Easter is over, but not over. Yesterday, we had a great service celebrating the risen Lord. I talked about almost burning down the neighborhood two weeks before Easter.  This happened a few years ago when all of my children were still in school. I would drive my kid’s to school. I realize they missed a lot of “education” that happens on the bus, but I valued our time in the car together talking, laughing and praying before school. I had a habit of doing as many errands as possible before we left.The garbage container was full and there were two smaller bags of burnable garbage. We have a fire ring. So I put them in the fire ring and began burning.

It was dry, but I had a rake and was tending fire, exercising caution.  

My daughter Allison asked, “Should Mom bring us in?”
Yes.

The wind picked up and suddenly a small blaze had jumped 10 ft from the ring. Tall, dry canary grass was catching on fire. I got a heavier rake and began making a fire line – pulling back dry material where fire would stop.

Life is filled with little fires.
Some we start.
Some are just smoldering sparks that a wind fans into something bigger. Little irritations become an outburst when something else goes wrong.

The Bible tells of people with fires in their lives.

A small man named Zacchaeus, though a Jew, became a chief tax collector for the Roman government. That would have been like an early American working for Britain collecting taxes for Britain from his colonial neighbors.
He had fires of disrespect, hatred, and broken relationships.

A woman, desperate for love, over the course of her life had five live-in boyfriends and was fighting the fires of loneliness and emptiness.

Religious leaders, longing for significance, meaning, and status- were fighting the fires of position and pride.

A woman who had been sick for the past 12 yrs battled the fires of rejection, stigmatization, and social rejection.

My fire line and my efforts were failing. When working alone, fire line failure is almost 100%.
I got the garden hose and began spraying water on the fire.
The damp, musty canary grass and old pine needles set off a lot of smoke.

The smoke now was causing traffic to slow down on highway #95 one half mile away. Other students asked my kids if our house was burning down and their last image was Dad with two small bags of garbage and a rake.

Only men could understand the trauma I was in –
Call for help?
I can put out the fire! Or should I call for help?
People were in a debate with themselves about Jesus.

Zacchaeus heard about Jesus and climbed a tree to see Him.

The lonely woman heard of this Jesus who talked about pure love.

Religious leaders heard the call to come follow Jesus. They could follow and learn or stay and oppose.

The infirmed woman heard Jesus could heal, but was embarrassed to ask.

Calling 911!
This is Mark Radeke, I live in Isanti Co, Springvale township – I have a grass fire that is out of control and I need the fire department to help put it out.
Within minutes the fire department was at our home.

They came out with 4-5” hoses that could release hundreds of gallons of water and there I was with my 5/8” two ply garden hose.
The fire was extinguished and I was relieved.

Meanwhile, my wife Connie was returning from dropping the kid’s off when a fire truck passed her – she saw it heading up our driveway – and embarrassed, Connie drove past our driveway and down the road!
She came later, snuck in the house and down the basement to wash clothes.

Humility brought help. I was rescued.

Zacchaeus was spotted by Jesus. Jesus invited Himself to Zac’s home and Zacchaeus became a new person. He changed from a taker to a giver.

The lonely woman became convinced that Jesus was the true Messiah, Savior, Rescuer – she invited her neighbors, relatives, and whole community to meet a man who told her everything she ever did and still gave her the love she so desperately craved.

Spiritual leaders mostly opposed Jesus and missed their rescue.

The woman in her illness, snuck up to Jesus, touched the edge of His cloak and was instantly healed. Jesus knew power had gone out from Him, she was discovered and rescued from her disease.

I was rescued at the age of 9 years old. I said yes to Jesus and He rescued a lying, lonely little boy into a real living and lasting relationship with Jesus.

Romans 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
John 3:16
  16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
Acts 3:19
19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

Easter is a day to make a 911 call.
Your rescue will be immediate.
Three words to say to Jesus:
Thank you. Sorry. Please.

Dear Jesus,
Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.
This is _________ and I have a fire I cannot put out.
I have sins I cannot stop committing and I am sorry for doing them.
Please, rescue me today.
I will commit my life to following you from this day forward.
Amen.

Let me know if you have made a spiritual 911 call.

Why is the day we commemorate as the day Jesus was brutally beaten, sentenced, had nails sunk into the flesh of His hands and feet to a cross until He dies, called Good Friday?

Jesus. Joy. Cross.
These three words do not fit well together, yet find their way in the same sentence in Scripture.

Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus knew the cross would bring freedom for all who put their eyes on Him and trust in Him. We know that the brutality and injustice of the day Jesus was crucified was  God’s loving plan for us. We know that He was dead in the tomb for three days, but that Jesus defeated sin and death rising from the dead and witnessed by over 500 people over a forty day period.

Jesus rose from the dead and that is why we can call it Good Friday. Jesus knew the physical pain of the cross and the torment of taking the punishment of every person’s sins was for the forgiveness of anyone who believes in Him. That is why Jesus considered the cross a joy set before Him on that Good Friday.

How do we fix our eyes on Jesus today?
*Talk to Him. Thank Him for His sacrifice.
*Believe Him. This Friday can be your very first Good Friday.
*Praise Him. Live intentionally for Jesus today and your life becomes a praise gift to Him.

How do you fix your eyes on Jesus?
Comment here.

The Wednesday before Easter has an uncertainty of what Jesus did that day. Some believe the preparations for Passover happened on this day as a special Passover and Sabbath.  Others feel this is the day Jesus was anointed with expensive perfume.  Judas Iscariot challenges the action as an extravagant waste of product that could have been sold and the money given to the poor. But he had already been stealing from money that he was responsible for as treasurer of Jesus' disciples and he would have had more to take if the perfume was sold. Wednesday may have been the day Judas agrees to betray Jesus.

Have you ever been betrayed by a friend you trusted?

You thought there was a sound relationship, but there was gossip or accusation or a change of allegiance against you.

It is remarkable that Jesus is aware of Judas’ heart change and yet, Jesus does not flip out on Judas. Judas is included in the Last Supper and appears so trustworthy the other disciples do not consider him as a possible betrayer even when Jesus gives them some pretty big clues that it is Judas.

Jesus gives an example for us to follow and He commands us to love our enemies.

Got any enemies that need some lovin’ ?

Jesus gives us some enemy loving orders found in Matthew 5 and Luke 6:

•  Pray for them.
• Do good things to them.
• Bless them.
• Turn the other cheek.
• Do not stop them from taking advantage of you.
• Do to others what you wish done to you.
• Borrow money to them without expecting repayment.
• Be merciful to them.
• Love them.
  

Easter would be much easier without this list. I can pray, bless and believe I am loving my enemies. Truthfully, I am not loving my enemies because I do not want to do the things that cost me something.
And that is the point.
Jesus love cost Him a beating that shredded his flesh, nails through his hands and feet, and an agonizing death on the cross.

Truthfully, I still do not want to sacrifice anything for an enemy.
I have found that the only way this gets done in my life is when I call for the Holy Spirit to help me.

Got any enemies that need some lovin’ this Easter?

While walking to the temple on Jesus’ final week before His crucifixion, Jesus was hungry and walks up to a fig tree, but finds no figs. It was not the season for figs and yet, He speaks a curse against the tree. Matthew 21, Mark 11 and Luke 21 record the disciples surprise when later that day or perhaps the next, they see the fig tree withered and dead. Jesus tells them to have faith and they can perform miracles too.

Have you come across a person with the spiritual gift of killing trees? If so, I have some box elder trees that need ministry! The incident begs for more meaning.

From “Hard Sayings of the Bible by FF Bruce we learn that the first crop on the fig trees are no the real figs, but a crop of small knobs called taqsh. They form right after the leaves come out and are eaten by peasants and others when hungry. They fall off when the real figs form.

In the Old Testament the fig tree was often a symbol of the nation of Israel. Jesus had just cleansed the temple from four messes (see yesterday’s blog). Jesus was making a statement that Israel had become barren. It looked good, like the leaves on the fig tree, but there was not a genuine love for God. They had a form of religion, but not the reality.

This dramatic visual aid taught the disciples that God judges those who appear fruitful, but are not.

This Tuesday before Easter, ask the Holy Spirit to increase godly fruit in your life.
Galatians 5:22-23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Holy Week or Passion Week is the week from Palm Sunday leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Monday following Palm Sunday, Jesus returns to Jerusalem from Bethany and enters the temple. Jesus finds four messes in the temple.

Matthew 21:12-16 Jesus at the Temple
12 Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’”
14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.
   “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,
   “‘From the lips of children and infants
   you have ordained praise’?”
                   
Mess #1 - the animals. For the convenience of those traveling to the Passover celebration, they could pack light and purchase their sacrificial cattle, sheep or dove at the temple. Cattle, sheep and doves are messy - until Jesus came.

Mess #2 - the money-changers. This mess is bigger and smellier. Each region often minted their own coins and to streamline the temple financial transactions, a temple currency was established. Out-of-towners exchanged their coins for the temple’s coins. The problem was the unfair exchange rate and rip-off prices on the animals. The greasy greed made a terrible mess in the temple – until Jesus came.

Mess #3 – the sick. This was an embarrassing mess. There were blind and lame people at the temple. They had been lying around with oozing bed sores, diseased feet, and runny, pussy eyes hoping to get healed. The temple was where God’s presence and God’s people were. It should have been a place of healing and hope, but day after day they came for a touch from God and day after day their condition was unchanged or worsened – until Jesus came.

Mess #4 – the children. The children were running and shouting in the temple! The children were excited about Jesus and shouting out their praises of “Hosanna to the Son of David.” The children were worshiping Jesus in the temple with passionate energy and the religious leaders were angry. Anger is a smoldering mess. Nobody encouraged the children’s praise – until Jesus came.

What messes would Jesus like to clean out at your church?
If you are a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, you a temple.
1 Corinthians 6:18-19 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
What messes would Jesus like to clean out of your temple?

Comment below on either of these questions.

Jesus taught more profoundly than any other teacher and demonstrated His relationship to God the Father through miracles. Raising Lazarus from the dead was the miracle that caused Jesus to go viral in the area.

He enters Jerusalem and a flash mob of people show up with palm branches and cloaks on the road shouting hosanna which means “save”.

Matthew 21:8-9 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
   “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
   “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
   “Hosanna in the highest!”

I would say that is a good day at the office!
Not Jesus.

The rest of the week Jesus cleared the temple of corruption, taught at the temple, celebrated the Last Supper, and shared final things with his disciples. Before the week was over, Jesus was arrested, brutally beaten, crucified, and placed in a tomb, dead.

When I read about Jesus arriving to the crowds praising Him in Jerusalem and in less than a week a crowd is shouting for Christ’s crucifixion, I ask, “How did that happen?”

How did it go from “Hosanna” to “Kill Him” in less than a week?
Was there two completely different crowds?
Was this a highly unstable society or unstable group of people?

Matthew 21:10 helps us understand what happened.
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

While some were shouting, “ Hosanna!”, others were asking “Who is this?”

Every Sunday morning there are people who are praising Jesus and others wondering who Jesus is.

I have moved from asking “Who” to praising “Hosanna”.
Let me know where you are at with Jesus.
Comment here.