The Person I Thought I Knew
Recently I have read a novel by
Michele Shocklee, “Count the Nights by Stars.” It’s a story about an elderly
lady Priscilla Nichols who is a quiet, reclusive woman residing in the Maxell
hotel. One day she suffered from a debilitating stroke. After she was transferred
to hospital, Audrey Whitefield was tasked with cleaning out the room. While she
was cleaning the room, she found a scrapbook that told a story about Mrs.
Nichols’ life – how she fell in love with young Italian immigrant, how she
stood up to social injustice, how she fought to end human trafficking, how she
ended up adopting a young girl who was an ex-prostitute. Audrey then said to
herself, “I wish I’d known Miss Nichols better. I wish I had taken more time to
get to know her when she lived at the Maxwell… She is a remarkable woman.” Audrey
thought she knew this old woman, but she realized she didn’t.
Not long ago, I had a chance to visit one church member who celebrated her 91st birthday at a nursing home. I always thought I knew this person. But as I was listening to her story, I realized I didn’t know her.
The Jesus They Thought They Knew
As Jesus made his way to Jerusalem,
there were at least three different groups who were coming out to see him: the
disciples, the crowd, and the Pharisees.
First, the disciples. Of course, they thought they knew Jesus. One day when Jesus asked them, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter, one of the disciples answered with confidence, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt 16:16). But obviously he and the other disciples had a different picture of the Messiah. They thought Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem was a sign of an “onward and upward” journey. But the Bible says, “[The disciples] did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him” (v. 16). They didn’t know Jesus.
Second, the crowd. They saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead. They followed Jesus and welcomed him. They continued to testify. They believed Jesus as someone powerful and useful in their lives, but they didn’t know Jesus.
Then, the Pharisees. They considered Jesus as a “threat”, or “unorthodox”, or “troublemaker” who disturbed their comfortable life. As they watched Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, they said to each other, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him” (v. 19). They didn’t know Jesus.
The Jesus We Never Knew
It’s just the beginning. Now during
this final week they begin to see who Jesus really is. The authors of the
Gospels place so much focus on the Holy Week. (ex. John 47%, Matthew 30%, Mark
40%, Luke 20%) Then who is this man? What kind of Messiah he is?”
Monday: Cleansing the temple
Jesus cleansed the temple at least
twice – at the beginning and end of his ministry. When Jesus drove out cattle
and overturned the money changers’ tables, the Jews asked him, “What sign can
you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three
days I will raise it up.” He was speaking of the temple of his body. He was
prophesying how he would cleanse us of our sins once for all. As Jesus was
cleansing the temple for the second time, children were coming and crying out, “Hosanna
to the Son of David.” The religious leaders were angry and said to him, “Do you
hear what these are saying?” Jesus quoted from a prophet and said, “Out of the
mouths of infants, you have prepared praises for yourself.” The disciples
didn’t understand these things at that time. Who is this man?
Tuesday: Arguing with the Pharisees
Jesus taught people and argued with
the Pharisees in the temple. Jesus told them a parable of the wicked tenants.
There was a landowner who leased the vineyard to tenants and went away. When
the harvest time came, the owner sent a servant to collect his produce. But the
tenants seized his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
Finally, the owner sent his son, saying, “They will respect my son.” But the
tenants saw the son and said to themselves, “This is the heir. Come, let us
kill him and get his inheritance.” So they killed him. Then Jesus asked, “What
will the owner will do?” Here Jesus was prophesying what would happen to him
(God’s Son), and urging them to repent and turn to God before it’s too late. Who
is this man?
Wednesday: 3rd anointing of Jesus
Jesus was first anointed by a
sinful woman. Then he declared to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Those who were
at the table with him said among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives
sins?” Jesus was then anointed by Mary, Lazarus’ sister, for the second time six
days before the Passover. And now for the third time he was anointed by a woman
in the house of Simon the leper two days before the Passover. The disciples
didn’t understand and said to themselves, “Why this waste?” They didn’t know
who Jesus really was. But Jesus said to them, “Leave her alone. She did a
beautiful thing…. She has prepared me for my burial.” He came to die.
And the hour has come. Who is this man?
Thursday: The Last Supper
Jesus knew that his hour had come. He had loved his disciples, and now he loved them to the very end. While he was having the last supper with the disciples, the last thing he did was to wash their feet, even if he knew that they would desert him and disown him within a few hours. The last words he said to them was to love one another and to wash one another’s feet. Who is this man?
Friday: The trials and crucifixion
Perhaps Jesus faced as many as six
interrogations. In his memoir Pierre Van Paassen tells us a story about an
elderly Jewish rabbi taken to the Nazi headquarters. The captors stripped him naked
and commanded him to preach the sermon that he was going to preach that week. In
the far end of the same room, two other captors were beating another Jew to
death. The rabbi asked if he could wear his kippa, they agreed, thinking it
added to the joke. The trembling rabbi began to deliver his sermon in a raspy
voice on what it means to walk humbly with God, all the while being poked and
prodded by the hotting Nazis.1
The Jews blindfolded Jesus, struck him, “Prophesy, you Messiah! Who struck you?” Later, the Romans stripped Jesus and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on him and struck him on the head again and again. Jesus then died the most painful, shameful, criminal’s death on the cross. He was hung on the cross for 6 hours. The six hours that changed the world! Jesus did take away the sin of the world. He took away your sin and my sin. He absorbed evil, he disarmed evil, he conquered its power by his sacrificial death on the cross. Who is this man?
Walking with Jesus through the Holy Week
Sisters and brothers in Christ, I
exhort you to carve out the time this week and mediate on each day’s passage. Use
your imagination, try to imagine what Jesus was doing at each hour of each day,
and try to put yourself in his place to feel what he was feeling. My prayer is
that as we walk with Jesus through this Holy Week, we may come to know and
believe Jesus we never knew before. Amen.
----
1. Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew (p. 199). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
|
Modern Calendar Days |
Event of the Holy
Week |
|
|
Arrival in Bethany
(John 12:1) |
|
Sunday |
Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-10, John 12:12-18) Jesus surveys the temple area (Mark 11:11) Return to Bethany (Matt.
21:17, Mark 11:11) |
|
Monday |
Cursing the fig tree
on the way to Jerusalem (Matt. 21:18-22, Mark 11:12-14) Clearing the temple (Matt.
21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17) Miracles and challenges in the temple
(Matt. 21:14-16, Mark 1:18) Return to Bethany (Mark 11:19) |
|
Tuesday |
Reaction to cursing the fig tree
on the way back to Jerusalem (Matt. 21:20-22, Mark
11:20-21) Debates with religious leaders
in Jerusalem and teaching in the temple (Matt. 21:23-23:39, Mark 11:27-12:44) End Times Discourse on the Mount
of Olives on the
return to Bethany
(Matt. 24:1-25:46, Mark 13:1
37) |
|
Wednesday |
Jesus and disciples remain
in Bethany for last time
of fellowship A
woman anoints Jesus
(Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9) Judas returns alone to Jerusalem
to make arrangements for the betrayal (Matt.
26:14-16, Mark 14:10-11) |
|
Thursday |
Preparations for Passover (Matt. 26:17-19, Mark 14:12-16) After sundown: Passover meal and
Last Supper (Matt.
26:20-35, Mark 14:17-26) Upper Room discourses (John
13-17) Prayers in the Garden
of Gethsemane (Matt.
26:36- 46, Mark 14:32-42) |
|
Friday |
Sometime perhaps after
midnight: Betrayal and arrest
(Matt. 26:47-56, Mark
14:43- 52) Jewish trial–Jesus appears
in three phases
in front of:
-Annas (John 18:13-24) -Caiaphas
and partial Sanhedrin (Matt. 26:57-75,
Mark 14:53-65) -Sanhedrin
fully assembled (perhaps after
sunrise) (Matt. 27:1-2, Mark 15:1) Roman trial – Jesus
appears in three
phases before: -Pilate
(Matt. 27:2-14, Mark
15:2-5)
-Herod Antipas (Luke
23:6-12) -Pilate (Matt. 27:15-26,
Mark 15:6-15) Crucifixion (approx.
9:00 am to 3:00 pm)
(Matt 27:27-66, Mark 15:16-39) |
|
Sunday |
Resurrection witnesses (Matt. 28:1-8, Mark
16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12) Resurrection appearances (Matt. 28:9-20, Luke 24:13-53, John 20-21) |
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