Do This in Remembrance of Me
"But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed." Isaiah 53:5

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ cannot be confined and limited to a Holy Week observed by thousands the world over - no longer should it symbolize or be famed for pagan rituals and traditions. No longer should it be a morbid lamentation decked in mauve and black, in pious religious attire and sombre song. For surely just as the curtain in the temple was rent in two from top to bottom, and as the earth grew dark and shook violently - Jesus made the loudest, most deafening, piercing and prolific demonstration of purpose ever rendered. It was Mission accomplished! It distinguished Grace from religious law, It broke the curse of sin and death over mankind, it defeated death by reclaiming the keys of hell; It pardoned sin, it established a direct line of communication us with the Father, Yet this display of love, forgiveness and redemption was accomplished in silence, through the incalculable loss of blood, sweat, tears, of torture, brutality and crushing beyond human tolerance. So before we piously and ritualistically commemorate His death and resurrection with little thought of the magnitude of the season, I feel compelled to transport us to Pontius Pilate's Praetorium in an attempt to express in graphic detail the raw, brutal manner in which the Passover Lamb was led to the slaughter.

In Pontius Pilates dilemma of appeasing a blood thirsty mob and trying to vindicate Jesus from the charges brought before him, he thought it would be enough if he had Jesus scourged. Scourging was the worst kind of flogging administered by Roman courts. Its purpose was not just to inflict excruciating pain, but to humiliate and demean. It was reserved for slaves and non-Romans and carried out in public. The flagellum made of leather straps with pieces of bone and glass was designed to tear the skin to shreds, the severity of the lashes could rip into organs, tear through blood vessels and tissues and even cause disembowelment and death. Despite the agony, Jesus never backed down, He would not, and He could not deny who He was. He was struck thirty nine times, He was crushed for our iniquities, the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him and by His scourging we are healed! How incredible that through His brokenness we are made whole. That every lash, every drop of His blood atoned for us, made provision for us, represents an ailment, a disease, a debilitation, an addiction, a disability. He broke the curse of sin of sickness and disease so that through His blood we can live in the fullness and wholeness of the abundant life He desires we all have. Despite the betrayal, the judgment, the beating and mocking - all of these events led to the completion of the Fathers Will for His Son. That despite being beaten to a pulp, He still endured the Crown of Thorns thrust onto His brow, the dreadful weight of His Cross on His mangled back so that Calvary was always in view - the Place where it would culminate in paying it all in full.

Jesus is the Passover Lamb. He is the Deliverer, the Redeemer - the one who made a way out of the wilderness of sin into the Promised Land of Righteousness. Just as He made a way for the Israelites out of Egypt, and as He commissioned Moses to boldly confront Pharaoh to liberate His people, He continues to embolden and empower us with His Resurrected power. The parallels of the sufferings of the Cross and the Resurrected Christ, is that we will undergo the same, we will carry our cross, we will suffer for the Gospel, we will be rejected, despised, tried and tested, BUT like our Mentor, like our Creator, like our God - We will always triumph, always arise. The Victors Crown will cost you, for there is no crown without a cross but it forever remains the beautiful exchange. So let us observe with reverence the price He paid, as His love ran red for you and me.

"And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes" 1 Corinthians 11:25