Jesus Sang at Passover

image from photo bucket

This yearly celebration of Passover was different as Jesus assembled his disciples in the upper room.  He led his disciples in one of the Seven Jewish Feasts, which he observed throughout his life. (Luke 2:41) During the evening meal, Jesus led his disciples in singing of Psalms.  Tradition suggests they sang through seven hymns called the Hallel, which means "Praise God".  These songs were from Psalms 115-118.  The final hymn, called the Great Hallel, Psalms 136 was sung last. (some sources differ on which Psalms)

Jesus sang before Golgotha.

Mark 14:26 "When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives."

also in Matt. 26:30

Everyone in Jerusalem that evening sang the same hymns as Christ!  He, the author, sang his own compositions.  Jesus was singing about his own fulfillment of these hymns. The angels heard the singing  throughout Jerusalem being led by the author. Is that not a visual?  Doesn't this make you just stop in your tracks and shout Hallelujah to the King?

As I read through these scriptures this year, preparing for Passover and Easter, I was just so moved to imagine my God singing.  He was encouraging himself in songs, he was singing about himself.  He engaged in singing Psalms before His darkest hour.

Psalm 118:22-23 The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD'S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and will worship the Lord.  I will fulfill my vows to the Lord, in the very presence of all his people, in the courts of the Lord’s house – within you, Jerusalem.  Hallelujah! (Psalm 116:17-19).


I called to the Lord in distress; the Lord answered me and put me in a spacious place.  The Lord is for me; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?  With the Lord for me as my helper, I will look in triumph on those who hate me (Psalm 118:5-7).


I will not die, but I will live and proclaim what the Lord has done.  The Lord disciplined me severely but did not give me over to death (Psalm 118:17-18).

Heb. 2:12 - " I will declare your name to my brother. In the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to you."

During this season of remembering our Christ, may you sing!  May you lift your voice; may you enter into His courts with songs of praise.  May we see our Saviour singing over us.  I hope you have time to re-read these Psalms with the thoughts of Christ singing them before he went to the Garden of Gethsemane. 

Passover

My family's Seder meal last year, just click on Seder and it will take you to the post.

Palm Sunday - At the Sound of His Great Name!

photo bucket picture


John 12:12-13 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, {13} Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Matthew 21:1-7 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, {2} Saying unto them,Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. {3} And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.{4} All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, {5} Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. {6} And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, {7} And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.

Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

This is another artist which we heard last week. This song just brought us all to our feet and our hands lifted high....at the sound of His great name.  This video is only the lyrics and the song.  Jesus- Worthy is the Lamb!

If you don't care to listen here are the lyrics:

Your Great Name

[Verse 1:]
Lost are saved; find their way; at the sound of your great name 
All condemned; feel no shame, at the sound of your great name 
Every fear; has no place; at the sound of your great name 
The enemy; he has to leave; at the sound of your great name 

[Chorus:]
Jesus, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us, Son of God and Man 
You are high and lifted up; that all the world will praise your great name 

[Verse 2:]
All the weak; find their strength; at the sound of your great name 
Hungry souls; receive grace; at the sound of your great name 
The fatherless; they find their rest; at the sound of your great name 
Sick are healed; and the dead are raised; at the sound of your great name 

[Chorus:]
Jesus, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us, Son of God and Man 
You are high and lifted up; that all the world will praise your great name 

[Bridge:]
Redeemer, My Healer, Almighty 
My savior, Defender, You are My King 

[Chorus:]
Jesus, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us, Son of God and Man 
You are high and lifted up; that all the world will praise your great name

Blessings on this Palm Sunday and this week which holds Passover and Easter!  He is Risen!!

Last video for awhile...sorry, they just seemed to say what is on my heart, and I so enjoy music.

Peter, Oh Peter

google picture

Continuing on my heart preparation walk to the Empty Grave, I have focused on the 12 disciples this season.  Peter seemed to jump from the pages of the accounts of Jesus' life.  Everyone should be able to relate to some characteristics of Peter.  I know the Lord picked this handful of 12 in order to show us how much He loves us, because in the assortment of characters we can all relate.

Characteristics of Peter from NIV and my own observations:

• often spoke without thinking, was brash and impulsive
• during Jesus' trial denied three times that he even knew Jesus
• rebuked by Jesus "get behind me Satan"
• later found it hard to treat Gentile Christian's as equal
• had the courage to walk out to Jesus on the water

"I also say to you that you are Peter and upon this rock, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it."  Matt. 16:18

Bread and Wine - Turning   Henry Drummond (this is a small section of the devotional that brought me more understand of Peter and My Lord)
The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter...and Peter went outside and wept bitterly. Luke 22: 61-62
  --------  But there is something in Peter's life that is much greater than his sins.  It is his repentance.  We all too easily can relate to Peter in his sin, but few of us grasp the wonder of his repentance.  Sinful Peter is once man, and repentant Peter is another; and may of us who kept his company along those worn steps to sin have left him to trace the tear-washed path of repentance alone.  But the real lesson in Peter's life is one of repentance.
  What then can we learn from Peter's turning around?  First, it was not Peter who turned. It was the Lord who turned and looked at Peter. When the cock crew, that might have kept Peter from falling further.  But he was just in the very act of sin.  And when a person is in the thick of sin his last thought is to throw down his arms and repent.  So Peter never thought of turning, but the Lord turned.  And when Peter would rather have looked anywhere else than at the Lord, the Lord looked at Peter.  This scared-noticed fact is the only sermon needed to anyone who sins - that the Lord turns first.

  My prayer - Lord may I have the heart of repentance of Peter. Thank you Lord for turning first upon me.

Praise God the Lord turns first!

Preparing for the Greatest Love Gift

 I am continuing to prepare my children and myself for the cross.  The greatest love gift ever given and the victory that comes from the Risen Lord becomes my daily focus.

I go and pull out our banner that reminds us of the road to the cross.  In early parenthood, my husband bought me the book, "Family Celebrations: Meeting Christ in Your Holidays" by Ann Hibbard.  She gives the instructions for making the banner and devotionals for the road to Calvary. We start at the fall and continue through the Bible reading God's redemptive story.  We finish with the victory of the empty grave.

On Easter morning we flip over the banner and go through the house shouting,  "He Has Risen".  The flip side shows Jesus with his hands open wide having conquered the grave.   Praise and Worship music fills the air.

Along this journey to the cross, we also read other books that remind us of the sacrifice that Jesus made for our sins.  Each child was given a book for Easter and they are enjoyed by all. (2011 my personal focus has been on the different personalities of the disciples...how I am like them, doubting and denying)

Since passover season usually arrives during this time, we also celebrate the Feast of Passover, like Jesus celebrated.  We learn about seeing Christ in the Seven Jewish Feasts.  Some years, we fully celebrate the feasts and at other times, we merely read about them.

This year I will read "the greatest story ever told" to Benjamin from his new Bible.  The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name by Sally Lloyd-Jones. This Bible is for ages 0-9, one of the best I have ever used with my children.

As I guide my children to the cross, I will also examine my walk with the Lord.  "Taste and See" by John Piper is helping me see my Saviour in a more intimate way. (This is a re-post from last year so this year I am going through Bread and Wine.)

As we enjoy spring, we also anticipate the EMPTY GRAVE!!!

Last years Seder Meal post - click - Passover Meal

Embracing the Season of Resurrection Life.

Preparing My Heart

In preparation for Easter this year the Lord is drawing me to Him.  This season He is teaching me more on His Sovereignity.  A word we throw out in Christiandom, but to get our heads around the concept of sovereignty is another story. The beginning of preparing my heart for the victory of the RESURRECTION I am reading through Bread and Wine by varies authors.  Since God is teaching through different authors I will be sharing through their words on different writings that have penetrated my heart and spirit..

Discipleship and the Cross - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

But there is yet another suffering and yet another disgrace that no Christian escapes.  Only Christ's own suffering is the suffering of reconciliations.  Yet because Christ did suffer for the sake of the world's sins, because the entire burden of sin fell upon him, and because Jesus Christ bequeaths to the disciplines the fruit of his suffering - because of all this, temptation and sin also fall upon the disciples.  It covers them with pure shame, and expels them from the gates of the city like the scapegoat.  Thus does the Christian come to bear sin and guilt for others.

Individual Christians would collapse under the weight of this, were they not themselves borne by him who bore all sins. In this way, however, they can, in the power of Christ's own suffering, overcome all the sins that fall upon them by forgiving them. Thus do Christians become the bearers of burdens: "Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ" Gal. 6:2  Just as Christ bears our burdens, so also are we to bear the burdens of our brothers and sisters.  They law of Christ which must be fulfilled is the bearing of the cross.  The burden of my brother or sister that I am to bear is not only that person's external fate, that person's character and personality, but is in a very real sense that person's sin.  I cannot bear it except by forgiving it, in the power of the cross of Christ, in which I, too, have a portion.

Those who are not prepared to take up the cross, those who are not prepared to give their life to suffering and rejection of others, lose community with Christ, and are not disciples.  Discipleship is community to the suffering Christ.

Praise God for the Cross!!

Our Seder/Passover

Our family celebrated  the Seder meal this Passover season, while remembering how Christ fulfilled all that was written in the books of Moses and the Prophets.

I wish I could say we do this every year, but we don't.  I have years that I can only manage three April birthdays and Easter.  I wasn't raised with the knowledge of the Seven Feasts, and therefore, I am still learning.  I began my journey of discovery while home educating my children.

This year, five grown children sat around our table, along with an observant fourteen-year-old and a curious four-year-old.

I labored over the table with the desire to present something beautiful and meaningful for my family.

Adorning the table was silver, fine china, crystal goblets, folded linen napkins, and freshly-polished, silver-and-crystal candlesticks.

Flowers announced the arrival of Spring, while also symbolizing the celebration of Jesus' fulfillment of scripture.  My colorful floral arrangement held roses, lilies and other varieties.  As I started to arrange the flowers, I remembered that Christ has been described as the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley.

My husband lead in the reading of the Haggadah. I welcomed the evening with the blessing, while lighting the candles... so much to be taken in, so much to be absorbed.  Would my children understand the significance of all the meanings hidden in our Passover meal?

Our glasses were filled four times throughout the night.  The Seder plate was set before us as we participated in the understanding of the shank bone of the Lamb, the matzah, the bitter herbs, the haroset and karpas.

The Afikoman("that which comes after") was hidden in the house while the four-year-old covered his eyes. He later ventured out between the services to find the hidden Afikoman, a symbol of Jesus' being hidden in the tomb for three days and three nights. 

Such rich meaning in all that was done...the holes in the matzah symbolizing how Jesus was pierced for our transgressions... the brown lines, his stripes and bruising ...and unleavened bread, because He knew no sin. That alone says it all.

The dinner served was prepared by different female hands.  Our time together was precious and, as always, short.  The hope and desire of my heart was that each of them heard what the Lord wanted to speak to them.

We reclined against pillows that were made years before at another shared Seder with precious friends.  A reminder of God's people no longer being in slavery.

Thursday, we will continue our banner on our road to Calvary, the Cross and the Resurrection.  Each day we will continue our readings on the meaning of a Risen Lord.

For now, I put the dishes back in place, set the table for Sunday and reflect on the evening spent trying to pass down to my children truths that are so important in my heart. I also realize that only God blesses our obedience with heart changes... our efforts are but filthy rags. My prayer today is that my obedience will produce a closer walk with the Lord for each of us that reclined at the Passover table.

May you enjoy this season with your family and all the richness it brings.