[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered during our Maundy Thursday service on the 24th of March, 2016. Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
15 During Passover the governor always freed a prisoner chosen by the people. 16 At that time a well-known terrorist named Jesus Barabbas was in jail. 17 So when the crowd came together, Pilate asked them, “Which prisoner do you want me to set free? Do you want Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 Pilate knew that the leaders had brought Jesus to him because they were jealous.
19 While Pilate was judging the case, his wife sent him a message. It said, “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man. I have had nightmares because of him.”
20 But the chief priests and the leaders convinced the crowds to ask for Barabbas to be set free and for Jesus to be killed. 21 Pilate asked the crowd again, “Which of these two men do you want me to set free?”
“Barabbas!” they replied.
22 Pilate asked them, “What am I to do with Jesus, who is called the Messiah?”
They all yelled, “Nail him to a cross!”
23 Pilate answered, “But what crime has he done?”
“Nail him to a cross!” they yelled even louder.
24 Pilate saw that there was nothing he could do and that the people were starting to riot. So he took some water and washed his hands in front of them and said, “I won’t have anything to do with killing this man. You are the ones doing it!”
25 Everyone answered, “We and our own families will take the blame for his death!”
26 Pilate set Barabbas free. Then he ordered his soldiers to beat Jesus with a whip and nail him to a cross.
--Matthew 27:15-26 (CEV)
Let us pray… Father God, we open our ears and our hearts to Your message this evening. Speak to us in words we can understand, that we might know Your will for our lives. In the holy name of our Lord Jesus we pray. Amen.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and is the day usually associated with scripture that describes covering ourselves in ashes as a sign of repentance and the recognition of our own mortality. Many folks left their churches that day with the sign of the cross marked in ashes upon their foreheads or the backs of their hands. And they immediately went home and washed those ashes right off.
During Lent we seek to grow closer to our Lord Jesus by trying to experience at least a little of what He went through while He walked this earth. The Lenten period is our observance of the journey Jesus made starting with His 40 days of temptation by Satan in the wilderness and ending at the cross. On that cross, man dealt a cruel judgment against our very Savior. He took the punishment that should have been ours. He chose to accept the nails, so that we wouldn’t have to suffer eternal death. Jesus took the nails for us. He allowed Pilate’s soldiers to nail Him to that cross, there to suffer a horrible death.
Those nails left marks that will last forever. Yet those nail-scarred hands proved useful, at least once. You probably remember this passage, from the Gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 24 through 29…
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and is the day usually associated with scripture that describes covering ourselves in ashes as a sign of repentance and the recognition of our own mortality. Many folks left their churches that day with the sign of the cross marked in ashes upon their foreheads or the backs of their hands. And they immediately went home and washed those ashes right off.
During Lent we seek to grow closer to our Lord Jesus by trying to experience at least a little of what He went through while He walked this earth. The Lenten period is our observance of the journey Jesus made starting with His 40 days of temptation by Satan in the wilderness and ending at the cross. On that cross, man dealt a cruel judgment against our very Savior. He took the punishment that should have been ours. He chose to accept the nails, so that we wouldn’t have to suffer eternal death. Jesus took the nails for us. He allowed Pilate’s soldiers to nail Him to that cross, there to suffer a horrible death.
Those nails left marks that will last forever. Yet those nail-scarred hands proved useful, at least once. You probably remember this passage, from the Gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 24 through 29…
24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
--John 20:24-29 (NKJV)
I pray that we never lose sight of just how blessed we are. We have not seen those nail-scarred hands nor His spear-pierced side, yet we still believe in Jesus as Lord.
Tonight, Maundy Thursday, we observe our Lord’s last meal on this earth, His betrayal, and His arrest. Tomorrow, Good Friday, sets our Savior’s beating, execution, and burial firmly in our hearts and our memories. And then on Easter Sunday we celebrate the most joyous day, when Jesus rose from the grave, defeating death for eternity!
Thomas needed proof to believe in our Lord’s resurrection. Jesus says we are blessed for believing even without the benefit of proof. But tonight isn’t about belief so much. It’s more about remembrance. It is imperative that we never forget the sacrifice Jesus made for us.
And I think it equally important, if not more so, that we not make Him repeat any of that sacrifice. He took the nails for us once, there on that cross. Should we be responsible for driving more nails into His hands?
Each time we fail to follow His commands to us, we pound another nail right into His hand. When we stretch the truth, cheat even a little on our taxes, take for our use something we should not take – BAM! – we pound another nail! When we curse someone under our breath for some perceived slight – BAM! When we avoid eye contact with the beggar, the needy, the homeless, the hungry - BAM! When we hold onto bitterness rather than freely giving love – BAM! When we don’t at least try to control our lusts for the things of this life – BAM! When we fail to unconditionally, sacrificially love one another – BAM! When we put anything else ahead of God in our lives – BAM!
I’ve driven a lot of nails into my Savior’s hands over the years. And sadly, I’ll probably pound in a few more before my life here on earth is over. But if I try really hard, if I stop and think of what I am about to do, maybe I can pull back on that hammer before it strikes. I just need to remember. The ashes may remind me for a moment of my own mortality. But the nails remind me of my Lord’s mortality before He returned to heaven, of His pain and suffering on my behalf.
I may not be able to see the print of those Roman nails as Thomas did, not until I stand face to face with Jesus. But I know I’ll cry when I see all the nail scars that I left there in His hands. Jesus took the nails for me and for you. Remember this, and drive no more into His hands.
Amen.
[Holy Communion followed in the service.]
Tonight, Maundy Thursday, we observe our Lord’s last meal on this earth, His betrayal, and His arrest. Tomorrow, Good Friday, sets our Savior’s beating, execution, and burial firmly in our hearts and our memories. And then on Easter Sunday we celebrate the most joyous day, when Jesus rose from the grave, defeating death for eternity!
Thomas needed proof to believe in our Lord’s resurrection. Jesus says we are blessed for believing even without the benefit of proof. But tonight isn’t about belief so much. It’s more about remembrance. It is imperative that we never forget the sacrifice Jesus made for us.
And I think it equally important, if not more so, that we not make Him repeat any of that sacrifice. He took the nails for us once, there on that cross. Should we be responsible for driving more nails into His hands?
Each time we fail to follow His commands to us, we pound another nail right into His hand. When we stretch the truth, cheat even a little on our taxes, take for our use something we should not take – BAM! – we pound another nail! When we curse someone under our breath for some perceived slight – BAM! When we avoid eye contact with the beggar, the needy, the homeless, the hungry - BAM! When we hold onto bitterness rather than freely giving love – BAM! When we don’t at least try to control our lusts for the things of this life – BAM! When we fail to unconditionally, sacrificially love one another – BAM! When we put anything else ahead of God in our lives – BAM!
I’ve driven a lot of nails into my Savior’s hands over the years. And sadly, I’ll probably pound in a few more before my life here on earth is over. But if I try really hard, if I stop and think of what I am about to do, maybe I can pull back on that hammer before it strikes. I just need to remember. The ashes may remind me for a moment of my own mortality. But the nails remind me of my Lord’s mortality before He returned to heaven, of His pain and suffering on my behalf.
I may not be able to see the print of those Roman nails as Thomas did, not until I stand face to face with Jesus. But I know I’ll cry when I see all the nail scars that I left there in His hands. Jesus took the nails for me and for you. Remember this, and drive no more into His hands.
Amen.
[Holy Communion followed in the service.]
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