Elmhurst CRC

The room had been cleaned, the food had been bought, the table had been laid. Jesus had his disciples gathered in a rented “upper room” to celebrate the Jewish Feast of the Passover. This is a meal that they would have celebrated religiously every year of their lives.This particular year, however, Jesus introduced some major differences into the Passover proceedings. First, Jesus himself took the role that would have belonged to one of the lowest servants in the rented house and proceeded to wash the feet of his disciples. It’s as if the CEO of Starbuck’s would be sighted cleaning the bathrooms in a local chain. Jesus forever demonstrated the true nature of Christian leadership.Even more significantly, Jesus transformed the unleavened bread of the Passover for his disciples and presented it to them as his own body, broken for them. And Jesus took the cup of gratitude and presented it to his followers as the cup of the New Covenant, a cup given in his very blood for the complete forgiveness of all of their sins.2,000 years later - today! - Jesus’ followers will still “take, eat and drink, remember and believe” that God’s perfect Passover Lamb was given to take away the sins of the world.Activity: Find a medium sized serving bowl or vase, clear glass or transparent if possible. Fill it up with water. Place some of your chosen rocks in the water, perhaps even give them a little bath. Notice how they brighten in color when they are wet. This is what happens in the waters of baptism when God washes us. This is what happens when we give and receive acts of service like Jesus offered his disciples by washing their feet before the Passover meal.

Would you have liked to be one of Jesus’ 12 disciples? On the one hand, it would be beautiful to know him face to face, to hear his voice, to witness his life. On the other hand, the original 12 disciples had a pretty rough go of it. Often they misunderstood Jesus’ teachings and intentions. They were frustrated and often clueless. They also would have traveled from place to place and endured a very nomadic and Spartan existence.Judas Iscariot was the overseer of the money that supported Jesus and his disciples. This must have been a challenging job to keep his friends and Master operating on a shoe-string budget. When an expensive bottle of perfume was poured over Jesus’ head, Judas registered his disapproval. That money could have been shared with the poor or been used to support Jesus’ ministry for weeks!This unnecessary waste seems to be the straw that broke the camel’s back for Judas. Following the excessive dumping of so much perfume on Jesus, Judas indicates his willingness to betray his Master into the hands of the Pharisees. What he gets in return is a little economic kickback - just 30 pieces of silver.Activity: Gather your rocks together and place them in a bag. As you feel the weight of the rocks try to sense the weight of your sin.In what area of your life do you sell Jesus short? Take some time for self-introspection and to pray the words of Psalm 139:24, “Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”As Good Friday draws near know that forgiveness comes in our confession. We do not have to bear the burden any longer.

At our house, whenever we have company overnight or even over for dinner, we are sure to make preparations and do a little extra housecleaning. For Jesus, at the end of his life, it was no different. His last days were characterized by these two domestic impulses: cleaning and preparing.Jesus - in one of the few recorded moments in the Bible where he was angry and aggressive - took it upon himself to drive out the commercial enterprises from the temple grounds. Jesus desired his Father’s house to be clean - to be free from the abuses of normal human commerce so that the temple could be set apart for prayer.Similarly, Jesus and his disciples took it upon themselves to make the necessary preparations to follow the longstanding Jewish tradition of re-enacting the Passover meal. A room had to be arranged for. Food had to be bought. The table had to be set. Clean water and towels had to be procured for the pre-meal washing of feet. All of this was done in advance so that the holy moment of remembering God’s salvation for his people could be remembered.Today is the day that we get ready to remember what Jesus did on Maundy Thursday when he washed the feet of his disciples, even Judas, and fed them with what we now call, “The Last Supper.”Activity: Today you are going to prepare your house as well. Turn on some music and clean together. Parent - ahead of time hide a number of rocks around the house for the children to find as they clean. This has two purposes. One, to make cleaning a bit more fun. And, two, you can add these rocks to your Holy Week display for use on Wednesday. As a family you can read about the Lord’s supper in Matthew 26:17-30. If you would like to dig deeper into the connection of Passover and the Lamb of God at Easter there is an example Passover meal in your activity packet. Purchasing and preparing the foods can connect to your day of cleaning and preparation.

Our senses have the power to transport us to another time and place when a connection is made to some part of our past. Hearing an old song can bring us back to a high school dance. Seeing an old familiar face can take us to the town where we grew up. Of all the senses, no other perception has this transportational potential than our sense of smell.When Jesus had an entire bottle of perfume wash over his head, he received not only a final anointing to signify that he was the chosen Son of God; Jesus also received a reminder that would last with him through the final days of his life through the power of smell. Imagine how long the scent would stay if an entire bottle of perfume were poured over your head! When Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, when he prayed in the garden, when he was denied and beaten, even when he hung on the cross - the reality that he was the Messiah, the Christ, the chosen one, would still ring true through Jesus’ sense of smell.Activity: Take your rock that has your praise on it and “anoint” it with either some scented oil or paint the rock with a clear coat of nail polish. As you do this take time to think of what “scents” you carry with you. Are the things that you carry with you a reminder that you are God’s?Are you, like Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 2:14&15, “to God the pleasing aroma of Christ”?

Gregg

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday at the beginning of Passover week, it must have been a little bit like our modern parades. People gathered at the roadside. Dads and Moms brought their kids to see the sights. There was music, noise, excitement - a huge hub bub! Surely some people came along just because everyone else was there.While modern parades are amplified by marching bands, revving engines and the sirens of fire trucks - the people themselves had to create all the noise in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago when Jesus came to town. The volume was turned up so loud for Jesus that the Pharisees (those well-behaved religious leaders who surely preferred lower volume settings) asked Jesus to tell everyone to dial the noise back. Jesus would have no such thing. The Palm Sunday parade was a day for praise and thanksgiving. Parades are for celebrating and remembering the people and events for which we are grateful.Jesus not only refused to quiet the people, he went of out of his way to let the Pharisees know that there would be no stopping his parade. Jesus said, “if the people keep quiet, then the very rocks would cry out!” On Palm Sunday, the people did their job and offered their songs, prayers and praise to the one who deserves them. The rest of the week, however, is another story....Activity: Gather a small collection of rocks. Perhaps you can go “hunting” for them in your yard, neighborhood, or at a nearby park or beach. Use a sharpie to write a cause for praise or thankfulness to God on some of the rocks. You can make a small “pile of praise” on the table where you eat, or on your kitchen counter to represent your thankful heart and the praises of the people on Palm Sunday.

Gregg

Gregg

Gregg

Gregg