Not about the bunny

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

I almost wish I could just open up my heart today. I am having a rough week in the spiritual sense; I had wanted this week to be special, to spend a lot of time with God. I feel God drawing me near, yet my enemy in this world is bringing the great distraction of busyness, and tormenting my soul. The inner wars create anxieties, but they have become expected, and I have become accustomed to my thorn in the flesh. I still draw near, and I still feel the weight of what this week represents. Do you? Do you place more emphasis on the birth of Christ than the death and resurrection of Him? The virgin birth is but a detail of the power of the blood that was in that child that morn. That blood in that infant had the power to save your soul, and this week represents all that the new birth of your life in Him, through Him, on that Cross contains.

Christ repeatedly slams the religiosity of the leaders of that day. Of the pride and arrogance that they carried; of the enslaving rituals that they demanded; of the methods that they preached and the hypocrisy in which they lived. They elevated themselves, and much of their preaching simply had a self serving motive. 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Christ had come to fulfill the law that could not be fulfilled under their guidance. Their answer stood before them, not exalted, but in the example of a humble servants heart.

Christ ends his speaking out against the religious leaders of that day in a heartfelt lamentation for Jerusalem. He knows of how they have consistently rejected the signs and prophets that God had sent them. He departs Jerusalem and goes to the Mount of Olives on His way back to Bethany. There He teaches of the end of times, of His second coming; this is known as the Olivet Discourse found in Matthew 24. This week should grab you, it should tug at your soul for what it represents. It should make you question your religiosity and your eternity. This week should draw you closer to Christ; I pray that you answer that tug on your heart to it.