Old Testament Isaiah 50:4–9a
Psalm Psalm 31:9–16
New Testament Philippians 2:5–11
Gospel Mark Mark 15:1–39
Jesus enters Jerusalem triumphantly. He is welcomed as the King of Israel. How quickly this all changes for Jesus, His disciples and subsequently for us as well. We wave our palms, shouting Hosanna in the highest.
Next thing you know Jesus is betrayed and eventually handed over to Pilate.
Celebration, betrayal, trial and now you know what comes next, crucifixion. It is not just a death sentence but a death sentence for a political prisoner whose presence is changing the entire known world. This death is meant to be humiliating, setting examples so others will keep in step with the Roman government.
Have you had times when things appear to be going well and then it feels like the rug has been pulled out and everything has gone beyond, just being challenging? It is darn right awful. Even that doesn’t fully describe the feeling without the use of some colorful words. Have you been sitting in a real awful mess and you think it cannot get worse, yet it continues to grow worse? When we find ourselves in that time in our lives, when we are weakest, that is when Satan looks for opportunity.
“Temptation often comes not at our strongest, but our weakest moments. When we are at the limit of our patience, love, etc., we are tempted to be unChristian. Beware, Jesus’ temptation began after 40 days of fasting.
People usually are more impressed when they see us act under pressure. One weak act may spoil a whole lifetime of witness.”[1]
Jesus is no different than you and I, in that He faced some really awful times. Those awful times coming after some times of celebration, times when all seems great, and then what seems like, the next thing you know it all falls apart.
Jesus is born and there is celebration, gifts are brought but then His family has to flee because the king is having all of the boys 2 years and younger killed. Jesus’ life is in danger and His family is on the run.
Jesus is baptized and the heavens open up and God the father sends the Holy Spirit upon Jesus and He hears God say, “Your are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11) Then Jesus is driven into the desert and faces temptation at his weakest moments, from none other than Satan.
Jesus enters Jerusalem with the waving palms and treated as a king. He celebrates Passover with His friends. Next thing you know, Jesus is betrayed by one of those friends he celebrates Passover with. Jesus is handed over for a mockery of a trial, beaten and crucified.
Now at the foot of the cross, when Jesus is at His weakest, He is mocked, derided, taunted and tempted. It would seem that every time there are good times, they are followed by bad and it is in those bad times that the devil uses these opportunities to work on us to tempt us, to pull us away from God.
It is no different for Jesus as it is for us today. Jesus knows how important it is to stay upon the cross, to allow the Father’s will to be done. Not for the sake of the Father, nor for the sake of the Son, Jesus Christ. For your sake, for my sake, for the sake of humanity, Jesus stays upon the cross. He has the power to come down and save himself but there is too much at stake.
Don’t you think for one minute that Jesus doesn’t understand what it is to be human. Don’t you think for one second that what is done in the cross, is done for everyone else, except for you or me. Everything that is done, is done so that all of humanity, including you and me can have hope in the promise of the cross. The hope found in death, death upon a cross.
When Jesus dies, He descends into Hell, so that there is no place where Jesus has not filled, with His presence. Jesus fills the heavens, earth and yes, even hell, with His presence. That means, even when everything is falling apart around us, we walk in darkness and even when we experience hell, Jesus is there, being our shining light out of the deepest deep of any darkness that we may be walking in. Jesus is there to be with us and lead us from our darkness.
When the devil is tempting us, in our weakest moments, Jesus is there to be our strength. He knows what we need, He knows how dark and tempting it is, because he too has been there but he is with us there to be our rock and shield.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.[2]
Pope John Paul II says, “[The devil exists and] is a cosmic liar and murderer … [who] has the skill in the world to induce people to deny his existence in the name of rationalism and of every other system of thought which seeks all possible means to avoid recognizing his activity….”[3]
This Friday we will both mourn and celebrate the death of Jesus. What is done, is done for us. What is done is done for all of humanity, so that we can have a God who through the death of Jesus has taken death fully into God’s being. God defeats death once and for all, for us. Jesus faced temptation and Satan but turned to God for help, so that Jesus could free us from the power of death and Satan. The price of our lives, is the death of Jesus.
Every temptation is an opportunity for us to draw nearer to God.—George Sweeting[4] In every temptation, Jesus will be there with us, to give us strength to turn towards God for help.
[1] Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 1443.
[2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Ps 23:4–6.
[3] Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes, electronic ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000), 681.
[4] Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes, electronic ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000), 725.