Easter Sunday (Sunday, 20 April 2025)

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Easter Sunday

It is no overstatement to declare that today is the most important day in the Christian year, commemorating the most important day in human history. The Resurrection is the “Sine Qua Non” of the Christian faith, the “without which not,” meaning if you take away the Resurrection there is no reason for our faith. As the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians:

“If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”—1 Corinthians 15:13-14 (NIV)

But the message of today is that Christ has been raised. He is risen—he is risen indeed! Paul goes on to say:

“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”—1 Corinthians 15:20-22 (NIV)

Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, and because of that truth all will be made alive. That is what we celebrate today. The somberness of our Lenten journey gives way to a shout of victory, and the shadow of the cross gives way to the glorious light of Easter morn.

For today’s devotional we will be offering passages of Scripture followed by songs for worship and reflection. You’re invited to read each passage slowly and meditatively, paying attention to the movement of your soul. What moments in the story, or phrases from the different passages, resonate most with you? How would you have responded had you been there on that first Easter? How will you choose to respond today in prayer and gratitude?

You may wish to spread out these passages and songs through the day rather than reading and listening to them all at once. However you choose to spend time with God today, we pray this Scripture and music will encourage and bless you.

We begin at the garden early in the morning, as the women make their way to the tomb, leading us into a time of worship in response to what they discovered—the stone is rolled away! The tomb is empty!

He is risen! He is risen, indeed!

Scripture for Meditation:

“When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’

When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.

But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’”
—Mark 16:1-7 (NRSV)

Song: Is It All Over Now?

Just yesterday in our sorrow,
We tenderly buried the King like a beggar,
Now I despise His light in my eyes,
What has it all been for?
Where will I go?
And what will I do?
Is it all over now?
Why did He live?
And what did He die for?
Still I believe somehow

Last night, as I slept, thru the tears I had wept,
I remembered a curious promise.
What was it He said?
He would rise from the dead
What a desolate hope to cling to.
Where will I go?
And what will I do?
Is it all over now?
Why did He live?
And what did He die for?
Still I believe somehow, somehow

Early this morning, before the sun's dawning,
We came to take care of the body
Trembling with fear, our hope became clear,
As we looked in the empty tomb
How could it be?
And what does it mean?
We'd seen His body so lifeless
Now it is gone
My hope can live on
Jesus is really risen, He's risen

Michael Card
© 2012 Mole End Music

Scripture for Meditation:

So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
—Matthew 28:8-10 (NRSV)

Song: Jesus Christ is Risen Today

Jesus Christ is ris'n today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once, upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss, Alleluia!

Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heav'nly King, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save, Alleluia!

But the pains which He endured, Alleluia!
Our salvation have procured; Alleluia!
Now above the sky He's King, Alleluia!
Where the angels ever sing: Alleluia!

Sing we to our God above, Alleluia!
Praise eternal as His love, Alleluia!
Praise Him, all you heavenly host, Alleluia!
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Alleluia!

Samuel Arnold
© Words: Public Domain; Music: Public Domain

Scripture for Meditation:

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
—John 20:19-23

Song: Crown Him With Many Crowns

Crown Him with many crowns
The Lamb upon His Throne
Hark how heavenly anthem drowns
All music but its own
Awake my soul and sing
Of Him Who died for thee
And hail Him as thy matchless King
Thru all eternity

Crown Him the Lord of Love
Behold His Hands and Side
Rich wounds yet visible above in beauty glorified
No angel in the sky
Can fully bear that sight
But downward bends His burning Eye
At mysteries so bright

Crown Him the Lord of Life
Who triumphed o'er the grave
Who rose victorious in the strife
For those He came to save
His Glories now we sing
Who died and rose on high
Who died eternal life to bring
And lives that death may die

Crown Him the Lord of Years
The Potentate of time
Creator of the rolling spheres
Ineffably Sublime
All hail Redeemer hail
For Thou hast died for me
Thy praise shall never never fail
Through all eternity

Fernando Ortega | Godfrey Thring | Matthew Bridges
© Words: Public Domain; Music: 2006 Cerdo Verde Music; Curb Songs

Scripture for Meditation:

What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
—1 Corinthians 15:50-57 (NRSV)

Song: I Will Rise

There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say it is well

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow no more pain
I will rise on eagle's wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow no more pain
I will rise on eagle's wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing
Worthy is the Lamb
And I hear the cry of ev'ry longing heart
Worthy is the Lamb

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow no more pain
I will rise on eagle's wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise I will rise

Chris Tomlin | Jesse Reeves | Louie Giglio | Matt Maher
© 2008 Rising Springs Music; Vamos Publishing; worshiptogether.com songs; spiritandsong.com; Thankyou Music

Fortieth Day of Lent (Saturday, April 19, 2025)

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Holy Saturday

As this is the weekend of Holy Week, we step out of our practice of offering an instrumental reflection on Saturday to instead offer a song that is very appropriate for today, a song that’s become a Holy Saturday tradition for this devotional.

Words of Reflection

Today is the final day of Lent.

It is called a number of different things in various church traditions:

Holy Saturday
Great and Holy Saturday
The Great Sabbath
Hallelujah Saturday
Saturday of the Gloria
Black Saturday
Joyous Saturday
The Saturday of Light

That’s quite a range, if you think about it. What intrigues me is that, apart from “Black Saturday,” all of these titles for today have a fairly positive connotation: it’s holy, great, joyous, filled with light and hallelujahs.

I’m not usually one to argue with centuries of church tradition, but that is not what the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter brings to mind for me. Every year on this day my mind wanders back to a group of friends and disciples, scattered and frightened, wondering what had just happened. The one in whom they trusted, the one they looked to as “rabbi,” the one they saw as the long-awaited Christ of God, lay dead in a tomb. Looking back, we can be tempted to shake our heads and wonder at their cluelessness. Didn’t Jesus tell them he’d be raised? Didn’t he assure them, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me” (John 16:16) in a clear promise of his resurrection? What’s their deal?

Their deal is…they’re human.

We can’t begin to imagine the shock and grief that swept over their souls as they processed what had just taken place. One of their own betrayed Jesus. Their friend and teacher was falsely accused, brutally tortured, and subjected to the most painful and humiliating death possible. Even a brief moment of hope for release was dashed when the crowd chose Barabbas over Jesus. Add to that the fear that they themselves could be next. We can’t enter into that depth of emotion 2,000 years later.

We don’t know what the disciples did on Saturday. It was the Sabbath, after all, so they probably did very little. But I can’t help but imagine…did any of them brave going outside in their grief, perhaps taking a walk to view the tomb? Probably not, given the fact that the tomb was guarded, but I know it would have been a temptation had I been there. In my grief, pain, and disappointment, I would want to go and just sit near the tomb while I poured out my anger and frustration to God. I would have so many questions:

How could you let this happen?
Was it all a lie?
What am I supposed to do now?
Where were you?
Where are you?

As I picture that garden tomb on Saturday, my heart and soul are filled with the reality that on that particular day the answers would not be found. On that day the questions would most likely be met by a resounding silence. Yes, on the next day it would be broken, but for now…it is silence.

We may not be able to enter into the hearts and minds of the disciples on that day, but we do know that silence. Any Christian who says they have not at one time or another wrestled with the sense that God is silent is not being completely honest with themselves. We all have seasons where the questions echo in what seems to be empty space. It’s not empty, but in that moment it most decidedly seems so.

The mystery of God’s silence is a good one to sit with on this day. As we sit with that mystery, we can identify with Christ’s disciples, if only in a small way. And we can pray for all those who are sitting with that silence in a very real way right now. If it were up to me, this day would be called “Silent Saturday,” which in itself is an invitation.

Tomorrow that silence will give way to a resounding “Hallelujah,” but for today…let’s remember that this, too, is holy ground.

Scripture for Meditation:

“How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.”
—Psalm 13 (NIV)

Song: The Silence of God

It's enough to drive a man crazy; it'll break a man's faith
It's enough to make him wonder if he's ever been sane
When he's bleating for comfort from Thy staff and Thy rod
And the heaven's only answer is the silence of God

It'll shake a man's timbers when he loses his heart
When he has to remember what broke him apart
This yoke may be easy, but this burden is not
When the crying fields are frozen by the silence of God

But when you have to listen to the voices of the mob
Who are reeling in the throes of all the happiness they've got
When they tell you all their troubles have been nailed up to that cross
Then what about the times when even followers get lost?
'Cause we all get lost sometimes...

There's a statue of Jesus on a monastery knoll
In the hills of Kentucky, all quiet and cold
He's kneeling in the garden, as silent as a stone
And all His friends are sleeping and He's weeping all alone

And the man of all sorrows, he never forgot
What sorrow is carried by the hearts that he bought
So when the questions dissolve into the silence of God
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
In the holy, lonesome echo of the silence of God

Andrew Peterson
© 2003 New Spring

Questions for Reflection

How do you think you would have spent that Saturday so long ago if you were one of Jesus’ followers? What emotions would sit at the forefront of your soul? How does imagining their experience help us prepare for our Easter celebration?

Have you had seasons of your life when God has seemed silent? Offer to God your own “Silent Saturdays” and your willingness to sit in that mystery.

Spend some time prayerfully considering this quote from Oswald Chambers:

“When you cannot hear God, you will find that He has trusted you in the most intimate way possible— with absolute silence, not a silence of despair, but one of pleasure, because He saw that you could withstand an even bigger revelation. If God has given you a silence, then praise Him— He is bringing you into the mainstream of His purposes.”—Oswald Chamber, My Utmost for His Highest (Oct. 11)

Thirty-Ninth Day of Lent (Friday, April 18, 2025)

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Good Friday

What words are sufficient for this day? What can possibly be said in response to the cross of Christ? Preachers have proclaimed its power, theologians have debated its meaning, artists have represented its mystery, and disciples have abided in its sufficiency for almost 2000 years, and yet we have only scratched the surface of everything the cross represents.

We do not undertake a Lenten journey in order to study, even though study can be part of our journey. We make our way through these 40 days so that we might enter into the truth and reality of what God has done for us. We walk with Jesus in order to know him better, and to better know the depth of his sacrifice for us. A Lenten journey is experiential. It is surrendering ourselves to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, inviting him to impart deeper and deeper levels of understanding of what took place at Calvary.

And now we have arrived. We have come to the darkest day in humanity’s history, as the Son of God willingly offers himself up to death on our behalf.

What can we say?

One thing we can offer is a request: “Lord, let me not avert my eyes,” for the temptation to do that is strong. We don’t want to watch. It’s too much. If we want to finish our Lenten journey in a way that honors every other step we’ve taken with Jesus along the path to Jerusalem, we need to take the final step and confront the cruelty, the pain, the suffering, and ultimately the majesty of the cross. It is God’s greatest declaration of love, and we stand in awe.

Or as the spiritual puts it, “Sometimes it causes me to tremble.”

As well it should. And so the invitation today is to embrace the trembling reality of the cross, for only there can we begin to grasp the breathtaking reality of God’s love. We may not have been there, but we can still linger there as we mark this holiest of days.

Scripture for Meditation:

“Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
—Philippians 2:6-8 (NIV)

Song: Were You There?

Were you there when they crucified my Lord
Were you there when they crucified my Lord
O sometimes it causes me to tremble tremble tremble
Were you there when they crucified my Lord

Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree
Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree
O sometimes it causes me to tremble tremble tremble
Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree

Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb
O sometimes it causes me to tremble tremble tremble
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb

Frederick J. Work | John W. Work Jr.
© Words: Public Domain; Music: Public Domain

Praying at the Foot of the Cross:

For our reflection today, you are invited to enter into a spiritual discipline called “Praying With Imagination.” It is an ancient practice that invites us into a Scripture text in a way that engages our whole being: soul, mind, and spirit. It is a powerful reminder that the word of God is “living and active” (Heb. 4:12), as we prayerfully imagine that we are right in the midst of it.

In the novel Sensible Shoes, retreat leader Katherine Rhodes gives very simple instructions for praying with imagination:

—Listen to the story.
—Imagine you are there.
—What do you see? Hear? Feel?
—Where are you in the story?
—Then talk to God about whatever you notice.

Begin by asking the Holy Spirit to let this story from the Scriptures come alive for you in a new way. Then read the story out loud, slowly, perhaps a couple of times. After reading it, sit with the questions, and finish by talking to God about what you notice. You might want to consider having a journal handy to record your reflections and reactions. After the text below you will find a closing prayer for Good Friday.

Our text is the Good Friday story from the gospel of Luke 23:33-49:

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

The Death of Jesus

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

A Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, you carried our sins in your own body on the tree,
You came so that we might have life.
May we and all who remember this day find new life in you,
Now and in the world to come,
Where you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Thirty-Eighth Day of Lent (Thursday, April 17, 2025)

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Maundy Thursday

It is the night before Jesus’ death. A time for one final meal, one last celebration of the Passover with his closest friends. As he serves the meal, Jesus gives it new meaning that has been central to Christian worship ever since:

“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’

Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”—Matthew 26:26-29 (NIV)

Jesus knows this is the last time he will sit at this table with his disciples. Even though there is a promise of a new table in a new kingdom one day, it does not diminish the sadness of this moment, a sadness that will reach further depths in what happens next.

After the meal, Jesus and his disciples make their way to Gethsemane, a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives. He takes Peter, James, and John with him to a secluded place in the garden and makes clear what is on his heart in this moment:

“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”—Matthew 26:38 (NIV)

It is a difficult thing to imagine, the Son of God being sorrowful “to the point of death.” But Jesus is fully human, and as much as he knows the importance of what is about to happen, as much as he knows that it will not end with his death…the enormity of it all seems too much to bear. And what is it that he asks in this heartrending moment?

He asks his friends to stay with him and keep watch with him while he prays.

Much has been made through the centuries of the failure of Peter, James, and John to stay awake and do what Jesus has asked. It is incredibly sad that Jesus has to face that night alone, and I can only assume that the disciples (as usual) simply don’t understand the significance of what is taking place.

But we do. And knowing the significance of what the next few days mean, perhaps the best way to mark this Holy Thursday is to simply sit with Jesus and pray.

Stay with me here
Stay with me
And keep watch with me

Scripture for Meditation:

“And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want but what you want.’ Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again he went away for the second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’”
—Matthew 26:39-42 (NRSV)

Song: Stay With Me Here

My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow
My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow
To the point of death
My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow
Stay with me here
Stay with me here
Stay with me
And keep watch with me
Stay with me here
And keep watch with me

Fernando Ortega
℗ 2017 Fernando Ortega

Questions for Reflection

How will you keep watch with Jesus today? As you sit with him, what images or words from Jesus’ last night before his death resonate most with you? How does that lead you into prayer?

Read and contemplate this quote from author and speaker Kathy Howard. Who does it bring to mind? Spend some time in prayer for them as they sit in their own Gethsemane.

“As I think about His solitude in that garden, I am reminded to pray for all of those who are sitting up in their own Garden of Gethsemane tonight. I think of anxious hearts that feel all alone while the rest of the world is sleeping away…Tonight, as I reread the final earthly prayer of Jesus, my soul needs to keep watch, as if to give to Him this small gesture of love.”—Kathy Howard

Sitting with Jesus is often a time of silent waiting. Spend some time in silent prayer as you allow God to prepare your heart for what the next few days hold.

Thirty-Seventh Day of Lent (Wednesday, April 16, 2025)

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Wednesday of Holy Week

Tomorrow the journey to the cross takes a crucial turn. Events are set in motion on Thursday of Holy Week that lead quickly to Christ’s arrest, torture, and execution. Each of the coming days has a specific event or theme that will guide us in our devotional journey, and if we’re honest they will take us to places that are sad and difficult. We know where the story lands come Sunday morning, but the journey to that day is not an easy one.

From the very beginning of this Lenten journey it has been our prayer that you have been keenly aware of the passionate, pursuing love of God that sits at the heart of what this week is all about. It is love that brought Jesus to earth, and it is love that now brings him to the cross.

How can we begin to even imagine so great a love? What words can we use to describe it? Our vocabulary isn’t extensive enough to capture it in its completeness. Paul himself acknowledged this, saying that the love of Jesus “surpasses knowledge” (Eph. 3:19).

In the original Hebrew of the Old Testament there is a word for “love” that is difficult to capture fully in our English translations. The word is hesed, and it is translated many different ways in the Hebrew Scriptures, some of which include:

  • Steadfast love

  • Unfailing love

  • Lovingkindness

  • Great mercy

  • Goodness

Musician and author Michael Card says this of the word hesed:

“Let’s let go of the illusion that hesed can be reduced to one English ‘literal’ word and instead see it as a key that can open a door into an entire world—the world of God’s own heart, the world of loving”

-Michael Card, Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God's Lovingkindness

Perhaps it’s a good thing that there is a Biblical word for “love” that defies translation, because the divine love reflected in the Scripture defies explanation. We need to be reminded that God’s love can’t be pared down to a sound bite or a slogan. Remembering the depth of God’s love is a discipline that requires us to go deep—to a place beyond words, into the very heart of God himself.

As we prepare for what the next few days hold, let’s spend some time meditating on the amazing, inexpressible love of God.

Scripture for Meditation:

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
—Ephesians 3:14-19 (NRSV)

Song: Steadfast Love (Psalm 63) (lyrics here)

Questions for Reflection

What words that have been used to describe the love of God speak to your heart? What is it about those words that you find so meaningful?

Steadfast…faithful…merciful…kindness…goodness…five words we glean from “hesed” to describe God’s love. Spend some time praying with those words and ask God to show you in a new way how they reflect his heart for you.

What does it mean for you to be “rooted” and “grounded’ in love? Spend some time in prayer asking God to build that foundation of his love into your life in new and deeper ways.

Bonus Songs

Here are some additional songs that speak about the love of God. Just as one word can’t fully describe it, neither can one song fully capture it. Use these songs to help guide you into a deeper understanding and experience of his love. Each video has lyrics on screen.

Thirty-Sixth Day of Lent (Tuesday, April 15, 2025)

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Tuesday of Holy Week

Tradition tells us that the Olivet Discourse, a teaching by Jesus found in Matthew 24 and 25, was preached on the Tuesday of Holy Week from the Mount of Olives, found just east of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It is not an easy teaching by any means, which is consistent with the mood of the week. Jesus has already spent time in Jerusalem sharing lessons and parables about the kingdom while enduring the schemes and traps of the religious leaders, who want to trip him up and create an excuse to have him arrested. Jesus cleverly evades their theological machinations and turns the tables on them, confronting those entrusted to care for Israel with their own hypocrisy, wickedness, and spiritual blindness. After one such encounter, Jesus leaves the temple grounds with his disciples and remarks that the temple itself will one day be razed to the ground. After they arrive at the Mount of Olives, his disciples ask him, “When? When will these things happen? What signs should we be looking for?

Jesus’ answer to their question becomes the Olivet Discourse.

The picture of the end times that Jesus paints in Matthew 24 and 25 is one that has been debated by theologians time and again, and will be until the words in those passages come to pass. It isn’t fruitful, especially during Holy Week, to get too distracted by the desire to “figure it out.” What is helpful is to draw from it some simple, yet important, spiritual truths and principles:

  1. Jesus will return.

  2. Nobody knows when Jesus will return except God himself.

  3. The days leading up to his return will be fraught with chaos, in both the spiritual and natural realms.

  4. His return will bring a revelation of each person’s soul.

  5. The people of God, while they wait for his return, should be wise and expectant.

Jesus thought it important to share this teaching with his disciples in the days leading up to his crucifixion, so it makes sense for us to ponder it as well as we journey through Holy Week. But in a world that is already filled with so much chaos and confusion, perhaps it’s not wise to dwell too much on the specifics. Maybe it’s enough to be reminded that God has a plan, and that history is heading someplace.

Maybe what we need most of all is a reminder that when all is said and done, we will be where we are supposed to be. We will be with the One who has created us, loved us, redeemed us, and sustained us.

When all is said and done, we will be home.

Scripture for Meditation:

“So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.”
—Colossians 3:1-4 (NRSV)

Song: I Will Bring You Home (lyrics here)

Questions for Reflection

How does contemplating the return of Christ impact your reflections during Holy Week? Spend some time sitting with the wonder of his return, knowing that God is unfolding his plan for history and for your life.

Jesus says of his return, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matt. 24:36, NIV) If we are not meant to know, why do you think so many followers of Jesus become so concerned with figuring it out? How comfortable are you living with the mystery?

Michael Card’s song says that while we wait for God to rescue us from this “fearful, fallen place” he will be our home. What does it mean for you to make your home in God while you wait for the home he is preparing for all his children?

Thirty-Fifth Day of Lent (Monday, April 14, 2025)

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Monday of Holy Week

The excitement of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem has subsided. The religious leaders are on alert, having been greatly concerned by the crowd’s fervor in welcoming Jesus to the city. The events that will lead to Friday have started to unfold.

You can almost imagine the disciples, aware of mounting tension and danger in the city, quietly hoping Jesus will keep to himself and not cause too much of a stir. That’s not what happens, not by a long shot, as all three Synoptic gospels go on to tell:

“On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, ‘Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’

The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.”—Mark 11:15-19 (NIV)

The people coming to Jerusalem for the Passover need animals for the sacrifice, and out of that need it seems the merchants and money changers see an opportunity for profit, even here at the temple. It seems the laws of supply and demand have overshadowed the Law of God. What’s worse is that their tables of exchange and sale are set up in the Court of the Gentiles, a large space set aside for worship that is the only place in the temple where non-Jews are allowed. The Gentile converts to Judaism would have found no place to worship or pray in all of the chaos.

Jesus is rightfully upset, and it shows. He throws the money changers out, blocks their way, and begins to teach the crowd, who stand amazed at what he says. And the religious leaders take note. They perceive a threat.

Jesus is a threat. That’s not a word we necessarily want to associate with Jesus, but it’s an accurate one. In Jerusalem that first Holy Week Jesus is a threat to entrenched systems of religious abuse and hypocrisy. And as the week plays out, he will show himself to be a threat to the entrenched powers of sin and death, which will tremble and fall in defeat as he fulfills God’s plan of salvation.

To anything that sets itself up against God, Jesus will always be a threat, especially when those things are found in the very places that should be set apart for worship. He still moves through temples, and he still overturns those practices and idols that do not belong there. The temples he cleanses today can be churches, but they are also the hearts of those who desire to follow him. Especially during Lent, we invite Jesus into our hearts and lives and give him permission to do what he did that day in the temple. We invite him to cleanse us of anything that is not of him. And like that day so long ago, his motivation is zeal. It is his fervent desire to see us free of those things that have become entrenched in our lives, the things that keep us back from being the people we were created to be.

As we find ourselves closer each day to the cross of Calvary, and as our Lenten journey draws to a close, let us not forget the call that set us on this path so many weeks ago: the call to self-examination, confession, and repentance. He stands at the entrance to the temple of our hearts.

Let’s invite him in to do his cleansing work.

Scripture for Meditation:

“Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
—Hebrews 4:14-16 (NRSV)

Song: Give Us Clean Hands (lyrics here)

Questions for Reflection

How do you respond to the idea that Jesus is a “threat” to the things in our lives that are not of God? What would it look like for you to accept him in that way, while always remembering his motivation is love?

When you ponder the song lyrics, “Let us not lift our souls to another,” what is that “other” in your life? What desires, forces, habits, or entities can often replace God in your life as an object or worship?

Here is the text of an ancient prayer of confession. Offer it to God, substituting “I” for “we,” and watch for the movement of your soul as you pray. Is there any part of this prayer that signals something in your life that needs attention, maybe even needs to be overturned?

Merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart and mind and strength; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. In your mercy, forgive what we have been, help us amend what we are, and direct what we shall be, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Amen.

Palm Sunday (Sunday, 13 April 2025)

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Sundays of Hope and Joy

During Holy Week we often face a temptation to “fast forward.” We normally talk about that in relation to the time between Good Friday and Easter, but there is another temptation to jump ahead that we face: moving too quickly from Palm Sunday to Good Friday.

This is our last “mini-Easter” before the real thing. And as we’ve learned on our Lenten journey, these are days of celebration. We may not embrace the Easter imagery in all of its fullness, but on these Sundays we remind ourselves that what is taking place is something amazing, wonderful, and worthy of praise. We remind ourselves that the cross we are journeying towards is not the place where the story ends. On these days we let our rejoicing be loud and real.

In that respect, the crowd welcoming Jesus into the city had it right. They may not have understood the real reason the Messiah had come, but they certainly recognized that the Messiah was in their midst. Their shouts confirm this:

“The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

‘Hosanna!’

‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’

‘Blessed is the king of Israel!’”—John 12:12-13 (NIV)

These are purposeful words. The shouts of Hosanna literally mean, “Save!” The imagery of palm branches is often linked to Messianic victory, and Jesus is referred to as “King" (and is even linked to King David in Mark’s account), all of which point to the crowd’s clear understanding that something historical is taking place. The Messiah has come to Jerusalem. The promised deliverance is about to be made real in their midst. Even if they don’t see clearly how it will take place, they at least see it.

And they celebrate.

The coming days are not for the faint of heart. They weren’t 2,000 years ago. They aren’t now. They are filled with anger, grief, injustice, false accusations, torture, and death. And we do well to meditate on them before we proclaim the fullness of the empty tomb.

But as we enter into this week, we also do well to celebrate what God is doing. So let’s welcome Jesus into our midst anew. Let’s throw the doors open wide and let the music play. On this mini-Easter, let songs of hope and joy lift our spirits, even as we know what the coming days hold. Because what they ultimately hold is our deliverance. The darkness is trembling, sin and death are facing their defeat, and the injustices that have defined humanity’s existence since the garden are about to meet their match.

We can celebrate that today.

Scripture for Meditation:

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy;
for in plain sight they see the return of the Lord to Zion.

Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem;
for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.

The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
—Isaiah 52:7-10 (NRSV)

Song: Here for You (lyrics here)

Questions for Contemplation:

Today we simply focus our time of contemplation on our celebration of this day:

-How will you celebrate today?
-What will you do today to rejoice at the coming of the Messiah?
-How will you shout “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” on this Palm Sunday?
-What makes you thankful and overflowing with praise at the arrival of Jesus?

Here are some additional celebration songs to help you enter into the joy of this important day:

Here’s a song that was written for Christmas, but pay attention to the lyrics and how they speak to our Lenten journey and especially Palm Sunday:

Thirty-Fourth Day of Lent (Saturday, 12 April 2025)

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Saturday Reflections

When we consider the wounds of Jesus we focus on the nails that pierced his hands and feet, as well as the sword that pierced his side. But there is another wound mentioned in the gospel accounts which has captured the hearts and minds of theologians and artists alike through the years:

“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ They spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.”—-Matthew 27:27-31 (NRSV)

The crown of thorns is a powerful symbol of the week into which we are about to enter. It was given as a symbol of mockery, but it is also a symbol of truth: Jesus is King. And now this King willingly lays down his life for his subjects. There is, indeed, no greater love.

The familiar Lenten hymn, “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” has uncertain origins. It has been dated by scholars to somewhere between the 11th and the 14th century. Many of those who believe the earlier dating attribute it to Bernard of Clairvaux, a Benedictine monk who served as Abbot of Clairvaux Abbey from 1115-1128 A.D., and who was known for his rich understanding of theology, poetry, and music.

“O Sacred Head Now Wounded” is part of a much larger work known as Salve Mundi Salutare (“Hail the World’s Salvation”), a poem about Christ’s suffering on Good Friday. The poem itself is divided into seven sections, each addressing a different part of Jesus’ body: his feet, knees, hands, side, breast, heart, and his head.

As you spend some time with the haunting melody of this hymn and the penetrating words, here is just a stanza of that larger poem to begin your journey of contemplation for today. May it draw you near to Jesus the Crucified King as you prepare to begin the journey of Holy Week.

O force me, best Beloved, to draw to Thee,
Transfixed and bleeding on the shameful Tree,
Despised and stretched in dying agony!
All my desire, O Lord, is fixed on Thee;
O call me, then, and I will follow Thee.

I have no other love, dear Lord, but Thee;
Thou art my first and last; I cling to Thee.
It is no labor, Lord; love sets me free;
Then heal me, cleanse me, let me rest on Thee,
For love is life, and life is love--in Thee.

Scripture for Meditation:

“I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one;
He has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.”
—Psalm 22:22-24 (NIV)

Song: O Sacred Head Now Wounded (lyrics after video)

Lyrics for Reflection

Read through the lyrics of this hymn slowly and prayerfully. Read them more than once, and pay attention to the movement of your soul as you pray. What words or phrases grab your attention? Why? As you finish, sit in prayerful silence before God and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you something of your need and God’s provision that emerges from these words.

O sacred Head now wounded
With grief and shame weighed down
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns Thine only crown
How pale Thou art with anguish
With sore abuse and scorn
How does that visage lanquish
Which once was bright as morn

What Thou my Lord has suffered
Was all for sinners' gain
Mine mine was the transgression
But Thine the deadly pain
Lo here I fall my Savior
'Tis I deserve Thy place
Look on me with Thy favor
Vouchsafe to me Thy grace

What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee dearest Friend
For this Thy dying sorrow
Thy pity without end
O make me Thine forever
And should I fainting be
Lord let me never never
Outlive my love to Thee

Bernard of Clairvaux | Hans Leo Hassler | James Waddell Alexander | Paulus Gerhardt
© Words: Public Domain; Music: Public Domain

Thirty-Third Day of Lent (Friday, April 11, 2025)

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Words of Reflection

There’s a particular feeling that comes over us when we feel a conversation slipping away, when the subject matter takes a turn into things out of our realm of knowledge and understanding. It can sometimes feel as though the other participants are speaking a different language. When that happens, and the others eventually turn to us expecting input of some kind, there’s a common response we can sometimes lean on:

“I’ve got nothing.”

It’s a humbling feeling, one that assaults our human desire to be in-the-know and in control. We don’t like to admit when we’ve reached the end of our usefulness, when we literally have nothing of value to add to a situation. It’s dispiriting. It’s difficult. It’s diminishing. At least it is as far as this world is concerned.

In a spiritual sense, though, being brought to the end of ourselves is a good thing. When Jesus says, “Take up your cross,” he is not saying, “Show me what you’ve got. Impress me.” No, he’s saying the opposite: “Abandon yourself to me. Stop relying on your own strength. Lay down all of your claims to self-sufficiency and embrace the life I came to give.” He made that clear when he went on to say:

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.”—Mark 8:35 (NIV)

We are, in the words of the old hymn, “children of weakness.” But that is not a bad thing. When we acknowledge our weakness, we open ourselves to his strength. The works of the flesh will ultimately fail and be exposed for their emptiness and folly, but when we lay down our lives at the foot of the cross and put to death any confidence we have in our own strength and cleverness, God is able to work in us and through us in ways we can’t even begin to imagine.

Nowhere is the bankruptcy of the flesh made more evident than at the cross of Christ. We come to the cross acknowledging that “all our righteousness is as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6, MEV), and we are brought to our knees with the realization that the righteous one has taken all that upon himself. What can we say in response to this? Three words come to mind:

“I’ve got nothing.”

The cross humbles and silences us. May God be thanked and praised for that.

Scripture for Meditation:

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
—2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)

Song: Jesus Paid it All (lyrics here)

Questions for Reflection

Do you find it easy or difficult to embrace the words, “It’s not about me?” What might you holding onto that needs to be brought to death, so that the life of Jesus might dwell in you more deeply?

What do you think it means that God’s power is “made perfect in weakness?” How does your heart respond to those words? How might God be asking you to embrace them more fully in your life?

Earlier in 2 Corinthians the Apostle Paul said this: “In ourselves we are not able to claim anything for ourselves. The power to do what we do comes from God.”—2 Corinthians 3:5 (NIrV). Spend some time reflecting on this truth and your response to these words. Pray that God would reveal even more of his power in your life to bear fruit for his glory.