All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright 2000; 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Passion Week has a way of reorienting our hearts on what matters most. No other week seems to so vividly capture both the deadly cost of our sin and the ultimate victory over death. But how often during Passion Week in the midst of our (rightly-placed) focus on the death and resurrection of Christ and all the events leading up to this do we consider the immeasurable, boundless love of God for His people? This year at Easter, we want to see the immense love that God has shown for us in Christ. The famous 19th-century preacher Charles Spurgeon once said, There is no such love in all the world as the love of Christ to His people; and if you were to gather up all the loves that ever were, of men and women, of mothers and children, of friends and friends, and heap up all these loves, the love of Jesus is of superior quality to them all, for none of those loves are absolutely perfect, but Jesus Christ loves to perfection. Jesus love for His people is not only far superior to the love that we have for others, it s not only far greater in quality than the love we experience from others Jesus love for His people is stronger than death. This Passion Week, let s consider this love that is stronger than death. Let s examine how it s revealed in and through Jesus. Let s contemplate what it means for us as God s people and how it reaches to every part of our lives. And as we do all of this, may our hearts be turned to worship and love Christ, our risen Savior. By God s grace, may these next few pages help us see how the Bible, from beginning to end, points us to the gospel, and the great love of God revealed through the gospel.
Palm Sunday - March 25th Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. A promise is only as good as the person who makes it. Here in Genesis 3:15 we have the very first promise of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It s a promise that rests on the guarantee of God s own faithfulness, and it s a promise that His love is stronger than death. In Genesis 3, the serpent deceived Adam and Eve into sin that brought death into the world. In the midst of God s curses for sin, He makes this beautiful promise that a child of the woman will come who will crush the head of the serpent bringing victory over the sin and death the serpent helped introduce. From the very beginning, death has been a threat to us. It s caused pain and stolen the people we love most for thousands of years. But God promised that His love would overcome death, and through the coming of Jesus this promise is fulfilled. Jesus is the offspring of the woman who crushes the head of the serpent bringing victory over the death the serpent, Adam, and Eve brought into the world. Let s remember that the coming of Jesus is the fulfillment of God s good promise to vindicate His glory and to rid His entire creation of death. Let s recognize the cosmic magnitude of this Passion Week and trust in our God who is faithful to do everything He declares He will do. Praise God for His promise that love would conquer death from the very moment it entered the world. Ask the Lord to increase your hope and faith in Him today in light of the magnitude of this truth.
Monday, March 26th Exodus 34:6-7 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children s children, to the third and the fourth generation. Most of us can appreciate a good riddle, especially if it s light-hearted. But there are times when even the fundamental issues in life seem to come at us in the form of a riddle. Moses encounters one of these very instances in this passage. How can the Lord the one who abounds in steadfast love both forgive sin and not clear the guilty of their sin? The answer to this great riddle is found in the cross of Christ! Jesus took our sins on Himself, and our sins are now forgiven because of His work (2 Corinthians 5:21). But Jesus also paid the price to redeem us from our guilt, and we no longer face the wrath our sins deserve (1 John 4:10). In Christ, God has both forgiven sin AND remained just to punish the guilty. At the beginning of this Passion Week, let s take time to behold God s great love for us. Let s look to Christ and rejoice that God has loved us so much that He has made a way for us to be forgiven of our sins and freed from our guilt. Praise God for the forgiveness of sins He offers us through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Pray that God would show you this week how great His love is for you in the work of Jesus on the cross.
Tuesday, March 27th Psalm 103:10-12 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. Mountain climbers know the dangers of a false summit. As they near what they believe is the peak of the mountain, they get to that point only to see that it wasn t actually the top it only appeared to be the top, and their climb isn t over yet! If not prepared for this, the toll this takes on climbers is tremendous. In a similar way, we can find ourselves in despair, wrongly thinking we ve come to the end of God s love for us. We ve sinned one too many times, we ve failed yet again, we ve not grown in holiness like we d hoped surely God has given up on us! And yet, King David proclaims that for those who fear God who trust and revere Him as the one true God God s great love for them leads Him to remove their sins from them forever. God s love for us is even greater than we imagine it to be. To think that God s love for His people would end is like thinking the false summit is actually the peak. Over these next few days, may your heart be refreshed by the sheer vastness of God s love for you in the death and resurrection of Christ. Praise God for His love for you that is faithful and unending. Ask God to protect your heart from the enemy s accusations for sins which have already been forgiven.
Wednesday, March 28th Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. Everyone s body fails them. We all get sick, we all suffer injuries, and eventually we will all die. But God, through His Son Jesus, promises peace and healing in a world plagued by violence and death. In Isaiah 53, God is speaking about His servant. This servant, who we now know is Jesus, submits to being pierced, crushed, chastised, and wounded because of His great love for the Father and His people. By willingly subjecting Himself to violence and death, Jesus provides forgiveness to sinful people who repent, He brings peace with God to those who trust in Him, and He heals those who are condemned to eternal death. The wounds of Christ described in this verse do not guarantee our temporary physical healing from whatever sickness might come upon us. But the wounds of Christ guarantee our physical healing from the plague of death. We will not be conquered by death, but those who are in Christ are guaranteed to finally be resurrected, healed, and glorified with Him. Christians will live with our risen Savior forever! Remember that we have hope when we lose those we love, and when we face death ourselves, because Christ gives eternal peace and healing to all who believe in Him. His love is stronger than death. Praise God that His Son was willing to be crushed on our behalf so that in Him we might have life. Ask the Lord to help you obey Him because of the great sacrifice He has made for you and the suffering He has endured to free you from death.
Thursday, March 29th John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. A good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. When a wolf or a lion attacks the flock, a good shepherd will put himself between his sheep and the fangs of their attacker. He will do whatever is necessary to save the sheep, even if it requires his own death. Jesus is our good shepherd. Jesus laid down His life for His sheep. According to Jesus in John 15, the greatest expression of love is selfsacrifice. As we reflect on the death and resurrection of Christ this Passion Week, let s remember Christ s sacrificial love. Jesus descended from heaven to become a man, He subjected Himself to mockery and ridicule, He was rejected by His own people, and submitted Himself to death on a cross. The God of all the universe was humiliated and executed as a criminal by the very people He created! Jesus experienced the punishment, the suffering, the humiliation, and death that sinners deserved, to satisfy the wrath of God against sin. Although He was innocent, He stood in the place of the guilty; so that all who believe in Him would not have to suffer the consequences of sin, but would receive eternal life. Jesus makes the greatest sacrifice because His love is stronger than death. Reflect on Jesus sacrifice and thank God for His love. Ask the Lord to help you follow Christ s model of sacrifice that you would be willing to sacrifice your own comforts and desires and obey Him. Ask Him to help you lay aside your pride and social insecurities so that you might speak the gospel to those whom you know are lost.
Good Friday - March 30th Romans 5:8 God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. A day that commemorates death doesn t exactly seem to be the time to consider love. For Christians contemplating the death of Jesus, Good Friday often carries with it all the heaviness of a funeral. After all, on the day Jesus was crucified, darkness covered the earth, an act in the physical world doubling as a picture of what was happening in the spiritual realm. Death finally appeared to have won. Surely love is of no consequence at this point. And yet, in the gospel of Jesus, death and love are inextricably linked! Paul tells us that the cross is THE WAY God shows His supreme love for us. The love of God the love proclaimed to Moses on Mt. Sinai, the love praised in the Psalms, the love displayed in the incarnation of Christ this love is not stifled by the death of Christ. Death doesn t defeat love. Instead, it s God s love that directly led to Christ s death, and it s a love that is stronger than death. It s entirely appropriate for us to meditate on God s love today. While we were still in our sin, while we were God s enemies (Romans 5:10), without any hope of rescue, God showed His love for us through the death of Jesus on our behalf. As you reflect on the cross today and see its horror, may you remember not only the great cost of your sin, but even more so, the surpassing greatness of God s love for you in the face of that sin. Praise God that He gave His Son to die in the place of His enemies. Ask God to increase your love for Him as you meditate on Christ s death.
Saturday, March 31st Philippians 3:20 Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is often tempting to think that this world is our ultimate home or that all we can see and know and experience here is all there really is for better or worse. But Paul argues against this temptation to let our hearts turn away from pursuing Christ in all things by reminding the Philippian church that they are actually citizens of Heaven awaiting the return of their Savior. Christians have confidence that they are no longer strangers or aliens to the promises of God (Ephesians 2:19), but are instead citizens of God s kingdom. This means that they are actually, truly, FULLY a part of God s people, and nothing can change that! Because of God s great love for His people, He brings them into His kingdom. Have you pondered this recently? In the midst of your current life situation joys, struggles, ups, downs, whatever it may be have you stopped to reflect on the fact that God loved you enough to make you a part of His kingdom? Part of the great love of God expressed to us in the gospel is that God grants us a new citizenship through faith in Christ. Find rest and encouragement in the truth that you are a citizen of Heaven. Trust that Jesus is coming back for His people, the ones upon whom He has shown great love. Praise God for His love in making you a citizen of His kingdom. Pray that God would deepen your desire for the things of Heaven, the place where your true citizenship is. Ask that God would help you to put on the new self (Ephesians 4:24) as you await the return of Christ.
Easter Sunday, April 1st Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. It s hard to imagine things being perfect. We would probably mess it up if we tried. Nothing in this world is perfect and certainly none of us are perfect. But Christ is going to return and He will make everything and everyone who belongs to Him perfect. From the very beginning, God promised that someone would come to crush the head of the serpent, defeating sin and death. This victory has been proclaimed in His Word, it is realized in Christ, and it will be consummated in His return. Revelation 21 describes the world when Jesus returns. There will be no reason for tears, death will cease to take those whom we love, and pain will be a thing of the past. The world will be restored, and those who are in Christ will live with the Father in perfection forevermore. As we reflect on Christ s death and resurrection this Passion Week, let s remember its goal to vindicate the glory of God in the world by removing the stain of sin and death. The work of Christ not only gives Christians hope that we are free from sin today, but it gives us hope for the future so that we might endure. One day sin and death will be no more, because the love of Christ is stronger than death. Praise God that He has promised to come and put an end to suffering, pain, and death. Ask the Lord to help you persevere in your faith because of the hope you have for the future in the new heavens and new earth.