So this week is what Christians traditionally call Holy Week - when we remember the day Jesus entered Jerusalem like a King, the night He had the Last Supper with His disciples, the prayers He offered in the Garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal of Jesus by one of His own disciples, Jesus' arrest and torture, the day He was killed like a criminal on that cross, His burial in the tomb, and the darkness and hope lost on the day after His death as He lie dead in that tomb. All this of course leading up to Easter Sunday when we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection!

I found this quote yesterday, which I thought was a great reminder as to why it’s important not only to celebrate Easter, but also to take time to reflect on what Jesus walked through in the days leading up to His resurrection:

“It is important to place the hope of the Resurrection, the promise of newness and life, against the background of death and endings. It is only in walking through the shadows and darkness of Holy Week and Good Friday, only in realizing the horror and magnitude of sin and its consequences in the world incarnated in the dying Jesus on the cross, only in contemplating the ending and despair that the disciples felt on Holy Saturday, that we can truly understand the light and hope of Sunday morning!” (Bratcher, Dennis. “The Days of Holy Week.” http://www.cresourcei.org/cyholyweek.html)

Jesus was obedient unto death, suffering because of OUR sin, and not His own. As my husband often says, Jesus could have at any time decided we weren’t worth it, and walked away from the torture, the pain, and that horrible death He faced. But He didn’t. He chose to endure it - out of His great love us for us and for the joy set before Him - in spite of the fact that it was each of us that put Him there on that cross in the first place. Incredible. What wondrous love.

Speaking of that very love, just before Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray (which we remember on what we call Maundy Thursday), Jesus gives the disciples this mandate:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, you also ought to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”(John 13:34-35)

Wow. “Even as I have loved you, you ought also to love one another.” God loved us pretty extravagantly! I guess we can conclude then that we also are to love others with this kind of extravagant love. A few chapters later, Jesus put it this way:

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:12-13)

That certainly isn’t easy in a world full of “haters” out there who find any reason in they possibly can to persecute, mock, or distrust those who try to follow after Jesus. However, we haven’t really give them much reason to trust us, much less like us…and I would dare to say it’s because most Christians haven’t made love our number one priority. We find multitudes of other “good things” to focus on. But we’ve missed that which is most important: to love the Lord our God and to love others with the same kind of love He has shown us.

I encourage us all to take time during this special week on our Christian calendar to consider what Jesus endured this week out of His amazing, unfailing love for us. No matter what difficulties or persecution we may face in our own lives, Christ gives us the greatest example of what it is like to walk in humble obedience, loving at all times - even those who set out to destroy Him.

Oh, Father, that we could learn to love like You, to endure like your Son endured, and to trust in Your sovereign plan even when we may wish at times there is another way You could accomplish Your purposes here on earth. Give us eyes to see what You’re doing, the faith to trust You in all things, and the perseverance to love at all times.