DHP Lent Devos 2021

Apr 4 - Aaron Jalovec

Apr 3 - Al Youngquist

(ESV) 50 Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. 54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.[a] 55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.

On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

(HCSB) 50 There was a good and righteous man named Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrin, 51 who had not agreed with their plan and action. He was from Arimathea, a Judean town, and was looking forward to the kingdom of God. 52 He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Taking it down, he wrapped it in fine linen and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever been placed.[a] 54 It was preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.[b] 55 The women who had come with Him from Galilee followed along and observed the tomb and how His body was placed. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.

No one knew Joseph was a secret disciple, a believer in Christ. He didn’t agree to consent to the plans of murdering Jesus. The high council of Jerusalem probably didn’t invite Joseph to these mock trials and scheme filled meetings. Joseph had not been swayed by the politics or corruption.

To be a follower meant he would give up his prominent role as a member of the counsel. He would lose his prestigious position. He would not be able to get a job or support his family any longer. It was God’s time and His secret follower would now come out of the shadows and affirm his love for Christ.

What sort of follower are you? Are you one who comes to worship on Sunday mornings and can act the part and speak the lingo when you are around other Christians? Are you the type of follower who has justified in your mind why it’s best if you don’t let anyone know you’re a believer at work or at school? Are you hiding in the shadows as far as your faith is concerned? What would it take to bring you out of hiding and into the light?

His death is confirmed starting in 53. The author goes to great lengths saying Jesus is truly dead, wrapping the body, putting it in the tomb, and preparing the body with smells. When the sabbath is first mentioned in 54, the Bible says to me there is a Time crunch, they knew the Sabbath was coming and had to prepare the body in a timely manner. He yearly Sabbath started two days earlier than normal Sabbath in 1st century Judaism, First Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Then showing their obedience, they rested on the Sabbath.

The only other note I would give is it is awesome to see that while still in the grieving process, Joseph and the women from Galilee served and prepared Jesus’ body.

How are we preparing between our deaths and life’s? I think we have so many waiting periods in life in which we can either be vigilant and prepare or we can coast and pass by important steps to become better children of God.

How are we serving in rough and difficult times? Do we look up to God for guidance, strength, and help in times of need?

Lord I pray we would be good and righteous like Joseph, seeing your true path in front of us and taking it. I pray we would come out of our shells and shine our faith in the world, spreading truth all over the Block, our residents, and the Springs. Help us to remember that Jesus died for our sins, so that we may die everyday to our flesh and be renewed and rise in the image of Christ who saved us from eternal damnation. Help us to prepare physically and spiritually and put in time and effort into our relationship bank with you Lord.

In your Great Name, Amen.

Apr 1 - Maundy Thursday - Eric Lange

¹Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ²The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper ³Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, ⁴got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. ⁵Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” ⁸Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” ⁹Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” ¹¹For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹²After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³You call me Teacher and Lord — and you are right, for that is what I am. ¹⁴So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. ¹⁶Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. ¹⁷If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

³¹When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³²If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ ³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Mandy Maundy Thursday got its name from Latin. The phrase, mandatum novum, means "a new commandment." So, on Maundy Thursday, when churches settle into the awkwardness of being asked to wash each other's feet, we are actually asked to reflect on what it means to follow Jesus' words in verse 34: "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another."

I can't think of a more fitting place to wrestle with this commandment than at the Dale House. In so many other places the call to love one another can become something sentimental. It can be left to high-minded and abstract ideas of love. Love, in this setting, can be easily mistaken for caring for the lovely things. Appreciating what is loveable. But, on Maundy Thursday, it's a commandment. Jesus' example to us is to get down into the dirt, and to wash the dirt off of our feet.

This is a commandment because it's not always easy. It's certainly not natural, from a human perspective, to engage in such dirty work. So, at the Dale House we understand what it means engage in the dirt of the world in the hopes of washing one another's feet. It means holding lines with kids as they cuss you out. It means wrestling what to do with drug addiction and how to support one another's sobriety. It means having hard conversations and jumping into conflict because it's necessary and important. It means having our own ideas of dignity and respectability challenged by the brokenness all around us.

To follow the commandment requires that that we firsts know that we can love one another only in the same way that Jesus showed love for us. Following Jesus means we take up our own cross and follow him. Following Jesus means we get into the dirt, because it's when we are at our dirtiest that Jesus steps in to show us love, too.

And come Sunday, the Empty Tomb will remind us that there is nothing too dirty for the power of the Resurrection to break through.

Mar 29 - Tiffany Jalovec

The One Greater Than The Temple Is Here

Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’[a] but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’[b]”

14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

“‘From the lips of children and infants

you, Lord, have called forth your praise’[c]?”

17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

At first when I read this passage, I wasn’t actually sure what it was about and I just had this thought that this is a day when Jesus goes into the temple and he is angry because there is a market there and that’s not what the temple is for so he flips over some tables. But then I started to look closer and realized there are so many different things going on in this passage. Yes, Jesus gets upset and turns over the tables, but it is more than that. He is showing that he is greater than the temple. Matthew 12:6 says “I tell you that one greater than the temple is here.” And here he is! Jesus is declaring that this is his house.

And then he declares that he is the Messiah. The chief priests are not necessarily indignant that Jesus heals people, but more so because of what the children are shouting. “Hosanna to the Son of David.” These hosanna’s are not directed to God but to the Son of David, to the Messiah. And Jesus accepts and acknowledges that they are correct. He is the Messiah. The one greater than the temple is here.

I glossed over this one other thing Jesus does while he is there: He heals the blind and the lame who came to him. These people were most likely not allowed inside of the temple, but were in the Court of the Gentiles. Persons who were lame or blind or crippled were most likely forbidden to enter into the temple and from making an offering. Jesus is there, and they come to him, and he makes them clean. The one greater than the temple is here.

It is kind of mind boggling all that is going on in just a few verses: Jesus enters the temple, throws out the “den of robbers”, heals the blind and lame who come to him, then children are shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David”, chief priests and teachers become indignant, and he replies to them. I feel like if I was there I would have been overwhelmed with everything going on. But Jesus is not overwhelmed. He is there with the authority that the one who is greater than the temple is there, present, in the flesh, standing there, healing people, making the temple a place of worship, putting things in their place, where they belong.

The one thing that stood out to me the most here is the the children. They knew. They knew that Jesus was the Son of David and they too were bold and unabashedly declaring with God that Jesus is the Messiah. The scripture says they were shouting. Shouting!! Literally shouting, at the top of their lungs. Because they “got it”, because they knew. And not only this but in scripture, God had ordained praise for himself from children:

You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise” ~ Psalm 8:1b-2a.

This idea of shouting something from the rooftops or from a mountain top always reminds me of the American romantic idea or dream that when you are sure that you are in love you will want the whole world to know and you won’t be afraid to shout it from the rooftops or the mountain tops, and not only will you not be afraid but you will want to. What about Jesus? What about the love that God has for you? Is that something you would shout at the top of your lungs for all the world to know?

During this Holy Week, here are a few questions to ponder:

What are you shouting?
What truth do you know, deep down in your bones?
How are you praising?

The one greater than the temple is here.