Passage

[Philippians 2: 6-8]
"[Christ Jesus], although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."


It was five days before Jesus took the cross.
Jesus was coming down to the city of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, riding on the foal of a donkey. People were surrounding Him and following Him.
They put their robes or the branches on the street.
Everyone including children and the elderly were shouting Hosanna.
Luke 19:37-38 describes this scene. It says, "As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting: "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
We celebrate this event on the Palm Sunday.
This Sunday originated from the fact that the people welcomed Jesus waving the palm branches.
But just five days later, this shouting of Hosanna turned into an angry roar 'Crucify him!'
Now, let us briefly go over the footsteps of Jesus for a week from this moment until He died on the cross and resurrected.
A day in Judea was from the sunset to the next sunset.
But let me explain the footsteps of Jesus in the concept of our time for your better understanding.
On the first day which was the Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem with the cheers of the people.
On Monday, the next day, Jesus purified the Jerusalem Temple.
He drove away the merchants from the Temple and overturned the tables of the money-exchangers and those who were selling doves.
On Tuesday He went into the Temple and taught the people.
The people of the high priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people came to Jesus and asked Him, "By what authority are You doing these things?"
They asked many questions to find fault in Him.
But they didn't have anything to say after Jesus gave them answers that had authority.
After that, the high priests and Pharisees wanted to kill Him even more.
On Wednesday, Mary of Bethany came with a very costly oil of spikenard and poured on Jesus' head.
About this, Jesus said in Matthew 26:13, "Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her."
Also, He taught the spiritual meaning of her act in Mark 14:8 saying, "She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial."
Judas Iscariot however didn't like this, and he went to the high priests and promised them to hand over Jesus.
On Thursday evening Jesus had the Passover dinner in the city of Jerusalem with His disciples.
After the dinner, He went to Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives to pray.
Before taking the cross, He prayed so earnestly with all His strength that His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.
After He finished praying, He was surrounded by the men of the high priest and elders of the people who were brought by Judas Iscariot.
Jesus finally was arrested, and the disciples were all alarmed and fled.
Jesus was taken to Annas, the high priest.
Now, it passed the midnight and it had become Friday.
Then Jesus was sent to Caiaphas the high priest, then to the council, and then to Pilate.
But Pilate sent Jesus to Herod saying this incident was under the jurisdiction of Herod who was ruling over Galilee.
But Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate and finally, Jesus received the death sentence from Pilate.
Beginning sometime late Thursday night until around 9 AM Friday, He was taken here and there as he was questioned.
He also received harsh scourging with so much contempt and mockery.
He went up to Golgotha carrying the cross, and six hours after He was hung on the cross, at around 3 PM He died.
But on the third day, in the early morning on Sunday, He broke the authority of death and resurrected.
Brothers and sisters, beginning from today, this week is the Passion Week during which we think of the sufferings of the Lord.
I hope you will meditate on the footsteps of Jesus and spend a godly and holy time, taking into account the contents of the Four Gospels.
We should also participate in the sufferings of the Lord on the Good Friday, fasting at least one meal.
Such an amazing thing happened in this Passion Week.
The name of Jesus became Jesus Christ.
There is a great difference between these two names.
In Matthew 1:21, the archangel Gabriel appeared to deliver the command of God to Joseph.
It says, "She [Mary] will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
Namely, 'Jesus' means 'the One who will save His people from their sins.'
'Christ' is the Greek word for the Hebrew word 'Messiah'.
'Messiah' means 'The Anointed One'.
In the Old Testament, when the kings, priests, or prophets were appointed, they were anointed on their head.
The anointing symbolizes the Holy Spirit.
Jesus received the title of the King, Priest, and Prophet and came to this earth to save the mankind.
He fulfilled the providence of salvation by taking the cross.
Therefore, Jesus Christ means the Savior who has saved His people from their sins.
As explained, the name 'Jesus' and 'Jesus Christ' have a great difference in meaning: the One who will save and the One who has saved.
After the crucifixion, Jesus became the Lord of lords and the King of kings.
He received the name "the Lord Jesus Christ".
He had to pay such a great price to receive this glory.
Namely, He took the sufferings of the cross, of which the pains cannot be adequately described.
From this Jesus, we can see God and feel His love.
Let us think about who the Lord Jesus Christ really is.
I hope you will have a blessed time to feel the love of God more deeply.

The Lord Jesus Christ, first of all, came down to this earth in human likeness.
Today's reading passage Philippians 2:6-8 says, "[Christ Jesus], although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
Jesus is God in origin, but He came to this earth in human body.
He took much suffering upon himself.
He forsook the glorious throne that is guarded by countless heavenly host and angels.
He left Heaven which is full of only beauty and comfort to come down to this earth that is full of filthiness, sorrow, and pains.
He had such a glorious form, but He put on the imperfect physical body.
While He lived on this earth, He spent painful days, just like other people.
He felt hunger when He didn't eat. He was tired and when He didn't sleep.
His feet hurt when He walked too much.
When He healed the fever of Peter's mother-in-law, the people in town began to bring the sick and the demon-possessed from around the sunset, and He had to heal them all-night.
He came out of that house only at the dawn, and He went directly to a solitary place to pray.
One day, when He and His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee, there was a storm and the boat was filled with water.
The Bible says that at that time Jesus was sleeping at the stern, namely at the rear of the boat,.
Jesus had never had enough sleep.
He could just sleep during that kind of interval.
When the disciples got some food for Him, He ate just a little and gave most of it to the disciples.
While Jesus was on this earth, He took all the joy and sufferings together with His disciples and the people who came to Him.
It is not that He bore with all those things feeling difficulty in it.
He shared everything with people with His love for them.
Jesus always harbored the providence and will of God and His love for the people in His heart.
Namely, He always kept in mind that God had sent Him so that the mankind could recover the image of God and the right to become God's children.
In order to fulfill the providence of God completely, He just obeyed everything like a servant.
At last, He obeyed to the point of being killed like an animal.
Jesus is the evidence of the love of God the Father who had sent Jesus.
Instead of telling us, "Do you know how much I love you? I love you so much," He showed Jesus Christ to us as the evidence of His love.
He showed His love to us so clearly.
During this week, and until the Lord comes back, I hope you will continue to find the utmost love of God in Jesus Christ who came down to this earth in human body and underwent sufferings.
I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that you will also love God to the utmost degree.
Jesus Christ, secondly, shed tears for the souls.
The Bible has two scenes in which Jesus shed His tears.
In John chapter 11, Jesus heard Lazarus was dead, and He went to wake him up.
When He arrived at the place, not just Lazarus' sisters but also others who visited them were mourning.
Jesus was heartbroken because nobody was showing true faith although He had manifested so many miracles.
Moreover, He could feel the mourning heart of Mary, the sister of Lazarus.
So, Jesus also shed His tears.
Jesus also shed His tears several days before the crucifixion.
From Luke 19:41 onward, Jesus cried talking about how the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed.
The Bible mentions only two scenes, but in fact, Jesus shed so many tears for the souls.
He prayed with tears for the souls who misunderstood Him and rejected Him and who could not gain faith, although He wanted to give them the eternal life in heavenly kingdom, healing and peace, and only good things.
We can feel how much the Lord Jesus loved the souls on this earth if we consider how much He loved His disciples and how He guided them.
Before He ascended into Heaven, Jesus raised the disciples to entrust them with spreading of the gospel.
He called each of them as His disciple and walked with them.
He let them be present at places where He preached the gospel of the kingdom and performed amazing miracles.
He wanted them to learn as many things as possible and come forth as perfect workers of God.
But although the day for His crucifixion was drawing near, the disciples still had many shortcomings.
When He was praying until His sweat became like drops of blood at Gethsemane, the disciples could not overcome tiredness and fell asleep.
At the moment Jesus was arrested, they all became afraid and ran away.
Peter strongly said, "Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away," but he also denied the Lord three times.
What kind of view did Jesus have on these disciples?
He knew their shortcomings and weaknesses, but He looked at them only with the eyes of love.
He led them with love until the end so that they could become perfect, fulfill all their duties, and enjoy the glory of Heaven completely.
He even accepted Judas Iscariot until the end in order that He might gain understanding
One's inner heart is revealed in a life-threatening and desperate situation.
Even when He was arrested and questioned all-night here and there, He could not let go of His disciples from His heart.
He tried to hold them so that they wouldn't fall into temptation. He wanted to teach them as many things as possible.
Even at the last moment, He interceded with all His tears and strength not only for His disciples but also for those who were like the flock without a shepherd and who were crucifying Him.
His tearful prayer saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing," is also His prayer for us who are living today.
I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you will fully recover the image of God by the help of Jesus' tearful prayers.
The Lord Jesus Christ, thirdly, opened the way for the Holy Spirit to come to us.
Jesus came to this earth in human flesh to awaken the souls.
He preached the gospel of the kingdom of Heaven and taught God's love to the people.
But now Jesus had to go back to Heaven.
So at the Last Supper with His disciples, He promised the disciples that He would send another Helper.
John 14:16-17 says, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you."
Actually, the Holy Spirit cannot dwell in sinners.
It's because He is the Spirit of God who is Holy.
But Holy Spirit was enabled to come into us because Jesus destroyed the wall of sin by becoming the propitiation of sin for us.
Also, as He promised, "I will ask the Father," Jesus asked the Father God to send the Holy Spirit.
Jesus came down to this earth in human body and shared in all the pains and joy together with other people.
He knew the weaknesses and foolishness of people very well, so He knew very well that they needed a helper.
The Holy Spirit could come down to this earth through this love of Jesus.
As we see in Acts chapter 2, after the Lord ascended into Heaven, the Holy Spirit came to the upper room of Mark on the Pentecost.
The disciples and workers of the Early Church preached the gospel by the help of the fiery works of the Holy Spirit.
Today, as the Lord's coming is ever so near, we are also living in the help of the Holy Spirit.
It's been about 2,000 years since the resurrection and ascension of the Lord, but we know why Jesus is our Savior through the Holy Spirit.
We see the amazing power of the Holy Spirit so that we can surely believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us we can feel the great love of God the Father.
Because of His love, we do not just receive salvation but we also try to recover the image of God.
We pray fervently through the power of the Holy Spirit and march on towards New Jerusalem where God's throne is located.
In this end time that is full of sins, we have become workers who understand the will and providence of God and try our best to save the souls.
Because of this Holy Spirit sent by the Lord, we are going the right way in this era of darkness.
The Holy Spirit will lead us to the place where the Lord is.
The Holy Spirit is the gift that the Lord Jesus Christ has given to us with His love for us.
I hope you will give thick aroma of thanks to the Lord for opening the way for the Holy Spirit to come to us, and to God who has sent the Holy Spirit to us.


Conclusion

The Lord Jesus Christ, first of all, came down to this earth in human body.
Second, He shed tears for the souls.
Third, He opened the way for the Holy Spirit to come to us.
In other words, the first, second, and third characters of the Lord Jesus Christ are all love.
God the Father put His utmost love for us in His precious Son and sent Him to this earth.
His love was revealed clearly as a fruit called the Lord Jesus Christ who fulfilled the providence of the salvation of the cross completely.
During this week, I hope you will engrave the love of God the Father deep in your heart thinking about the Lord who received the sufferings.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will contemplate on questions like, "I received such great love, and how should I love God the Father and the Lord back? How should I live now?" and find the answers.