Girls Gone Bible - HOLY WEEK | Girls Gone Bible

Episode Date: April 3, 2026

hi ggbbbbb:) One of the most important episodes we'll ever film. The pure Gospel through Holy Week. So you guys can follow along: (reading from NLT) Palm Sunday (Jesus' Triumphal Entry) Matthew 21:1��11 — We often praise God when He aligns with our expectations, but struggle when He doesn't. Monday (Temple Cleansing) Matthew 21:12–13 —Jesus doesn't expose things to shame us, He exposes them to heal us. Tuesday (Teaching & Confrontation) Matthew 22–23 —You can be around God things and still miss God Himself. Wednesday (The Silent Day / Betrayal Begins) Matthew 26:14–16 —God is never absent, even when He seems silent.  Thursday (Last Supper & Gethsemane) Matthew 26:17–46 —Surrender is often the hardest right before breakthrough. Friday (The Crucifixion) Matthew 27 —Jesus is rejected, mocked, and abandoned. He fully enters human suffering. —The cross wasn't a tragedy, it was a victory. Saturday (The Waiting) Matthew 27:62–66 —Just because you can't see God moving doesn't mean He isn't. —Can I remain faithful when I don't feel anything? Sunday (The Resurrection) Matthew 28:1–10 —Resurrection isn't just an event, it's a new way of living. —Am I walking in resurrection power, or still living like I'm in the grave? happy happy happy Easter / Resurrection Day. we love you so much. Jesus loves you more. -Ang & Ari ORDER OUR NEW BOOK! You can order our new book "Out of the Wilderness— 31 Devotions to Walk with God Through Your Hardest Seasons" at http://girlsgonebible.com/book JOIN US ON GGB+ 🥹❤️ https://ggb.supportingcast.fm COME SEE US ON TOUR: Tickets for our tour are now on sale. Go to www.GirlsgoneBible.com/tour (http://www.girlsgonebible.com/tour) WE LOVE YOU AND CANNOT WAIT TO SEE YOU! BetterHelpA convenient, affordable way to connect with a licensed therapist from the comfort of your home. Get 10% off your first month at BetterHelp.com/girlsgonebible. Grand Canyon University Earn your degree online or on campus with programs designed to fit your life. Enroll today and find your purpose at http://GCU.edu/MyOffer. IQBAR Fuel your body and brain with IQBAR. Plant based protein bars packed with clean ingredients and functional nutrients. Text GGB to 64000 for 20% off plus free shipping. Glorify App Guided meditations and daily devotionals to strengthen your faith and find peace throughout your day. Download the app at Glorify-app.com/ggb and get full access for just $29.99 for the entire year. Hosanna Revival Beautiful, thoughtfully designed Bibles and faith-based tools to help you stay rooted in the Word and deepen your relationship with God. Use code GGB at HosannaRevival.com for 15% off. Yappy Bracelets Meaningful, faith-based bracelets designed to remind you of what matters most. Simple, wearable pieces that carry intention and purpose every day. Get 15% off your order at YappyBracelets.com/GGB. Zocdoc Finding a doctor just got easier. Search top-rated doctors, read real reviews, and book appointments that work for your schedule—all in one place. Find your doctor today at Zocdoc.com/GGB. OneSkin Science-backed skincare designed to target aging at the cellular level, helping your skin look healthier, smoother, and more youthful. Clean formulas that actually work. Get 15% off your order at OneSkin.co/GGB with code GGB.

sing it on oh santa is my heart hey ggb hi ggb i'm ang and i'm ari and this is girls gone bible we are a faith-based podcast where we talk all things spirituality mental health the bible

and we are coming to you guys today on a new set and i just want to say you guys are on the ride with us Yeah. We're just figuring it out. How do you guys like it? We're debating the pink curtains. We're just trying things out. So just bear with us. Bear with us. We're just, we're going to build as we go. We are obsessed with these chairs. I love this cozy vibe. It's giving Nancy Myers. It is so giving Nancy Myers. So we, we let go of the, what was it? The honeycomb. We're going to, okay, let's just talk about the honeycomb. That was our faithful podcast studio for almost. three years. By the way, you guys, we're coming up on three years soon. What are we going to do for our

three year anniversary? We're going to do a big party. I can't believe it's been three years. It's almost three years. That's three years of our life. We've been so much that we've been face to face, noggin to noggin, white knuckling through life together and with all of our best friends. But coming out together. Fight in demons. Sometimes the demons were fighting us. But Jesus has the victory in the end. Praise. Anyways, guys, so we will, yeah, this is just a work in progress. We're going to, it's just going to be changing as we go along. We're figuring out our set.

What do you guys think, though? Can you guys write in the comments? How you're liking it, what we can add. It's so funny because somebody sent an AI photo of the studio that they think that we should have. And I actually screenshoted it. And I showed the team. I was like, this is what we want. This is what they saw for us.

So it's kind of like what you guys sent us. So if you have any input, let us know. But I really love this cozy vibe. I love the cozy. This is us. I mean, if it really was us, we'd both be sitting in the same chair. Yes, you would be rubbing my head on my lap like you were last night. Okay.

She laid her head on my lap last night. It was so cute. I saw a comment of someone being like, sorry, it takes a second second like to adjust. Yeah, on a little, I'm trying to like, I'm trying to jump like. like how are you? Yeah, which is, it's going to take a second for us to adjust. No, that's so weird that you said that. I do feel like that too. I'm like, I feel like I'm in a new territory right now. A hundred percent. Banana. So me and Ari were talking yesterday and somebody was talking about how like we're talking about accents. And I said like, yeah, Ari has a little bit

of an accent. Like she says parent and she says banana. I was like, I don't say that. And I said she says like banana. And I said she says like banana. And now he goes, banana. Banana. That's not always, but you say banana, you don't? I say banana. And the thing that I say weird is orange. You say banana.

I don't say banana. Does you do? Do I say anything weird? No, you sound like in all of, you sound like full American. And we're talking about, okay, can you tell him why about your accent? What? Well, tell them about your accent. Like what, like the years of Boston.

I know, but the years of trying to not have an accent. Oh, why don't you tell them? Okay. So, she would tell everyone last night. And I'm sitting there, you know, and like, you don't know what to do with yourself because someone's just telling, telling people about you. And you're like, really? Well, because Ari was like, because my friend asked like,

does Ari have a Boston accent? And I said, yes. Well, she said, she said, I don't. it at all. Yeah, she said it sounds like Jersey. She was like it sounds like Jersey. I was like, no, I'll tell you what it is. She's been trying her whole life to not have a Boston accent. So now she just doesn't really know exactly what she sounds like. I sound like a foreigner. Sometimes you say words wrong and stuff because I try so hard. No, sometimes you do sound like you're from another country. Oh, I know. My, you have no idea what I sounded like when I first moved

to L.A. Like Boston, thick Boston? I had the thick Boston. I had the thickest accent. you will ever hear. And I just, I love you Boston people, but I think we have the worst accent in the world and I want to do everything not to have it. I'm so proud to be from Boston. It's my favorite accent, but it's, I just, I know, I can't. I wish I had an Albanian accent. Well, you can speak Albanian. Yeah. At least you can speak another language. All I can say is what. Why? Why? Borgay. Borgé. Borgé. One of those two, you know. I am. We started out this episode singing Hosanna in the highest because it is Holy Week. We are filming this on Tuesday. We'll be releasing it Friday, which will be good Friday by the time it comes out.

So most of Holy Week will already be over. But you guys, this is one of the most important weeks of the year. We have Christmas and we have Easter, our most important holidays. We are so excited to be with you to talk about Holy Week. I think the past couple of years that we've done Easter, talk about the crucifixion, we've talked about the resurrection, but we've never talked about Holy Week as a whole. Holy Week is literally the week leading up to the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So it's literally Sunday to Sunday. We start on Palm Sunday, and we go through scripture based on what is going on each day. I was telling Anne, I was like, Easter's always been my favorite holiday since I was a kid, because I love bunnies. Because I'm my favorite

animals. Yeah, she's like dogs with dogs. Which if I was an animal, I would be a bunny. But anyways, I was saying it's so crazy how even before I knew the significance of Easter, it's always been my favorite holiday. Your heart always knew. My heart always knew. Jesus. Yeah, and we were talking about it earlier too. Isn't it so funny how we grew up like into the Catholic church?

I used to go to Mass since I was little and I had no idea what Easter was still. Can I be honest? I didn't even know what Easter was about until like, eight years ago actually isn't that so crazy yeah so here at ggb we believe in jesus christ we all know this we believe in the gospel of jesus the holy scriptures the bible the 66 books of the bible that all point to one person one story and we're really excited to talk about holy week so we're going to start you guys in matthew chapter 21 and on our or n i are ari and i are you and i are you and i I. Ani and I. Anki. I go woo-woo. Oh, by the way, we didn't talk about our weeks. How was your week?

My week, my week was so glorious. I had a day where I like pulled, I pulled my chair up to my window. So I just love being in nature right now with Jesus. And I pulled my chair up to my window and the sun was coming in. And I just laid there all day and just it was such a beautiful day with Jesus. I really, read, I laid, I talked to him, and I just spent the whole day in the presence of him, and it was beautiful. So I just had kind of an Ari week. I was by myself. I studied a lot of scripture. You have a peace over you. Yeah. When you spend time like that, it's peace. You have such a peace. You're washed with peace. Yeah. So my intimacy is the most important thing, you guys. We can't express that enough. I see it all of you. How is your week?

I had the best week. Did you miss me in Nashville? Yeah, I miss you. Well, I can't tell you guys how much money I offered Ari to come to Nashville with me. Leading like literally where she's driving me to the airport and I'm looking at her like, we can share my clothes. We buy you a ticket right now. She offered me money.

I tried to taking your money and ran. You should have taken my money and come to Nashville with me. But yeah, I went to Nashville for a week and genuinely had such a good time. What did you do? I just hung. I hung up with my friends. Did you make new friends? Yeah, I made a couple of friends.

What is that face, Anne? Shut up, Harry. Seriously, it hasn't. You think about Holy Week. And before we start, you guys, we want to remind you that we are on the Girls Gone Bible live tour. We're starting back up April 30th. We're doing so much of the East Coast.

We are so excited to be with you guys again. We've taken, it's been almost like five months since we've been on tour. It's been so long. No, that's a lie. It's been three months. You know, I have no correlation. I know. All right, it is in no timelines.

Anyways, guys, we want to see you. Get your tickets at girls gone bible.com slash tour. Let's gather around the throne together, loving Jesus, worshiping Jesus. And we also want to remind you that we're on GGB Plus. We just recently uploaded a video. A very intimate video. Very intimate. Very personal.

I'm scared. We really want you guys to join us on there. You can go to girls gonebibble. dot com slash plus and one last thing you guys know our book out of the wilderness 31 devotions to walk with god through your hardest season is out everywhere and it's also in target which is so crazy my mom sends me a photo every single day of her at like she she my mom goes to every target just to find the book and so so you guys can get your copy at girls gone bible.com slash book we love you and if comment in the comment section if you're coming to our show i'm so

excited to do the East Coast, you guys. Oh, family. So we're starting at Matthew 21 versus 1 to 11. So this is Palm Sunday. This is the Sunday that passed before this episode released. So we're just going to walk through the entire Holy Week because it's everything and it's so important. So let's set the scene. I wrote this down about Holy Week. We don't rush to the resurrection. We walk through surrender, suffering, and sometimes silence. Islands. And so R, do you want to read Matthew 21 verse 1? As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, he came to the town of Beth Fidge on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead.

Go into the village over there, he said. As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, and it's cult beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are doing, just say the Lord needs them and he will immediately let you take them. This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said, tell the people of Jerusalem, look, your king is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey, riding on a donkey's cult. Okay, so really quick, just to set the stage. So this is the moment where Jesus, it's after his three years of ministry. So we know that Jesus started his ministry at 30 years old and he died at 33.

Jesus, this is called like his triumphant entry. Like he comes into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, as Ari just read, and it says there, Jesus intentionally chooses a donkey because it fulfills the prophecy in Zechariah 9-9 that says, rejoice greatly, daughter Zion, shout daughter, Jerusalem. Your king comes to you righteous and victorious, but lowly, and riding on a donkey on a cult, which I just think is so iconic of Jesus, our humble king. He chose a donkey to ride in on. Like everything that he does points to his humility and his lowliness. He literally could have come in on a chariot with a horse. Like he could have come in like the king that he is. And he came in on a donkey.

He was a loving savior. Yeah. And it says, the two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw the garments over the cult and he sat on it. Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him. And others cut branches from the tree. and spread them out on the road. So this is where we get Palm Sunday from. If you go to like a Catholic church, they give you a little palm branch,

and it's because everybody, they would cut down the tree. They took the branches and spread them on the road, and that's where we get Palm Sunday from. And then it says Jesus was in the center of the procession, and all the people around him were shouting, Hosanna for the son of David, Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest heaven.

The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. Who is this, they asked. And the crowds replied, it's Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee. Okay, let's talk about this really quickly. So at the time that Jesus comes riding on the donkey, all of Jerusalem is so excited about this moment because they believe that their king, their Messiah is coming to save them from the Roman Empire. Jerusalem is God's chosen city.

Israel is God's chosen place. and chosen people. And so all of Jerusalem, they were bound by the Roman Empire. They were not a free city. They were not a free country. And so they thought that the Messiah was coming to deliver them from the Roman Empire, having no idea that the Messiah was coming to deliver them from sin. And so what I love about this moment so much, especially in a world that is so heightened and sensitive politically. And I've had a lot of opinions as of recently in my own heart when it comes to Christianity and politics. And obviously it's something that's hard to talk about, but I am so passionate and inspired and like challenged by the fact that Jesus came and pulled on no political power whatsoever. He could have done whatever

he wanted. And he came and literally said, I want nothing to do with politics. I'm coming to save my people. It had nothing to do with politics. And what I'm I think is so amazing about this is Hosanna means save us now. And so the people of Jerusalem wanted immediate relief. But the truth is they what they thought they needed relief from wasn't actually what they needed saving from. They thought that they needed to be saved from the Roman Empire, but really Jesus was like there is a much, much deeper thing happening here. And so I wrote this down, we so often praise God when he aligns with our expectations, but we struggle when he doesn't. so do we still trust God when he doesn't show up the way that we thought he would?

This has challenged me so much this week specifically of like we pray and we pray and we want such specific things and we truly believe we think that we know exactly what we need, but we can only see as far as the Lord will let us see. And so often there's something so much deeper and more significant happening. And so we have all of these prayers that of course, course matter to us and they matter to God, but what matters more to him is his will playing out for our lives. And so can we truly trust Jesus when he's not answering our prayers the way that we think he should be? This is so challenging for me because I am a control freak and I feel like I know

exactly what should happen. But this specific story, this is why I love Palm Sunday so much, they had no idea what they truly needed. But God did. He did. A person. pastor that I really respect posted this yesterday. Palm Sunday is an unexpected message about when God doesn't do what I want. It's a profoundly prophetic and sobering picture for the entire American church in 2026. And in it we have an invitation. Will I co-opt Jesus into following my way or will I follow his way all the way to the cross? And so this is just really, this should move all of us so deeply that like you guys, don't stop praying. Keep praying. Keep praying the desires of your heart, but we have to trust that God knows better for our lives. It's the hardest thing. It's the hardest thing because we can,

we can't see everything that he can see. Yeah. But that's where our faith comes in. Yeah. Surrender, yeah. Yeah. Jesus clears the temple. Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out all of the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money. changers in the chairs of those selling doves. He said to them, the scripture declares, my temple will be called a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of thieves. The blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed them. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the children in the temple shouting. Praise God for the son of David. Okay, so this is Monday, you guys. This is the temple cleansing. This is where,

our sweet, sweet Jesus comes in and he is throwing tables over. It's his righteous anger. It's like everybody's favorite part in scripture because we never see God, God, yes, God, we never see Jesus get angry like that. In this, the temple was meant to be a place of prayer and it became a place of prophet. Jesus's anger is holy because he is not passive about sin that distorts our worship. God is not okay with anything that comes in between us and him, and that's including money. And what I love about this moment so much is the Lord cares so much about our purity. He cares so much about our cleansing, and he clears out what is distracting people from true encounter with God.

And I think in the church right now, in the body right now, we see so much cleansing, anything that is impure, anything that is incongruent. And by the way, all of us are fallible human beings who all have. incongruency we all have weaknesses we all have sin but God he cleanses us it's the whole point of what he does and I just I love this moment too because right after cleansing like Ari read right after he cleanses them he heals the blind and the lame so cleansing leads to restoration it leads to healing that's why yeah and I I just think that's why purity is just so important holiness holiness the Greek word for holiness is being set apart yeah it is it is

something that I put above everything is to live in purity, not to say that I'm perfect, but to be set apart. I know that when I have idolatry in my heart, just idols and all of these things, it keeps me from hearing the voice of God. That's why it says the pure and heart will see God. And so I know when I'm living set apart, I'm able to have that intimacy and partner with him in a way that is like you will do anything you can to get those idols and get all those distractions out of your life. It's so important to be set apart to live in that purity and holiness. What I love about this so much going off of what you said is that like Jesus doesn't expose us to shame us. He does it to heal us.

Yeah. Like he really does. Even when he convicts us and brings things to the surface and forces us to look at things. that we don't want to look at. Like he's doing it out of his kindness and out of his love. And it's probably one of my favorite parts of living life with Jesus

is when things happen that bring... I remember we were talking to someone a while ago of like whatever comes up out of you during difficult situations is what's in you. It's not that difficult situation that did that to you. It's actually what was beneath the surface and the pressure is what caused it to come

out. And so I think it is just so the Lord's kindness to allow difficult circumstances in our lives because then that yucky stuff comes to the surface and you're like, no, no, no, that wasn't supposed to happen, but it was in there. So it's literally, that's, that's one of the reasons why God lets bad things happen. Yeah. Because it shows you what needs to be uprooted and taken out. And so, yeah. And I love the scripture. I discipline those who I love. And I stood on that. I had such a mature moment. And my walk recently where something happened to me and where I would typically wallow in it and be like, why, why, why? I was like, okay, this is a moment of discipline. What are you trying to teach me in this? So if we can shift our mindset of being in victim mode and saying, no, what are you trying to

discipline me in this? So I'm better. So because it's a moment of cleansing. And that's maturity in our faith is when instead of sitting in that victim mode of being like, why? Why and being stuck in that depression where I used to be for a long time changing that mindset of, no, he disciplines those who he loves. He's disciplining me right now because he loves me. He's trying to grow me. So asking those questions of what are you doing? What are you trying to teach me in this moment right now so I can grow and you can cleanse me and I can go back to that purity with you and that holiness? So good.

Yeah. All right. And then we have Tuesday. Tuesday is all about Jesus's teaching and confrontation. It's all of Matthew 22 and 23, so we can't read all of that. But basically, these are the chapters where you guys know when Jesus is going, and he's talking to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the leaders of the religious law, and all of them are trying to catch him in some sort of, they're just trying to catch him slipping up and saying something that they can then accuse him of being a false teacher or going against

the people. And so I just love this so much because Jesus is answering all the hard questions about taxes, the resurrection, the greatest commandment. In these two chapters, this is where he declares the greatest commandment to love God with all your heart and love people. And we also love this because he is calling out all of the religious hypocrisy. He's telling everybody that you are, you look so clean and righteous on the outside, but your hearts are impure. And so Tuesday is all about checking your own heart and seeing the places and the areas in which you are performing this Christian life, but you're not truly living it, or the areas of your heart that are not pure that nobody else can see, but God can see, which is something that I go through every single

day, that Ari goes through, that this is like a never, this is also something that you never graduate from. You never graduate from the prayer of Lord, search my heart, cleanse me, give me a your heart. It never ends. It doesn't matter like, yes, the closer you get to Jesus, the more purity you'll have in your heart. But forever, forever, we are in a sanctification journey where the Holy Spirit is being like, knock, knock, knock, there's a little something in there that I want to get rid of, that I want to heal you from, that I want to bring to light. And something that I love about Matthew 22 and 23 is Jesus is talking to all of these religious leaders and they are so smart, so educated, so trained in the scriptures, and God himself is standing in front of them, and they have

no idea. The God that the scriptures they read and they're educated on, that God is literally standing in front of them, and they're looking right at him and they don't see him. And so I just think that there's such a message in that that you can be around the things of God and still miss God himself. You can be in church and still miss Jesus. You can be on a podcast. talking about Jesus and still not know Jesus. Yeah, it's a heart posture. Yeah, exactly. So we're on Wednesday, you guys, the betrayal of Judas.

So Matthew 26, 14, says, Then Judas Ascariot, one of the 12 disciples, went to the leading priests and asked, how much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you? That's insane. And they gave him 30 pieces of silver. From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus. We have Judas, one of Jesus' closest people.

It'd be the people closest to you, you know? Seriously, one of Jesus' closest people, somebody that he walked with so intimately for three years. He disciples him. He gave him everything. He called him a friend. He told him secrets that nobody else on the planet knew. at the time. He talked to him. He trusted him. And this guy, after three years of walking so closely with him, betrayed him. What do you think about that? I just keep thinking about Judas, Judas,

actually, of how it ended, how he ended up committing suicide. And if he only knew that Jesus still looked at him and loved him. And so many people do that where they just think they're dead in what they did. And you know that, and what Judas did. And you know that, and what Judas did, was horrible, but for him to go and commit suicide showed the heart posture of what did I do and I will never be forgiven. And so I don't know why that just came to my mind, but just thinking like if he would have just turned from that shame and condemnation and pride and turned back to Jesus, Jesus would have taken him in him. Like he did when he was on the cross and said to the thief and said, you'll be with me in paradise well it's the difference between regret and repentance yeah exactly

judas is the ultimate example of regret versus repentance regret judas regretted what he did he knew he knew what he did and he regretted it and i feel like so many of us live in regret when really we could just repent yeah and turn he had no idea that he had the option to just repent you don't just have to regret it, repent, turn, and go to him. He wasn't aware. I love that you mentioned that. He wasn't aware that God himself would still love him and welcome him even after betraying his son. Just shows how flawed we all are too. Think of that he did such a horrible thing. But then his heart softened and said, what did I just do? Same with Peter. It just shows us how human we all are, you know yeah and i think what is so interesting about this and i think it's helpful for all of us to hear

that like the scripture we join in his suffering so that we would join in his glory we've been buried with christ so we resurrect with him all of those point to the fact that we are going to experience all the things that jesus did and that includes betrayal yeah and i think it's really interesting that even betrayal is not outside of the sovereign plan of god it wasn't for for our Jesus and it's not for us. Oftentimes when people ask if God is real, why do bad things happen? Because they lead to something. And so if the Lord allows something bad to happen, somebody to betray you, it's aiding in his will. You have to trust that. If you are a follower of Jesus and you've been betrayed, you have to trust that God allowed it for a reason. Not only is it going

to aid in his will being fulfilled in your life, but it's also making you more like Jesus, which is the whole point of being alive and being a Christian in the first place. When you say being more like Jesus, that means that you do not seek vengeance or be revengeful. You do not to look like Jesus when someone betrays you is you do nothing. And to know that God will fight your battle. We talk about that all the time. I give girls that advice all the time when they're in heartbreak or whatever. it is like a time of true but to feel like they're in true betrayal yeah and the one thing i always say is

you let god fight that battle because god sees everything you don't have to sit there and what do i do i'm so angry no you you literally pray for them and you move on and you let god fight that for you but you do not seek vengeance that's what it looks like to look more like jesus there's in john 18 11 it's the moment where Jesus, Jesus and his disciples are in the Garden of Githemone, Judas obviously betrays him and then the guards come to take Jesus away to arrest him and a fight breaks out. Peter cuts one of the guards' ears off and Jesus goes and heals the man's ear. And Jesus, in John 1811 says, it says, Jesus commanded Peter, put your sword away. Shall I not drink the cup my father has given me. So if you look at this scripture, Jesus calls it the cup that my father has given me.

So his betrayal, Judas's betrayal to Jesus, Jesus looks at as this is my father's cup for me. So I just think it's such an interesting perspective to have that when you've been betrayed, backstabbed, done wrong, you can look at your betrayer in their eyes and say, this is a cup that my father has given me. Yeah. It's such an insane revelation to be like, could it truly be that even all the wrong that's been done to me, God allowed it to happen to produce something or to lead me deeper into his will. Yeah.

And so, like, what an insane perspective that Jesus would have. Like, this is such a bad thing that's happening and I'm looking at it as the cup that my father has given to me. And I'm not resisting it. I'm not fighting it. I'm not trying to manipulate it. I'm not trying to control it. I receive the cup that.

that my father has given me, regardless of what it looks like. Yeah. It's insane. And then I just think like too, you know, one thing that's helped me so much with all, like, and just in my walk of when you follow Jesus, you, the lens of betrayal like, looks different when you are walking with Jesus. Like I feel like when your heart is softened and you're truly walking with him, you start to look at it as being like, what did they go through as kids?

Yeah. Like, and if you can look at it in that perspective, and that doesn't dismiss what they've done to you, but if you can really, we go through so much as like our hurt, projection, like what we went through as kids, like people, people are, go through so much. And so if you can look at it at the lens of like, wow, they must be really hurting. They must be really going through something for them to treat me like that. Yeah. That will then soften your heart and make you look more like Jesus when you look at it in the perspective. Because I almost feel like. that's how Jesus looks at us. A hundred percent. You've been through so much. So if you can look at it in the eyes of Jesus, it just, it really, it gets you out of that bitterness and unforgiveness. Yeah.

So true. Yeah. Because there's nothing worse than sitting in bitterness and unforgiveness creates pride. And the one thing we never want is to have pride. Pride will kill us. It's a killer. It will keep us bound and bondage forever. So we have to constantly like.

look in the eyes of how Jesus looks. And then it creates like that softened heart. And then you let God handle it. Keep hearing the scripture. I will present a table for you in the presence of your enemies. I hold on to that. And 100%. You have to look at people through their humanity.

Judas and Peter are the perfect examples. Yeah, Peter, I'm a lot like Peter, a little bit crazy, a little bit impulsive. Jesus looks at me just like he looks at Peter. like you like through my humanity I know I had a moment I don't even know when it was but I said something to you and I was like what did I say I was like is that okay you go oh please sorry Peter was not give yourself a break right I did say that I kind of felt better well he's like Peter was nuts I go Peter was nuts give yourself some grace I was like yeah that is actually so iconic who do you feel like you're most

like Mary Magdalene but now that I start yeah obviously Mary Magdalene but I do feel like I'm a lot like Paul too yeah why because he has such a heart for people his his whole life was for people yeah and I relate to that I love because I feel like God gave me that gift to love to have a heart for brothers oh yeah he did and I benefit off that every day who you think you're most like Peter I'm a I'm a little bit like Paul. I sometimes feel like I'm like Paul. Yeah. But I am, me and Peter are boys. We're twins. I am Peter through and through. Peter is an evangelistic force and he's also impulsive and he's nuts. And he's just like he'll cut some of his ear off. But he sounds like a good time. So I think I'm, I just, that's my God. But we can get something from everyone. Like I feel like on Moses when he

said, I don't have, I don't speak eloquently. Yeah. And then I feel like I'm in David where he constantly like thirst for Jesus. Yeah, I could be like that too. And then I'm a little like, uh... You're like David when he's up with Bathsheba. Oh. Oh, gosh. Do you dance before the Lord like David did?

I wonder how he danced. I think we talked about this. Yeah. I wonder if he did like... No, but I heard you dancing before the Lord this morning. Hey! She was in my room. I hear it.

What were you singing in there? I was like, that is so sweet. Dude, I was vibing with Jesus this morning. You were wailing. Oh, my gosh, I'm so embarrassed. You know, like, what song were you singing in there? I was kind of jamming out. I was like, I shut off my TV so I could hear you.

I'm so embarrassed. I wish there was a little camera in my house today. Wait. What were you singing? You were embarrassed. Something about wanting his presence. We were in a hotel room. Do you remember?

I know. I looked over here. I don't think. forget that so we were in a hotel one time and Ari and I used to like stay in hotel rooms together and we now we have boundaries now we have boundaries so we used to like have to do quiet time right next to each other but she would go on one side of the room and I'd go on another we'd put on headphones but Ari didn't know for some reason I think she thought because she couldn't hear herself there were these new headphones that had no uh what was it yeah no uh noise cancellation

noise cancellation and so I'm like really really my Bible on the other side of the room and then I just hear like holy holy are you look but it's also like crying a little bit so it's like and I turn out and I go I am I was so because I thought you'd think you know we'd be a little courteous to each other we're both trying to spend time with Jesus this girl is yelling at the top of her lungs and I'm like hello I'm here too But she has no idea because she can't hear herself. So I go and I tap on your shoulder. And I was like, hey, R.

No, you did. What did I do? You were sneaking out with all your, with your bag and all your stuff. Oh, yeah, I love. She was going to sit. We're going to sit in the hallway. I was going to sit in the hallway because you were like viving. And I was going to interrupt you.

And then you go, wait, can you hear me? I'm like, Ari, you're singing at the top of your lungs just because you can't hear. It doesn't mean you're silent to everybody else. It's, I have no. I live on another planet, you guys. Truly, do I? No, you're right here and you're so perfect. All right, you guys, we get to Thursday, Matthew 26, 17, to 46.

We get to the last supper in the Garden of Githemeny. On the first day of the festival of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you? As you go into the city he told them you will see a certain man. Tell him my teacher says my time has come and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house. So the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there. When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table with the 12.

While they were eating, he said, I tell you the truth. One of you will betray me. Greatly distressed, each of them asked in turn, am I the one lord? He replied, one of you who have, has just eaten from this bowl with me will betray me. For the son of man must die, as the scriptures declared long ago, but how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born. Judas, the one who would betray him also asked, Rabbi, am I the one? And Jesus told him, you have said it. As they were eating, Jesus took some

bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples saying, take this and eat it for this is my body and he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to god for it he gave it to them and said each of you drink from it for this is my blood which confirms the covenant between god and his people it is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many mark my words i will not drink wine again until the day i drink it new with you in my father's kingdom then they sang a hymn and went to the Mount of Olives. Go ahead, Ardus. Jesus predicts Peter's denial. On the way, Jesus told them, tonight all of you will desert me. For the scripture says, God will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. I love how he always says, for the scripture say,

if that is not an indication, to not go on your own emotions, but constantly say, but what does the scripture say? But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you, to Galilee and meet you there. Peter declared, even if everyone else desert you, I will never desert you. Jesus replied, I tell you the truth, Peter. This very night before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times that you even know me. No, Peter insisted, even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you. And all the other disciples vowed the same. Jesus prays in Githsemini. Then Jesus went with them to the all of grove called Gethsemini and he said sit here while i go over there to pray he took peter and zebodies two sons

james and john and he became anguished and distressed he told them my soul is crushed with grief to the point of death stay here and keep watch with me he went on a little father and bowed with his face to the ground praying my father if it is possible let this cup of suffering be taking away from me. I want your will to be done, not mine. He returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, couldn't you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak. Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, my father, if this cup cannot be taken away, unless I drink it, your will be done. He returned to them again. He found them sleep. He found them

for they couldn't keep their eyes open. So he went to pray a third time saying the same thing again. And he came to the disciples and said, go ahead and sleep, have your rest. But look, the time has come. The son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Up, let's be going. Look, my betrayer is here.

The Last Supper redefines Passover. So Passover is a feast and a holiday that was celebrated. celebrated for all of the Jews. It basically originated in Exodus. When God freed the Israelites out of Egypt, basically he sent a plague out and every house that had the Israelites in them, they would sacrifice a lamb and then put the lamb's blood on the doorpost. And this is the moment where Jesus becomes the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This last supper is so, so significant because it also shows, like, in Jesus's worst moment, when he knew what was about

to happen, he chose to bring the people that he loves in and wash their feet and spend time with them and have a meal with them. And it's the moment where communion becomes a thing. And we've talked about communion so much, the body and the blood of Jesus Christ, that it's not just symbolic. It's literally when we take communion, we are joining him. We're joining into, oneness with Jesus. The blood of Jesus heals. We always pray that when we pray. We plead the blood of Jesus. When you guys pray, something so powerful as you can say, I plead the blood of Jesus over my mind, my body, my spirit, one drop of his blood heals. When you pray for yourself, you declare that over yourself and over your home. When you pray for the sick, you pray, you say, I plead the blood of Jesus

over that sickness, but it would heal you, that would wash you clean, it would make you anew. Yeah, so good. I wrote this down, surrender is often the hardest right before the breakthrough. Usually right before there's massive breakthrough in your life, God is going to come and ask you to be in, huh? Shake it up, shake things out. Yeah, shake it up and ask you to kind of force you to be in a situation where you say, if it is possible, let this cup pass for me. But nevertheless, not my will be done, but yours, Jesus.

And Jesus's hardest moment, his greatest surrender came right before the biggest victory. And there was nothing about that moment for Jesus that felt like victory. And like what you just said a second ago, how we can't rely on our feelings, this is a perfect example, a perfect example. And it's the hardest thing. because emotions are such an idol feelings are such an idol we are driven by our emotions driven by our feelings how we feel about a situation usually is what matters most to us our feelings are big they become big but it's not the end-all be-all it's not the way we're supposed to live our lives we are not meant to yield to our emotions i'm speaking to myself right now i really am it's true well that's why the that's

why he talks all through the number one commandment is love me with all of your heart he doesn't say that because he's conceded he says that because what should govern your heart is to love Jesus yeah not the idolatry and you're in life not people not relationships not food not any of these things not my will but your will the most powerful prayer that prayer that has literally shifted my faith and my life something, a prayer that I learned really early on my walk. It was one of the, this scene is one of the most monumental scriptures that I have tattooed on my heart. And I talk about that a lot.

But it's just, it's such like a good description of how Jesus wrestled and was scared and the honesty and the weight of coming, and then how that's okay to come before him and, in question and how costly it is and how he was so scared. But having that moment in your flesh, but then reminding yourself, wait a minute, not my will be done, but your will be done. So good. And it's just such a beautiful, such a beautiful scripture of reminding ourselves of that, that even through our doubts and our uncertainties and the moments where we don't know

what's going to happen and where we want something so much, but it just hasn't happened yet, that it's okay to wrestle and doubt and be scared, but then through that uncertainty, to look up to the father and say, but not my will be done, but your will be done. Because your ways are so much greater than my ways. And I know I don't understand right now, but you do,

because your will and your plan is so much better than the feelings and things that I want for myself. Praise. So good. The fact that can I, okay, if I could thank God for anything, it's the fact that he's sovereign. I wish he was more so. I wish he was all, I wish he was, I wish I didn't have free will. I wish that I just, I'm so grateful that he's sovereign. I'm so grateful that he's bigger than me, bigger than my life, bigger than the things I do right and the things that I do wrong, you know? I'm so grateful that. that he cleans up our messes. Oh, yeah. Like, I'm so grateful that he's bigger than, like, we have consequences to all of our actions, but I'm just so grateful that he's sovereign. Yeah.

Not even that he cleans up your mess is that it's like, anytime I ever think of when he meets me, it's in my mess. I know. That you never have to clean yourself up. I know. He does the cleaning up. He literally does the cleaning up. It's just about surrender and faith through the uncertainty,

surrendering through the uncertainty. Surrender, what does surrender look like? This right here. No, I'm literally, my soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Have we ever had this moment? So much I've had this moment. I feel like I'm going to die. Like I remember when I was broke, when I was, my heart was shattered.

And it's like we have those moments where our soul is crushed. but in those moments just declaring your will be done, Jesus. Let me keep looking at the cross through this heartbreak, through this tough time that I'm in right now. So Friday is the crucifixion. That's why we call it Good Friday. Why do we call the worst thing that could have ever happened good? Because it's the best thing that could have ever happened.

It is good what happened. And I just love the juxtaposition of, of the kingdom where oftentimes things that look like the most horrible thing that can happen are exactly what need to happen to the point that they're good. That's if something that is so bad can be called good, it means that again what we see with our natural eyes, what we feel in our hearts and in our emotions

is often almost 100% of the time, not what we need to be led by. Because there's a juxtaposition, there's a nuance, It's called Good Friday because what happened was good even though it was really bad. We're not going to read all of Matthew 27 because it's a long chapter, but I encourage you guys on Friday that you go read Matthew 27, that you meditate on it, that you just hear the story of the crucifixion today. I'll just give you the points. Jesus is rejected, mocked, and abandoned. He fully enters human suffering. He carries his cross.

what we deserved Jesus bore. This is the chapter where Jesus is absolutely brutally tortured, where he's whipped to the point where there was no skin left on his back. The guards plucked out his beard and put a crown of thorns on his head. Jesus was literally a pile of flesh. You couldn't even recognize him as a human being. He was a pile of flesh. and he carried a cross that was, I don't know how heavy it was, but it was huge.

He was a pile of flesh, and he did it in his human strength. He didn't have some sort of superpower, supernatural. There was a grace clearly, but he was a pile of flesh carrying this cross up the mountain. And then they pierced his hands in his feet. They put him up on this cross. He's in between two criminals. He died the most shameful death. Every icon that you see of Jesus on the cross has a covering over his lower half, but he was hung completely naked.

The most shameful thing that a Jewish man during that time could possibly endure, he endured it. Our shame and our sin on the cross. And then darkness covers the land so Jesus gives up his last breath and darkness, the whole sky went dark. There was an earthquake, the rock split in half. And everybody in that moment realized, oh my gosh we just killed the messiah he really was who he said he was not everybody but a lot of people darkness covers the land creation responds to the weight of sin and then the veil in the temple tears matthew 2751 access to god is now open the veil in the temple you guys have to study the

atonement uh the temple the veil the holy of holies that all of that is so important for this moment because the veil in the temple tears and it is significant. It is telling us that no matter who you are, Jew and Gentile alike, the veil is open. Everybody has access to God. And Jesus says the words, it is finished. The debt is paid in full. So that's Friday. Let's talk about Saturday. The waiting. So we are on Matthew 27, verse 57, the burial of Jesus. As evening approach, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea, who had become a follower of Jesus, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate issued an order to release it to him.

Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across the tomb and watching. So this is the moment. This is that in between, right? So many of us have to live in the in between at different points in our lives, in the waiting, in the uncertainty, in the fear. Everything that Jesus talked about, his disciples are having to have faith in right now. They lost, imagine you have Jesus in your midst and then you watch him die a brutal death. And then you're just waiting in silence. There's nothing happening. He hasn't resurrected. Yes, he said it would be three days later, but they have to wait. And they also have their very real human emotions where they're grieving and they're scared and they're confused. And yes, God spoke a word that he would raise on the third day, but how they haven't seen that happen?

How are they supposed to know what's really going to happen? And so God feels silent, but he is still working beneath the surface. And this is what we all have to remember, that in the silence and in the waiting, God is still moving. news flash to all of us, he's never not moving. He's never not doing something. He's never not working on your behalf every day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It doesn't matter how long you've been in the waiting, he's doing something. And that is so encouraging to know because life is hard. And it's scary. And we can stand on scripture and we can hear, we can have a prophetic word, we can have the word of God that is speaking truth over us.

And when our circumstances don't look like what God has spoken, it is so scary. Of course. And the disciples are right there with us. They had him in the flesh. They had him with his own mouth. He spoke to them. And they were still afraid. And I wrote this, can we remain faithful even when we don't feel anything?

Again, talking about emotions and feelings. I'm speaking to myself too. It's been the most challenging season of my life where my feelings don't match my faith. My feelings don't match what I know about God. And it is so hard to live in that place. And it's really new for me because I've never been here. I've never had my heart not match what I know about God.

I've never had a distrust in God. I've never had our trust. trust, be affected. And so my prayer this morning, I have history with you, Jesus. Remind me of my history with you. Remind me. I ask God to remind me who he is. That's where we're at.

I need him to remind me who he is, what his promises are. Remind me your character. And it's in that place where he says, let's do business. Yeah. That's what he wants. I know. You know that, right? They're so, I am so, I think today this morning was a really, I just had the best time with Jesus.

So did you. I. My house is pretty cool to spend home with Jesus, right? Yes, so peaceful. It's like literally the veil is thin at your house. You just send her in. It was not hard at all. But I had a sense this morning of like, dude, what is happening right now?

Like what is being strengthened? You know, like there's such a, again, the worst things. the seemingly worse things that can ever happen to you are always the best things that happen to you. Not every time because people go through really, really, really tragic losses. So I just don't want to put like some weird band-aid over that. But a lot of the time, the worst things that happen to us are the end up being the best. Yeah. Because God allows it.

He uses every even what you said, no, you're not wrong there. Even the worst of circumstances. He will use for his glory. Yeah, always. The worst. The worst. But man, does he, the doubts, the, even the questioning, the show me, those are all things that he looks and he says, this is what I want. You guys, like, even as I listen to you, it's like, it's just so raw and real.

and that's what God yearns for. Yeah. That honesty, not that perfection. Yeah. And he loves showing us who he is. He loves it. He loves it. So we have our last point, guys.

We can't skip over real quick. What? One of my favorite parts when I see Mary Magdalene at the tomb waiting for him, a woman that was so far gone. You guys have no idea. She was it was the most monumental figure in the Bible that completely changed my faith if you guys have watched the chosen the scene of her getting Tormented by demons it was like watching myself through that screen I just related to her so much but a woman that felt so far gone who who Jesus

Cured of seven demons and Mary Magdalene is such a good example for all of us I mean she she saw it wasn't just a one-time thing of her getting delivered by Jesus and then just doing whatever she wants. She stayed committed to him. Until the end, through the hardships, through everything, she saw what he did for her life and she stayed committed to him to the very end and she was the first one to see him. She was our first evangelist.

You are not too far gone. Look at Mary Magdalene getting tormented by demons. And then she just followed him to the end. She was the first evangelist. It's huge. Yeah. All right. So we have Sunday, our glorious Sunday, you guys, the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

By the way, a historically accurate thing that happened, a historically accurate event. This is not fiction. This is not like a cute story. This happened. There were eyewitnesses. If anybody tries to, I mean, people try to argue all the time. How do you know it's real? there are so much historical evidence to back scripture you can't argue with it there were eyewitness

like there are so many prophecies that are filled in this moment so many prophecies from the old testament that point to this very moment this is not a fictional event a dead body was raised to life 7000 witnesses i mean 7 come on come on jesus all right let's read Matthew 28, 1 to 10. Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven,

rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face, that's kind of like gangster. Because the religious leaders went to the guards and said, this guy, Jesus, said that he was going to resurrect on the third day that the stone was going to be rolled away. so we need you guys to secure the stone because his disciples are going to try and come and take away his body and fake this resurrection and so they they set that stone there in a way that it could not be moved and so this angel literally just like so easily moves that stone and then sits on it and it said his face shone like lightning and his clothing was as white as snow the guards shook with fear when they saw him and they fell into a dead faint then the angel spoke to the women don't be afraid he said, I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He isn't here. He is risen from the dead. Just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now go quickly and tell

his disciples that he has risen from the dead and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I told you. The woman ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy. And they rushed to give the disciples the angels message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. That's so cute. The woman ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened, but also filled with great joy. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them, and they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, don't be afraid. Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there. I am obsessed with this moment.

right here where it says the angel spoke and said he isn't here he is risen our sweet jesus our powerful sovereign lord jesus the resurrection validates everything jesus said fear turns into joy for the women at the tomb and then jesus meets them personally he is not distant after resurrection and the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells within each and every one of us. The resurrection isn't just an event. It's a new way of living. We are meant to be buried with Jesus and resurrected into a new life. It is no longer we who live, but Christ lives in us. And guys, are we walking in resurrection power? Are we still living like we're in the grave? Are we still bound? Are we truly walking in freedom? resurrection freedom. It's the question we all need to ask ourselves, and it's the question that we need

to bring attention to and bring to Jesus and say, Lord, how do I become truly free? Every single day of my life I'm walking towards true resurrection freedom in every area of my life. And it's not a instant thing sometimes. Sometimes you have to walk a journey to get free. But it's the life that we're not only able to live, but we're called to live a life of freedom. You guys, happy Easter, happy resurrection day, happy Good Friday. We pray in Jesus' name that you have the most glorious, beautiful presence-filled Easter and Good Friday weekend. We love you guys so much. We can't believe we get to be on this journey with you. What a glorious, beautiful weekend for every single one of us. Enjoy, we hope you enjoyed Holy Week, and we hope that you really enjoy this weekend with your family and just focus on Jesus.

Yeah. I'm actually not going to be with my family this Easter. So for some of you guys that are alone, just know that you're not alone. It's so beautiful that we have Jesus. Like no matter what, we're never alone. We have Jesus to empower us, to guide us, to love us, to comfort us, and to lead us to a godly life. So just know you're not alone. Just know that I'm with you this Easter.

I'm going to be alone. this Easter. It's my first Easter alone. If any of you guys that are alone this Easter, just, I hope it's a reminder that I'm alone with you. So it's okay, but we're not alone. We have Jesus, so we love you, and we hope you have

the best Easter ever. I'm going to go be with Laeloo. We love you guys. God bless you. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he turn his face towards you and give you peace. Shalom. Shalom. Love you, love you, love you.