Today is Maundy Thursday, the day when we commemorate that last meal Jesus shared with His disciples when He issued a new commandment as He washed their feet, a commandment to love one another and serve Him through serving others (see John 13:1-17, John 13:34). The word ‘Maundy’ comes from that last verse in Latin, and many church services on this day commemorate the ritual of foot washing in their services. Today is also the day when traditionally the Queen offers alms to the poor, distributed in red and white purses, a practice dating back to Edward 1 and symbolic of the fact that the monarch is also a servant of God.

There is an inexorability about Holy Week, when we remember the final week of Jesus before the Crucifixion. From the plaudits of Palm Sunday, when hopes must have been so high, to the drama of betrayal and denial, to the loneliness of Gethsemane, the confusion of trials and the dawning realisation that Jesus was not going to escape that most excruciating form of death, the whole gamut of human emotions is captured in this one week. Life is full of joy and sorrow, hope and anguish, dreams and dashed hopes. Yet as we walk through Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and are left in the wilderness of Holy Saturday, we need to keep firmly in view that resurrection is on the horizon. We have the benefit of hindsight. We know how this story ends. We know that Jesus is alive.

Today, let’s find ways to serve each other and our hurting world, for in so serving, we serve the Lord. (Matt 25:31-46)

Tonight we had a birthday to celebrate:

Dave spoke this evening from Luke 18:31-33 where Jesus spoke to His disciples about His immediate future and the fulfilment of prophecy about the Son of Man. We all want to know what the future holds for us and want to know our destiny; many of us have many questions about the future (including questions about relationships, jobs, health and so on) and make lots of plans to be in control of our futures. This is not wrong; to make plans is common sense and wise. However, for some people, a fascination with the future leads to investigating this through unhealthy means (horoscopes, ouija boards, tarot cards, crystal balls etc.), all of which are prohibited by God.

Jesus talked about His future to His disciples, being fully aware of what lay ahead for Him in Jerusalem. He knew that a time of suffering lay ahead, when He would be initially acclaimed and then mocked, scorned, betrayed, denied and ultimately crucified. His was not the kind of future we long for, but He did not shy away from this (even though Luke 22:39-46 makes it plain He longed for another way to be possible.) Jesus suffered not simply because of Roman imperialism or to be a great moral example for us; He suffered ultimately to be the sin-bearer, the One who would pay the penalty for sin, death itself.

In the Garden of Eden, an animal was slaughtered to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness; the Old Testament sacrificial system showed that the penalty for sin was death. Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, suffering physical pain and emotional, mental and spiritual pain too. His future, therefore, was to go to Jerusalem and suffer and die, but His destiny was glory. Now He is seated at the right hand of the Father, having been raised to life; He lives to intercede for us and is the Lamb who is worthy to open the seals and to whom all glory, honour and praise are due.

Our futures may well be uncertain, but our destiny does not have to be. 1 John 5:13 reminds us that we can know we have eternal life. Our destiny is ultimately determiend by our relationship with Jesus. It has been said that choices are the hinges of destiny, and our decisions in this life ultimately determine our destiny. The questions we must ask ourselves are:

1. What is our response to Jesus? (see 1 John 5:12)
2. What will we do to follow Jesus?
3. What will we do to overcome the obstacles that get in the way of following Jesus?

Our futures may be uncertain; there is no guarantee that in our country, we will continue to experience freedom of religion, and there may well be suffering ahead for us, just as there was for Jesus. However, just as suffering preceded glory and Jesus’s destiny was ultimately glorious, so too we can know the certain destiny of eternal life if we choose to follow our suffering Saviour.

It might seem a little odd to be talking about resurrection power on Palm Sunday (‘aren’t you being a bit previous here?!‘), but Eph 1:19-21 is so revolutionary that it is worth considering again. Paul describes this power thus: ‘That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (Eph 1:19-21)

As Chris Tomlin puts it, we have ‘resurrection power living on the inside.’ (‘Resurrection Power’) The same power that raised Christ from the dead – power beyond any we have ever seen, greater than the greatest nuclear explosion – lives in us. The resurrection and ascension of Jesus are proof that God’s power is greater than anything the world can throw at us. The God who spoke creation into being, the God before whose presence the whole world trembles (Ps 114:7), this is the God who raised Christ from the dead and Paul wants us to realise that this fact is not simply historical; it’s not simply a school fact of interest. The fact that God raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms not only means He is far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, far greater than Satan, far greater than any other name. It also means that this same power is available to us, for us, to be there living within us.

When Paul urges the Ephesians to ‘be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power’ (Eph 6:10), we see that this has huge practical implications for how we live our daily lives. Let’s hold on to that power in difficult times and be strengthened by the same power which enables us to serve a risen Saviour. (‘Same Power,’ Jeremy Camp)

Hope

Hope, one of those three great virtues mentioned in 1 Cor 13:7, is the opposite of despair. It’s what keeps us going when all around us is in darkness. Despite our unfaithfulness and sin, God does not abandon us and therefore ‘there is still hope for Israel’ (Ezra 10:2) and for us too. Hope brings security and confidence to our lives (Job 11:18, Ps 71:5). It reminds us that God is always watching over us: ‘the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.’ (Ps 33:18). Hope, Paul reminds the Romans, does not disappoint us or make us ashamed. (Rom 5:5) It does not let us down. It does not leave us resigned and feeling that nothing will ever change; hope is a vibrant, dynamic thing which keeps our eyes fixed on God in expectation and anticipation.

Hope brings joy into our lives (Rom 12:12); it gives us a buzz and a sense that God is doing something, even when we can’t see what He is doing. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, says the writer of Proverbs (Prov 13:12). When we have nothing to hope for, nothing to look forward to, we become depressed and down-hearted, but when we realise what a glorious future God is preparing for His church, then our hearts are filled with hope. Hope is one of the greatest blessings that God gives to us, because it gives us the endurance we need in the present and allows us to look beyond our present circumstances to a future which is blessed and assured. (Titus 2:7, 1 Thess 4:13) We are wise when we learn not to trust in riches (1 Tim 6:17), but to hope in a generous God who gives us all things for our enjoyment.

The Riches of Our Inheritance

Paul wants us to know ‘the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.’ (Eph 1:18) . We are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. (Rom 8:17) All that God bequeaths to the church is ours. In the Old Testament, the Promised Land was seen as the inheritance God promises to His people (see Lev 20:24, Num 26:53); we read in Psalm 2 that the Messiah is encouraged to ask God for the nations as His inheritance (Ps 2:8) and see the fulfilment of this in Revelation 5:9, 7:9). Whilst we may have to wait for some aspects of our inheritance, God’s Spirit within us is the confidence we have of the fulfilment of all God has promised. (Eph 1:14) We don’t earn or deserve this inheritance, but God qualifies us to receive it (Col 1:12) by making us part of His family. This inheritance shapes our identity. We live not as paupers but as heirs of God. We live not as the rejected and forsaken, but as those who have been chosen by God (Eph 1:11). We live accessing the blessings and favour of God, because He has qualified us to receive. We live with confidence and hope.

HIs Incomparably Great Power

We may feel weak and helpless in our own strength (see 2 Cor 12:8-10), but God’s amazing power – so great that Christ was raised from the dead – is not only available to us but can live within us. (Eph 1:19) This power helps us to grasp the height, length, depth and width of God’s love (Eph 3:19) and is immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. (Eph 3:20) The Holy Spirit gives us power to be witnesses (Acts 1:8) and God helps us to proclaim the kingdom of God, to heal the sick, to drive out demons, to cure diseases. (Luke 9:1-3) This power gives us endurance and patience in the trials of life (see Col 1:10-13). Without God’s power, life is simply an uphill struggle. With God’s power, we have the strength to carry on. Hebrews talks about Jesus having the power of an indestructible life (Heb 7:16) and it’s that kind of indestructability which is now available to each one of us because of His resurrection. Paul says, ‘We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.’ (2 Cor 4:8) Life may not be easy, but we can overcome through the power of His name living within us. Paul says to the Romans, ‘And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.’ (Rom 8:11) That is the oomph we need to live differently!

Many people didn’t enjoy lessons at school because they felt what they had to learn was irrelevant to life – most of us don’t use algebra or trigonometry every day, don’t need to know historical dates and can’t see the point of being able to conjugate verbs in Latin… These facts are all useful, but unless we see their relevance to our everyday lives, we tend to switch off.

The same can apply to our attitude to the Bible: it contains interesting facts, but what’s the relevance to our everyday lives? The Bible is not just a historical book of facts, however. Moses wanted the Israelites to celebrate the Passover on an annual basis so that every generation would know how God had intervened personally and miraculously in their lives in delivering them from Egypt. (Ex 13:3-8) Similarly, Paul prays that the Ephesians will have the eyes of their heart enlightened – an ‘inner illumination of the spirit’, as J. B. Phillips puts it – so that they may know certain things which then have a huge impact on their everyday lives. (Eph 1:17-23)

Hope, a knowledge of the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints and experience of God’s incomparably great power for us who believe (Eph 1:17-23) are not simply academic facts which inform us. They are spiritual truths with the capacity to transform us. They are blessings which have the power to help us to live life with confidence, perseverance, joy and endurance. But it matters that our eyes are opened to get it!