Thought for the Week - 28th March
Pastor Gareth WatkinsHebrews 2: 14-15
Palm Sunday is the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem as the King of kings. As the crowds praised and accoladed Him, He assumed His rightful position of honour and glory among the people. We read in Luke 19:39-40 that the Pharisees called for Jesus to rebuke the disciples for their behaviour – I imagine it must have been a wonderful sight with sounds of loud uninhibited praise and rejoicing from the crowds that gathered to catch a glimpse of their Lord as He passed by. Jesus replied… “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out” (v.40). What power and victory in His response to them that even the stones would not be able to hold their composure for the need to rejoice.
Yet, as Jesus rode into Jerusalem, He knew that He was to bare the agonising weight of all our sin upon himself. He knew He had come to overcome the power of death through His own death, and He rode victoriously towards that moment that was just a few days away.
As Christians we know the mighty transforming power of Christ in our lives, we have seen the power of the cross overcome death, yet we often struggle to talk about death itself. For some it is a subject laden with fear, we can try to push it to the back of our mind, but here the fear grows, binds, and provides the enemy a foothold. This allows him to come in with deception attempting to detract from the glorious triumph that is Christ Risen.
The subject of death belongs to the Christian and is not to be given back to the enemy. The way we speak about death has in impact on these things. It lends power and weight in some way back to a place of darkness that it has no rightful place in. If you are held in any bondage or fear of death, bring it before Christ – It does not belong to you. Christ conquered death once and for all. As believers we have one death and two lives, when our natural and temporary life ends, we will enter eternity to take the place prepared for us, by the triumph of our risen Lord Jesus Christ
Thank you for sharing. Such a powerful thought to read.?❤