Promise for Today - What to Do On a Saturday

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.

Revelation 1:17-18 NLT

He was dead. They all saw it - watched in horror as it happened. Beaten beyond recognition, whipped within an inch of his life, bloodied and stripped. Then nailed to a cross and crucified... where His life's blood and water flowed out from His pierced side. He said Himself, "It is finished..."

When we say, "It is finished." We mean it's done. It's over. There's nothing else to do with it or for it. It's ended. There's nothing left. The good news is His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. When Jesus said, "It is finished." It meant only that the Master Plan for His time on Earth that time was completed. It wasn't over. It was just the beginning.

He descended into hell and fought the enemy and He won. Jesus now holds the keys to death and the grave. That's what He was doing the Saturday of what we call Holy Week.

Prayer:

Father,
           Thank You for sending Your Son as the propitiation for our sins. Thank You that we have been redeemed and set free by His Blood shed at Calvary. Thank You that we are overcomers by the Blood of the Lamb (Jesus) and the word of our testimony! Give us courage and opportunity to testify! In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

2026 Lenten Season - Day 40 - Empty

We finish the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals.
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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The empty tomb stands as your guarantee of help today and gives you hope for what is to come.

Life in this fallen world is hard. It can be hope-defeating and discouraging. Sometimes it looks as if the good guys are losing and the bad guys are winning. Unexpected visitors enter your door, bringing the pain of various kinds of loss with them. Things you thought you could depend on fail you, and the promises of people you thought you could trust fail you. Our lives right here, right now, are a mix of joys and sorrows. It’s frustrating how complicated things can be. Grief is an all-too-frequent visitor, and anger often bubbles up inside us.

The Bible gives us three reasons for the hardships of life that we all experience, whether in momentary frustrations or in prolonged seasons of pain and loss.

1. The World
The Bible has much to say about the world we all live in, but it warns us that the place that is our present address is dramatically broken and not functioning as the Creator intended. In Romans 8, Paul says our world is “groaning” as it waits for redemption (Romans 8:22). You groan when you’re in pain, you groan when you’re frustrated, you groan when you’re discouraged. Everything around us is not as it was meant to be. The world around you is like a car you need to get from point A to point B, but it has mechanical difficulties. It doesn’t do well what it was created to do, so you have to face the daily frustration of wondering what will happen next. Each trip you take is marked with a bit of worry, and often your trips are interrupted by yet another mechanical failure. Such is the world we live in.

2. The Flesh
When the Bible talks about the flesh, it’s not talking about our physical bodies but rather our fallen nature, that is, our struggle with sin. Yes, we have been forgiven. Because of what Christ has done, God views us as righteous, and sin is no longer our master. It is vital to remember that the presence of sin within us still remains and is being progressively eradicated by sanctifying grace. Sin is in us and all around us. Marriage would be dramatically easier if every husband and wife were sin-free. The same would be true of friendship, parenting, the workplace, government, your neighborhood, the church, the world of entertainment, education, and the list could go on. Sin complicates everything in our lives. Many of our daily frustrations and disappointments are the result of the presence of sin in us and in the people around us.

3. The Devil
The apostle Paul ends his practical instructions in Ephesians 6 by reminding us that we live in the midst of a great spiritual war. Our struggle is not really with people, places, and things. No, what we wrestle with every day are principalities and powers, “cosmic powers over this present darkness... spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). There really is a great, dark, deceitful enemy who prowls around like a hungry lion, seeking to devour us. Life is hard because life is war. All the things that we do every day and all our relationships are made more difficult because they take place in the middle of a spiritual war. There is a tempter, a deceiver, who will mess with your faith, seeking to instill doubt of God’s goodness, faithfulness, and love in your heart. He doesn’t have the power to remove your salvation, but he is intent on messing up your journey.

Because of the world, the flesh, and the devil, it is wonderful that the work of Christ on Earth didn’t end on the cross but with the shocking glory of the empty tomb. The empty tomb of Jesus is your guarantee of help here and now and of help to come. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that the resurrection of Christ guarantees the present reign of Christ (see vv. 20–28.) What is the King doing right now? Paul says, “He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet” (1 Corinthians 15:25). The sin that causes us so much heartache will be defeated. The enemy, who sows so much turmoil in our lives, will be defeated. Death, which seems to be the inescapable reality of our lives, will be defeated. The risen, conquering King will defeat these enemies, and the empty tomb is his promise.

But there is more. Paul tells us that the resurrection of Christ is a “firstfruit” resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20). This is such an encouraging word picture. When that first apple appears on the tree, the first grape on the vine, or the first bean on the plant, it is a guarantee of a harvest of many more to come. The empty tomb of Jesus guarantees another resurrection. We will rise up on the last day and be transported to a new world, a world where all things have been made new. There will be no more sin, there will be no more broken world, and there will be no more death. All pain, frustration, discouragement, and suffering will forever end. And as risen and fully redeemed beings, we will live forever in peace and harmony with our risen Savior King.

The empty tomb of Jesus is your guarantee that what you live with today will not always be. Every enemy that troubles your life right here, right now, will be under the victorious feet of your risen Savior, Jesus. His empty tomb guarantees the completion of the work. He will not quit; he refuses to relent until that last enemy is under his feet. Then, and only then, will he usher in his final kingdom and invite us into a world where all things have been made new.

The journey of Jesus to the cross didn’t end with the cross, but with the victory of the empty tomb, and that’s a very good thing.

GOING DEEPER
Reflection Questions

1. How has what you’ve considered in this Lenten study informed or changed your perspective on the suffering and grief inherent in life on Earth?

2. How will considering Jesus’s sacrifice make the triumph of Easter different for you this year?

3. What implications does the victory of the empty tomb have for your life?

Read the end of the story in John 20:1–29, and relive the joy of the first Easter.

The Resurrection

1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— 9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home.

11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 

12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 

13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him.

15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
16 “Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.
19 That Sunday evening, the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 

20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

24 One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

26 Eight days later, the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 

27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

2026 Lenten Season - Day 39 - Unwilling

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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We have hope because Jesus was willing.

It is sad but unavoidably true: one of the marked characteristics of sin is unwillingness.
Sin causes us to be:
unwilling to forgive
unwilling to obey
unwilling to serve
unwilling to trust
unwilling to give
unwilling to make peace
unwilling to be gentle
unwilling to persevere
unwilling to suffer
unwilling to submit
unwilling to sacrifice
unwilling to surrender

And the list could go on and on. We are often unwilling because of the selfishness of sin. Our “me-ism” puts us in the center. It makes life all about us: our wants, our dreams, our needs, and our feelings. Our struggle with the self-ism of sin will not be fully defeated until the sin inside us is no more. So, we face a world of difficulty. A marriage can’t work if a husband and wife are unwilling to live in self-sacrificing, forgiving love. A parent-child relationship falls apart when the parent is unwilling to be patient and kind or the child is unwilling to honor and obey. Friendships don’t work when the friends are unwilling to give and to serve. The workplace is hard and inefficient if the employer is unwilling to love his workers as he loves himself. Unwillingness to be temperate with food and drink will destroy your health. When we begin to examine our daily lives, it becomes clear that so many of the problems we live with are the fruit of our collective unwillingness to live as our wise and loving Creator has designed us to live.

God, in his vast wisdom, knew that the only way to rescue us from our unwillingness and its bitter fruit was to send his Son to be willing to be what we would never choose to be, to do what we would be unwilling to do, and he would willingly die in our place. This is why the following stop on Christ’s journey to the cross is so striking, convicting, and hope-giving:

Luke 22:39– 46
[And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”]

This passage is a clear window into the willingness of Jesus. We find him in the garden of Gethsemane, facing what would crush any of us. Because he is God, he knows the redemptive plan. He knows he is facing injustice, torture, public ridicule, the cruelest death possible, and the rejection of his Father, all because he is going to load our sin onto his own shoulders and pay our penalty. In his humanity, he is quaking at the thought of it all, and he asks if there is any possibility that there is another way. Will you stop for a moment and imagine what would be going through your heart and mind if you knew you were facing such horror? 

You and I get upset at a flat tire, a sassy child, a mean boss, an unexpected bill, or a bad day. We go through a tough patch, and we begin to question the goodness of God.

But Jesus did not end his prayer by asking to be released from the sacrificial suffering awaiting him. Instead, he said to his Father, “Not my will, but yours, be done.” That final sentence of Jesus’s prayer in the garden gives hope to every sinner who has ever lived. Jesus did not think of himself first. He was not propelled by his own comfort. He did not protect his rights. He did not demand to be accepted and respected. He willingly forsook all the things that we think are our just due. He forsook those things willingly and without coercion. He was willing because he knew what was at stake, and he knew what the result of his self-sacrifice would be.

In that garden, there was angst and fear, but there was not a shred of selfishness or rebellion. Jesus knew what he had been appointed to do. He knew what the culmination of his earthly work would be. In his humanity, it was a fearful thing to consider, but he had a submissive, loving, and willing heart. This moment of willingness is a moment of hope for all of us, who, in our sin, have lives that are marked by unwillingness. Our hope in this life and the one to come is never to be found in our willingness to believe in and follow him, but in his willingness to endure suffering and death for us. His willingness unleashes the grace we need to be forgiven and to become more and more willing to lay down our lives for his kingdom and his glory.

GOING DEEPER
Reflection Questions

1. Think of your difficult or challenging relationships. Where has “unwillingness” of sin crept in? What could happen if you chose to be willing in those areas instead?

2. Imagine yourself in the garden watching Jesus pray—what are you thinking? Feeling? Wondering about?

3. What specific things was Jesus willing to do for you? List them out, meditate on them, and thank him!

Read Matthew 26:36–46, and praise Jesus for withstanding every temptation toward selfishness and his own comfort.

Matthew 26:36-46  New Living Translation
Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”
42 Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.
44 So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”

2026 Lenten Season - Day 38 - The Passover Lamb

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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Our hope is found in the fact that Jesus came to be the final Passover Lamb, not just a great teacher and a miracle healer.

Luke 22:14 –23
And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Likewise, the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

If there had been no upper room, if there had been no fulfillment of the promises of the Passover, and if Jesus were not the final Passover Lamb, we would simply have no hope in this life or the one to come.  It is impossible to overstate the importance of Jesus saying these profound words: “This is my body, which is given for you,” and “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”  Here is Jesus, in that intimate final night with his disciples, saying, “I am the hope of fallen humanity,  because I am the promised, spotless Lamb of God.”

Just as the blood painted on the Israelites’ doors in Egypt meant that the angel of death would pass over those houses, so all who put their trust in the Messiah Jesus are covered by his blood and therefore will not bear the punishment for their own sin. It’s not enough that Jesus was a great teacher. If all he had done were teach truth, but had not shed his blood as the fulfillment of all the truth teaches us about sin and redemption, then we would be damned. If all Jesus had done were perform physical healings, then we would still be the spiritual walking dead. If all he had done was confront the false religion of the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, but had not gone on to be the sacrificial Lamb that true religion requires, then we would be doomed. If all he had done was send his disciples out with a theological message, but had not been the historical, physical covering, by his shed blood, which that theological message requires, then we would be without hope and without God, sinners alone in this fallen world.

But he is the Passover Lamb. He is the fulfillment of the covenant promises of old. His blood covers and cleanses us. All human history marched to this moment in the upper room and the sacrifice of Jesus’s life that would follow.

Whenever I read the account of the incredible moment in that rented room and hear Jesus talk of his blood that was about to be poured out, a hymn always comes to mind. Its words are near and dear to my heart. It was written in 1876 by Robert Lowry, who was a pastor in Philadelphia, the city where I live.

“Nothing but the Blood of Jesus”

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Refrain:
Oh, precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow;
no other fount I know,
nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my cleansing, this I see—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
For my pardon this my plea—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!

Nothing can for sin atone—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Naught of good that I have done—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!

This is all my hope and peace—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
This is all my righteousness—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!

Now by this I’ll overcome—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Now by this I’ll reach my home—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!

Glory! Glory! This I sing—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
All my praise for this I bring—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!

May you attach your sense of self, your meaning and purpose, your moral compass, and your hopes and dreams to the message delivered in that upper room and to the actual moment of sacrifice on that hill  outside the city. And may every moment of sin, weakness, and failure be punctuated by you singing to yourself the ultimate answer to the ultimate question, What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

GOING DEEPER

Reflection Questions

1. What helps you enter into the true meaning of the Lord’s Table, Jesus’s blood and flesh for you?

2. In what ways are you trusting in something other than or in addition to Jesus’s blood to save you?

3. How might it affect your day-to-day life if you really, deeply understood the importance of Jesus as your Passover Lamb, the way the Jews in Jesus’s day did?

Read Matthew 26:17–30, and enter into the story.

17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?”

18 “As you go into the city,” he told them, “you will see a certain man. Tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.’” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there.

20 When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table[a] with the Twelve. 21 While they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.”

22 Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one, Lord?”

23 He replied, “One of you who has just eaten from this bowl with me will betray me. 24 For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”

25 Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, “Rabbi, am I the one?”
And Jesus told him, “You have said it.”

26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.”

27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant[b] between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. 29 Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”

30 Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

2026 Lenten Season - Day 37 - What's at the Center

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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It should be a warning to us that the religious leaders of Jesus’s day could be so zealous and yet so completely wrong.

It is striking to note that Jesus spent much of the time between his entry into Jerusalem and his betrayal and death confronting the religious leaders of his day. These leaders were trained, committed, active, and religious in every way, but they had distorted the faith that had been passed down to them and were unable to recognize that Jesus of Nazareth was, in fact, the promised Messiah of their hopes and longings.

Jesus knows he is on the way to his ultimate redemptive destination, Golgotha, and there is little for him to lose. So, with words sharper and more critical than ever before, he picks away at the very heart of the error of the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees. In the stinging words of criticism, there is a gracious warning for us.

In the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, we see false religion masquerading as true religion. The humility of true religion has been replaced by religious pride. The grace of true religion has been replaced by legalism. The purity of heart found in true religion has been replaced by hypocrisy. The love of true religion languishes as the victim of all of the above. Jesus will not go to the cross without pointing out that what these religious leaders live and promote is the exact opposite of what he came to teach, to live, and to die for.

It is a loving and always appropriate warning to us that it is possible for you to be fully convinced that you are in the center of what is right and true and honoring to God, when actually you are in the way of it. Hypocrisy still lives. Graceless legalism still lives. Self-righteousness still lives. It is still easier to criticize than to patiently love, and to make demands than to serve. Where do these things still live? It is not enough to say that they still live in our churches. We must also humbly confess that artifacts of all of these things still remain in our hearts. The stinging critique of the religious leaders was not just for them; it has been recorded and preserved for us, so that we would not fall into the same errors.

Here is what is dangerous about false religion: it does a good job of masquerading as the real thing, with its zeal, its commitment to the regular habits of faith (prayer, giving, participation in formal worship, etc.), and its theological knowledge. But there is an even greater danger. False religion does not need a Savior. False religion is rooted in human righteousness. Rather than being broken, needy, poor in spirit, crying out for divine rescue, it comforts itself in evidence of its own righteousness. Think of the parable Jesus told of the prayers of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18. The Pharisee essentially told God he didn’t need him, and he gave his good works as evidence of his independent righteousness, while the tax collector, overwhelmed with his sin, cried out for God’s mercy.

True religion accepts the worst news ever, and because it does, it runs to the best news ever. True religion doesn’t begin with a righteous résumé. It begins with the devastating acknowledgment of sin. True religion mourns corruption within, which cannot be defeated without divine intervention. True religion never has human righteousness at the center. No, it has the amazing grace of a self-sacrificing Savior at the center. Its hope is never in what we have done for God, but in what he has so lovingly done and continues to do for us. True religion never produces self-assured religious pride. It never produces independent self-confidence. It never causes you to look down on those less righteous than you. It does not produce soul-crushing legalism. In the soil of true religion, these grow: humility, love, gratitude, grace, peace, and dependency on God.

One of the central ironies of human history is that the religious leaders of Jesus’s day conspired to destroy the one who was their only hope in life and death. The One the Scriptures spoke of again and again (which they knew so well) was now in their presence, and they despised him and what he taught. While they wore their mask of righteousness, they sought to destroy the one who came to be our righteousness, wisdom, and redemption. On his journey to the cross, Jesus stops to expose a form of "godliness” that needs no cross.

Today, it is tempting for all of us to tell ourselves we are okay when we’re not okay. It is tempting for us to work to make ourselves feel good about what God says is not good at all. It is tempting for us to be unlovingly critical of those we perceive to be less righteous than we are. It is tempting to think we are spiritually mature because we are theologically knowledgeable. It is tempting to tolerate in ourselves actions and attitudes that we would condemn in others. It is tempting to see God as a means to an end, rather than the end that all of our hearts really long for. It is tempting to reduce our Christianity down to formal, public religious habits, a faith that lives most vibrantly for two hours on Sunday morning. On the way to the cross, Jesus exposes us to his condemnation of the religion of the Pharisees because there are still seeds of Phariseeism in all our hearts.

In this season of reflection, sacrifice, and gratitude, I want to give you an assignment. Take time to sit down with your Bible and carefully read Matthew 23. As you read how Jesus confronts the Pharisees, read with an open, humble, and prayerful heart. Allow those words of confrontation to expose and correct you, and as they do, may you grow ever more dependent upon and thankful for your Savior, who was willing to die to rescue you from the one thing you could never escape on your own: you.

GOING DEEPER

Reflection Questions
1. Contrast true religion and false religion. How can you spot them in your church? In yourself?

2. How have you seen or experienced this truth: “It is possible for you to be fully convinced that you are in the center of what is right and true and honoring to God, when actually you are in the way of it”?

3. What practical things can you do to recognize and repent of false religion and embrace truth in your heart?

Read Matthew 23, and ask the Lord to convict you where conviction is needed.

Matthew 23 New Living Translation

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. 3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. 4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

5 “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. 6 And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. 7 They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’

8 “Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. 9 And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father. 10 And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you must be a servant. 12 But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

13 “What sorrow awaits you, teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.

15 “What sorrow awaits you, teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!

16 “Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’ 17 Blind fools! Which is more important—the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding. 19 How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it. 21 And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it. 22 And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.

23 “What sorrow awaits you, teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. 24 Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!

25 “What sorrow awaits you, teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! 26 You blind Pharisee! First, wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.

27 “What sorrow awaits you, teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. 28 Outwardly, you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

29 “What sorrow awaits you, teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed, and you decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed. 30 Then you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have joined them in killing the prophets.’

31 “But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started. 33 Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?

34 “Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city. 35 As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah, son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth, this judgment will fall on this very generation.

37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. 38 And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. 39 For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

2026 Lenten Season - Day 36 - Holy Anger Then and Now

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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Scripture records the anger of Jesus in the temple to point to who he is and to clarify our values.

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
Matthew 21:12-13

How quickly the emotion of the drama of Jesus’s last journey changes! After the adoring crowds, the story takes a radical turn. This is another one of those messianic vignettes that we think we understand, but need to examine more closely. We see here the holy anger of Jesus more than at almost any other moment in his life. Do you know why he was so angry? Is it only about commerce in the temple?  Why does he call the sellers thieves? What is the zeal that consumed him in this moment? Why did he overturn those tables? What can we learn from our Savior’s holy anger? How can his zeal become our hope? These are the questions begging to be answered as we consider this moment in Jesus’s journey to the cross.

Jesus enters Jerusalem and takes no time to bask in the glory of the adoring crowds along the way. He knows he is on a mission of saving grace, and he knows how far that grace will extend. He knows that what is happening in the temple is not only a violation of his Father’s house, of promises made to  Abraham, but also of what he came to earth to accomplish. Without care for what people will think of him, he is driven by righteous values and holy anger to act on behalf of those unable to act for themselves.

Consider this meditation.

The temple highlighted your holy zeal;
what was there exposed your loving heart.
More than an institution,
more than a historic place,
more than a religious edifice,
more than a place of public worship—
it was your Father’s house.
Anger filled your heart—
holy, righteous, grace-infused wrath.
The place for the Gentiles now a house of commerce.
Sales tables replaced praying places.
Animal sounds replaced sounds of supplication.
This hallowed place, now a den of robbers.
Market thieves had stolen the Gentiles’ only place.
Sellers violated your covenant plan.
Merchants robbed your place of its glory.
This place of divine love, now a place of human greed.
No love for you.
No sympathy for the displaced.
No submission to your will.
No care for your saving plan.
Out of love for your Father, compassion for those excluded,
commitment to promises made to Abraham,
you overturned the plan of those who stained the Father’s house,
declaring the zeal of your heart, your holy mission, your eternal position.
This zeal, then and now, my hope.
Your anger, then and now, my security.
Your promises, then and now, my rest.
Your grace, then and now, my life.
For I know you will remain zealous, act in holy anger, and overturn the final table,
and I will dwell safe in your Father’s house forever.

GOING DEEPER
Reflection Questions

1. What was Jesus angry about? What were the moneychangers doing wrong?

2. What fills your heart with righteous anger? Where do you see modern-day moneychangers, and what are you called to do about it?

3. It’s easy to put ourselves on Jesus’s side here, but how might you be guilty of some of the same sins as the moneychangers?

Read Mark 11:15–19 and Luke 19:45– 48.

Jesus Clears the Temple

Mark 11:15-19  New Living Translation

15 When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace. 

17 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”
18 When the leading priests and teachers of religious law heard what Jesus had done, they began planning how to kill him. But they were afraid of him because the people were so amazed at his teaching.
19 That evening Jesus and the disciples left the city.

Luke 19:45-48  New Living Translation
45 Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. 46 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”
47 After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. 48 But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.

Promise for Today - A Donkey’s Tale: The Gospel of Palm Sunday

written by Dr. Michael A. Milton

As we reflect on Palm Sunday, we are reminded of the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The Scripture that refers to the Lord telling His disciples to get the donkey is found in Matthew 21:1-3:
"As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, 'Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.'"

Let’s hear about Palm Sunday from one who was there.
All the children waved palms and sang Hosanna. I could never forget! It was the high mark of my life. I know: I have heard the jokes that you've made. It is interesting that you never use the King James version except when you're talking about Baalom’s donkey (Numbers 22:28). Our kind knows all about the jokes. But it was no joke on that Sunday. Now, I can't talk like Balaam’s creature, but I have something more. I have a donkey's tale.

There are several things about that day that stand out to me. Every so often, I feel like I just want to rear back on my hind legs and bray at the beauty of those moments with the One called Immanuel. What do I remember? Well, they were at least three special moments that come to mind, and these memories may have something to say to you.

Firstly, Jesus chose me. I remember that the Galilean chose me to fulfill Scripture. I did not belong to the Galilean, but I belonged to a man from Jerusalem. But on that day, the Galilean sent his disciples and told my master that “the Lord hath need” of me. Do you know what that means? Do you know how it feels to be the bad end of a joke all the time? I don't have to do anything, and yet people immediately see me as stubborn and mean. Not Jesus. He did not choose me out of pity. He did not select me to be his supporter because of any other reason than this: in the secret councils of Almighty God, he set his love on me. If only I could have talked! Do you know how it feels when God chooses you despite your reputation? Yet, Jesus chose me.

Jesus used me. By saying that Jesus "used me," I don't mean that he took advantage of me. To the contrary! He gave me a part in the greatest story ever told. What do you think about that? Do you still want to call me stupid and mean and stubborn? I may be all of those things, but for one brief shining moment, I carried the King of kings and Lord of lords on my back. And I can never get over how God uses a simple little creature like me to bring about so great a salvation.

Others overlooked me. In the midst of all the hosannas and all the waving palms and palm branches thrown at my feet, I knew the cheering was not for me. I knew the palm branches did not form a veritable "red carpet" for the Prince of donkeys. No. I knew they were welcoming Jesus as the promised Messiah. But just as they overlooked me and my important part — the role that changed our species — in that great Palm Sunday story, many overlooked the Scriptures. For that glorious King who rode on my back was not a political figure. He was not riding into Jerusalem to overthrow Rome. He was riding into Jerusalem to go to the cross. And I can never forget that. The Scriptures declare that we creatures know more about God than some of you. Job 12:7-10 says: "But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you, or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?"

So many misunderstood. But I knew why he chose me. I knew why he used me on that glorious day. And I could see what many overlooked. The King of kings and the Lord of lords came into Jerusalem as the Prince of peace. He was on his way to die for the sins of the world, to give his life as a substitutionary atonement for sin. He lived the perfect life so that whoever believes in him is covered in the righteousness of Jesus. And what did he get? He got our sins. He took our pain. But he gave us his life.

I'm just one of God's creatures. But on that special day, that Palm Sunday, my life and, indeed, my kind were changed forever.

Intersecting Faith and Life:
Though I have made a donkey of myself numerous times in my life, I am now stepping away from the voice of that little creature on Palm Sunday. I want to say to you clearly: this little parable, based on true events is told to you that you may know God has placed his love on you despite your sin, your past, or even what other people might think of you. Secondly, like the little donkey, God has use for you. God calls us to use us for his kingdom's work. And finally, I want you to see that Palm Sunday is not only the beginning of the Holy Week, but if you repent and trust in Jesus Christ as the resurrected Lord of lords and King of kings in your life, it will be Easter morning forevermore.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

So, I encourage you, my human friends, to consider how God may be calling you and using you for his kingdom's work. Despite your past, your sin, or what others may think of you, God has placed his love on you and has a purpose for your life. And as we enter Holy Week, remember that Palm Sunday was just the beginning of the greatest story ever told.