Holy Week Daily Devotional | April 7th, 2020

Prayer

O God, who by the passion of thy blessed Son didst make an instrument of shameful death to be unto us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 12:20-36
Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

Happy Holy Week,

I love how the writer of Hebrews summarizes the first part of his letter at the beginning of chapter 8. He says, “Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven”.

In the same sentence, our Savior is described as both the high priest and the king seated at the right hand of the throne in heaven. This follows the comparison the author was making in the previous chapter, going to great lengths to show the similarity between Melchizedek and Christ. Like Melchizedek, Jesus is our king and our high priest. Today let’s spend time praising God for this reality.

During Holy Week it is easy to celebrate the kinghood of Jesus. Palm Sunday rightfully causes us to celebrate the coming of our king (Zech. 9:9), but let’s not forget that our king is also our high priest. The duty of a priest was to serve as mediator between God and man. Israel, as a people, were commissioned as a “kingdom of priests,” entrusted with bringing the nations to Yahweh. Therefore, Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem was not just the entry of the king but the great high priest who would finish the work by bringing salvation to all the nations.

Let’s praise God today that Christ is king of all!