Holy Week: Three Prayers of Jesus

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When Jesus taught his followers how to pray, he gave them a simple formula (such as in Matthew 6).  We often called this the Lord’s Prayer, but Model Prayer or even Disciples’ Prayer would be more descriptive.  Here are three prayers Jesus himself prayed during Holy Week.

The High Priestly Prayer (John 17) This entire chapter is a prayer spoken by Jesus that we call the High Priestly Prayer.  The writer of Hebrews goes to great lengths to detail the ways Jesus acts as our high priest, continuously going into God’s presence and making intercession on our behalf.  His prayer in John 17 casts Jesus in the role of High Priest, bridging the gap between man and God, between the unholy and Most Holy.  Jesus has only a few days left on earth at this point in the story, and is about to take his place at God’s right hand.  Jesus prayed for his followers of that day and all that would ever believe and follow in the future.  Jesus literally prayed to God for us. Continue reading →

The Appearance of Victory

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It looked like Jesus’ finest hour when he entered Jerusalem.  Our Palm Sunday service, also called Passion Sunday by some, is a celebration of Jesus’ triumphal entry.  The crowd shouted “Hosanna” and also “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.”  Hosanna means either save us now or more simply save now.  They waved palm branches, a symbol of victory, and spread coats on his path.  Many expected Jesus to claim the throne, and some had even tried to take him by force and place him there.  The Jewish leaders didn’t like it, but they feared the crowd more than God.  Jesus certainly looked victorious on that day.

By the end of the week, the same crowd was shouting “Crucify him.”   Followers of Jesus were hard to find by Friday afternoon.  Good Friday seemed to be Jesus’ ultimate demise, the polar opposite of just a few days earlier.  The chief priests and Pharisees must have thought the Jesus movement was over for sure as the few friends he had left put him in the tomb.  Of course we know that Easter (Resurrection Sunday) and the day of Pentecost are coming soon, but Palm Sunday appears to be a great day of victory while the cross looks like defeat.

Try to keep these things in mind.  The world often has their winning and losing backwards.  When missionaries are persecuted, when pastors are arrested for reading the Bible in public places, when states approve gay marriage, or abortion rights are expanded: don’t be too quick to accept defeat.  The same is true for events that we may perceive as victories.  Political leaders and court systems of the modern world have no more real power than they did in the first century.  The same Jesus that ascended in Acts 1 will return the same way.  He will not be a helpless baby at his second coming.  Despite appearances, the real victory was over death, hell and the grave.

“Sorrow may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning.”  Psalm 30:5

The Read and Share File

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Tim Challies shares truths supported by scripture on the topic of evangelism.

The title of the post – Is There a Holy Spirit? – may give the wrong impression.  Bobby Jamieson at 9Marks Blog is describing two ways to fill a church, and how you answer that question has a lot to do with how you proceed.

What is the best thing you can do for your pastor?  According to The Blazing Center it’s pray for him.

I actually took this picture myself, then added Luke 1:78.  That’s a genuine eastern Kentucky sunrise.

Boston.com, the online presence of the Boston Globe, shares 22 pictures of the Jewish festival of Purim.

On a whim, I searched for “sunrise service” on Google.  Enjoyed this short entry on Wikipedia.    Here’s an excerpt:

The first Easter Sunrise Service recorded took place in 1732 in the Moravian congregation at Herrnhut in the Upper Lusatian hills of Saxony. After an all-night prayer vigil, the Single Brethren, the unmarried men, of the community, went to the town graveyard, God’s Acre, on the Hill above the town, to sing hymns of praise to the Risen Saviour. The following year, the whole Congregation joined in the service. Thereafter the “Easter Morning” or “Sunrise Service” spread around the world with the Moravian missionaries. The procession to the graveyard is accompanied by the antiphonal playing of chorales by brass choirs.

And then I stumbled onto this:

Read more here: http://www.capitalchurch.net/ministries/easter-service/  There were 120 at the first service in 1979; on April 8 they expect 6,000!

Holy Week Review

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Palm Sunday is on April 1 this year, Easter will be April 8.  That final week of Lent is referred to as Holy Week, and should be a special time in the lives of believers.  Here are some Holy Week posts from years past; they may not be new, but are still good.

The “Triumphal” Entry is about Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week.  The same Jews shouting Hosanna at the beginning of the week will be shouting Crucify him by the end of the week.

Who Framed Jesus? was a documentary shown by Discovery 2 years ago, but the same thing happens on t.v. and magazine covers every year.  This post generated a frenzy of comments that are also a blast to read.

The Last Supper is about Jesus’ final Passover and the beginning of communion.  And on the same night he washed the disciples’ feet.

Is Jesus the Sheep, or the Shepherd?  This rather short post is one of the most read ever on The Master’s Table.

The Resurrection is the most celebrated event in Christianity, but here’s a thought: Jesus Died.  Jesus is God; have you ever thought that all the way through?

He Cannot Save Himself, the original post and He Cannot Save Himself, a poem for Good Friday.

It’s Friday, Sunday’s Coming  Sermon by S.M. Lockridge, with scenes from The Passion

And finally The Importance of the Resurrection.

Is Baptism Required for Salvation?

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Ron Boatwright wrote this webpage, arguing that without baptism one is not saved, and then sent me an e-mail asking me to read it and tell him what I thought.

From the website:  Jesus says in Mark 16:16, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned“.  But just as 1+1=2, Jesus says belief + baptism = saved.  One needs help to misunderstand Jesus.  How much clearer could Jesus have said it?  Jesus placed both belief and baptism prior to being saved.

What Jesus said and what Boatwright claims he said are not the same.  Jesus lumps believing and baptism together as almost one single activity – he who believes and is baptized.  What Jesus says next is “He who does not believe will be condemned.”  Not believing equates with condemnation (hell).  In Mark 16:15 Jesus had told the disciples to preach the gospel to every living creature.  Those who believe that message, and are consequently baptized, will be saved.  Rejecting the gospel is what sends non-believers to hell, not refusing baptism.  If this were the case Jesus might have also said “He who believes but is not baptized will be condemned.”  He didn’t say that.  Jesus does not equate belief and baptism as being essential to salvation, but he is assuming belief and baptism are a package deal. Continue reading →

OneCry, A Nationwide Call for Spiritual Awakening

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A blogging friend asked me to promote OneCry, and I gave them 2 sentences in the Read & Share posting yesterday.  I feel I can do better than that.

I grew up in a series of small, fundamentalist churches.  We read the King James Bible and abstained from “mixed bathing.”  The men wore pants, the women wore dresses, and no one wore shorts.  And twice a year we ran revival.  I could empathize with Michael Spencer when he described a very similar experience growing up, and got what he meant by evangelicalism and revivalism.  The need for revival is great, but I get a little uneasy when people talk about having one.

The  difference between Revival and Revivalism

There is a certain revival culture that exists among evangelicals, particularly among fundamentalists.  I have come to believe that you cannot “schedule” revival twice a year just because you book an evangelist for a week and meet every night at 7 p.m.  If an evangelist is preaching every night, and you hope to see lots of people walk the aisle and get saved, then that’s not really a revival anyway.  Revival would involve Christians already in the church being spiritually awakened, or recommitting to being about our father’s business.  There was certainly an evangelistic thrust in all of my childhood revival meeting experiences, but every church member was expected to be there every night also.  Maybe that covers all the bases.  If you want to schedule an evangelist to preach for a week at your church, by all means please do so.  But call what it is. Continue reading →

The Read and Share File

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It’s been a busy week, even by my standards.  I haven’t been able to read much, but here’s a few tidbits you might enjoy:

While I’m not really interested in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) this article could help anyone blog better; sound advice even if your blog isn’t designed to drive business.

Believers United for Revival invite you to join One Cry.  Declaring a spiritual emergency 2,699 believers have joined the movement to pray for nationwide revival.  —-> UPDATE 

What if we treated our Bibles more like our cell phones?  This has been around for a while, but thank you Paul Wilkinson for the reminder.

About My Father’s Business

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One year as the returned home from Passover, Mary and Joseph discovered that Jesus was not with their group.  They searched among their relatives and acquantances, then went back to Jerusalem to look some more.  They found the 12-year-old Jesus in the temple, asking questions and reasoning with the temple priests.  “Why have you treated us this way?” Mary demanded.  She expressed her concern and distress as they didn’t know where he was these past two days.  “Did you not realize that I must be about my father’s business?” Jesus replied.  (The ESV says in my father’s house.)  Of course his parents could not understand what he was talking about.  Luke 2:41-52

Jesus thought it was obvious.  Why were they looking for him?  He must be about his father’s business.

If you came up missing, where would people look for you?  Should we go straight to God’s house, or perhaps the office?  Or the golf course?  Or the bar?  Would we be found visiting the sick and afflicted, giving a cup of water to the least of his children? Or would we be somewhere else?

Look at Christ and consider the example.  We must be about our father’s business.

My Other Blog is now SMILE God Loves You

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I recently celebrated four years of blogging, and in that post explained I never meant to have two blogs but it kind of happened.  The clarkbunch.wordpress URL, formerly known as My Other Blog, will now be SMILE, God Loves You.  I will adjust the RSS feed shortly.  The Master’s Table will feature posts on religion and theology; comic strips, inspirational quotes, Our Daily Bread redirects, and other randomness will appear at SMILE.

If you’re in a reader, dropping by The Master’s Table will make this make sense.