WEEK FIVE: ALTERED

I cannot imagine the emotions that Jesus experienced as he rode into Jerusalem for the last time on what we now know as Palm Sunday. Yes, he was fully divine and resolute in his mission to go to the cross and become the sacrifice for the sins of mankind, but he was also fully human. How hard it must have been to ride in to the cheers of “Hosanna!” and “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” knowing that some of the same mouths speaking those words would be screaming “Crucify him!” within a week’s time. How did he feel knowing that someone closest to him would be the one to betray him and turn him over to the authorities? How did he feel knowing he had less than one week to live and that his death would be so brutal? How must Jesus have felt knowing that these people didn’t understand or realize what he was about to do for them?

For hundreds of years, the Jewish people had been bringing sacrifices first to the tabernacle and then to the temple for the forgiveness of their sins. Now this man for whom they were cheering was about to become the ultimate sacrifice, forever altering reality and permanently creating a pathway for man to come back to God… but they couldn’t see it. How often are we just like these Jews? The redemption that Jesus purchased through his crucifixion is right in front of us and we don’t see it. We keep bringing our “sacrifices” trying to earn our way into God’s favor when all along all we had to do was accept Jesus’ sacrifice as our way back to God. It is through his death that we are now living sacrifices.

In Romans 12:1 the apostle Paul writes, “offer your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” This living sacrifice is not an extravagant act of service, but only what is reasonable in light of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. Therefore, the life we live as followers of Jesus becomes one of altar sacrifice. He died so we can fully live, but because of our gratitude of salvation, we dedicate our lives to the service of God and others. And honestly, this can be difficult.

Just like Jesus experiencing emotions as he rode into Jerusalem, accepting the idea of becoming a living sacrifice can bring a wave of emotions as we consider what that means. But when we offer ourselves fully to God, we receive so much more as he pours his Spirit into ours. So how will you respond to Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice? Will we offer ourselves as living sacrifices, approaching this altar with no fear but with a gratitude and a willingness to live differently because of what he has done?