Holy Week: Good Reason Aplenty to Rejoice in the Lord

[Jeremiah said] The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

“I the LORD search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward everyone according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”

–Jeremiah 17.9-10 (NIV)

[Jesus said] “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

–John 12.27-33 (NIV)

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you…For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through [Christ] who gives me strength.

–Philippians 4.4-9, 11b-13 (NIV)

During Holy Week there is good reason for contrition and sorrow, especially if we are honest with ourselves in our self-reflection. As Jeremiah reminds us, our hearts are hopelessly corrupt and beyond cure. Our pride often deludes us into thinking we are not that bad or our situation is not hopeless. But God sees the heart. God knows better. God is not corrupt or delusional and God’s justice reminds us that he will hold us accountable for all that we do–good, bad, and ugly. It is not a particularly comforting thought or picture.

But if we stop there, we are doing ourselves a terrible injustice and distorting the Good News of the Christian faith because we are only looking at part of the overall picture. We need to pay close attention to what our Lord tells us in today’s Gospel lesson. He is going to be lifted up in crucifixion for our sake and on our behalf. He is going to bear the just punishment for our corrupt heart (remember that heart is used in the biblical context to denote not only our emotions but also our intellect and will), a heart that seeks to elevate us to God’s position and replace him in stubborn and ongoing rebellion, a heart that causes us to be cut off from the Source and Author of all life.

As Jesus reminds us today, the symbol of God’s justice is the cross of Christ. Stop right now and ponder this wondrous truth.

And why would God do that? Because God created us for relationship, not destruction. God knows the utter futility of the human condition and so he became human and bore the punishment for our sins so that our exile from him could be ended forever if we turn away from ourselves and draw near to him in faith. As Jesus tells us, God did not do this for us because we deserve it. To the contrary, because our hearts are hopelessly corrupt, we deserve nothing but condemnation and death (separation from God). No, God did this for the glory of his Name, so that we can really see who God is and worship and adore him.

No wonder Paul tells the Philippians (and us) to rejoice in the Lord in any and every circumstance! Every time we look at the cross, we see the symbol of God’s justice in which God himself took on his terrible and holy wrath so that we would be spared of having to suffer it fully ourselves. When we are finally able to wrap our minds around this massively wondrous truth, it changes us fundamentally and puts things in proper perspective for us.

Paul is not telling us to put on a happy face when one is not warranted. He is not suggesting there will not be opposition, failure, and heartache in our life. Rather, he is reminding us to keep in mind the Big Picture of life, to remember the incalculable gift we have been given in Christ and use that knowledge and faith to help us overcome all that life can throw our way.

When we have a real faith in Christ, we will have God’s peace in any and every circumstance, just the way Paul did (remember he wrote Philippians while he was in jail!). Christ will be our strength and enable us to overcome the darkest of moments in our lives because he reminds us each day that we are his. And when we are his, we know that nothing in all creation can separate us either from him or from the life he gives us.

And then Paul gives us some remarkably practical advice to help us in our faith journey. To help make room for the Spirit to live in us to strengthen us in our faith and actions, we are to think about things that are good and noble and pure, etc. For you see, Paul understood that “we are what we eat,” i.e., we tend to become like that on which we focus our intention and will. Nature abhors a vacuum and so does our spiritual state. As C.S. Lewis reminds us, by our thoughts and actions we will either increasingly become heavenly creatures (God-focused creatures) or hellish ones (self-focused or evil-focused creatures). We don’t have a choice in the matter because we cannot stay neutral when it comes to things good and evil.

This Holy Week as you prepare to follow Jesus to Calvary, think deeply on these things. To be sure, bring your sorrow and contrition to the cross. But as you do, also remember what God has done for you. Remember that lady justice is not the symbol of God’s love for you so that you will ultimately have to face the terrible justice of God’s holy wrath that each of us deserves. No, the symbol of God’s holy justice is the cross, where God acted decisively on your behalf out of his great love and mercy for you. If that does not give you good reason to rejoice in the Lord always, I don’t know what ever will.

Thanks be to God for his great love and mercy expressed for us in the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord!