THE ROADTO GLORY 

Holy Week Devotions

Golden Valley Lutheran Church

Loving Shepherd Early Learning Center763-544-2810 www.gvlc.net

PALM SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 2020

SAVIOR

THE WORD: Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Mark 11:9 -10, NIV)

THE FLESH: The people shouted praises of adoration in recognition of Jesus as the Messiah, on his triumphal entry to Jerusalem.

Is there a time in your life that you fully recognized Jesus as your Savior?

After a very challenging time in my life, I remember that I started calling out to Jesus, as my Savior, in my prayer life. A person accused me of something I did not do. As I attempted to defend myself, I had great fear that I might lose many things that were important to me. In much anguish, I cried out, “Jesus, please save me! Please reveal the truth! Please forgive me for any part I had in adding to the misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the truth.”

Thanks be to God, I was later redeemed. The accuser even came forward and stated that she made the whole thing up. I was overwhelmed with gratitude towards Jesus, the Son of God! I knew He was the one who saved me that day!

He is our Savior.

THE CALL: Dear Jesus our Savior, Thank you for coming to earth to rescue us from our sin and to save us from evil in the world. Empower us, through the Holy Spirit, to acknowledge you to others as the Messiah. To encourage others to be drawn to your saving grace. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

HOLY MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2020

THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE

THE WORD: And He began to teach and say 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 Robbers’ Den.” (Mark 11: 17 NASB)

THE FLESH: Whenever I leave home for a vacation, I love to clean everything in the house thoroughly, partly for the joy of later coming home and having everything looking so nice.

Jesus, knowing He would not have many days left before His passion, also worked to leave His house cleaned and in order.

The outer temple area, called the Court of the Gentiles, was intended for them to gather in for worship and prayer. It was, however, being used by merchants who had set up animal pens and money tables for selling doves for sacrifice and for exchanging local currency for the half-shekel, which was required for the temple tax. The merchants were known to charge exorbitant rates and grossly unfair prices, and even to use unfair balance scales and sell inferior products.

Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves and would not allow anyone to

carry merchandise through the court. He then began to teach and tell them that “My house shall be a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a Robbers’ Den.”

We, too, need to heed these words of Jesus. Paul says in I Cor. 3:16, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Our lives, too, as temples of God, need daily cleaning and prayer.

Luther discussed “daily contrition and repentance” when teaching the significance of baptism. We are daily to cleanse our lives of our sins by coming to the Father in prayers of repentance and devotion. The blessings of forgiveness and a cleansed heart—oh, what a Joy!

THE CALL: Lord God, thank You for sending Your Son to remind us once again of our needs for repentance and cleansing. Forgive us for all our wrongdoings. We praise You for Your death and resurrection so that we too can be cleansed. Amen.

HOLY TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 2020

TOUGH LOVE

THE WORD: Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord Our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31 NASB)

THE FLESH: It all comes down to love.

Love God. Love your neighbor. That is all we have to do. And, funny enough, it’s all we really want, isn’t it? I mean, who among us goes around in life not yearning for somebody to speak kindly to us, to tell us how much we mean to them, to extend a hand when we’ve fallen, to cheer with us when things go well, or to grieve beside us when we’ve suffered a loss? From the very beginning, God created us to be in community. Isn’t it interesting that the only thing He said was not good at creation was that Adam was alone (Genesis 2:18)? Even though Adam had all of creation and was face-to-face with the Lord, in His sovereignty, God created another being for Adam, and the future commandment to love your neighbor became necessary.

And, yet, not even then were we humans good at loving.

No, very quickly, Eve demonstrated how sin gets in the way of love. And then Adam. And then Cain. And, oh, how difficult it is for us to do even this simple thing – the thing which we so deeply desire for ourselves and know in our heart of hearts is right and good – on our own.

And that is why I cling to Jesus today. Because, alone, I cannot love those whom I desire to love. In fact, I don’t even desire to love them in the way they deserve to be loved. But with Jesus, my heart begins to change, and I am filled with compassion for people I don’t even know in ways that I never before thought possible. The previously unlovable suddenly become lovable. I begin to see others in what can only be through His eyes, and I am given a glimpse of what Jesus meant when he said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God,” (Mark 12:34).

So, today, let us go out into the world and help others see a glimpse of that kingdom, too.

THE CALL: God of Love, We know you command us to love, and we so deeply desire love, yet we so greatly fail at loving in our communities. Even in our own families, we prioritize ourselves over those around us. We ask for your forgiveness and for your help. Give us eyes to see others as you see them and give us hearts of compassion for all your people, so we may be better stewards of the relationships in our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.

HOLY WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020

BEAUTIFUL THINGS

THE WORD: “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.” (Mark 14:6, NIV)

THE FLESH: Mary shows incredible devotion for Jesus throughout their time together. When we read about her in the New Testament it is clear to us how loyal she was.

Mary anointed Jesus with expensive perfume. The disciples were harsh with her, but they were being shortsighted. Mary’s act of devotion is praised by Jesus. Soon, he would suffer pain and torment and be executed like a criminal, who didn’t receive the same care after death. Mary was showing respect for Jesus’s sacrifice before it even happened.

We all have people in our lives that we are devoted to. Perhaps it is our parents or a teacher that draws our loyalty. Parents are entirely devoted to their children. We would do a lot for the important people in our lives, even if it meant sacrificing something valuable in order to express our devotion.

When my grandfather was sick with cancer, my mother devoted a majority of her time to make sure she was there for him, that he had everything he needed, and that he was comfortable. Between work and her dad, she sacrificed her personal and family time to honor her dad with her loyalty and devotion. Just like Mary, she gave her dad all she had of herself.

Jesus is our all in all. He is deserving of our devotion and worship.

THE CALL: Dear Heavenly Father, you sent your Son to walk the difficult road to glory so that we can walk the easy road. Help us to be devoted like Mary. She placed material and earthly possessions aside and put Jesus first. Help us to do likewise. In Jesus’ name, amen.

MAUNDY THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020

FROM TREASON TO TRIUMPH

THE WORD: The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born. (Mark 14:21)

THE FLESH: “But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” Wow. Those are some harsh (yet honest) words!

In this passage, Jesus was foreshadowing that Judas would betray him with a kiss in exchange for silver. Judas would hand Jesus over to the chief priests for his eventual crucifixion. And then Christ went on to declare it would be better for Judas if he had not been born.

This statement was implying that the eternal suffering in hell that awaited Judas for committing such an unthinkable, horrendous crime against our Lord and Savior would be so dreadful, so treacherous, so painful that it would have been better that he never even existed at all.

Sadly, this eternal punishment awaits all the unbelievers of the world. It would be better to have never come into this world than await hell’s eternal judgment.

These are hard words to hear, but thankfully the grace extended by God through Christ’s ultimate sacrifice of his own life offers hope to the entire world – that salvation is a free gift and available to anyone willing to accept it.

So now, let’s take a moment to reflect on the non-believers or the skeptics in our lives. What do they need?

They need love.

They need compassion.

They need prayers.

They need Christians to reflect the unconditional love of Christ into their lives.

They need to hear God’s Word.

They need Jesus.

The Good News is that Judas’s betrayal led to Christ’s ultimate triumph over death, and salvation is available to every single person on this earth.

Let us pray for them now:

THE CALL: Father God, today we pray for those who do not know you, for those who will not accept your Son into their hearts. We pray for you to give us as Christians the right words, the right scripture, the right opportunities to speak the message of your grace and mercy into their lives. Please guide our hearts, minds, and actions to reflect the unconditional love that you offer. We praise you for the gift of salvation, for Christ’s sacrifice, for fulfilling your promise of a Savior. May we share these gifts on your behalf with all those who need to know you, Lord. In Christ’s Name we pray, Amen.

GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2020

ORDERED? WILLINGLY!

THE WORD: There was a man walking by, coming from work, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.  They made him carry Jesus’ cross.  (Mark 15:21 The Message)

THE FLESH: He was just on his way home from working in the fields. 

Simon, originally from Cyrene, a coastal town in northern Libya, west of Egypt, was walking past the commotion of another Roman execution soon to take place, when he was ordered by the Roman Guards to carry Jesus’ cross (likely, the heavy cross beam).  He was “just on his way home,” but his life changed as he encountered Jesus.  He had two sons, Alexander and Rufus.  (Rufus is also mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:13 and apparently had become a church leader.)

Though Jesus was forced by the Roman Guards to submit to crucifixion, he did not struggle against them.  He went as a lamb to the slaughter (Isiah 53:7).  Simon was coming home from work; Jesus was going to finish his work of salvation for us all.  Simon must have been moved as he saw Jesus close up.  Are we moved by that life changing experience of seeing Jesus close up? Do we let him into our hearts and lives as we realize he completed the saving work of salvation for us, and truly acknowledge that we can do nothing to earn it for ourselves?

He rescued us by bearing the full price to atone for our sins and died in our place!  Praise God, IT IS FINISHED!

THE CALL: Forgive us, Lord Jesus, for our self-centeredness and open our eyes and hearts to see the staggering weight of the world’s sins that you bore on your cross on Calvary.  Then, cheer us as we look ahead to your glorious resurrection of Easter! Amen.

HOLY SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2020

THE SEAL

THE WORD: “Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, lest the disciples come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”….And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone. (Matthew 27: 64, 66 NASB)

THE FLESH: Today we hear a lot about seals: Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, seal of quality, the Great Seal of the United States, guarantees for life, etc. How strange in the context of this passage is the way we use this term today.

This Saturday, which is called Holy Saturday, was set aside by the church as a time of contemplation and reflection as we come to the end of Holy Week and prepare our hearts for the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

As we look at this passage, we see the Jewish leaders almost in a state of panic. They had heard Jesus speak of these events when He said, “I will destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” Of course, the text says Jesus was speaking of His body. The Jewish leaders implored Pilate to seal the tomb and put guards around it because they thought the disciples might come and steal the body

away. Surprisingly, there are still people today who would deny the resurrection with all kinds of strange ideas about what happened to Jesus.

For us as Christian people, seals play an important part of our Christian faith. The cross and the empty tomb stand at the heart and center of our faith and life. Paul says, “If Christ is not raised then our faith is in vain.”

But Christ has been raised and the seal has been broken, not only of the tomb, but of sin, death, and the devil. We are sealed through our baptism in faith to follow in the steps of Jesus.

THE CALL: Heavenly Father, as we contemplate on this Holy Saturday let us live in the light of the Cross and Resurrection following in the steps of Jesus. Amen.

EASTER SUNDAY, APRIL 12, 2020

THE STONE

THE WORD: Early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the tomb?” (Mark 16:2-3 NIV)

THE FLESH: What stone do YOU need to have rolled away?

We all encounter obstacles and difficulties in our lives. Some can be quite painful. It may be a health issue, loss of a job, a relationship issue, a family member issue or a truly personal issue. We all face them at one time or another. We even anticipate future problems and search for solutions. Some are resolved quickly and may be more like a pebble or a rock in our shoe. But some seem to linger! They can fester and grow and suck the joy out of our lives. They become a heavy stone. We fret; we worry; we develop plan A, then plan B. We try to take action, to take control. We want to see ourselves as strong and capable so we try harder, try something different. Maybe we turn to friends for advice or help. Or maybe it feels so personal or shameful, we can’t bring ourselves to even share it. Or perhaps we feel beaten down, like the problem is impossible to resolve…it feels like the stone is immovable.

The women in our Bible verse were worried. They had a serious problem. Who was going to roll away the heavy stone at the tomb? All the while they were walking, they did not come up with an answer. But when they arrived… YES! The stone had already been rolled

away. Contrary to their worry, they did not have to solve the problem on their own! The Lord knew their problem and He provided an answer.

Have you been working hard to roll away a stone in your life? Or have you become discouraged and given up trying? Do not give into joyless living by letting this stone weigh you down. Turn to your Lord. Ask Him to help roll away your stone. There is no stone too heavy for our Lord. He has unlimited resources. He wants us to have a joyful dependence on Him. What He did for the women coming to the tomb, He would love to do for you. You are fully known to our Lord. He already knows what your stone is and He is waiting and wanting you to ask for His help. Pray and pay attention.

THE CALL: Heavenly Father, we are so grateful for your love. Teach us to turn to you in times of trouble, to trust You. Then strengthen us and quiet us so we may see the way we should go. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Golden Valley Lutheran Church 5501 Glenwood Avenue

Golden Valley, MN 55422Phone 763-544-2810 Email mail@gvlc.net

Loving Shepherd Early Learning Center

Phone 763-544-0590 Email earlylearningcenter@gvlc.net

Staff (763-544-2810) Ext. e-mail address Kurt Weber, Pastor x11 kurtw@gvlc.netJennifer Hall, Director of Family Ministries x12 jenh@gvlc.netCindy Inselmann, Director of Care Ministries x13 cindyi@gvlc.netBrenda Lovhaug, Director of LSELC x14 brendal@gvlc.netLaura Weber, Asst. Director of LSELC x15 lauraw@gvlc.netKris Metzler, Office Manager x10 krism@gvlc.netKristi MacKay, Worship Leader x10Jane Horn, Organist x10

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