Holy Week is a journey toward the cross and on to the resurrection. We tend to rush toward Sunday and the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. We gloss over the arrest, trial, beating, and crucifixion. We want to only give a glance at the sacrifice because it is too real and too brutal. We shy away and we miss the heavy truth of Jesus’ sacrifice.
As we wrap up this Lenten Adventure from Romans 5, we read in verse 19, “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” The battle between obedience and disobedience is ongoing in our lives. When we look at Adam in Genesis, we see the tendency toward disobedience. We watch the spread of disobedience to God’s Law and to God’s direction for people’s lives throughout the Old Testament and into the New Testament.
In our modern lives, we struggle with this same sinful behavior of disobedience. So often our disobedience is found in seeking those experiences of life that look good, feel good, and make us feel included, but are not within God’s design and desire for our lives. We seek our own way and fall into the trap of unrighteous living.
Paul reminds us in verse 19, there is one man’s obedience that makes us righteous. This goes well with Paul’s writing in Philippians 2:8, “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” The cross is our salvation and a model for our own obedience. Jesus chose obedience while being gracious and humble and showed us the way for us to be obedient-. Through Jesus’ obedience we are found to be righteous as we surrender our lives to him and obediently follow him.
During our Holy Week journey, I invite you to consider Jesus’ obedience. His death on the cross is our salvation, and our fullness of life is discovered in his resurrection. We are made righteous through his obedience and invited to live obedient lives, seeking to live in Christ fulfilling God’s design and desire for our lives. Because of one man’s obedience, we are set free and made alive.
Stop. Consider. Experience. As we move through Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday to the celebration of resurrection on Easter, may you come to more fully realize the power of Jesus’ obedience and sacrifice.
Prayer: Lord, slow me down during Holy Week that I might consider each day and the reminder of Jesus’ great sacrifice and obedience. I want to be obedient to your plan for my life. Thank you for making me righteous through Christ’s obedience. In Jesus’ name. Amen.