The King Is Coming … Prepare The Way

Isaiah 40:3 “A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’”

Today’s Reading: Isaiah 40

It’s normal to get overwhelmed by all that is wrong with the world. Additionally, It has become standard for us to be anxious about all the trials we are enduring in our lives, the stresses of work and grades, the burdens of finance, the weight of parenting, the intricacies of marriage or the juggling of friends and family.  It is all too common to succumb to fears. It’s typical to get distracted by it all! To forget our purpose. It’s far too easy as Christians to forget we are called to watch, wait, and anticipate the coming King.

After all, the enemy is still roaming the earth, relentlessly attacking the body of believers. With each win he digs the chasm between us and God deeper, BUT JESUS is walking the road to Jerusalem, the King is Coming!

He has left His throne!

He is on the move!

So, get ready! Prepare the way! The wait is almost over. His glory will soon be revealed. We will all see it. Spread the word, boldly lift your voice, shout it from the mountain tops (vs.9). “The King is coming!”  

Typically, when we have a guest coming, we are eager to get ourselves ready, presentable. If we are at all good hosts, we do everything we can to prepare our houses. We clean every room, the yard, the porch, everything. And I don’t’ know about you, but if my guest is someone I have not seen in a long time or someone, I’m super excited about, I can’t help but spread the word.  I tell anyone and everyone who might want to come see my guest! If we do that for our earthly guests, should we not be even more eager for our heavenly King?

Are you getting ready? Are you praying, fasting, and in the word? Seeking Him?

Are you preparing the way? Are you serving? Or discipling? Stewarding well?

Are you spreading the word? Are you inviting non-believers? Are you witnessing in action and in truth?

The crowd is gathering, anticipating his arrival, eagerly waiting to see what He will do. They are expectant. You don’t want to miss it! No one else compares to Him (vs. 18-19, 25 ). I’ll be there! Will you join us?

The King is Coming … Rejoice!

Matthew 21:9 “And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna, in the highest!’”

Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts.

Today’s reading: Matthew 21:1-11  

            Today we pick up where we last left off, the crowds are gathered. Jesus is making His way into the city. But the atmosphere has changed; it has transitioned from anticipation to excitement! The ROAR is getting louder; the crowd is getting bigger; He is within view. People are stirring. Itching to get a glimpse.

            He is paraded down the road on the back of a donkey. This is His moment, His public proclamation. He has remained in the shadows until now, but the time has come to take His rightful place. Gifts of acknowledgement are laid at His feet. Everyone begins to ask questions about Him (vs.10). Their curiosity is stirring.

            In the same way that the excitement and anticipation amongst the gathering crowd of witnesses in Jesus’ day, caught the attention and curiosity of non-believers. So too, the excitement and anticipation from today’s believers about the upcoming Easter season, will spark the curiosity of non-believers. Many who have never considered God or church will be open to hearing the word and attending a service. As believers, we are called to be a light and to work the harvest. To be prepared for the questions that will naturally arise. But let’s not forget to REJOICE! To anticipate what He will do. To come into His presence expectant! That is what will spark the curiosity of the watching world; it is our eagerness to be in His presence, our recognition of who He is and what He will do.

Are you excited? Not just inwardly but outwardly? Can those around you see it?

Are you anticipating a move of God? Do you truly believe He will be in our presence this Easter?

Are you expectant? Do you expect Him to change lives? Who are you praying for in particular? Do you believe He will pour His spirit out on those people this Easter? Lift their names up to Him now. Trust Him to move in their lives this season. Praise Him in advance, knowing that He is on the move. He has been working in the shadows, but He will soon take His rightful place in their hearts. Rejoice!

The King is Coming … To Take Our Place

Matthew 26:53 “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”

John 18:4 “Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, ‘Who is it you want?’”

Mark 15:3-5 “The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, ‘Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.’ But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

Today’s Reading: Mark 14:43-15:47

Our King left the throne of heaven to take His rightful place, only it’s not where we imagined, not the throne humanity pictured. His throne is made of wood rather than metal, and it cannot be sat on. One must be forcibly adhered to this throne, but not Jesus. Jesus went willingly. Jesus endured the pain and readily adhered himself to the lowest position imaginable. Our King did not crown himself with gold and the most grandiose jewels available, rather He allowed himself to be brutally impaled with a crown of thorns.

Our King has come. He has entered the courtroom and has been convicted of our sins. When He took His place, which was actually our place, He was not met with cheers but rather jeers. He was mocked and disrespected, as the crowd gathered and gloated, as they laughed and lingered. Nevertheless, our Messiah did not come to receive the adoration of the world as was suspected; instead, He came to atone for the sins of the world. To take our place. To bear our shame. Literally, what could be more humiliating? Imagine Him on the throne of the cross; crowned with thorns, flogged and falsely accused, weak and wounded, torn and tattered, bloody and beaten, stripped and scourged, ripped and ravaged, whipped and wailed on, soaked and saturated in spit and bloody sweat, pierced and persecuted.  

Humanity thought He would come as a conquering hero, clothed in splendor, adorned with glory. Instead, He came as a suffering servant, laid bare before the world, smothered and suffocated in the sins of man.

Our King crucified.

Our substitute.

“He became sin who knew no sin.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Come behold Him, the innocent lamb of God. Our suffering servant King. May we sit at the feet of the cross and let our minds be soaked in what He endured. May we never grow tired or weary of the imagery.

This is who Jesus is.

He reigns as meek, as lowly, as a voluntary sacrifice.

This is what He did for us.

He was adorned in disgrace so that we wouldn’t have to be. He humbly accepted the humiliation we were meant to endure. Not out of obligation or duty, but out of love.

 Philippians 2:8 “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Has what Jesus did for us on the cross become stale to you? Are you desensitized to the horror of what he had to endure? Has your heart become callous to the weight of your sin?

Spend some time resting in those thoughts today, your sin and His sacrifice.

The King is Coming … Rest in His Sovereignty

Luke 23:56 “Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.”

Today's Reading: Matthew 27:62-66

On the cross, the Light of the World was literally extinguished and “darkness fell over all the land” (Matt. 27:34). In the darkness, the watching world was hopeless, distraught, grieving and waiting. But God was silent. The disciples who were closest to Jesus were stunned into silence. Even the Roman rulers barely uttered a word. So silent, in fact, that amongst all four gospels we are only given a total of seven verses to depict what happened on the Saturday after the crucifixion. Essentially, all we’re told is that the Pharisees sealed the tomb and the women rested on the sabbath. We have more insight into what evil did (5 verses), than we do into what good did (2 verses, that essentially say the same thing).

In the waiting we are often plagued with questions. “Why?” “What happens now?” “When will we find relief?” “How will we ever overcome this?” The questions are relentless and unending. In the darkness, it’s not unusual to cry out to God from a place of fear or even anguish. It is only natural. Job did it (Job 7:20-21). David did it (Psalm 13:1). Even Jesus did it (Matthew 27:46). But after our King's death, we don’t even get a glimpse of that from those who loved and knew Jesus best. All we are left with is the observance of rest.

If you have ever experienced intense grief, you probably know the feeling of physical exhaustion that comes along with it. Therefore, rest is understandable and even necessary, but is that really all we get a glimpse of on Saturday? Surely, the disciples had questions of God and called out in anguish, no? Surely the women wept and wailed, right? If they did, that’s not something the Spirit saw fit to include in the Word. Instead, He simply mentioned that they rested out of obedience.

Why? Could it be that what God wants of us in times of grief, anguish, hopelessness, waiting and uncertainty is simply for us to rest? But what about the distinction that it was because of “the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” What if the idea is to rest in His Lordship? See, what if we aren’t told what the women and the disciples were feeling or experiencing because ultimately what mattered most is not how they felt, but whether they obeyed God in those feelings?  

In grief, we are consumed by the darkness. We are overcome by sadness or even emptiness.  We feel separated from God. But the truth is that in our King Jesus’ darkest hour, He purchased our eternal life so that if we accept Him as Lord, we never have to be separated from God. We can rest in His Lordship, His sovereignty, knowing that we don’t have to have all the answers because we know the one who does. We might feel uncertain about what to do, or what comes next, but God is not! He has known what to do and what comes next since the beginning of time. I believe that the Word doesn’t mention how those who knew and loved Jesus felt, or even what questions they might have had, because as those who knew Him best, those who had been in the literal presence of God, they trusted Him enough to just obey when He commanded. Despite their feelings, despite their questions, they just obeyed and rested in His lordship.

Are you in a season of waiting, uncertainty or grief?

Do you have questions for God?

If so, that’s okay. Job questioned, and God still said, Job spoke “of Me what is trustworthy” (Job 42:7 NASB). David questioned, and the Bible still says, “David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord” (1 Kings 15:5). Jesus questioned the Father on the cross and He was the son of God. Questioning is okay. As long as your finite questions lead you to the infinite God who has all the answers, and as long as you trust in His sovereignty even when you’re not privy to those answers.  

The real questions, the ones that really matter are:

Do you know and love Jesus?  

Are you familiar with His presence enough to trust Him?

and

Are you able to rest in His sovereignty in seasons of uncertainty?

The King is Coming … Here is Our Conqueror!

Isaiah 59:20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins.” declares the LORD.

1 Corinthians 15:54b -56 “‘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 in the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Today’s Reading: Luke 24:1-49

A new day dawns, and suddenly everything is different. Bursting out of darkness the light begins to peer over the horizon, and all becomes clear. The stone is gone. Out of the silence, victory resounds. Heaven rejoices! The tomb is empty! The air is filled with the breath of life. The veil of grief is lifted and color is everywhere. He has RISEN!

The crucifixion of Jesus was not the end of Christ’s story, instead it was just the beginning. The King has come back from the grave. With one breath, He stands in victory! The King of Kings has dominion over death. For those who call Him Lord, death has lost its grip on our souls. Death has been conquered by our King! He has taken His rightful place as ruler over life and death. Crown Him with glory - He will reign for all eternity!

In man’s finite view, we thought our King was coming to conquer an earthly kingdom and set us free, but He had a much bigger plan. A plan we couldn’t grasp, because we could only see a partial picture. God saw the whole picture of eternity, and the redemption of the whole world was on His heart. Therefore, He knew the kingdom He needed to conquer was the kingdom of death, for if not, that kingdom would one day enslave us all. So, He sent His Son to vanquish death by satisfying His wrath, and now we are set free for eternity, bought with the holy blood of Christ!  The grave has no claim on those who call Him Lord!

The gruesome imagery of Good Friday is in no way “good” without the miraculous imagery of resurrection Sunday. On the cross the King of Kings paid the price we could not pay, the ransom for our sin. With His blood, He has set us free, broken every chain, rolled back every stone, conquered every addiction, overcame all anxiety and depression, and defeated each and every stronghold. As believers, our old selves were buried with Him, and we were raised with Him to walk in the newness of life (Romans 6:4 ESV).  Because He lives, we are no longer beholden to the snares of man; we are free! Let’s claim our inheritance as children of the King of Kings! Let’s turn from the sin that once bound us. The old has gone, so let’s walk as those renewed. Let us make it our charge to not allow the enemy to rebind us by dragging us back to our old ways. Our old self is dead and buried. In Christ, we are new!

“Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” (vs.5)

 He is not in the grave and as believers, neither are we.

How might you be walking in death rather than life? What can you do to change that? Who can you ask to hold you accountable to your new life?