Check out the Bible Project’s Luke 24 video. It celebrates Jesus’ resurrection and ties everything back to one of Luke’s main themes; the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is an upside down (but actually right side up) world view. And in order to receive the gospel of Jesus, our risen Lord, we must let go of the “normal” way of viewing ourselves and our world. And when we do, Jesus’ way of self-giving love begins to transform us to become more like him.
by Grace Tung
Today is called “Good Friday.” When I was younger I didn’t understand why it was called good when Jesus died. I thought it should be called “Bad Friday.” Over the years, I’ve grown in my understanding of the gospel. I’ve also grown in my understanding of goodness, and the paradox of true good coming from bad.
I was blessed by this video earlier this week, and wanted to share it with all of you as we consider the cross of Jesus Christ.
I’m praying for each of us to experience the love and goodness of God through Good Friday Service today, and through the promise of Easter to come.
I know I’m getting a little ahead of myself, since we haven’t had Good Friday yet, but wanted to help you get musically prepared for Resurrection Sunday. Here is our Easter Mix -- that’s what we used to call playlists in the pre-streaming days.
Looking forward to celebrating our risen Christ together. See you all on Easter!
This artwork is one of many from my friend Grace Tung, from InterHigh.
When I was younger, I didn’t understand that this crowd crying out for Jesus to be crucified probably had many of the same people who gave Jesus a king’s welcome into Jerusalem earlier in the week on Palm Sunday.
I was challenged by this past Sunday’s Element MS message where I was asked to consider why I am following Jesus, and what my expectations of him are.
In John 19:15, from today’s DT chapters, the crowd cries out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!…We have no king but Caesar.”
I thought about how Caesar hasn’t been a great king to them. In fact he is the one oppressing their people and the source of their suffering, the very thing they wanted Jesus to save them from when they cried “Hosanna!”
I wondered if any of the people in the crowd actually thought about what they were shouting. Did they really mean it?
But then I saw how when it came down to it, the king they could see before them was less threatening than Jesus, the suffering, servant king they just could not understand. No matter how cruel a master chasing money, popularity, romance, or achievements is, it is something I can see, something I can understand, because it follows the ways of this world.
Reflecting upon the crowd’s response to Jesus, I was able to repent and reaffirm that Jesus is my one and only King, no matter what it might cost me now or in the future, because He paid the greatest price for my sin with his perfect, sinless life.
John 18:28-19:16 features Jesus’ conversations with Pilate. Even though we aren’t governors or officials with things like political power, authority or civil unrest to deal with, Pilate ends up being a character who is relatable.
Chris has some thoughts to share with us from today’s devotions:
Today we continue on in John 18:12-26. While Jesus is arrested and interrogated harshly, Peter remains outside. Although he had insisted to Jesus that he would follow him to the end no matter what, reality proves otherwise. Peter warms himself near a fire with others, and when different people ask him if he is one of Jesus’ followers, he denies Jesus, just as he had predicted.
Today we have a short video devotions from Kaitlyn, who focused on Jesus’ response to those who were interrogating and abusing him, while all of this was happening outside with Peter.
Our devotions this week are through the Passion accounts in the gospel of John. Today’s Bible passage is John 18:1-11, when Judas betrays Jesus. While Peter wants to put up a fight, we see Jesus does the exact opposite.
Our InterHigh ministry made special devotions, which feature artwork on the different characters, so you’ll find that beneath some thoughts from Rachel, one of the Element:
Today, I was hit with a new appreciation for Jesus. In v. 4, it says that “Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to him, went out and said to them, ‘Who is it that you’re seeking?’” and that He would “drink the cup the Father has given [him]” (v. 11). This cup would be the suffering of the cross He would take for us. Jesus knew how hard the coming days would be, being abandoned by his friends and experiencing so much pain, but He still decided to obey God. When God asks me to do something like love someone who ignores me or forgive someone who hurt me, I often have excuses like, "I don't want to" or "that's too hard." But Jesus didn't make those kinds of excuses, even though what He went through so much harder than anything God has ever asked me to do. Hebrews 12:4 says, "In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” I haven't struggled to the point where I started bleeding, like Jesus did. I know Jesus went through the same emotions and still chose to obey God, and I am challenged by His example, and thankful for his costly sacrifice.
Yesterday was Palm Sunday, which kicks of Passion Week. So this week’s playlist features songs that can help you focus on the last week of Jesus’ life. You won’t be surprised to find many of the songs are about the cross. Hope that some of these songs can help you connect with Jesus more personally throughout this week!
The first few songs on the playlist are ones we are singing for praise during this Good Friday & Easter, so you can get familiar with them, too.
As we announced at church today, this year we are doing Passion Experience, Good Friday, and Easter Service all online due to Covid-19.
Additionally, we encourage everyone to spend time considering the last week of Jesus’ life on earth, and his road to the cross on Good Friday.
We created a tab at the top called Passion Week Resources. There you can find some of the Bible Project videos we curated, and there’s another tab with some impactful videos that you can watch.
Feel free to check out some of the other resources below as well. Unfortunately, we cannot post actual excerpts online, so I’ve mostly posted links to videos that are available. Some of them are emotionally impactful and moving, and others are more intellectually satisfying. I’ve also included some book recommendations for those of you who are motivated!
I recommend spreading out these videos rather than watching them all in one go! You can pick one and then spend some time responding through journaling, thinking, praying, and maybe listening to some music or singing.
Videos from The Bible Project:
There’s the Bible Project Videos page of the videos we curated for Passion Week!
Powerful Videos from Passion:
You can check the Videos for Reflection page for these moving poem/spoken word videos set to music.
Videos from Dare2Share & Impact 360:
Check out the More Resources page.
Recommended Books:
The Case for Christ: Student Edition by Lee Strobel
The Case for Grace: Student Edition by Lee Strobel
Lastly, I know I’ve been telling a lot of you about the series “The Chosen.” If you haven’t watched them yet, all of the episodes are available on YouTube when they were livestreamed! I highly, highly recommend the series. I am not kidding when I say that the series has been devotional for me, and I have grown in my love for Jesus through this series!
You can leave recommendations below of any that you like…
On Fridays we want to feature posts about some of the fun stuff we all are doing while at home! As we either WFH (work from home) or SFH (school from home), it’s important to keep *engaging our minds*. It’s a great opportunity for what we in education call “Self-Directed Learning.” You can use your more flexible schedule to find your “Passion Project,” or in this case, learn a cool new trick. Or is it fighting against the Dark Arts? You be the judge…
What are some things you’ve been trying at home? Leave a comment below, and maybe you can inspire others, just like our friend from Seattle above! :)
