Holy Week

Then he said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well.’ (Luke 17:19)

I would like to take the time to celebrate Holy Week a bit differently this year.  I want to break it down day by day and walk through it with you.  Let’s take a look at what many have come to know as the “Passion Week”.  The last week of Christ’s life on earth.  Let’s walk through this step by step and see what we find.  May this Easter be an Easter where we learn what it means to truly follow the One who went before us.  The One who gave His life for us!  Will you go with me to experience Christ in a new way?  Will you journey with me through Holy Week?  Let’s see what we can find through the Gospels and learn something new about this amazing Savior of ours.

One thing I want to explore is the Lord’s ministry to 10 lepers.  Here He is just days, even moments away from His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  He is still busy about His Father’s work.  His days are full of activity.  He hasn’t slowed down one bit.  In this story, we find that the Lord was traveling between Samaria and Galilee.  He was on His way to Jerusalem.

Just outside of a village, 10 men with leprosy approached Him.  They kept their distance and called out for pity from Jesus.  They didn’t ask for healing.  They didn’t ask Him to touch them or make them whole.  They asked for pity.  They asked that Jesus be concerned with who they are and what they have gone through.  Maybe they wanted clothes, shelter, or food.  We don’t really know!  We just know they wanted the Lord to have compassion on them!  The lepers in society were the castouts, the people who were not to be touched, the ones forgotten about, and diagnosed with a lifetime illness.  In fact to the rabbis, to cure a leper was just as difficult as raising the dead.  What a comparison!  No one wanted anything to do with the lepers.

How did Jesus respond?  He healed them.  He gave them more than they were asking for.  He gave them more than they could have hoped for.  He worked a miracle in their lives.  Just when others looked at them and thought that things were hopeless… Jesus came in and gave them hope!  What a beautiful picture!

The unfortunate thing…  Only one responded to the healing.  Only one came back to say thank you!  Only one came back to praise God!  Only one recognized what he had been given!  He had his life back!  Wow!  Only one!  This leads me to the question, are you more like the 9 who walked away without a thank you or like the one who came back and threw himself at Jesus feet?  I want to be like the one who recognizes all that I’ve been given through the cross.  I want to respond to the gift I have been given!  I say, “Thank You God!  Thank You for sending Your Son for me!  Thank You for the healing that You gave my heart by forgiving my sins through the work done on the cross!  Thank You!”

Challenge: Read Luke 16 & 17

Apply the Word:  Are you responding with a heart of gratitude towards all that God has done in your life?  Have you thanked God lately?  Do people see a grateful person when they look at you? 

Memory Verse:  John 15:5

Dear Father God, I am so very grateful for Your work in my life.  I stand amazed at what Your Son did on the cross for me.  May I never take for granted the moments that Christ spent on this earth, walked this earth, and died for my sins.  May I never forget that my freedom had a price!  My freedom was bought by the blood of the Lamb!  Thank You God! 

I’m forever Yours!