April 5, 2020

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for April 5th: Matthew 21:1-11, Psalm 118:1-2,19-29, Isaiah 50:4-9, Psalm 31:9-26, Philippians 2:5-11, Matthew 26:14-27:66; Theme: Passion/Palm Sunday Philippians: This is a special service, a time to get in touch with how much God loves us, to get in touch with the sacrifice Jesus made for all of us by becoming a human, living our life, and ultimately dying our death. Christ starts out in the presence of God. Christ starts out in heaven with all of the fullness of God. But he put that all aside. Paul says that God emptied himself to come to earth. As we relive the passion story – we learn the true nature of God – mercy, righteousness, compassion. As we relive the passion story, we are encouraged to take on the mind of Christ. It is not necessary for us to sacrifice, the sacrifice has already been made for us. But we can be grateful for that sacrifice. We can let the sacrifice affect the way we go through life. If Christ thought of us, we can think of others. All that we do should show the world that Jesus, the Son of God is also our Lord and Savior. Psalm 31: The psalms have a way to express all of the emotions of being human. These are songs of faith that can give us comfort. Jesus recited the psalms during his time of suffering. He said into your hands I commit your spirit. In other words, in hard times I believe in God. This psalm is a prayer for someone who has been treated unfairly and who suffers for something that he/she did not do. The psalm describes all of the emotions that one would feel in trying to come to terms with their faith. This is one of the psalms which describes what Jesus went through on his way to the cross. Jesus shows us how to keep the faith in those times in our life when we are suffering, especially when we suffer for something that we did not do. Christ’s faith helped him to endure and to get through. Our faith in Christ does the same for us. Questions: How do you feel about the Passion of Christ? What does it mean to follow Christ to the cross? When have you had to suffer unjustly? What words of courage help you to get through the situation?