Wednesday
No one is really sure what occupied Jesus’ time on Wednesday of Passion Week. We know that Judas, on this day, probably made his arrangements to betray the Master. The actions of Jesus, however, are a mystery. We simply do not know. This has led some in church history to dub this day of Holy Week as “Silent Wednesday”.
So, what did He do? Did He spend the day in fasting and prayer? It is possible. Was he giving the disciples some “advanced” lessons that He did not give the crowd the day before? That is very likely. After the previous day's teaching did He need to spend this day in rest (He had practically taught all day)? Again, we simply do not know. So I guess there is no meditation for this day of Holy Week…. WRONG! There is much to think on for this day.
So as I am preparing our Student Room for Worship I want a few truths to simmer in my mind. For starters:
Our God is gloriously mysterious!
One of my favorite verses in the Old Testament is Deuteronomy 29:29
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law”
Are you not overjoyed to know that there are some things that are simply beyond our finite minds to grasp or know? I am! God has not told us everything. He has not revealed to us all there is of Himself! He could not do that in this life, for He is of infinite value and the beauty of His excellencies will take all eternity to spread out for the redeemed to marvel at. This is why heaven will be no bore!
Think about the greatest discovery you have ever made. Perhaps it was a wooded trail that led you to a beautiful mountain top view. Or maybe it was the time you finally cracked the code in the mathematical equation you had been working on all semester. Or perhaps it was the time when you seemed to get just how the opposite sex thinks (I said ‘seemed’ J ). Or even finding a new truth in a passage you had memorized since 5th grade VBS. Do you have your moment? Whatever you felt in that moment, multiply it to the nth degree and then perhaps you will begin to taste a little of what heaven may be like. Our God will unpack His beautifully mysterious self for all eternity and every moment will be a “Wow” moment!
There is, however, another truth to ruminate on, namely:
Silence is an appropriate response when we think about the Lord’s judgment.
In Revelation 8:1 as the Lamb opens the 7th and final seal, an opening that is the un-corking of the bottle of God’s wrath, John tells us that there was silence in heaven for about an half of an hour. Zephaniah 1:7-10 and Zech. 2:13 point to the same reality as well. The silence called for in these verses is the silence of fearful awe as the Lord rouses Himself and prepared for judgment.
Is there any time more appropriate than Holy Week to sit in silence at the awesome act of God, the cross, where both His judgment and His mercy kissed? There are some things that are so weighty that it seems like speech would defile the event. Think about how much you would like to take a slug at the guy on his cell phone during the national anthem at the ball park!
On Wednesday, this day, today, lets take some time to take some time and be silent. Think on the Cross and ….. be silent. I think it no accident that we do not have recorded what happened on this day. I think the Father designed it this way for specific purposes. I think He would have us meditate on just how awesome what we are about to see on Friday really is. Sure, we will think about the Cross on Friday, but it is so grandiose that we need to get ready for it.
Some of the Psalms (and a few other places in the Old Testament) use a little word, Selah. No one really knows exactly what the word means, but the best conjectures is that this word was a musical notation that probably was meant for the singer to pause and meditate on what was just sung or what was about to be sung. In the song of Passion Week God has written His own Selah, and we call it Wednesday.
Be silent. Selah
1 comment:
All i can say is Wow.
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