081: The Value of Passion Week Remembrance

As the church prepares for the resurrection of our Savior, it is good for us to have yearly and consistent times of remembrance. As Sean and Patke reflect on the events of the Passion Week, may your week be blessed as you anticipate your own celebration of His resurrection. 

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SPEAKER_01 0:13

Hello, welcome back to Theologic. I'm Sean Muschon. And I'm Zach Padkee. And today we're gonna be recognizing um the time, the specific time that we are releasing this episode, and that being during the time of what has been uh commonly or historically called the Passion Week, the week uh leading up to the death of Christ. Uh generally on a church calendar, that would be something that starts with a uh Palm Sunday uh service, maybe a sermon about Jesus coming into Jerusalem on the donkey, and ultimately culminating in the remembrance of the resurrection of our Savior. And uh so we want to encourage you and uh hopefully lead you in a way through remembering uh the suffering of our Savior. And uh, as we begin, I want to read a quote that I came across by uh Diedrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor, and he wrote the following Good Friday and Easter free us to think about other things far beyond our own personal fate, about the ultimate meaning of all life, suffering, and events. And we lay hold of this in great hope. So, this upcoming Friday, uh the church that I pastor will be hosting a Good Friday service. Maybe yours will, uh perhaps a Monday, Thursday. Uh Zach, do you guys hear Calvary do anything during the Passion Week? I have before, but we're not doing that this year. Okay. Um, so that's the thing too. Like we as we talk about it, we also recognize that it is not a command in Scripture as other things are commanded. I'll talk in a moment why I think it is a helpful thing to have a time of remembrance. Um, but yeah, this is not at all something that makes or breaks uh a church. And so if your church doesn't do a Good Friday service or Monday, Thursday, um, there's that is not something that your church is in sin or you need to talk to your pastor about. But uh the idea of remembering uh can be helpful. And I want to say this at the beginning. Um, as I was uh preparing these notes, uh I was in a coffee shop and um a song came on that's been an encouragement to me. And it's a song by uh Shane and Shane. And as I heard it, I thought that it was very applicable to this conversation. Um, although this is gonna be kind of a more narrow point, it's a point that I want to make nonetheless. That we might ask the question, this is a question I want to kind of walk us through, but why remember? Why do that? And again, here at the beginning, this is more of a narrow application, but here's something that I think is helpful. That in remembering, as we will see, we are helped. Maybe right now you're in a time of life, a season that is not uh what you would like it to be, whether you describe it as sad or as something that is just hard in general, or you're dealing with various kinds of affliction and you have a lot of questions, God, why is this happening? The wonderful thing about the gospel is it declares to us what is true, what we know, so that amid uh the clouds of life, amid the uncertainties, we have something to hold on to. And that's where this lyric by Shannon Shane comes in that is has ministered to my soul time and time again, where in their song, Um You've Already won, they sing, I don't know what you're doing, but I know what you've done. And so perhaps right now, again, this is more of a narrow application, but perhaps right now is a darker time in life, and you're like, why do I want to remember the darkest time of life? Well, as we will see, it's because in that darkness, light broke forth onto humanity. And so we want to take time to uh reflect on that now and encourage you that this week would be a great time to think back on the death of our Savior.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Yeah, and I think what what you're bringing out is also in keeping with what you're bringing out in the book of Ephesians, no doubt, um, because you're going through that, and I'm also doing something in our Sunday school about um biblical manhood and biblical womanhood, and we're approaching Ephesians a lot. Uh, because the one of the main points of the Christian life, especially in the book of Ephesians, is the nature of what the gospel has done spiritually, what the work of Christ on the cross truly did spiritually and his resurrection, and then how do we live in light of it? So uh it's great to have the idea of the gospel is something that should comfort us when we're in times of suffering, but it is also the truth that we look back to to help us to work through the issues of the heart. I mean, the gospel itself is so foundational to uh biblical counseling uh that uh uh the resentment that I might have in the past, Christ did away with my sin, and it's and now I'm enabled by the glorious work of Christ, by the gospel, having believed on him for salvation, to be able to move past the sins of others for my own benefit as well as the good of my relationships. And so there's so much that's a part of Easter and the gospel and so on, that's all related and tied into uh that is always worth commemorating because we're really prone to wander, aren't we?

SPEAKER_01 5:18

That's prone to wander, Lord. I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Exactly, exactly. And that's that's such a big part of it. If I'm prone to wander, I need reminders in spite of what I think. Right.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

Amen. So if you have a Bible handy, we're gonna be looking particularly at Zechariah chapter 12, verse 10, and Zechariah 13, verse 7. And so as we begin, as we think about remembering, and particularly in the vein of thought of the Passion Week, let's just remember that this is not something that is just for big fancy churches that are sometimes empty or void of any kind of true religion at all. I think a lot of times such terminology as Palm Sunday, Monday Thursday, Good Friday kind of gets lumped over into like old dead churches that are still doing kind of this religiosity but aren't about the gospel. Now, true enough, uh, there have been abuses of those things. I mean, currently we're in this also right now in the season of Lent. Now, I don't I don't observe Lent, um, but on a church calendar, it is that that time, and I think there's a lot of abuses that go with it. Um, on that note, I'll say I'm kind of curious to read about it, not in the sense that I'm looking necessarily to practice it, but I don't really know a lot about it. But it is pretty clear that um churches such as Rome, the Roman Catholic Church, and others have definitely abused uh that idea.

SPEAKER_00 6:37

I remember the first time I heard the word Lent, the first thing that came to mind was laundry. Laundry. Right? No. That's okay, you know, and I'm not I'm not saying that to tease or make fun of anybody, it's just more like, oh, that's a thing. I didn't even realize I didn't even know what that was. I mean, we both grew up in baptistic circles. Yeah. And Lent is not something that is a part of our our calendar because we don't see where is that in the Bible kind of thing. Right.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

And the same thing for me, like although on this front I've become a little more friendly toward a Monday Thursday uh service. We actually did one at our church a couple years ago. But um, I thought when I first came into this area of the country where there's more churches that observe that, I thought it was Monday Thursday. And I was like, is it on Monday or is the service on Thursday? I didn't realize that it was Monday Thursday. And so yeah, yeah, definitely, yeah, I can I can resonate with that like terminology that no, we were not raised with. Even down where I grew up in Mississippi and Georgia, um, a lot of the churches would even think a good Friday service would be a little too Catholic or something like that. Right. But we do want to remember and give a special attention to these things, but why do we do this? Right. That's something kind of kick us off of why are we doing this? And I would say that we need to, because the apostolic writers did, the apostles. And this begins with remembering Christ as he comes in on the donkey into Jerusalem. So the whole Passion Week, as we move toward thinking about the suffering, begins with Jesus coming into Jerusalem. And what's interesting about that story is that that is one of the few stories that all four gospel writers record. So that tells us that's something quite significant. Um, the gospel writers had different motives, they recorded different parts of Jesus' life to match what theme they were trying to communicate, but all four of them speak about Jesus coming into Jerusalem on a donkey. And so that shows us a centrality that is there. They brought it to our attention we should remember it, and then also the events that followed. And so again, Passion Week is not a commandment like to remember uh those particular times in well to remember it this week. But let me just give you an example why I think it's wise and beneficial to take time seasonally, in this case annually, uh, to reflect. Um, throughout the Bible, we get various principles of remembering and remembering God's work among his people for the good of the soul of his people. A few examples of that would be in Exodus 13. The Passover was designed for that, to remind the people. And then in um uh the Ten Commandments, uh, we have this principle of remembering the Sabbath day and this idea of reminder. Later on in Numbers 15, tassels were to be attached to certain pieces of clothing as a way of reminding the people of the Lord. And then also later on in scripture, and we have poetic orations in 1 Chronicles 16, Psalm 78, where the people are commanded to remember the works of the Lord in years gone by, in generations gone by, so that they might learn, that their faith might be strengthened. But even apart from the Old Testament, um, today we have the two ordinances given us by Christ, baptism and the Lord's Supper, which again both serve a function of reminding us of the gospel. Therefore, it is good for us to remember that gospel that we are reminded of. And then even the basic principle of remembering in light of so frequently forgetting, uh, the apostles were not always writing new things. In Romans 15, in 2 Peter 1, in Jude 5, there is language of I'm reminding you of these things. I'm writing to you about the gospel, and yes, you've heard this before, but I'm reminding you of it so that you remember. And so we want to take time during the Passion Week to remember because we are forgetful creatures, but also God seems to prescribe the the function, the activity of remembering as a way of nurturing our soul. And so, although it's not a command that you observe Palm Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Good Friday, etc., um, it does seem to be a wise and beneficial thing to take some time um seasonally, in this case annually, uh, to remember. And so, with that, let's take a look at what the prophet Zechariah would say to us. And today I want us to have the prophet lead us in our reflections on the suffering and death of Jesus, um, as well as the purpose of that suffering. So, our primary attention is gonna be on how the prophet talks to us about two things that will happen to Messiah. That he'll be pierced, that's coming from chapter 12, verse 10, and that he will be struck. That's gonna be chapter 13, verse 7. And so let me pose this question why use Zechariah? I would want sometimes I think we might have to ask the question, where is Zechariah again in the Bible? Because we don't go there a lot. So, why go to this random book? Well, here's why. Um, a little bit of a uh spoil alert here. Uh Packy and I are going to be actually doing a kind of a debate discussion on this book in a month or so. So as I've been looking over it and doing various reading of it and commentaries, uh, it was pointed out that during um or within the the passion narratives in the Gospels, Zechariah is one of the most uh referenced Old Testament books when it comes to what took place in the final week of Jesus' life. So Zechariah has a lot to say to us about this. Uh here's here's an example of what I've been saying about poem Sunday. See if you recognize this. I'm not reading from the gospel when I read this, I'm reading from Zechariah 9, verse 9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. So Zechariah tells us of this long before Matthew and the other gospel writers quote it. But with that in mind, we go to Zechariah, and what does he tell us? Well, let's look firstly at Zechariah 12 10. I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. So let's consider this. Who is pierced? And as I answer this question, we're not gonna at this time look at John or Matthew. We're just gonna observe what does Zechariah tell us about Messiah. So the one who is pierced, firstly, let's see that the piercing and violent act is an act against God, yet physically carried carried out by the assault of one intimately associated with God. Notice how it's said in Zechariah 1210, when they look on me, on him whom they've pierced, there's a close association, there's a distinction there, but yet a very close association. And what we find here is this activity, it is rebellion toward God and murder of his close associate. That's what's going on here in just the plain text. But secondly, we observe this the one physically pierced is a divinely chosen leader. We see this in two aspects. Firstly, other places in scripture use terms which closely associate the Lord and the ruler of his people. And we see this as kings are established throughout the books of first and second kings. There's a close association there. But secondly, the immediate context of Zechariah's book would also give reason to believe that this is a king andor a leader that is in view. So this is not just an ordinary man that is being uh being pierced. This is somebody that is significant, significant to God as well as to the people of Israel. So, in short, God's anointed leader is fatally pierced. That's what Zechariah lays out before us. Now, let's ask a second question about this text. Why is this one pierced? In the larger picture of picture of Zechariah's prophecy, God's chosen ruler is fatally pierced as a means of redemption for his people. The ones who pierced respond in mourning and repentance, which is the result of the spirit of grace which was poured out on them, a spirit which results from the redemption brought by the people's ruler. So this is brought to light by one of my favorite Bible teachers on Zachariah, a guy named Anthony Peterson, and he notes there's an irony about this. He states the piercing of the Messiah is both the transgression which needs forgiving as well as the source of the cleansing and forgiveness. So we see this divinely orchestrated event where the piercing is the crime, but it's also the means of the cleansing. And so as we think about this, we remember number one, as we remember the death of Messiah, we remember grace. The one who is pierced is the one who also provides the spirit of grace by which these people mourn over their sin and repent. So as we remember the cross, as we remember Jesus of Nazareth crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem, we are also remembering why and how grace has come to us. This is something we remember this week. But also with repentance and how it is a gift, we remember that the persons who are cleansed by Messiah are those who repent. And now say, to borrow the words of our next chapter, chapter 13, they say, The Lord is my God. The death of Messiah brings his people to see that God is the Lord, to see that their allegiance, their worship, their love belongs to one. There's an eye-opening experience. There's the gift of repentance that comes to us. So grace comes and also the gift of repentance comes to us. So now before we move to chapter 13, Packy is any.

SPEAKER_00 17:27

Yeah, I I was gonna mention about how so much of what you're saying is in direct connection to when we observe the Lord's table, right? Because we are in remembrance of the grace that was given to us. I'm reminded of the reality where Jesus says, This is my body which is broken for you. There's a connection there. And he also says, This is the new covenant in my blood. There you see the giving of himself on the one end, and you see the grace on the other end, that Jesus makes a direct connection to that very same reality of the uh of the rejection, which is uh which is presented in chapter 11 of Zechariah, uh, as well as uh the grace that is afforded to those who have believed on him, a fountain of blessing is open to them for salvation, right? And we we would acknowledge the spiritual realities uh that happen in the life of that person. And and that's where uh the the value of remembering the work of Christ uh is is something that I don't think we realize how important it is for get it for us to get our minds off of the things of our own life for a time in order to get our minds on the things that are eternal. Uh, because this what's going on in our life now will not last, but the things that are gonna go on, or the spiritual work that has happened in my life is the one eternal blessing that I have that will bring me into eternity itself. So there's value in this and remembrance, continual remembrance, and even special remembrance on and during Passion Week is of value for that.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

So I'm reminded, as you say, that of the hymn, Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. And I I think that when we sing that song of the idea of things of earth fading, I don't think that is to mean that your family or the blessings, the earthly blessings that God gives us, but it's the the afflictions, it's the trials, that those things get their proper perspective. And uh so here we again, although we're not commanded uh to take this week for this purpose, we can kind of give ourselves permission to say, I'm gonna take some extra time, whatever the extra time uh looks like for your calendar, uh, just to say, yeah, um, I'm gonna read through the uh the the death narratives, the cross narratives of the gospels, or I mean for that matter, reading over even the Passover narrative from from Exodus uh 13.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Isaiah 53 would be an excellent one to go through.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Yep. Psalm 22. And it's actually one song we're gonna sing this Sunday. Our our new hymn has uh has a Psalter in it as well. And we're gonna be singing uh Psalm 22 this week. So looking forward to doing that with our brothers and sisters there at Central. Um but I say this week, I'm I'm saying I'm recording this before before Palm Sunday, so I should probably say we just sang to clarify that yesterday we sang we sang Psalm 22. We've looked at Zechariah's speaking of the piercing, but now we're gonna see another violent act toward the same figure. And as you move, if we were had time to read through the book of Zechariah, we'd see continuity of the Messiah throughout the book, although he's referred to in different ways in different places, but there's this figure that is always closely associated with God, very much intricately involved in the work that the Lord has planned. And so our next stop, and one of the highlight points before we get to chapter 14, which Packy and I will discuss in a few weeks, but we get this verse here that I believe you will recognize because Matthew quotes it in his gospel in Matthew 26. But so we're not going to discuss that, but here's what Zechariah writes. And as the words of the Lord, awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me. Declares the Lord of hosts, strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my head my hand against the little ones. So a moment ago, we asked the question of chapter 12, who was pierced? Well, now let's ask the question, who is struck? What does Zechariah's text tell us? And so of this man who stands next to the Lord, we see number one that this carries overtones of friendship and a relationship of closeness. So that terminology, that man, the man that is who stands uh next to me, uh yeah, this is not just uh to deal with location, it's not Just to deal with where he is in proximity to the Lord, but it is a relational kind of language. And so that is to say, the one that is struck is dear to the Lord. Uh, this isn't just someone that he's like, ah, well, I can, I can, I can, I can do without you, I can, I can part from you. And we know this because of the way that he's spoken of, and especially in contrast with the whole of the book. There have been many talks throughout Zechariah about evil shepherds, selfish shepherds, shepherds that God will do away with fully and finally. But now here comes one that is precious, one that is on friendly terms with God, and yet he is struck. And so we see the preciousness of the shepherd, of the one who is the sacrifice to the Lord himself. And then also we see the effect that this will have. So one that is struck will lead to a scattering of the sheep. There's going to be some kind of implication to the hurt and to the distress of the people of the shepherd, as are called the sheep. But what Zechariah will explain to us, although it's not in this verse, but in the broader context, is that it is for their good. It is for their blessing. There is a trial that leads to glory. And is that not the pattern of Scripture? That we there is darkness, then there is light. There is death, then there is life. And so, although there is a hardship that this uh text speaks of connecting to the people of God, when you get to verses eight and particularly the end of verse nine, you see that it all works out for the good of those people and their relationship to the Lord. So the striking of the shepherd is the means by which the people are brought back. And that's beginning to answer our next question. What is the cause of this striking? And what we find is that just like Isaiah 53, verse 10, a passage that Packy just mentioned a moment ago, the cause is God. He is the one that calls for this striking. And again, that's why we must emphasize that the shepherd is precious to the Lord. It is not that this is just some random shepherd, some random leader, some random king. This is one who is close to him, this is one who is in friendly relations with him, but yet God makes a sacrifice demonstrating his love. And so as we wrap up our thoughts on chapter 13, verse 9, we see that it is the death of Israel's shepherd and king, and the one who is pierced that is precious to God, and the shepherd king loves so much that he is willing to die for the sheep, for his people. The death of the Messiah and the blessing which would ensue from it harkens back to another reference, a blessing in chapter six, verse twelve. And before I read that, let me just connect that for us. As I said a moment ago, the death, the striking of the shepherd leads to the scattering of the sheep, but in turn leads to a blessing that is described in this way in verse nine. They, that is the sheep, the people, they will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, They are my people. And they will say, The Lord is my God. Now back in chapter six, we get another picture of this sort of blessing. There's repetition in the book of Zechariah as you move through it. And this blessing is also described earlier in these this way. This is chapter six, verse twelve and thirteen. And say to him, Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, the man whose name is the branch. Now that's another reference to Messiah, for he shall branch out from the from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord, and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne, and there shall be a priest on his throne, and the council of peace shall be between them both. So there is coming a time where there is a fixed and peaceful reign of the branch of Messiah, and this is for the good of his people. And so blessing flows from the striking of the shepherd. And these are things that the gospel writers tap into. And so I think we'll stop there with Zechariah, but just to remember that as Matthew in Matthew 26, uh, verse 31, as he describes the Garden of Gethsemane, and as the Apostle John in the 19th chapter of his book speaks of the spear going into the side of Jesus, they allude back to these very things where John says that the piercing the side is um in the word to put it in his words, but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. These things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled. They will look on him in whom they have pierced. And so John weaves that into his narrative. But then the narrative I want to close with is Matthew 26, where in the Garden of Gethsemane, right before the uh sort the uh temple guards come and arrest Jesus, uh, he is explaining what is going to take place, and he tells and it's we read this When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives, and then Jesus said to them, You will all fall away because of me this night, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I'm raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. And so I want us to see how this draws us to the Garden of Gethsemane, where this is where Jesus spends his final night before his death. And as we see how Zechariah's prophecy is connected and dovetails into Matthew's narrative, I want to read a quote by uh Don Carson that I think helps us to appreciate a different aspect of this Passion Week as we remember the suffering of Christ and ultimately his death. Uh, Don Carson writes the following It was not nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross. It was his unqualified resolution out of love for his father to do his father's will. And it was his love for sinners like me. So it was a love of the Father, a devotion to the Father's will. And I think that that sets us up well to hear this final quote from a pastor by the name of Leonard Ravenhill, an old Methodist pastor, who said this Gethsemane is where he died. The cross is only the evidence. What I believe Leonard Ravenhill is communicating there is that at that point in Jesus' prayer, where he says, Not my will, but your will be done. He died to self. That he in that moment his death was as good as accomplished, because it was that will that again DA Karsten had commented on that was what pressed him, what held him, what led him to that cross, and to the redemption that came through that cross. And so I hope these things are um food for thought for you this week as we remember and as we prepare to celebrate uh the resurrection at the beginning of next.

SPEAKER_00 29:42

I think uh what what you're bringing out from Zechariah is uh it's important and valuable as we not only meditate on the realities of the cross, but also as we look to the fullness, the full picture, for example, that Matthew expands on in Zechariah 13.7, where it says in Zechariah 13.7, he says, strike the shepherd and the sheep will flee. And then Matthew 26, 31 adds those words, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will flee, demonstrating a couple of realities as he's expanding on what Zechariah had already revealed, uh, that it was indeed according to the predetermined foreknowledge of God, though who's the I in that text? Well, I don't know anybody else but God, that would be uh that would be it's a it's a first person singular. Now, not they will strike the shepherd and the sheep will flee, but I will. And the beauty of the reality as we we looked at, those very same people who struck the shepherd are the very same ones who, by the predetermined foreknowledge of God, are the ones who are eventually presented with the great grace to receive the gospel for salvation. And that's a it's a it's a beautiful reality of God's forgiveness, right? Even as we think about in general us, right? Uh I think it was years ago when Mel Gibson did The Passion of the Christ. I had heard, okay, maybe I'm wrong on this, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but but uh somebody in an interview had asked him who struck Jesus, and he said, I did. Right? And there's a spiritual reality to that. We as sinners were the ones who indeed did strike Christ, um, although there's more to it we'll get into in our uh in our uh discussion and or dispute or whatever we want to call it the in uh up in May. But there is an important reality that as you reflect on, Christ was the one who you struck because of your sin, but also it was he who gave you the greatest grace imaginable by that very striking. Let us meditate on the great goodness of God to forgive, to move past the iniquities of the past. Let us not, as those who um would be prone to often take advantage of God's mercy by saying, Well, he's uh he's a forgiving God. I I can I'll just you know bank on his forgiveness. Yes, he is forgiving, but you must recognize that uh it is a great sin to sin against his mercy. We want to be those who, because of the cross, because of what has been done for our sin and to our sin and for us, say that if this is what led our Savior to the cross, if this was the great thing that he mourned about or he wept great drops of blood for, why would I want to continue to indulge in the same things that caused my Lord to go to the cross? And so um may the may this time lead us to greater holiness, may this time lead us to a greater appreciation and love and affection. And as we're reminded of the realities, we can always go deeper into those realities of what took place, not only in the Garden of Gethsemane, uh, but at the cross as well. May we live high the name of Christ and uh Lord bless you, folks. Enjoy your uh your some would call it Easter, others would call it Resurrection Sunday or Good Friday and all that. Uh may the Lord bless you through that.