Category Archives: Easter/Holy Week

Two Gardens – Easter 2019

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Okay, maybe it was three gardens – Eden, Gethsemane (olive grove-John 18), and where the tomb was (Mary thought Jesus was the gardener – John 19).  Since this post is all about shadows and types I am sure that “finer lines can be drawn” but my pen is wide today.  I am also aware that I may/will not catch all of the similarities.  I will add as more become apparent.  Perry Stone makes a case that the gardens are in the same geographical location, that Eden and Jerusalem occupy the same ground. 

  • Adam – The first Adam let sin in; the second Adam (Jesus) made a way out of sin.
  • Tree – Eden had the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden. Jesus’ tree was in the middle and separated the good from the evil.  One man asked to go to His Kingdom while the other man mocked Jesus.
  • A choice – Adam choose to eat the fruit and disobey God for earthly gain.  Jesus chooses to drink from “the cup” for a heavenly gain.
  • Deceived – Satan-> Eve-> Adam; Satan-> Elders/Judas -> The Crowd-> Jesus. Part of this is also betrayal – Adam betrayed God, Jesus did not.
  • A woman – The First Adam had his First Eve. Jesus, the Second Adam, would have the Church.  The First Eve became the “mother of all the living”, the Second Eve is the mother of all those who are born again.
  • Sweat – There are two references to sweat in the Bible – Genesis 3: 19 and Luke 22: 44. Both mention the ground!  Adam’s work would produce sweat and Jesus’ work caused Him to sweat “great drops of blood” that fell to the ground”.
  • Thorns – Adam would have to fight with them. Jesus would have to wear them! (See Thorns.)
  • Fig Tree – (See Figs) I still believe the “desirable fruit” was a fig.  Adam and Eve clothed themselves with its leaves, and Jesus cursed a fig tree on Tuesday of Holy Week.  Jesus’ teaching on Tuesday, as recorded in Matthew and Luke, is about His Kingdom and show how the “fruit” of the Kingdom of God is what is important (Matthew 21: 43,44).

Thorns – Easter 2019

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Thorns, thistles, briers, nettles, and brambles are some of the names and plant parts that have pointy things that cause discomfort.  What do these have to do with Easter?  Okay, I will get to the point of this post.  These were part of the curse found in Genesis 3: 17 – 19 for Adam because he ate the forbidden fruit.  Matthew, Mark, and John add thorns as part of the misery that the Romans gave Jesus at the time of His crucifixion.  I will attempt to bring these events together in this brief study of thorns.

Hebrews 6: 8 beautifully brings together the spiritual and physical aspects of thorns by being part of the “basic teachings” and blessings mentioned in the chapter.  It mentions them being a curse, worthless, and getting burned. This verse fits well with the parables when Jesus used them to show the “deceitfulness of wealth and the worries that choke the good seed”. (Matthew 13: 22) Most of the references to thorns are about them causing problems and having to be beaten down and burned.  In a land where wood was precious, thorns were not, so they would be used for fuel to cook with.

Foreshadowing verses for the crown of thorns and what will happen to them are in Isaiah and Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 2: 6, which is his call to ministry, God tells him that he will be surrounded by thorns, thistles, and scorpions.  This is a good picture of Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion.

Isaiah 27:4 speaks to the redemptive work of Jesus with the plea that He guards His vineyard to protect it. He would prefer people to make peace with Him but if not, He will burn them up.  Isaiah 10: 17 speaks of the “day” (judgment) when the Light of the world will burn the thorns and thistles.

Mark 15:17, John 19:2, and Matthew 27: 29 mention the crown of thorns.  Matthew is the most detailed and talks about the thorns being twisted and then being beaten onto Jesus’ head.  So why the thorns?  They are part of the curse that Jesus was dying to end. Most of the references for redemption are about people/Israel.  He will make a new heaven and a new earth but Jesus came to break the curse.  Creation groaned waiting for Him, trees of the field will clap their hands for Him, and He will bring rest to the Land, even the rocks can cry out for Him. Isaiah 35: 1 and Jeremiah 50: 34 are verses that mention good things about the Land.  

Thorns also represent worries and cares that bother our minds.  He took those on His “mind” to the cross.  And just as thorns were beaten to prepare them for burning, so the crown was beaten into His head.      

Remember, with the beatings, nails, cross, and His blood the crown of thorns also carry important symbolism.

Below are two good websites about thorns and thistles.

https://godasagardener.com/2017/06/05/the-first-thistle/

https://godasagardener.com/2016/06/27/parable-trashy-thorns/

Light and Dark – Jesus in the Tomb

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There are several dark to light elements in this story that will be discussed.  Jesus was sealed in a cave in the evening (Mark 15: 42).  On Passover, the women rested but were out while it was dark the next day (John 20:1).  The sun was rising on the first day of the week as they found the empty tomb. I wanted to leave off “of the week” because it was the first day of a new era for mankind.  The light of grace had rolled away an earthly barrier and had come out to start things anew!

It really is not right to say Jesus stayed in a dark tomb for three days.  Saturday of Holy Week is often overlooked in its importance. Jesus did not come out, He went “down” to retrieve the keys that no longer could stay in Hell.  Death had a job to do on the first Passover but Jesus had ended the old, so ownership of the keys was restored to Him.  (Please click on Jesus Preached– it is a poem.  These link with Saturday and Holy Week for previous studies.) The references are Matthew 27: 67, Revelations 1:18, Ephesians 4:8, and 1 Peter 3:19, 4:6. 

Another darkness that became light was the cloud on the minds of all of the followers of Jesus. The dark cloud that had covered the understanding of all the followers of Jesus was replaced with the light of understanding the Scriptures.  This dawn took most of the first day, as the women saw Him first, then Peter, the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and finally the remaining Apostles.  The darkness that started at the cross was replaced with the light of a risen Jesus!

Three– Jesus predicted the three days in the tomb by using Jonah’s stay in the great fish.

End and Start – The First Adam had given up a lot when he ate the fruit in the Garden.  The Second Adam (Jesus) reclaimed the keys to death and Hades.  

Jesus in the darkness coming into the light had been played out many times before.  All of them pointed to this moment.  Creation, the first Passover, God filling the Temple all gave us pictures of what was to come!  He now came from the tomb to start a new picture – Jesus returning for His Bride.  

The next fifty days speak to many things.  Jesus stayed with the disciples for forty days (showing Himself to many).  Then a ten-day period where the disciples prepared themselves and sought the coming of the Spirit.  

The Spirit arriving on Pentecost shares things with Israel meeting God on the Mountain.  A notable part is missing – the darkness.  The Spirit arrives with fire (light) and the sound of a mighty wind.  (Think about the Second Coming of Jesus.)  The Church/Bride has her birthday, and Jews and Gentiles become one new creation.

FURTHER THOUGHT – Reflect on the Book of Revelations by comparing it with the Book of Acts and the time of the Church under the Caesars.

http://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/gnpi-101-jesus-resurrection/

Light and Dark – Jesus on the Cross

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Matthew 27: 45, Mark 15: 33, Luke 22: 53 + 23: 44, John 19: 28 – 31(NIV)

From the sixth to the ninth hour there was darkness over the land!  Matthew, Mark, and Luke record this event (see references above).  John does not mention this part of the scene at the cross but adds other details that help to form the picture. (There is a difference in John on the “hours”. Probably due to Jewish vs. Roman timekeeping practices. It is a shame great minds have to pick the minor things and ignore the important.)

Let’s shift back to the first Passover to offer an explanation for the darkness.  The lambs were to be killed at twilight.  The “sixth to the ninth hour” was the timeframe for the killing of the lambs in Jesus’s day, that should have been three to six p.m. modern time, so it needed to be dark.  John adds the phrase “the day of Preparation” for the Passover.  I have heard many powerful sermons that included the “darkness” but, today, I will go with this more practical explanation.

Okay, going a little dramatic.  Could this darkness be felt, like the darkness in the ninth plague?  Can you imagine the panic even if it was just as dark as a moonless night!  But to toy with my own question, I have to wonder who “sent” the darkness?  God or Satan?  In Luke 22: 53 Jesus tells the mob that “darkness” is reigning!  This is the only place that I could find like that in the Bible.  So, was it dark to complete the picture from Exodus, or because the Father was mourning, or because Satan truly was clueless to the fact he was losing and that was his poor attempt at domination, or was it to prepare for the light?  How do you read it?

Now to the Light!  (This is not in the Bible, but I hope it happened this way!  It would look good in a movie.)  Jesus had said several of His “last words” in the dark.  John said He knew “all things were completed” when He asked for a drink.  Then He said, “It is Finished” and gave up His spirit.  When Jesus said it is finished, I can see a beam of light punching through the darkness as He bowed His head.  At first, the light was just on Jesus.  Then it started to spread out from Him until it covered the land that had been in darkness.  That light shook the ground, when it spread over tombs it reversed death, and when it hit the Temple one really thick curtain tore in two pieces and light up an empty room. Oh well, nothing that dramatic is recorded but at that time of year, there should have been several more hours of daylight.

Three– There are several (probably more):

  1. From the first Passover – three sides of the door painted with blood.  Foretells the cross.
  2. Three hours of darkness as the Lamb was dying.
  3. Three men on crosses – the thieves could represent the sheep and goats at the Judgment; the arrogant thief = Law and the repentant thief = Grace, Jesus is in the middle of all of these.
  4. Three groups of on-lookers
  5. Passersby– People hurrying to get to Jerusalem for the Feast; Priest who came just to torment and mock Jesus.  They saw but learned nothing.
  6. Soldiers– They had to be there.  The centurion, at least, learned that Jesus was the Son of God.  You have to wonder if his name was Cornelius?  They probably learned the most, simply because they knew the least.
  7. The Women and John– They choose to be there.  Grief, horror, and questions filled their minds overwhelming their understanding of what was happening.  Who could not be affected by the moment?  They knew Jesus had told them, but they did not comprehend in the trial.  Did they learn?  I am sure they did, but this took time to process.  The effects of the lesson developed over the next fifty days. It prepared them for Pentecost.

End and Start –The Law ended/was fulfilled and Grace took center stage. No matter what I thought to write it always came back to that thought. FURTHER THOUGHT –  Our redemption from sin is finished because Jesus paid the price on the cross! In our lives, there are “things” that we need to offer to God so that we can follow Jesus more completely. We refer to this as crucifying them! Sometimes we freely offer them, and sometimes God starts the process, in both cases, we have to let the things die. What is one thing you were in the “dark” about as it died and what was the “light” as the result?

Light and Dark – Jonah

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Jonah was in a fish! It was dark in there! Him being spit out put him back into light.  This signals the time Jesus would spend in the grave. The first mention of Jonah is in 2 Kings 14: 25 where he is credited with a prophesy that came true, the story of the Book of Jonah would have been after this.

The thing that leaves you hanging about Jonah is what happened to him?  Did he repent of the harsh attitude, did he go back to Israel, or did he just stay bitter?  

Peter was identified as “bar Jonah” or son of Jonah.  It would be a stretch to say they were related!  Matthew 16: 17 does not seem to imply that Jesus was being “funny”, so that probably was Peter’s name.  Peter may have had similar traits as Jonah (hard-headed, impulsive, teachable but slow to change), so we can hope that Jonah returned to God like Peter did.  

Three– Three days and three nights is the most notable part of Jonah’s ordeal.  That is because it has three references in the New Testament – two different times in Matthew (12: 41 + 16: 4) and one repeat in Luke (11: 29).  Jesus offered it as the only sign from heaven that unbelieving Jews would get.  I noticed that there were three “God provided” after Jonah preached to Nineveh – the plant, the worm, and the wind.  There was also a three day walk across the city.

The study of Solomon, Jesus walking on water, and this one, all have connections to the festivals that happen in the seventh month”. (Jonah is read as an example of repenting and reaching out to a Gentile nation.)

End and Start – Jonah’s time in the fish ended his disobedience and started his journey to face his fear of being labeled a “false prophet” if Nineveh was not destroyed.  At this time in history, Assyria was oppressing Israel and would send a replacement population to occupy Samaria. So, Jonah had serious reasons, in his mind, why he was not going to do it (hatred of Assyria, fear of being a false prophet).  Even though other prophets had dealings with foreign nations this was the first prophet that was specifically sent to an enemy nation telling them to repent!

FURTHER THOUGHT – Have you done a “Jonah”? Have you ever tried to run from something that Jesus wanted you to do?  How did it end?http://clipart.christiansunite.com/Bible_Characters_Clipart/Jonah_Clipart/