Introduction to Scandalous Jesus Devotional

I remember seeing a drawing of Jesus in a Bible when I was a child. He looked peaceful and caring with a couple young children nearby Him. He smiled at them, and they smiled back at Him. It captured my heart and my attention.

As I grew up and read the Bible more, I realized just how true it is that Jesus abounds with peace, care, and real love for humanity. In his gospel, the Apostle John describes Jesus as being sent from God the Father “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

While it is true that Jesus cares for and loves us, there is something else about Jesus that can create a tension of sorts in our picture of Him. We see Jesus turning over tables and scrambling conventional expectations of the Messiah. He comforts those burdened with the weight of the world and their sin, but He also cuts to the quick with those who are smugly self-righteous or careless toward God.

Jesus is not a tame Messiah. When He entered Jerusalem, the center of political and religious life for the Jewish people, Jesus caused a scandal. From the triumphal entry into Jerusalem through His teaching and into His crucifixion, Jesus shocked an upside-down world with lavish grace and truth from God for all with ears to hear and eyes to see.

Jesus’ scandalous journey parallels our journey of Lent. Lent is a forty-day journey beginning on Ash Wednesday and carrying forward to Easter Sun- day when we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. Echoing Israel’s forty-year jour- ney to the Promised Land and Jesus’ forty days of temptation in the wilder- ness, Lent leads us into deeper engagement with God through prayerful reflection and reading of Scripture. With particular attention on Jesus’suffer- ing and crucifixion in Jerusalem, Lent invites us to turn from ourselves, our sin, and our idols in order to more deeply be transformed by God.

The devotional booklet you hold in your hands is a forty-day guide written by people within the Eastbrook Church family to help us draw near to Jesus Christ in Lent. I pray this journey together as a church draws us into a trans- forming encounter with Jesus—His life, His death, and His resurrection.

Each week of this devotional begins with a Sunday reading written by Senior Pastor Matt Erickson for older students and adults. There is also a version called “Family Talk” written by a member of our NextGen team, intended for families with young children. Each day Monday-Friday has a short devotional thought written by one of our Eastbrookers with questions at the end for deeper reflection. Saturdays are intended for small group discussion and for deeper reflection.