Faith:

• Take a moment to reflect on the empty tomb and the triumph that Jesus has over death.