The Crucified Is My Love. Johann Ernst von Holst

it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

       Matthew 21:18–22

      AFTER THE LORD had made his entry into Jerusalem, cleansed the temple, spoken powerful words to the people, and healed the blind and the lame (conscious all the time of the wrath of his enemies), he returned in the evening to peaceful Bethany. The next morning he returned to the royal city. His soul was filled with sorrowful thoughts as he walked with his disciples through the fig grove of Bethphage, and the pinnacles of the lost city rose again before his eyes. Most of the crowd who had hailed him on Palm Sunday were pilgrims coming to the festival; the citizens of Jerusalem itself were mostly hostile to the Lord, under the influence of their stubborn leaders.

      Now, as he was hungry, he looked for fruit on a fig tree. Finding no fruit upon it but only leaves, he immediately caused it to wither with his word of authority. That was a symbolic action, by means of which he wanted to teach his disciples a profound lesson. The cursed fig tree was a picture of the terrible fate that would befall his people, the city of Jerusalem, which had been planted in God’s garden. Since this people, in spite of God’s kindness and patience, and in spite of outward religious services and sacrifices, still did not bring forth the fruits of repentance and of faith, it had to fall under judgment.

      In the same way today the Lord will not be satisfied with the mere leafy decoration of Christian forms, beautiful services, pious words and feelings. He desires above all the good fruits of a spiritual life: repentance and faith, loving obedience to God in action and in suffering, self-denying love to our neighbor, and conscientious faithfulness in our earthly and heavenly calling. But where do we find these fruits? How many Christian churches have already fallen under the same curse of withering because they lacked these fruits! In how many countries and communities are there warning signs of God’s judgment because at the time of their visitation they did not consider what served their peace!

      But to those who feel struck by God’s judgment, who do not complain of their enemies or their fate but lament over their own sins and faithfully hold out in living trust in God – to such, God the Lord gives a comforting promise. In his strength they too shall do what he did to the fig tree. By holding firmly together in faith and prayer, they shall succeed in making the enemy’s powers that oppose God wither and die away, so that they are no longer able to harm the Lord’s little flock. Yes, in the power of faith the faithful shall move mountains – the mountains of their worries and needs but most of all the mountains of sin – and cast them into the sea of grace. Whoever holds firmly and faithfully to the promise and is loyal in the discipleship of Christ will experience the fulfillment of this promise.

      17

      Thursday Morning

      Where Is the Room?

      Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

       Luke 22:7–13

      THE STORY of the Lord’s suffering leads us into the depths of unfathomable pain, but it also offers us much comfort. One such comforting event is the story of the preparation of the Passover. Even as we feel the painful poverty of the Son of Man who had no home of his own in which to celebrate with his disciples, we are touched by the courageous obedience and faith of the disciples whom the Lord sent out. They sensed the danger threatening the Master and them too in Jerusalem. They had no idea where and how they were to meet the unknown man with the jar of water in the city crowded with pilgrims to the festival. Nevertheless they went without protest, trusting the Lord’s instructions.

      Here Jesus once more lets rays of his wondrous far-seeing vision shine out into the darkness of his way of suffering in order to strengthen the faith of his disciples. The disciples soon find the man whom he indicated, a secret follower of the Lord. He is carrying home a jar that he has just filled with water – but now his heart’s longing is to be filled with the water of life.

      At the words, “The Teacher says to you,” his soul thrills with joy. For the one Master whom he honored, as the other disciples did, has recognized his longing and wants to come to his house. “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” The unknown man immediately understands this question. He does not give the apostles information as to where they might find a suitable room elsewhere, but with joyful readiness he opens his own house to them, giving them the use of his large room, carpeted and furnished with cushions.

      As dismaying as the fact is that “he came to his own, and his own people did not receive him,” the words that follow are encouraging: “But to all who did receive him, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11–12). There were some among his own people who received him in faith, and one of them was this householder.

      At this time of Lent the Lord turns to us too and asks our hearts the question, “Where is the room?” And he says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20). What a guest! What grace to be allowed to keep the Passover with him, to celebrate the Lord’s Supper with him! It is a wonderful task to prepare a guest room for him; still more wonderful is the joy of welcoming him. But the glory of being with him in eternity is a joy beyond our conceiving.

      18

      Thursday Evening

      The Passover Meal

      Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

       And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

       John 13:1; Luke 22:14–18

      ON THE THURSDAY EVENING before Easter, the Lord and his disciples entered the room that was prepared for the festival and sat down. He knew that this was the last Passover that he would celebrate with his disciples on earth, and they too were filled with anxious fears. Then the Lord opened his mouth and said, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” What was the reason for this earnest longing? He knew how decisive this meal was for him. He knew that arrest, torture, and death would follow. But the power of love overcame all fear. “Having loved his own, he loved them to the end.” He wanted once more to share a peaceful meal with his faithful disciples, who had left everything to follow him. He wanted to lay his last teachings on their hearts and impart heavenly comfort to their souls, to give them strength to endure even the most difficult things for his sake. He longed once more to be refreshed and comforted by their fellowship of love. But his vision saw beyond this.

      The Passover was a festival in memory of Israel’s liberation from slavery in Egypt, but at the same time it was a prophecy of the freeing of the whole of humankind from the heavy yoke of sin and condemnation through the atoning death of the perfect Paschal Lamb. It was his earnest longing now to fulfill this 1500-year-old prophecy and at long last to redeem the lost world through his sacrificial death, to close in this way the old covenant and set up the new one. But he saw still further beyond this deed of redemption. He looked into that sunny distance beyond time where