Holy Week - Easter 2022Sample

They say the eyes are the window to the soul. This implies that you can learn some interesting things about a person by looking into their eyes. For example, if someone doesn’t make eye contact, they may not be interested in you or the topic of conversation. It could also mean that they may be hiding something! Medical personnel can often tell if a person is sick just by looking at their eyes. And a wink of the eye may be flirtation…or a dust particle!

The prophet Isaiah wrote the following Messianic passage about 700 years or so before Jesus faced His accusers, eye-to-eye. Isaiah could not see the prophetic accuracy of these words, but these weren’t Isaiah’s words! This passage begins with, “​​This is what the LORD says….” These are, supernaturally, God’s words written through human hands.

I offered my back to those who beat me,

my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;

I did not hide my face

from mocking and spitting.

Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,

I will not be disgraced.

Therefore have I set my face like flint,

and I know I will not be put to shame.

–Isaiah 50:6-7

This passage is accurate because it came directly from the heart of The Father, our Creator, who resolutely determined what the outcome of His story would be from the beginning of time. Father, Son, and Spirit knew the end from the beginning, and the same God who decisively determined the Way of the Cross is the same God we find in human flesh: Jesus, who steadfastly set His face like flint.

As He carried the Cross to Golgotha, the crowds could see his resolve. They locked eyes with those of a Lion set to become the Sacrificial Lamb.

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.—Luke 9:51

Just before His final journey to Jerusalem, Jesus had been attracting huge crowds as He calmed the sea (Luke 8:22), healed the sick (8:40-56), and fed the 5000 (8:12f). And then we read Luke 9:51, the “hinge” verse of the book of Luke. Everything before this verse is about His ministry; everything after it follows Jesus on His way to Jerusalem. After this verse, the crowds begin to thin, and the camera of the New Testament turns and looks directly into the eyes of Jesus. His gaze reflects pure determination, resilience, and tenacity as He decides that, against all advice, He will go to Jerusalem.

In response, the crowds disperse, the disciples doubt, and yet Jesus remains resolute, His eyes never diverting from His final destination. Everyone knew that if he went to Jerusalem, He would be put to death because he threatened the religious establishment. Those closest to Him try to talk Him out of going, but nothing and no one could dissuade him. You could see it in His eyes. This Lion is determined to offer Himself as the sacrificial Lamb, and there is no stopping Him.

The executioners didn’t take His life from Him. No one took His life from Him that day. Instead, He freely laid His body down and “gave up His Spirit,” as Scripture says. He quite literally died the very moment that He chose to die. He resolved to give up His life because His eyes were resolute on His ultimate prize: the salvation of many souls—the salvation of you and of me.

REFLECTION

Listen to the song, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus”, then write down your answers to these questions:

• What things keep you from staying the course, following Jesus?
• Have you set your mind to follow Jesus, no matter what?
• Do you truly believe He’s the One way, the only way to the Father?