Jesus enters Jerusalem on the way to the cross—John 12
As you get ready for this coming Sunday, March 28, let me remind you that you are not just preparing for a normal Sunday, but much more: you are preparing for what is traditionally called Holy Week, Passion Week, or Passover Week. We all need to read ahead—not just for Sunday, but for each day of the week leading all the way to Easter Sunday.
Your assignment for the whole week:
- For Sunday, read John 12 & 13.
- On Monday, read John 14.
- On Tuesday, read John 15.
- On Wednesday, read John 16:1-16.
- On Thursday, read John 16:17-33.
- On Good Friday, April 2, meet with a group in a home setting and read John 17, 18, and 19 together.
What is so special about this coming Sunday and the whole week ahead?
It is Passover! Let’s not forget that in the story we find in John 12, Jesus was returning back to the city of Jerusalem for the last time to celebrate and remember the Passover event. Jerusalem was the absolute center of all life for those who were Covenant Jewish followers of the one true God. And Passover was a multi-day series of remembrance events that helped Covenant followers reflect on the release of the Jewish slaves in Egypt during the days of Moses and his confrontation with the Egyptian pharaoh, some 1400 or so years before Jesus. The blood of a sacrificial, spotless lamb was put on the doorpost of the homes of those who were trusting in God.
Jesus, in this story found in John 12, was entering the city of Jerusalem on what is now known as Palm Sunday, to prepare himself not only to remember what happened at the original Passover in Moses’ day, but far more significantly, to be the ultimate, final, most pure and holy spotless lamb of God, who would shed his blood sacrificially for all mankind to enter a Covenant relationship with him.
This is Palm Sunday. This is the beginning of Holy Week. This is what I am calling us all to do as we daily remember what God has done for us. We often say here at LifeWay that God never tells us to remember the birth of Jesus at Christmas (even though Christmas is certainly the biggest holiday on the American calendar), but he absolutely instructs us to remember the death, burial and resurrection of Christ—to remember Holy Week, Good Friday, and Easter.
1 Peter 1:18-20 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
This Sunday, March 28, begins this season of remembrance for us.
John 12:13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!”
See you Sunday morning at 10 a.m. through one of our 3 doors to LifeWay Church. Come prepared with your Bibles—and make sure to read ahead!
