Interesting Bible Facts about Easter

The Kidron Valley

According to John 18:1, when Jesus traveled to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray on the night before he was crucified, he crossed the Kidron valley. The Hebrew word, Kidron means dark or black. The valley got its name because the temple was directly above this valley and as the animals were sacrificed, their blood ran out of the temple and into the Kidron Valley, turning the ground black as it dried. Isn’t it amazing to realize Jesus passed through this valley on his way to the cross? I wonder what went through His mind as he stepped on the black ground. I wonder if He pictured my face–and yours?

Judas

According to Matthew 27:3-7, after Judas betrayed Jesus for just 30 pieces of silver, Judas felt remorse and tried to give the silver back to the chief priests and elders. In doing this, he threw the silver into the sanctuary of the temple. The chief priests bought a potters field with it.

Interestingly, thirty pieces of silver was the price stated in Exodus 21:33 for the life of a slave. Zechariah 11:13 foretold this: “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.’ So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw to the potter in the house of the Lord.”

Prophet, Priest, and King

Jesus He was Prophet, Priest, King, the great intercessor, the perfect lamb, fully God yet fully man. We know He was a priest and king but how was He a prophet? As a prophet, He occasionally acted in classic prophet manner. The prophets often dramatized situations. Hosea married a harlot to illustrate Israel’s infidelity, Jeremiah hid his waistband in a rock and came back to find it ruined to illustrate God’s destruction of the pride of Judah and the pride of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 13:1-8.) Just read the 4^th & 5^th chapters of Ezekiel and you will see many such dramatizations. When did Jesus act in similar prophet fashion? When He broke the bread and drank the wine illustrating his death and resurrection. This upcoming event (found in all of the gospels, see Luke 22:19-20 as one example) was not explained by a sermon as much as a drama.

 

Cheery Countenance

Ah, Spring!

 

“So when the plants came up…then the weeds appeared also.” Matthew 13:26 (ESV)

 

Weeds! What’s a gardener to do? Every year, I fight the battle of the weeds in both my vegetable garden and my lawn. In the garden, I get on my hands and knees, pulling them up by the roots and carefully putting down ground treatments that will help control the weeds but will not kill the produce. To treat the lawn, I put “weed and feed” granules in a rolling dispenser and push it across the entire lawn.

 

Well, a few years ago I had just spent the entire day tying to kill the newly budding dandelions in my yard. Usually, when I do this I notice a reaction to the treatment fairly quickly. By the next day, if not sooner, the dandelions begin to bend their heads down in a wilting motion. But this particular year, I saw now such reaction.

 

I pulled my car out of the garage that morning on my way to take my son to school, like I did every morning. At that time my son was too young to sit in the front seat. He always sat on the passenger side of the back seat so as to be closer to the curb when I dropped him off. That morning as I pulled out of my driveway I noticed the dandelions still standing up right; perky as ever. Then as I crossed the front section of my yard, I looked over my shoulders pondering why my weed treatment from the day before had not worked. This gave the effect of me looking back at my son in the backseat, though I wasn’t – I was looking at the weeds. Then I murmured to myself in frustration, “Why aren’t you dead yet!”

 

My son reacted in horror by exclaiming, “MOM!! WHY DID YOU SAY THAT?!”

 

Be careful what you say. It might be misunderstood by others! Of course, I apologized and explained to him that I was talking to the weeds, not him…and my weeds did die in a few days.