PEA RIDGE — It always seems that the Lent season is so busy.
In the church, once Ash Wednesday rolls around, everything is focused on making preparations for Easter. There is so much to do. There are special services to plan and rehearsals for those services, special pieces of music for the choirs to prepare. Don’t forget the Easter egg hunts and the various Easter parties for the kids to attend.
When Holy week arrives, there is barely time to even stop and think about how much there is to do.
It really was not much different for Jesus and the disciples. Jesus made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. We commemorate that day as Palm Sunday.
From that day on, Jesus would only have five more days until he would die.
During those five days, he would examine the temple, preach and teach, cleanse the temple, prepare for the Passover, celebrate the Passover, wash the disciples’ feet, give the great commission, share his last meal with his friends, be betrayed by Judas, pray in the garden, be arrested, stand trial, be tortured and finally crucified and buried in a tomb.
When Jesus died on the cross, it seemed as all hope was lost for the remaining 11 disciples and all the other friends and family of Jesus. That is until Easter morning. Mary was the first one to discover theempty tomb. The disciples and followers of Jesus were scared for their own lives.
What would happen to them? They had just lost the Master. The disciples were gathered in a room with the doors locked and the windows shut up tight for fear that some of the religious authorities might find them. In despair, the disciples were asking themselves the question, “Now what do we do?”
After we get past the business of Holy week, and Easter has been celebrated and is behind us, we ask ourselves, “Now what do we do?”
We do exactly what the disciples did. We get up and worship a risen Lord and get busy proclaiming all the things he taught and preached and live our lives by the example of how the Christ showed us we should live. Our God asksfor nothing more and expects nothing less.
May God’s blessings be upon you this spring season and always.
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Editor’s note: Brian Timmons is the pastor of Pea Ridge and Brightwater Methodist Churches. He be contacted at 925-0167 or by e-mail at [email protected].
Church, Pages 2 on 04/18/2012