JOY for the AGES HE HAS RISEN INDEED

holy week 2020

MOUNTAIN BROOK COMMUNITY CHURCH

Holy = set apart,

distinct, like no other

Week = a period of seven days

Christians have long recognized the

significance of the final week of Jesus’

life. We call it “Holy Week.” It is a week

like no other.

During this week, Jesus proclaims that

“the hour has come for the Son of

Man to be glorified” (John 12:23). The

fullness of time has arrived.

During this week, the Creator of

the universe “humbled Himself by

becoming obedient to the point

of death, even death on a cross”

(Philippians 2:8).

During this week, the Promised Messiah

“was wounded for our transgressions;

He was crushed for our iniquities;

upon Him was the chastisement that

brought us peace, and with His stripes

we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

During this week, God our Savior

provides eternal salvation to all who

trust in Him, “not because of works by

us in righteousness, but according to

His own mercy” (Titus 3:5).

In other words, this week is all about

the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan to

save humanity. It is the week that gives

us hope in our present circumstances,

and hope for all eternity.

Use this devotional as a tool to reflect

on the greatness of our God and Savior,

the Lord Jesus Christ. Each day has a

Scripture text from the Gospel of Mark

and a devotional written by someone

from our ministry team.

Three words of instruction:

1. Read the text each day aloud

as we follow the story in the

Gospel of Mark.

2. Read the devotional thought

slowly to meditate on the Person

and Work of Christ.

3. Take time to pray to and

worship our Savior from this

passage of Scripture.

INTRODUCTION

It is our hope and prayer that this devotional will deepen your

love, devotion, and worship as you reflect on the great love that

God demonstrates for us through Jesus Christ.

- MBCC Ministry Team, Holy Week 2020

MARK 11:1-10

1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem,

to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount

of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples

2 and said to them, “Go into the village

in front of you, and immediately as you

enter it you will find a colt tied, on which

no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring

it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you

doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it

and will send it back here immediately.’”

4 And they went away and found a colt

tied at a door outside in the street, and

they untied it. 5 And some of those

standing there said to them, “What are

you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they

told them what Jesus had said, and they

let them go. 7 And they brought the colt

to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and

he sat on it. 8 And many spread their

cloaks on the road, and others spread

leafy branches that they had cut from

the fields. 9 And those who went before

and those who followed were shouting,

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in

the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the

coming kingdom of our father David!

Hosanna in the highest!”

palm

SUNDAY

TODAY marks the beginning of Holy

Week, with events that are central to

the Christian faith. On this Sunday,

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a lowly

colt, the fulfillment of Zechariah’s

prophecy.

Matthew’s account states that the

“whole city was stirred up”, saying,

“Who is this?” That question was

crucial then and it’s vital now. Many

would ask it throughout the week -

Pilate, Herod, a dying thief, a Roman

centurion and a Jewish priest.

We have much to glean from the events

of this first day. Ancient law required

citizens to render to the king anything

he requested. Jesus sent two disciples

to retrieve the colt upon which He

would enter Jerusalem. If questioned,

they were to respond, “the Lord has

need of it.” Our text simply says, “they

let them go”. We don’t know who

“they” were, but we do know the heart

they had. Whatever the Lord needed,

they willingly and unhesitatingly gave.

As He entered the city, Jesus received

a royal welcome. Cloaks and branches

were spread before Him, reminiscent

of the celebration following the

Maccabees’ military victory nearly two

centuries prior. It was the picture of

military might. Clearly, the expectation

of this crowd was that the Messiah

would deliver them from the bonds of

Rome.

They shouted “Hosanna”, which means

“save”. The salvation they sought

was a political, temporal deliverance.

However, this king was like no other

king. Jesus did not come to meet their

expectations; He came to meet their

needs. He came not as the conquering

king they pictured but as the suffering

Savior they needed. His salvation was

far greater than political deliverance

from the bonds of Rome. He came to

bring deliverance from sin, death and

the greater enemy.

As you enter this week, ask yourself

the question, “who is this?” Is Jesus

your Savior? Is He your Lord and King?

Are you ready and willing to surrender

whatever you have that He requests?

Hosanna is not just the cry of our hearts

at the start of our life with Christ. It is

the acknowledgment that all of life

must be lived in total dependence on

and surrender to Christ.

Jesus did not come to meet our

expectations but to meet our deepest

needs. So, we cry out on this and every

day, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who

comes in the name of the Lord!”

- Tim Kallam

HOSANNA in the HIGHEST

MARK 11:15-19

15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the

temple and began to drive out those who sold and those

who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables

of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold

pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry

anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching

them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house

shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’?

But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the

chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking

a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all

the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when

evening came they went out of the city.

MONDAY

Monday of Holy Week has its parallel

in our individual journey of faith. He

comes, priorities are overturned, and

lives are uprooted. The first thing He

did on entering Jerusalem is the first

thing He does on entering a life: He

goes straight to the temple of our

hearts, and cleans out whatever is not

part of God’s design.

In Mark 11:15-19, he describes the

Temple as a “den of thieves.” A place

supposed to be filled with worship and

love was now a place of price gouging

merchants taking advantage of God’s

people. While in collaboration with the

religious leaders, people were selling

sacrifices, imposing taxes, and making

huge profits off of God’s people in His

Holy Temple.

Jesus saw the condition of His Father’s

House accurately. Cold hearts, stale

religion, no prayer, vile thieves cashing

in on God’s people, perverting God’s

design of worship. While it may feel

uncomfortable, The Son responds in

holy, righteous indignation, executing

His zeal without sin. His fierce passion

for His Father’s House looks like a

ferocious lion, The Lion of the Tribe

of Judah. Yet, in the Temple that day

stood a Lamb... THE Passover Lamb.

Jesus, The Lamb of God, who takes

away the sin of the world (John 1:29)

comes to cleanse and purge the

Temple. He banishes false religion,

and exposes greed and cold distant

hearts. Days later, He willingly lays His

life down at Calvary on a Roman cross,

the altar of sacrifice, as the spotless

Lamb of God, paying the wages of

our sin. Conquering death in His death

and in His resurrection. He cleanses

each of us eternally so that a building

is no longer necessary, for the Temple

of the Holy Spirit is now the body of

each believer (1 Corinthians 6:9)! No

buying, no selling, no earning, no more

cold-hearted rituals and a gift of love

instead of law. Jesus cleared the way

to make His dwelling place our hearts!

And in His zeal, He desires for us to

accept this gift with a child-like faith

and commune with Him in spirit and

truth from the Temple of our hearts.

- Dana Sheheane

CLEANSING the TEMPLE

MARK 11:27-33

27 And they came again to Jerusalem.

And as he was walking in the temple,

the chief priests and the scribes and the

elders came to him, 28 and they said to him,

“By what authority are you doing these things,

or who gave you this authority to do them?”

29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question;

answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do

these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven

or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with

one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say,

‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say,

‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held

that John really was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus,

“We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you

by what authority I do these things.”

TUESDAY

The most important question that each

of us can answer in our lives is found

right in the middle of Mark’s Gospel. In

the eighth chapter, Jesus asks, “Who

do people say that I am?” The disciples

give some answers they’ve heard:

John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the

prophets. And then Jesus asks more

pointedly, “But who do you say that I

am?”

In Mark 11, the religious leaders are

frustrated. Just the day before, Jesus

had been in the temple rearranging

furniture (kinda like he owned the

place), and the temple leadership

has some questions. They basically

ask Jesus, “Where do you get off?

Who gave you the authority to do

these things?” And rather than giving

them the answer directly — that His

authority comes from the fact that He

is God Himself — Jesus asks them a

question. He asks, “Was the baptism of

John from heaven or from man?”

Then the mental maneuvering ensues

as the leaders weigh out their answer.

They can’t say John’s ministry was

from heaven, because then Jesus will

have them in a corner about why they

refused to believe; and they can’t say

it was from man, because there were

enough rowdy people around that

calling John’s ministry made-up would

not end well for them. So they take the

political, save-their-own-skin route by

saying they don’t know. And so Jesus

refuses to disclose where His authority

comes from.

What’s going on here? Ultimately, Jesus

is repeating a question He had asked

before — the question that defines

Mark’s whole Gospel — in a different

form. He’s once again asking, “Who do

you say I am?” What has been revealed

in Jesus’ life — the power of His word,

the power of His works — points to

the obvious answer. And even still the

religious leaders stubbornly refuse to

answer.

As we journey with Jesus toward

Golgotha in this most important of

weeks, the Lord of all things asks

those of us reading this Holy Week

devotional the same question. Who

do you say that I am? Perhaps He’s

just a good teacher, a positive moral

example, a side-interest, a free-time

hobby. But there’s only one answer that

is adequate for this Jesus of Nazareth:

He is Lord and Christ, sent from God to

redeem and restore all things.

- Clayton Hornback

LORD of ALL

WEDNESDAY

MARK 14:1-9

1 It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of

Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were

seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, 2 for they said,

“Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.”

3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,

as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster

flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the

flask and poured it over his head. 4 There were some who said

to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like

that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than

three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded

her. 6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her?

She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the

poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for

them. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what

she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9

And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the

whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

Smell is the most acute sense that we

have and is also the one most linked

to our memory. We’ve all experienced

this when we smell a certain food or

fragrance, and it brings us right back

to those familiar moments. For you it

could be a holiday pie in the oven or

freshly cut wood in a workshop. For

me it is kerosene. My grandfather was a

cold natured man who had a kerosene

heater in the living room. Every time

we went to his house we were greeted

at the door with the distinct smell

of that heater. Even to this day the

nostalgic aroma of kerosene brings me

right back to my grandfather’s house.

I imagine the people at Simon the

Leper’s house, the night of the

anointing of Jesus, experienced the

same thing. As they were reclining

at the table a woman entered with

an expensive jar of perfume. As she

broke open the jar the room filled

with the unforgettable fragrance of

her beautiful offering to Jesus. This

anointing resembled that of others

in the Old Testament where the High

Priests would have oil poured on their

heads to mark them as holy and set

apart. This was fitting for Jesus, but

it was more than that because it was

preparing Him as the true Great High

Priest for His death on the cross.

Many questions have been asked

about this event over the years. The

disciples asked, why was this money

wasted and not used for something

better? Scholars and theologians have

asked, who was this woman why did

she anoint Jesus? Although valid, the

true question that we should be asking

is, what was significant about her

offering to Jesus?

It was valuable and equivalent to a

year’s worth of wages. It was sacrificial

because nothing was spared, and it

was all given to God. It foreshadowed

Jesus’ death on the cross.

The jar that was broken and the oil

that was spilled allowed a beautiful

fragrance to fill the room, but

ultimately pointed to the broken body

of Jesus, and the spilling of His blood

that filled the world with the aroma of

His love forever.

Jesus gave it all.

All to him I owe.

My sin had left a crimson stain and

he washed it white as snow.

- Skot Montgomery

AROMA of LOVE

maundy

THURSDAY

MARK 14:12-2512 And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed

the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have

us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 13 And he sent

two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man

carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, 14 and wherever

he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says,

Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my

disciples?’ 15 And he will show you a large upper room furnished

and ready; there prepare for us.” 16 And the disciples set out and

went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they

prepared the Passover.

17 And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. 18 And as

they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say

to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 19

They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another,

“Is it I?” 20 He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is

dipping bread into the dish with me. 21 For the Son of Man goes

as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of

Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had

not been born.”

Institution of the Lord’s Supper

22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it

broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to

them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my

blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I

say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that

day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

What is the most memorable meal

you’ve shared with a loved one? What

was it about that meal that made

it so memorable, so special, and so

unforgettable? Why is it that a good

meal with those we love most has a

way of not only satisfying our hunger

but nurturing our hearts?

This evening, our Lord will share a meal

with his disciples. The meal that he will

share is simple in its ingredients, yet,

eternally profound in its significance.

Like a rich family recipe, this meal has

been passed down for generations

throughout redemptive history. This

specific meal with Jesus and his

disciples not only fell during Passover

week, but fell on the night when the

Passover lamb would be sacrificed and

a meal would be shared, celebrating

when God delivered his people from

the bondage of Egypt (Exodus 12-

14). Tonight, this meal represents

the greater salvation Jesus is about

to usher in, as the fulfillment of the

Passover Lamb, delivering us from the

bondage of sin, death, and the devil.

Like the disciples around the table, we

too will one day share a meal with our

King. At the end of the meal, Jesus

does not immediately look to his

coming death on the cross, he looks

beyond it. He says, “Truly, I say to

you, I will not drink again of the fruit

of the vine until that day when I drink

it new in the kingdom of God” (v. 25).

In other words, this meal is not only a

fulfillment of the Passover lamb but a

foreshadowing of the Marriage Supper

of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-10).

Today, as you share a meal with family

and friends, remember the meal that

Jesus shared with his disciples. Reflect

on his fulfillment as the Passover lamb.

Remember that we, too, will one day

share a meal with Jesus, the Lamb of

God who is our Triumphant King. Today,

as we sit in the tension of the already

but not yet, our Lord is preparing a

feast that he longs to share with us.

On that day, every wrong will be made

right, everything broken will be made

whole, and we will enjoy a feast with

the Lamb of God and the people of

God from all time and places.

- Ben Telfair

LAMB of GOD

MARK 15:33-41

33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land

until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi,

Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken

me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.”

36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave

it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him

down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain

of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion,

who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly

this man was the Son of God!”

40 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary

Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.

41 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there

were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

good

FRIDAY

the DEATH of CHRIST

In today’s passage, we read about

Jesus’ last moments on the cross.

Amidst the throws of death and

seeming abandonment, Jesus uttered

this agonizing cry:

“Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani?

My God, my God, why have you

forsaken me?” His heartbreaking statement might

lead you to question why a loving and

just God would forsake His only Son

in the midst of such torture, mockery,

and suffering.

The sobering reality is that Jesus

could not be in fellowship with a Holy

God while bearing the full weight and

curse of all mankind’s sins. Even more

brutal than the physical torment of

crucifixion, Jesus suffered spiritual

alienation from God so we could be

spared eternal separation from our

Heavenly Father.

Jesus’ cry may imply doubt or despair,

but we actually see faith displayed

in his final words — a quotation from

Psalm 22. Written centuries earlier by

David, Psalm 22 provided shockingly

accurate descriptions of Jesus’

sufferings. Yet, progressing from

lament to hope, the psalm concludes

with praise and thanksgiving for God’s

coming deliverance.

According to Jewish tradition, it was

customary for God’s people to cite

portions of the Pentateuch, prayers,

and psalms by referencing the first

words or sentence. When Jesus cried

out the psalm’s opening line, he likely

was expressing his anguish while also

citing the entire psalm as a reminder

of hope. It signaled his anticipation of

divine intervention and his confidence

in God’s sovereign, redemptive

plan. His loudly spoken words were

essentially a proclamation to all that

God’s ultimate victory was, and is,

secure. Even in the dark hour of his

death, hope was still alive.

Misunderstanding Jesus’ cry as a

summons to the prophet Elijah, a

few bystanders hoped to witness

a miraculous rescue. Little did they

know, they observed the greatest,

most miraculous deliverance of all

time as Jesus willingly yielded up his

spirit to complete his atoning work on

the cross and provide salvation for all.

The temple curtain, representing the

separation between a sinful people

and their Holy God, tore in two as

the Messiah’s death opened a way to

God’s presence.

Today, we can read Jesus’ cry as a

glorious reminder that because of

Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf, God

will never abandon us. Despite the evil,

pain, and injustice we encounter, God

has indeed overcome the troubles of

this world and will one day usher in a

new heaven and a new earth.

- Kelley Brown

SATURDAY

MARK 15:42-47

42 And when evening had come, since

it was the day of Preparation, that is, the

day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of

Arimathea, a respected member of the

council, who was also himself looking for the

kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate

and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was

surprised to hear that he should have already died.

And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether

he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the

centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to

Joseph. 46 And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him

down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb

that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against

the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother

of Joses saw where he was laid.

the SILENCE of SATURDAY

Jesus was murdered. Just like He said

He would be. The Rock of Ages laid

lifeless behind a heavy stone. That

stone was sealed, the entranced was

guarded, and the heart of God’s people

was shattered. Mark records just a few

chapters earlier that Jesus taught His

disciples that “the Son of Man is going

to be delivered into the hands of men,

and they will kill Him.” This impending

reality of a murdered Messiah waged

war against their longing to see a

violent warrior they were hoping

would come and overthrow the Roman

rule. Jesus spoke, but His disciples

missed it.

I can relate to the fear that paralyzed

Peter when He watched His Savior

be sentenced to death. I can relate

to the hopelessness of Mark as there

are barely any words in the human

language to even describe the

darkest of days when Jesus stopped

breathing. I can even relate to Joseph

of Arimathea as he wraps the bloody

corpse of the mighty Healer with linen

and spices just trying to restore some

semblance of beauty in the midst

of devastation. Yesterday Jesus was

speaking. Today there is silence at the

disciple’s table.

On this day, we remember that

Saturday comes for us all. In the

same way the disciples wept as they

mourned the death of Jesus, there

are Saturday seasons in the midst of

which we mourn the death of what we

thought would be our story. Loss of life.

Loss of relationships. Loss of control.

Sometimes winter needs to bury

something good so that something

great can erupt in the Spring. Like the

rock was carved out to make room

for the body of Jesus, sometimes our

plans are carved away to make room

for the power of Christ to manifest in

our lives. It’s the silence of Saturdays

that helps us hear the joy of Sundays.

Holy Saturday is a day that we

embrace the silence between the

slaughtered lamb and the roar of

the living Lion. Today is the day we

embrace the waiting so Jesus can

move our hearts of stone once again.

There is no resurrection without the

cross. There is no Sunday without the

Saturday. The disciples didn’t know it,

but their sorrow would be shattered

by the sound of Sunday. Child of God,

there may be pain in the night, but joy

comes in the morning.

- Drew Kearney

MARK 16:1-7

When the Sabbath was past, Mary

Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and

Salome bought spices, so that they might

go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the

first day of the week, when the sun had

risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they

were saying to one another, “Who will roll

away the stone for us from the entrance

of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw

that the stone had been rolled back—it was

very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they

saw a young man sitting on the right side,

dressed in a white robe, and they were

alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be

alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who

was crucified. He has risen; he is not here.

See the place where they laid him. 7 But go,

tell his disciples and Peter that he is going

before you to Galilee. There you will see

him, just as he told you.”

Easter

SUNDAY

REALITIES of the RESURRECTIONIf the story of Jesus had ended on

Friday afternoon of that pain-filled

weekend with His death and burial,

Peter and the other followers of Jesus

would have been left devastated.

The sea of emotion that they must

have experienced while watching the

events of that weekend unfold, from

a friend’s kiss of betrayal, to the false

accusations, beatings and torture,

to the eventual sentence of death,

would have surely consumed them.

Watching their claimed Messiah die

a most agonizing and painful death

would likely have marked them for

life. Extinguished hope, broken hearts

and overwhelming despair must have

flooded their lives as they entered the

Sabbath of that weekend.

Yet, likely, no one was more guilt-

ridden and despondent than Peter.

Only days earlier, he had bragged to

Jesus that he would never disown Him,

standing ready to die for Him. But just

hours later, at the curiosity of mere

onlookers, Peter disowned his friend

three times in the span of one evening.

Undoubtedly, the unthinkable events

over those last few days must have cut

him to the core.

Peter and the others could never

have fully grasped that, at the dawn

of the new week, their death-induced

sorrow and their sin-filled guilt

would be instantly transformed into

indescribable joy and a celebration of

eternal proportions.

When a few women arrived at the

tomb early on that Sunday morning

to prepare Jesus’ lifeless body for

final burial, they encountered God’s

messenger inside the otherwise

empty tomb. The implications of the

messenger’s words have defined our

faith for eternity - “He has risen!” “But

go, tell his disciples and Peter…”

For them, like us, before the events

of that epic day, all of mankind was

in a state of hopelessness. But the

resurrection confirmed that Jesus

is truly the Messiah, that death is

defeated forever, that eternal life

is freely offered, that Heaven is a

real home, and that the immense

suffering common to this world is but

a temporary reality.

Even more, God’s special directive

to ensure that Peter received this

good news paints a beautiful picture

of God’s amazing grace: undeserved

forgiveness to sinful, broken people by

a loving father who knows our entire

story.

Joy for the Ages! He has Risen Indeed!

- Ralph Bishop

www.mbcc.us