Reflections on Holy Week

This morning I was thinking about Holy Week. I wanted to share my reflections.

The first thing that comes to my mind is a picture of Adam and Eve hiding when they hear the sound the Lord God walking in the garden at the time the evening breeze. God had come to seek fellowship, but they are hiding because, although God had placed them in a garden and invited them to eat from any tree in Eden, Eve, beguiled by the serpent, chose instead to eat from the one tree that was forbidden. As a result of their rebellion they were sent out of the garden, but with the promise of a savior. One day a man would come who would strike the head of the serpent, though the serpent would strike his heel.

My mind went next to the wilderness. Here I saw a people with whom God sought fellowship; but this time instead of being offered a garden full of trees to select from, they were given bread from heaven to eat. For forty years He shepherded them in the wilderness, teaching them the lesson they had not learned in the garden; that He was their God, their provider. How did they respond to the bread from heaven? In their own words they said, "We loath this worthless food" (Numbers 21:5). There had been a beguiling serpent in the garden, but in the wilderness the snake took the form of a fiery serpent biting the people so that many died. And, just as in the garden, along with the curse came the promise of salvation. Salvation was offered in the form of a bronze snake lifted on a pole. When someone was bitten, if he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.

In the fullness of time the prophecy given in the garden was fulfilled, the seed of woman came to break the curse. Once more God had come to His people offering fellowship. He came not only to break the curse brought about by the beguiling serpent in the garden, but also the fiery serpent in the wilderness. At the beginning of His ministry Jesus explained it to Nicodemus this way, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so to the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:14-16).

Jesus, the bread of heaven, was rejected, loathed and counted as worthless. The One who descended from heaven to break the curse of man's rebellion was rejected and sentenced to death on a cross. On the cross His heel was bruised, but on that same cross the curse was broken. The thief dying on the cross beside him admitted that the punishment he was receiving was just. He, like those dying in the wilderness, could do nothing but turn his head and look at Jesus, but that was enough. Fellowship was restored that day, not in the garden nor in the wilderness, but in paradise.

Like a Little Child

The words have become like a soundtrack always playing in the background of my mind.

"Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I do not get involved with things too great or difficult for me. Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself like a little weaned child with its mother; I am like a little child" (Psalm 131:1,2).

I wake in the night haunted by situations beyond my control; and, like a little child, I call out to my Heavenly Father. In humility I acknowledge the fear that woke me is too great, too difficult for me. So, like a little child who is confident of her father's love, I turn my attention to the power of His love. I quiet and calm myself in the light of His presence and find rest for my soul.

This soundtrack that I hear as I journey along is a song of ascents. As I listen to this psalm with childlike faith, I am reminded of the words of Moses to the children of Israel as they made their ascent from Egypt to the Promised land, "So I said to you; Don't be terrified or afraid of them! The Lord your God who goes before you will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt. And you saw in the wilderness how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son all along the way you traveled until you reached this place" (Deuteronomy 1:29-31). I am often frightened on this pilgrimage until I am reminded that I am invited to childlike faith in a God who goes before me and is able to carry me all the way home.

"O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore" (Psalm 131:3). This theme song constantly playing in my mind only has three verses, and this last verse again reminds me of childlike faith. When Jesus' disciples argued about who was the greatest, He took a child and brought him into their midst and held that child in His arms while He taught about what it means to be great in His kingdom.

Another day has begun. I recognize that today I face challenges that seem too big for me. If my confidence was based in my own abilities I would be overwhelmed by fear. But my soul is calmed and quieted within me as I anchor my hope in the love and promises of my Heavenly Father.