Passion Week: Good Friday

Activity: With your parent's permission, get out some cocoa powder. Give it a sniff. Doesn't it smell good? 

Now put a teaspoon of the cocoa powder on a plate. With very clean hands, dip the tip of your finger into the powder and taste. Yuck! Not what you expected, is it? The same is true for vanilla. It smells delicious, but a tiny taste reveals it tastes awful by itself. 

However if you mix it together with other ingredients both taste good in the end. 

Try making Chocolate Mug Cake...it's delicious.

Like the awful taste of cocoa powder alone, have you ever had something happen not like you expected. You expected something great and...it was awful. 

That's what happened on Good Friday. While Jesus had told his disciples many times, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” (Matthew 20:18-19), somehow Jesus' words didn't make any sense. After all, just a few day ago, the crowds welcomed Jesus as their King! Things were going well...until just after midnight on Friday.

While in the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas came with with his own crowd. The same feet Jesus had washed hours ago, were now walking toward Him. And with a kiss, Judas betrayed Jesus, and He was arrested. This was not the plan. Kings don't get arrested. Jesus' friends had fled. Things got worse. The trials were unfair, His friends who could have spoken up for Him remained silent. But even then a presence filled the room. 

The nard from a few days ago would have slowly and gently begun to fill the space. They knew they were in Jesus' presence. They just didn't want to believe they were in God's. Then things got worse....

Pilate tried to bargain with a pressing mob. Pilate thought his bargain for Jesus' life over Barabbas was foolproof. He lost the bargain. And Jesus was condemned to die. 

For three hours Jesus hung on the cross. 

The scent of the nard and sweat would have been in the air around those who dared enough to come close. Even then he had a servant's heart. He asked for forgiveness for those who did this. He even gave hope to the repentant thief that he would be with Jesus in Paradise later, that death was not the end. And then, at about 3 o'clock, Jesus died. 

The One who was going to be their King was dead.

Strange things happened at that moment. And earthquake shook the land. The veil that separated the Most Holy Place was torn in two in a sickening ripping sound that echoed throughout the temple. The four inch thick curtain tore from the very top to the bottom all by itself, as if the dividing line between God and man had been erased in the sand. “Surely he was the Son of God!” the Centurion said. 

But Jesus was still dead. The soldiers proved it. They released his body to his mother and John and few of his followers to be buried. But they had to do it quick! Sundown for the Sabbath was only hours away and they had to be home by then. By then it would be dark anyways. What did it matter? There wasn't even time to put spices on his body for burial. 

But yet, as they wrapped him, the scent of the nard from nearly a week ago was still there. It would have to do. They wouldn't be able to come back until Sunday morning to do a proper job. They placed Jesus' body in a borrowed tomb and rolled the stone in place.

 Dead people don't rule. 

This was not how it was supposed to be.

Passion Week: Holy Thursday

Activity: With your parent's permission, ask your parent if you can help with the cleaning. Maybe you could wash the dishes, sweep the floors, vacuum the living room, or do a load of laundry and put it away. Do whatever they ask you to clean cheerfully and with a smile.

Cleaning, mopping, washing...all things we think that it is “someone else's” job to do. If we lived when people had servants or maids we might be tempted to leave all that work to them. But the reality is is chores are part of living in a household. From cooking to cleaning to fixing things, we each have a job to do...and how we do that job is what Jesus taught his disciples on this Thursday evening.

When they arrived for the meal, instead of waiting for the servant to clean their hands and feet before the meal as was custom, Jesus put a towel around His waist and went to work, washing the disciples feet. 

Jesus had already told them “The greatest among you will be your servant.” (Matt 23:11) Now He was demonstrating that: He was here to serve “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark10:45). 

So as he washed each disciples feet, even Judas', each got to spend time in his presence and learn this directly from Him. As he dipped his hands in the water, the nard on Jesus' skin would have lightly scented the water, carrying the scent of being with him.

Throughout the meal He reminded His disciples of that the things that were about to happen were all part of the the plan. Jesus, knowing he would die in less that a day's time was the servant thinking of others, encouraging his disciples, and praying for them. He had told them on the way to Jerusalem the plan: “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and after three days He will rise.” (Mark 9:31). And after dinner, long after Judas had left to set the next day's events into motion, Jesus and the remaining disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. 

The scent of Jesus, 
the Servant Leader, 
among them lingered 
as the walked up the hill to the garden. 
Jesus was with them---they could tell it by the nard. 

This is what it means to be a true servant to others: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:5-8

True leadership can only be found in serving others as Jesus showed. Remember: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”(Colossians 3:17). Maybe throughout the coming week and next you can find more ways to help and serve others. Whether it is doing something without being asked, doing something cheerfully after being asked, or even quietly helping someone else in a way that only other person who knows you did that is Jesus! Find ways to leave His Servant's scent in everything you do! 

Passion Week: Silent Wednesday

Activity: With your parent's permission, gather the ingredients, measuring spoons, and a Ziploc bag and follow the recipe for Fall Spice Blend. 

Place the ingredients in the bag, close it, and gently shake it to mix---and you will have a yummy blend of spices that is good for any time of year, not just fall. Mix a tablespoon with a cup of sugar in a separate container and you will have a delicious topping for toast or oatmeal or anything else that sounds good.

Recipes are like a puzzle. Sometimes you don't know what its going to look like until its all done. Runny cake batter doesn't look very tasty, but warm yummy cupcakes fresh out of the oven when they are done are! Sometimes the Bible has “puzzle pieces” too that are hard to figure out until the last piece is in place. Often today is referred to as “Silent Wednesday” as the Bible does not say much about what Jesus did on this day. But Silent does not mean God was not at work. Let's put together the puzzle pieces and follow the scent...

The first piece most of us know is when the Wisemen or Magi visited Jesus as an infant. They brought him gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. The Bible tells us that the Wisemen “bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”(Matt 2:11) They worshiped Him. This wasn't just a baby shower. These gifts helped Mary and Joseph start a new life in Egypt. But these gifts were also part of a greater puzzle God had planned.

In the Tabernacle and later the Temple there was the Alter of Incense. It was made from wood, overlaid with gold. And on it burned a mixture of incense continually which filled the room. 

It reminded the people of that our prayers rise to a Listening God. You could tell if the priest had been in the presence of God: You could smell it on him! The scent of the incense permeated everything.

You couldn't fake being in God's presence. Everyone would know. That incense had a special blend...frankincense, myrrh and one other ingredient...can you guess what that oil was?

 Nard!

So when Mary anointed and worshiped Jesus she completed the scents of the altar of Incense: the missing puzzle piece just before his death. Jesus was fully human (think of the wood), but fully God (think of the gold) and His death provided a connection to God (just like smoke rising from the Altar of Incense). 

So when Mary completed the last “puzzle piece” Jesus reminded his disciples she was preparing Him for His death. God had it all planned from birth to death! And once again, just like then, people can tell if You've been in God's presence...His “scent” stays with you...even in the silent times.

Passion Week: Holy Tuesday

Activity: Get an apple. 

With your parent's permission, eat it all the way to the core to get to the seeds. If your parent wants to help you, they can cut an apple in half and help you get the seeds out. How many did you find? In every apple there are up to 5 seeds. Plant one and you get a...drum roll, please...an apple tree! An apple tree grows apples that produces fruit, that produces seeds, that grows into plants that make more apples...the cycle continues. 

Now on Monday,

 before Jesus went to clean house, He saw a fig tree in the distance, now watch...

The tree looked good from a distance but it didn't produce fruit. 

So as a lesson to His disciples, He curse it and when they came back by on Tuesday, on His way to go teach in the Temple, they passed the fig tree and it had died in one days time! This was a lesson to the disciples that looking good wasn't good enough. He wanted His disciples to bear fruit, no matter how small.

So Jesus wants his disciples to produce fruit for Him. He doesn't want us to just look good, He wants us fill us with His Spirit so people will see Jesus in us. He wants us to start with the basics: Love, for "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35...and the rest of the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) will follow drawing others to Him though our lives.

So as Jesus stood in the Temple teaching throughout that Tuesday, once again the scent of the nard filled the space around Him. You couldn't help but know you were in Jesus' presence. And if you live out His love, people will know YOU are still in His presence today 😊

Passion Week: Holy Monday

Activity: With your parent's permission, find a cupboard, a dresser drawer, or a toy box that could use a good cleaning and sorting. Clean everything out. Start sorting. Put back only the things that belong. Throw out the trash. Put the items that do not belong back where they do. Presto! You have a clean cupboard that can be used as it was intended!

The same thing happened not once, but twice during Jesus' time here on earth. When He first began his ministry, He found his Father's house, the Temple, had turned from being a place of prayer into a place of cheating would be worshippers. He decided to clean house (John 2:13-25).

The day after Palm Sunday, Jesus returned to the Temple once again and found that merchants had overtaken parts of the Temple that were meant for people to come to God. Not only that, they were once again cheating people in His Father's house! Time to clean house again. He made a whip and began to clear out the places where thieving merchants were stealing and deceiving people. Once again, His Father's house, and this special area, was restored to prayer. What was so special about this place? This is where those who weren't Jewish could freely come and worship God. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, Jewish and Non-Jewish Gentiles. 

And once again, As Jesus stood there seeing His Father's house restored to prayer, as the the sweat poured out, the scent of the nard from a few days ago began to fill the space around him. Now His Father's house was as it should be: cleaned out! Now the place  for sinners to come to pray and worship had been restored. I'd like to think He smiled 😊

Passion Week: Palm Sunday-The Triumphal Entry

Activity: Gather a paper towel roll (or two if you want to challenge someone!), something small to eat like mini-marshmallows, chocolate chips, or even cereal like Cheerios or Fruit Loops. Now have fun watching the video below.

People were so focused on Jesus being the king they wanted they missed Him being the Savior they needed. So the same people who praised Him with Hosannas, would be shouting "Crucify Him!" in a few days time. Like looking through a tube, they could only see the narrow focus of the now and their wants, not the eternity and the why of His coming: atonement, forgiveness, for their sins. 

Date Palms

So today, take time to praise Jesus as the coming King (think of the scent filling the room). Shout "Hosanna!", but remember that Hosanna means "to rescue, to save"... And that, my friends, is why Jesus came ❤

Passion Week: Palm Sunday Eve

Activity: With your parent's permission , spray just a small amount of perfume or air freshener in the air. Wait a moment. Can you smell it? Does it seem to get stronger as you wait? Does it seem to go away? Then leave the room for a few minutes, then come back in. Can you smell it, even faintly?

Our prayers of praise and thanks are like that perfume. On this night, the day before Jesus went into Jerusalem riding on a colt, He was at a dinner. Lazarus, whom Jesus had just raised from the dead, was one of the guest of honor. His grateful sister Martha used her talent of hospitality to show her thankfulness that evening to Jesus and served the guests. Mary, his other very grateful sister, also had a special way to thank Jesus planned. She took a jar of nard and anointed Jesus' head and feet as act of worship. The scent filled the room...in fact the scent filled the week. It would have been so strong it would have been smelled on Him all throughout Holy Week...Palm Sunday, In the Temple, Before Pilate, on the Cross, and Wrapped in the Tomb!

Our praise is that way: People can tell it on us! There is just something different that just can't figure out: Our gratefulness and praise to our God who is more than worthy (and we can let them in on our secret 🙂 ).

Activity: Write a praise list. Start off with 10 items of praise. Add 10 more the next day, 10 more the next...in only 10 day you'll have 100 things and in 100 days you have 1000! Take the 1000 Praise Challenge and see how that changes the "scent" of your week!