This week is of great significance, for Christians and non-christians alike, please allow me to explain myself. Christ's atoning sacrifice that reversed sin, conquered death and satan was for the whole world, those who choose to accept the sacrifice that Christ took upon Himself, will be heirs and children of God, those who reject it will receive condemnation. Yes, this week is significant to all but especially to us who will experience sorrow and joy, sorrow for the remembrance of the barbaric torture and death of our Lord, and joy for the remembrance of His glorious Resurrection.
During this week our Lord made His great entrance into the Holy City, Jerusalem, it is written in Matthew 21 -
6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on [b]the coats. 8 Most of the crowd (E)spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. 9 The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,
“Hosanna to the (F)Son of David;
(G)BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD;
Hosanna (H)in the highest!”
10 When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is (I)the prophet Jesus, from (J)Nazareth in Galilee.”
Subsequent to the glorious entry of the Lord, which fulfilled Old Testament prophecies, our Lord exchange several words with the Pharisees and Sadducees as they tried to find fault with Him so that they may arrest Him and put an end to His teachings. But as we read, the wisdom of our Lord was superior in every way and they could not resist Him, they were left silent.
As so many Jewish people were listening to His preaching the elders (Pharisees and Sadducees) became increasingly angered, these people loved the high life, the greetings in the market place, the respect from men and Jesus taught the people the exact opposite. They were indignant as He taught humility, love for the enemy, respect for the poor and widow.
Jesus was then betrayed by Judas Iscariot and I would like to spend a little bit of time on this issue, particularly, why was Jesus betrayed? Well biblical manuscripts don't tell us the specifics of Judas' motives, but a case could be made based on the erroneous held beliefs that the Messiah would establish an earthly kingdom and when Judas saw that this was not Jesus' intentions, he thought about himself and decided to make a quick buck by betraying Him. What was He betrayed for though? It is very possible that Judas knew the Pharisees wanted to seize Christ and that they couldn't do so whilst His followers were with Him as it would of caused an eruption, therefore Judas betrayed Christ by simply leading the soldiers to His whereabouts whilst most of His disciples were not present. Judas revealed Christ's whereabouts and led them to Him so that they could capture Him by 'stealth', as it is written in Matthew 26:4 "and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him."
Judas' betrayal of Jesus occurs frequently, we all betray Jesus by turning our back on Him, fleeing into the night (darkness) and sinning against Him. What should make us different is realising our sin and through continual repentance, absolution by a Priest, by partaking in the Holy Eucharist and asking mercy from God to restore His Spirit within us.
We will delve into the Crucifixion and Resurrection of our Lord in another post this week God willing.
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