As I’ve been reading some of the passages related to Holy Week, one of the themes that struck me is that Jesus knew very well what was coming.

• As Jesus and the disciples were leaving Jericho, headed toward Jerusalem, he said:
  • “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified…
• When approaching Jerusalem from the village of Bethpage, — Jesus knew about the donkey & colt and all that was coming with the Triumphal Entry.
• On Tuesday of Holy Week, he again warned the disciples:
  • “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
• When the woman anointed his feet with precious ointment & she was criticized, Jesus said:
  • “In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial.”
• Early Thursday morning, Jesus told his disciples where to go to prepare for Passover:
  • “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’”
• During the Passover meal, Jesus startled those with him at the table when he dropped the bombshell:
  • “Truly I say to you, one of you shall betray me.”
• At the Mount of Olives, speaking to his disciples, his closest followers:
  • “All of you will be offended because of me this night…”
• When Peter objected, vowing his undying loyalty, Jesus flatly told him…
  • “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”
• Then His agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane—the depths of His agony was due to the clarity of His knowing what was coming in a matter of hours.
  • “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me….”
• YET, remember what He also fully knew ahead of time! When leaving Jericho, when he warned his disciples,
  • “The son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him….” He also said…
  • “…and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day!”

Now, why is all this so significant to us today…2000 years later?

Well, late in the evening on December 31, 2019, Chris & I were on a little getaway in downtown Chicago…at the stroke of midnight, fireworks welcomed 2020 along the lakefront and the Chicago River. Excitement was in the air as a new year dawned. People everywhere were…

• Looking at a robust economy…
• Setting goals…
• Making resolutions…
• Establishing plans…
• Marking out dates in their calendars…

And we had no earthly idea what was coming in just a matter of weeks!

But Jesus knew all along…knew the global impact…the death toll…the economic fallout…

            JUST AS HE KNEW WHAT WAS COMING AS HE HEADED TO GOLGOTHA!

But here’s the thing you must not miss. He also knew what was coming the following Sunday morning!

And he knows what’s coming on the other side of this.

On Maundy Thursday…Good Friday…Holy, Silent Saturday…Jesus wanted His disciples to trust Him.

Resurrection Sunday was coming!

Today, through this crisis, He still wants His followers to trust Him. Resurrection Sunday—whatever it may look like—is coming!

In these times of uncertainty—to us—pray the Lord gives you this testimony:

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust…

Psalm 40:1-4a