Four quartets - T. S. Eliot - When He Became a Christian

 

                                When T. S. Eliot Became a Christian

From Four Quartets

The wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightning
Or the waterfall, or music heard so deeply
That it is not heard at all...
...These are only hints and guesses,
Hints followed by guesses; and the rest
Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action.
The hint half guessed, the gift half understood, is
   Incarnation.

Here the impossible union
Of spheres of existence is actual
Here the past and future
Are conquered and reconciled....

In order to arrive at what you do not know
   You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.
In order to possess what you do not possess
   You must go by the way of dispossession.
In order to arrive at what you are not
   You must go through the way in which you are not.
And what you do not know is the only thing you know
And what you own is what you do not own
And where you are is where you are not....

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning...

And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well..

--From Four Quartets






Important dates for T. S. Eliot
     1888 - his birth
     1922 - Wasteland published
     1927 - his conversion from agnosticism/atheism to Christianity
     1930 - Ash Wednesday published -- what he called
                his "Conversion Poem."
     1943 - Four Quartets published -- for which he was
                awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature           
        1965 - his pre-resurrection death

When T. S. Eliot became a Christian - From article by John Piippo

"On June 29, 1927, the brilliant T. S. Eliot converted from Unitarianism to Anglicanism. Some of his former fellow atheists were scandalized. Virginia Woolf was one of them.

Her reaction, writes Peter Hitchens (Christopher's brother) was one of fury and almost physical disgust which was, he says, typical of the educated British middle class.

Woolf wrote, 'I have had a most shameful and distressing interview with poor dear Tom Eliot, who may be called dead to us all from this day forward. He has become an Anglo-Catholic, believes in God and immortality, and goes to church. I was really shocked. A corpse would seem to me more credible that he is. I mean, there's something obscene in a living person sitting by the fire and believing in God.'"

(Hitchens, Peter, The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith, p. 24).

Woolf's response is similar to that of Richard Dawkins who shrinks back in horror every time some brilliant scientist (Like Francis Collins) speaks of his conversion to Christ.

Hitchens comments on Woolf's Eliot-reponse: "Look at these bilious, ill-tempered words: 'Shameful, obscene, dead to us all.' There has always seemed to me to be something frantic and enraged about this passage, concealing its real emotion -- which I suspect is fear that Eliot, as well as being a greater talent than her, may also be right."

               

In the desert of my heart

I am appreciating more and more the "outline" or "format" Derek Prime talked about. In my prayer journal for today the Lord's Prayer connection is "Thy Kingdom Come" and the topic is stated as "The extension of the church and the coming of God's Kingdom through the preaching of the gospel."

Derek Prime's system is really helpful. But, when you get back to basics, it is not the understanding of the thing, or the systems used, or the helpful hints we all search out so diligently -- it is so much more profoundly simple -- it's the doing of the thing -- that's what keeps me back at the starting point instead of running steadily toward the goal ... the problem is not in the learning or understanding -- it's in the doing -- a knot in my will, not in my brain.

I need to look at that knot and begin unraveling it. Oh, I know it is the Holy Spirit that does that. But right now, these days, I don't go to Him for that. Why? I feel dry and empty these days. It shocks me how much harder it is to lean on Jesus, to come to Him in need and desperation, when my spirit is dry -- you would think it would be the opposite.

I am thinking about W. H. Auden's elegy to William Butler Yeats -- the last verse:

In the desert of the heart
Let the healing fountains start....

I need those healing fountains. And I know where they are.....why don't I just hurry up and GO?!?!?

Ye who are weary.....COME HOME!!!!

The last two lines of the verse are:

In the prison of his days
Teach the free man how to praise...

This intrigues me...teach the free man how to praise...not the prisoner...the free man...

Can I get there from here?

As a hart longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?

O God, thou art my God, I seek thee, my soul thirsts for thee; my flesh faints for thee, as in a dry and weary land where no water is. So I have looked upon thee in the sanctuary, beholding thy power and glory.

I stretch out my hands to thee; my soul thirsts for thee.

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

I will open rivers on the bare heights and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water

.

Ho, every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!

For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water.

And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fall, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows form the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.

Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Can I get there from where I am now? My soul trusts in Him who made me and carries me in His arms. YES, He can bring me back. Yes, He can take me there, even from where I am now, and YES, He will!


(Psalm 42:1-2; Psalm 63:1-2; Psalm 143:6; Psalm 87:7; Isaiah 12:3; Isaiah 41:18; Isaiah 55:1; Isaiah 35:6-7; Ezekiel 47:12; Revelation 22:1-2; RSV)

Samuel's Farewell to His People

Samuel's Farewell Address

I am reading a great passage today in the  Old Testament - it sounds so appropriate for us today. It appears to be Samuel's last important words - his farewell message - to his people. It's all recorded in I Samuel 12.

We always seem to take note of people's "last words."

Here is one of the passages I especially appreciate:

"Do not be afraid," Samuel replied. 

"You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your hearts...For the sake of His great Name the LORD will not reject His people, because the LORD was pleased to make you His own.

And as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you...But be sure to fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your hearts; consider what great things He has done for you." (v 20-24).


(Comment: How could we not serve Him faithfully when we consider what great things He has done for us!)

Certainly words of caution for us today....

And re-read this line: the LORD was pleased to make you His own...Part of the 'great mystery' - it pleased Him)

And also notice that each time Samuel refers to God he calls Him LORD, His personal, special covenant - Yahweh - Name....!)

Our God - LORD - is so eternally faithful!

Restore My Joy - Is it too much to ask?

 

                                          Restore My Joy - Is it too much to ask?

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin...Create in me a pure heart, O God....restore to me the joy of your salvation." (Psalm 51:1, 2, 10, 12)

I find it necessary to read this psalm multiple times. It appears in centuries past that congregations recited it together every week at worship services. I can see why.

David  composed it just after he was confronted with his sin with Bathsheba and his attempt to cover it out by having her husband Uriah killed.

When I was younger I was amazed at David's presumptuous attitude! -- What gall, I thought! Such serious sins and to ask God to restore his joy!!?

Asking forgiveness -- that's OK. But asking for his joy in God's presence to be restored? That's just too much!

But now I am older and have seen more clearly - and more frequently - the darkness of my own heart and realize that all sin is treason against our holy God-- all sin is serious - displeasing to Him and deserving of judgment and death.

But His gracious forgiveness of all our sins does restore us - brings us back into our close fellowship with Him and brings back our joy in His presence.

Yes, it is hard to believe, and that's why we call it 'Amazing Grace'!

His total complete forgiveness does this for us.

And so I pray, with David, when I confess my sins and experience the miracle of forgiveness,  please restore the joy of your salvation to me, a sinner saved by your grace!

About Being Thankful

 

                                    About Being Thankful

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your heart. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him"(Colossians 3:15-17).

....."be thankful"..."sing to God with gratitude..."give thanks to God...seems like a theme here...

in whatever we do...word or deed...give thanks to God....

Overlooking Offenses

  

                              Overlooking  Offenses

"A man's wisdom gives him patience. It is his glory to overlook an offense" (Proverbs 19:11).

I read once that the art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

To overlook someone's offenses allows us to drop our defenses (in my case usually arrogant and self-righteous) and just humbly drop the burden and move on.

And we can choose to do that!

It gives us such luxurious freedom!

Remember 1 Corinthians 13: "(Love) is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs..."

And "love covers a multitude of sins..."

Keep the big picture in mind -- small, petty offenses to us have nothing to do with the big picture! They are meaningless. Overlook them!

Prayer for today: "As You have been to me, loving Father, help me be to others today."

It Will Not Always Be Night

                                  

                                    It Will Not Always Be Night

"At the Last Supper, as recorded in John 13, we read, 'As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.'

History's greatest injustice was underway, yet Jesus declared, 'Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in Him.'

In a few hours, the disciples would experience panic, defeat, and rejection.

 But Jesus saw God's plan unfolding as it should.

When it seems darkness is winning, we can recall that God faced His dark night and defeated it. He walks with us.

It won't always be night."

                              -- Tim Gustafson

Jesus saw God's plan unfolding as it should. No, friends, it will not always be night!

What John Calvin and Tennyson Said About Prayer

 

                             What John Calvin and Tennyson Said About Prayer

John Calvin....

"Our prayers must not be self-centered. They must arise not only because we feel our own need as a burden which we must lay upon God, but also because we are so bound up in love for our fellowmen that we feel their need as acutely as we feel our own.

To make intercession is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them."

Alfred, Lord Tennyson...King Arthur's Last Words to His Knights (From Idylls of the King)

"More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.

Wherefore, let thy voice rise like a fountain for me night and day.

For what are men better than sheep or goats that nourish a blind life within the brain,

If, knowing God, they lift not up hands of prayer, both for themselves and those who call them friend?

For so the whole round earth is every way bound by gold chains about the feet of God."

It Is No Longer I Who Live - Oswald Chambers

 

                            It Is No Longer I Who Live - Oswald Chambers

Galatians 2:20: "I am crucified with Christ...it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."

From Oswald Chambers --

"The inescapable spiritual need each of us has is the need to sign the death certificate of our sin nature.

I must take my emotional opinions and intellectual beliefs and be willing to turn them against any claim I have to my right to myself.

Paul said, 'I have been crucified with Christ...' He did not say, 'I am determined to imitate Jesus Christ,' or 'I am determined to follow Him.' --  but 'I have been identified with Him in His death.'

Once I reach this moral decision and act on it, all that Christ accomplished for me on the cross is accomplished in me.

My unrestrained commitment of myself to God gives the Holy Spirit the opportunity to grant to me the holiness of Jesus Christ.

My individuality remains, but my primary motivation for living and the nature that rules me are radically changed.

I have the same human body, but the old satanic right to myself has been destroyed."

This is what I want to happen to me --

What was Harder: Creating Us or Redeeming Us? Bernard of Clairvaux

 

                What was harder: Creating Us or Redeeming Us?

Profound words written almost a thousand years ago by Bernard of Clairvaux:

"I owe all that I am to Him who made me, but how can I pay my debt to Him who redeemed me?

Creation was not so vast a work as Redemption, for it is written of man and things that were made, 'He spoke the word and they were made' (Psalm 148:5).

But to redeem that creation that sprang into being at His word, how much He spake, what wonders He wrought, what hardships He endured, what shames He suffered!

In the first Creation He gave me the gift of myself; but in His new creation He gave me Himself, and by that gift restored to me the self I had lost.

Created first and then restored, I owe Him myself twice over in return for myself.

But what have I to offer Him for the gift of Himself? Could I multiply myself a thousand-fold and then give Him my all -- what would that be in comparison with God?

[In creating me He gave me the gift of myself....in Redeeming me He gave me the gift of Himself --- Wow!]

What Worries Screwtape?

                              

                                                         What Worries Screwtape? 

C S Lewis wrote an engaging book about a high-ranking demon, named Screwtape, whose job it was to mentor new demons and make them productive agents for their boss, Satan.

In the book, which Lewis titled 'The Screwtape Letters,' we read these words written to Wormwood, a new recruit:

   Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a       human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks out             upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks       why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.

These words are so compelling to me. I keep rereading them. I a deeply moved.

I want to be that kind of Christian.

  

               This IS How He taught Us!

Thinking about those special words  Christ gave His disciples when  He began to teach them how to pray....

He began, "This then is how you should pray." That sounds pretty specific to me.

Then He started: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven..."

So that's how we should begin.

Prayers are not fanciful good luck charms. There is a divine method He is showing us.

The very first thing we are to recognize is who we are approaching -- the Sovereign Creator, king and Ruler of everything, reigning right now...and He is our Father! 

We should consider how to get our desires into harmony with Him and His will --not to get Him to do our will.

I usually get it wrong at the very beginning! Do you?

And  when I recognize who God really is, then I have a clearer understanding of who I am!

Then I can offer my worship, which is of course the only possible response

 open to me.  

So this is how we should start every prayer. 

After all, that IS how He taught us!  

  

Are you too easily pleased? C S Lewis

 

                                                Are You Too Easily Pleased?

"If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing...I submit that this notion is no-part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of rewards and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.

We are far too easily pleased."

     -- C S Lewis, "The Weight of Glory"

(He wants to do so much more for us!)

Approaching Easter - The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus

                   

                      On that first Easter Morning

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking
with each other about everything that had happened.

As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus Himself came up and walked with them; but they were kept from recognizing Him.

He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?"
They stood still, their faces downcast...
                 
And they told Him what had just happened in Jerusalem -- all of it -- the horrible suffering of Jesus, their hopelessness, their confusion when the women visited the tomb that morning and about the angels who said Jesus was really alive...

So Jesus explained:
Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter into his glory?

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
                            -- Luke 24:13-27

There's only one key to unlocking the mystery about God's activity in the world - then and now - the Hebrew Scriptures.

For observant Jews, in the first century as well as today, the writings of Moses and the Prophets are the nearest things to the mind of God in human language.

"If God is alive, then the Bible is His voice," writes Jewish thinker Abraham Heschel.

It is to this book, and no other, that the Stranger immediately takes His listeners.

What does He tell them?

We are not given the details, but we can guess from the preaching of the early church what was said to them on the Emmaus road.

From the opening pages of the Bible, the two friends are reminded of the fierce and unfaltering love of God for the world He has made.

His divine love burns hotter than any star in the universe. Here is love that is never lazy, indulgent, or indifferent, but always vigilant -- committed to the perfect good of the beloved.

The Stranger describes the deep enmity that has rejected this love and spoiled the world, the rage of those who will not yield their hearts to their Creator.

Men and women, made to love God and enjoy Him forever, somehow succumbed to the forces of deceit and darkness set against Him symbolized by a serpent.

"You will be like God," the serpent whispered.

Instead, they became captives to the suffocating selfishness of a life cut off from God's goodness.

No one, the Stranger, insists, no matter what his status or achievement in the world, can escape that state of affairs.

It would remain the burden and the blight of human beings everywhere in every age -- unless a Rescuer were sent to set them free.

The crucifixion and resurrection of the Messiah, God's Christ, is God's Secret Rescue Mission to free the world from the forces of darkness.

Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him....They asked each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us the road and opened Scripture to us?"

Then they joyfully rushed back to Jerusalem and joined the other disciples in spreading the good news.

       "He is risen! Christ is risen indeed!"

Approaching Easter - That Historic Morning

Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying.

As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"

"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him."

At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

"Woman," he said, "who is it you are looking for?

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him."

Jesus said to her, "Mary."

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means 'Teacher').

Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, "I am returned to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.

On the evening of the first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"

After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
                      -- John 20

What Else Happened on Good Friday?

                    What Else Happened on Good Friday?

"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."   (2  Corinthians 5:21)

This verse talks about two transactions: (1)  believers' sins are placed (imputed) on Crist, and He pays the total penalty due in full, and (2) then His righteousness is placed (imputed) on them and they are rewarded for it!

This process is sometimes called the "Great Exchange."

It's like I bundled up in a trash bag all my garbage - my sin and guilt, sadness, brokenness, disappointments and hurts and all the other negatives stuff I have accumulated and hoarded over the years  - and handed that bag to Christ.

He took that bag from my hands and presented me with a treasure chest - a chest full of priceless jewels: forgiveness, cleansing, hope and joy, meaning and purpose -  a limitless overflowing supply to last me for all eternity! - and a place in God's family where I could be with Him forever!

Exchanging my garbage for His treasure chest is the best deal in the universe! How could anyone ever turn that deal down?

Our Lord's prefect righteousness is like a glorious mantel that covers all our imperfections and gives us the right to be His children!

Isaiah said it this way: "He has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robes of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10).

In other words: God treated Christ as if He had sinned all my sins, so He could treat me as if I ever sinned at all!

Christ took all the abuse I deserved, so God could give me that royal treatment He deserved!

It is, any way you look at it, amazing grace!

(To 'impute' is a legal term. It means to legally transfer ownership of something from one person to another. The noun is 'imputation.')

Approaching Easter - And Still We Call This Friday Good

When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the other on his left.

Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."

The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."

There was a written notice above him, which read: This is the King of the Jews.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

But the other criminal rebuked him, "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you
come into your kingdom."

Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."

When he said this, he breathed his last.

    Luke 23:33-46

Approaching Easter - The Final 3 Hours - John MacArthur

The Final Three Hours on the Cross

(MT) Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, (LK) the sun was darkened [and] (MT) there was darkness over all the land. (MT) And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" (MK) which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

(MT) Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "Look, (MT) this Man is calling for Elijah!"

(JN) After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!" Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there. (MT) Immediately one of then ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed of (JN) hyssop, and put it to His mouth

(MT) and offered it to Him to drink. The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him and (MK) take Him down." (JN) So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!"

(LK) And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, into your hands I commit My spirit." Having said this, (JN) and bowing His head, (LK) He breathed His last (MT) and yielded up His spirit.

(MT - Matthew) 27:45-50
(MK - Mark) 15:33-37
(LK - Luke) 23:4-45a
(JN - John) 19:28-30


Notes from John MacArthur:

1. From the 6th hour until the 9th hour - From noon until 3 PM. The crucifixion began at 9 AM and so the 6th hour marked the halfway point of Jesus' six hours on the cross.

2. Darkness - A mark of divine judgment (cf. Isaiah 5:30,13:10-11; Joel 2:1-2; Amos 5:20; Zephaniah 1:14-15; Matthew 8:12, 22:13, 25:30).

The geographical extent of the darkness is not known, although the writings of the church fathers hint that is extended beyond Israel.

This could not have been caused by an eclipse because Jews used a lunar calendar. Passover always fell on full moon, making solar eclipse out of the question. This was a supernatural darkness.

3. Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani - "Eli" is Hebrew, the rest Aramaic. (Mark 15:34 gives the entire wail in Aramaic.)

This cry is a fulfillment of Psalm 22:1, one of the many striking parallels between that psalm and the specific events of the crucifixion.

Christ at that moment was experiencing the abandonment and despair that resulted from the outpouring of divine wrath on Him as sin-bearer (cf. Matthew 26:39).

[Note: Christ cried out "My God," not "Abba," and not "Father," His usual terms of addressing His Father. This is the only time in the gospels He did not address God as His Father.]

4. Why have You forsaken Me? Jesus felt keenly His abandonment by the Father resulting from God's wrath being poured out on Him as the substitute for sinners (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21).

5. Sour wine - The drink here is not the same as the "wine mixed with myrrh" offered to Him as He marched to the cross (Matthew 27:34) which was intended to lessen the pain. The purpose of this cheap, sour wine (cf. Mark 15:36) is to prolong life and increase the torture.

The term harkens back to Psalm 69:21 where the same word is found in the Septuagint. Hyssop is a little plant that is ideal for sprinkling. (see Exodus 12:22).

[See also Psalm 51]

6. Elijah - Further mockery which in effect meant, "Let the forerunner come and save this so-called Messiah" (cf. Luke 1:17).

7."It is finished!" The verb here carries the idea of fulfilling one's mission and religious obligations (see John 17:4). The entire work of redemption has been brought to completion.

The single Greek word here translated it is finished
has been found in the papyri being placed on receipts for taxes meaning "paid in full" (see Colossians 3:13-14).

8. Cried out with a loud voice - Demonstrating amazing strength in light of the intense suffering He had endured. His shout reveals that His life did not slowly ebb away, but that He voluntarily gave it up (John 10:17-18).

9. Into Your hands - This quotes Psalm 31:5, and the manner of His death accords with John 10:18. Normally, victims of crucifixion died much slower death. He, bring in control, simply yielded up His soul(John 10:18; 19:30), committing it to God. Thus He offered Himself without spot to God (Hebrews 9:14).

10. Yielded up His spirit - A voluntary act. The sentence signaled that Jesus "handed over" His spirit as an act of His will. No one took His life from Him for He voluntarily and willingly gave it up (see John 10:17-18).



These notes taken from One Perfect Life, by John MacArthur

Easter - Strangely Comforting Words from Jesus

"Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her?....She did what she could. She poured perfume beforehand to prepare for My burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."  (Mark 14:6-9)

Jesus was at Bethany, just a few days away from Passover, having dinner at the home of Simon.

The woman brought her alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on His head....

Some were indignant at the lavish display (and waste?) of her wealth -- why didn't she just sell what she had and give the money to the poor? they said.


"She did what she could," the Master said.

Were some of them jealous of her intimate act of devotion? Greedy? Self-righteous? Did they really want the money for the poor, or did they just want to extend judgment over the woman, and in doing so were they trying to steal the attention and gain approval from Jesus?

Motives are hard to determine. So often I seek approval, even as I am demeaning someone else....
but this is not about me....or is it?

When I was (much) younger, I read the words: "She did what she could" differently than I read them now.

I understood them as "She did what she could."
As a child explains away his low grade by saying, "But, I did the best I could!"

Or, since she couldn't do anything else, 'she gave Me her perfume and showed Me she loved Me....'

Now that I am older, I understand them to mean, "She did what (all) that she could."  Out of largess and love she poured all she had on Jesus, just as He poured out all for us. She performed a simple act, and in the words of T. S. Eliot, a condition of complete simplicity, costing not less than everything.


But no matter what His voice inflection, I find the words strangely comforting. He never asks us to do more than we can. But He does ask us to do all that we can.

He asks for no more. He asks for no less.

But Mary (and we find her name in John's account) had also discernment and understanding -- was she the only one who realized what He was saying? was she the only one who really understood?

She, this small woman, outside the man's world, was anointing His body for burial. She wanted Him to know she understood.There was a silent message given there -- unexpressed words -- (no words of hers are recorded in this incident) -- to let the Savior know she knew what was happening!

The fragrance of that heavily perfumed ointment (nard) on the head of Christ - it would have lasted a long time. Did He perhaps still smell its fragrance after the crown of thorns was placed on His head? As He was gasping for breath, nailed and bound to that cross...could He still smell the aroma of her final gift?

From Mary...the one who understood His mission.

Its pleasant aroma has wafted down the generations until we today can almost breathe it in ourselves as we read the story....and we do remember her memorial act, just as He said we would for centuries, as well as we remember the gifts the wise men brought to the baby...gold, frankincense and myrrh ..gifts for a dying King...

Have we broken our treasured alabaster jars for Jesus? Has the fragrance of His spirit filled our lives?

Are we doing all that we can do?... are we really doing all that we can do?

The Mary who "sat at the feet of Jesus, listening to what He said" (in Luke 10:39)...was the same Mary who, "when Mary reached the place where Jesus was, she fell at His feet" (in John 11:32)...she spent time at His feet....is this her spiritual secret?

Approaching Easter - The Curtain - Spurgeon

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two,

from top to bottom.

Matthew 27:51

No small miracle was performed in the tearing of so strong and thick a curtain; but it was not intended merely as a display of power -- many lessons were contained in it.

The old law of ordinances was put away, and like a worn-out garment, torn and set aside.

When Jesus died, the sacrifices were all finished, because they were fulfilled in Him; and therefore the place of sacrifice, the temple, was marked with a clear sign of this change.

With the curtain torn, all the hidden things of the old dispensation became apparent: the mercy-seat could now be seen, and the glory of God gleaming above it.

By the death of our Lord Jesus we now have a clear revelation of God, for He was "not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face."

Life and immortality are now brought to life, and things that have been hidden since the foundation of the world are displayed in Him.

The annual ceremony of atonement was also abolished.

The atoning blood that once every year was sprinkled inside the curtain was now offered once for all by the great High Priest, and therefore the place of the symbolic act was finished.

No blood of bullocks or lambs is needed now, for Jesus has entered inside the curtain with His own blood.

Therefore access to God is now permitted and is the privilege of very believer in Christ Jesus.

It is not just a small opening through which we may peer at the mercy-seat, but the tear reaches from the top to the bottom.

We may come with boldness to the throne of heavenly grace.

Is it wrong to suggest that the opening of the Holy of Holies in this marvelous way by our Lord's expiring cry was signifying the opening of the gate of paradise to all the saints by virtue of the Passion?

Our bleeding Lord has the key of heaven; He opens and no man shuts; let us enter in with Him to the heavenly places and sit with Him there until our common enemies shall be made His footstool.

The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand

until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."

 -- Psalm 110:1

Approaching Easter - Palm Sunday

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you! He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.  Zechariah 9:9

Four descriptions in this verse describe the Messiah's character:

(1) He is King, (2) He is just, (3) He brings salvation, and (4) He is humble.


When Christ rode that young donkey into Jerusalem at the beginning of that final Passover week, He was fulfilling specific prophecy, complete in detail that could not be mistaken or disregarded.

The next day the great crowd that had come to the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They  took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

     "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
     Blessed is the King of Israel!"

Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,

     "O daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a
     donkey's colt."  John 12:12-15


The Church refers to this event as Palm Sunday, or The Triumphal Entry.

It is recorded in all four gospels and marks a distinctive adjustment in Christ's ministry. Before this He seemed plagued with the problem of too much acclaim (His 'time had not yet come,' He often said).

Now, He even chided the Pharisees when they asked Jesus to quiet the tone of the crowd, "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." (Luke 19:40)

Who was in the crowd that day? A group from Bethany, still rejoicing at the miracle of Lazarus being brought back from the dead. Many pilgrims from all over the Empire arriving for Passover. Matthew talks about the lame, the blind and children being there. The text also refers to religious leaders.

And Roman legions were there to keep the crowds in check as the population of the city began to swell in advance of the Feast.

Crowd control in Jerusalem was always a security problem for the Romans, and for their puppet Jewish administrators who were jealous of their positions of authority within the structure of the Empire.

But about those Roman legions. I wonder what they thought. Were they secretly - or not so secretly -  making fun?

The typical Roman officer on duty in Jerusalem would have witnessed a number of important processions and 'Triumphal Entries.'

Probably even in Rome where the spectacle of the event would have dwarfed this small occasion in Jerusalem.

Might it have been like the Oscars being presented in Mississippi?

Jerusalem was an important city - a hub of the Empire. But not the place to honor a great King?

Did the Roman soldiers hang back and sneer at the procession of peasants from Galilee with the blind, the lame and children?

Did they perhaps laugh at all the provincial pomp and zeal? Thinking of how it would have been done in Rome, where they really "knew how to put on productions like this!"

Accustomed to honoring a triumphal king riding on a stallion or chariot, surrounded by the glitter of important adoring crowds, the object of this crowd's attention was a solitary figure, on a small donkey, with a borrowed coat draped across the backbone serving as his saddle.

And he was "weeping" (!) we are told in Luke 19 as He considered the fate of the city!

What kind of King was this?

Not the usual kind of King, that's for sure.

Approaching Easter -- The Real Question

Thieves crucified on either side of Jesus showed two possible responses.

One mocked Jesus' powerlessness: A Messiah who can't even save himself?

The other recognized a different kind of power. Taking the risk of faith, he asked Jesus to "remember me when you come into your kingdom."

No one else, except in mockery, had addressed Jesus as a King. The dying thief saw more clearly than anyone else the nature of Jesus' kingdom.

In a sense, the paired thieves present the choice that all history has had to decide about the cross.

Do we look at Jesus' powerlessness as an example of God's impotence or as proof of God's love?

The Romans, bred on power deities like Jupiter, could recognize little god-likeness in a crumpled corpse hanging on a tree.

Devout Jews, bred on stories of a powerful Jehovah, saw little to be admired in this god who died in weakness and in shame.

So which was it? Was that God-Man hanging on the cross of shame a proof of God's mission failure and impotence, or evidence of His successful rescue mission based on His eternal love?

We have the same choice to make.



[The Greek word for 'It is finished' uttered by Christ from His cross, also occurs in ancient manuscripts of Roman tax receipts from the time of Christ, and means "Paid in full."]

Approaching Easter - Max Lucado

A party was the last thing Mary Magdalene expected as she approached the tomb on that Sunday morning.

The last few days had brought nothing to celebrate. 

The Jews could celebrate -- Jesus was out of the way.

The soldiers could celebrate -- their work was done.

But Mary couldn't celebrate. To her the last few days had brought nothing but tragedy.

Mary had been there. She had heard the leaders clamor for Jesus' blood. She had witnessed the Roman whip rip the skin off his back. She had winced as the thorns sliced his brow and wept at the weight of the cross.

In the early morning mist she arises from her mat, takes her spices and aloes and leaves her house, past the Gate of Gennath and up to the hillside.

She anticipates a somber task. By now the body will be swollen. His face will be white. Death's odor will be pungent.

A gray sky gives way to gold as she walks up the narrow trail. As she rounds the final bend, she gasps.

The rock in front of the grave is pushed back.

"Someone took the body." She runs to awaken Peter and John. They rush to see for themselves. She tries to keep up with them but can't.

Peter comes out of the tomb bewildered and John comes out believing, but Mary just sits in front of it weeping. The two men go home and leave her alone with her grief.

But something tells her she is not alone. Maybe she hears a noise. Maybe she hears a whisper. Or maybe she just hears her own heart tell her to take a look for herself.

"Why are you crying?"

"They have taken my Lord away, and I don't know where they have put him."

She still calls him "my Lord." As far as she knows his lips are silent. As far as she knows his body has been carted off by grave robbers. But in spite of it all, he is still her Lord.

Such devotion moves Jesus. It moves him closer to her. She turns and there he stands. She thinks he is the gardener.

Now Jesus could have revealed himself at this point. He could have called for an angel to present him or a band to announce his presence. But he didn't.

He doesn't leave her wondering for long, just long enough to remind us that he loves to surprise us. He waits for us to despair of human strength and then intervenes with heavenly. God waits for us to give up and then -- surprise!

Has it been a while since you let God surprise you?

It's easy to reach the point where we have God figured out.

We know exactly what God does. We break the code. We chart his tendencies. God is a computer. If we push all the right buttons and insert the right data, God is exactly who we thought he was.

Have you got God figured out?

If so, then listen. Listen to God's surprises.

Hear the rocks meant for the adulterous woman drop to the ground.

Listen as Jesus invites a death row convict to ride with him to the kingdom in the front seat of the limo.

Listen as the Messiah whispers to the Samaritan woman, "I who speak to you am he."

Listen to the widow from Nain eating dinner with her son who is supposed to be dead.

And listen to the surprise as Mary's name is spoken by a man she loved -- a man she had buried.

"Miriam."

"Miriam," he said softly. "Surprise!"

When she heard her name she responded correctly. She worshiped him.

The scene has all the elements of a surprise party -- secrecy, wide eyes, amazement, gratitude.

But the celebration is mild in comparison with the one that is being planned for the future.

It will be similar to Mary's, but a lot bigger.

Many more graves will open. Many more names will be called. Many more knees will bow. And many more seekers will celebrate.

It's going to be some party! I want to make sure my name is on the guest list.
 
How about you?

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, 

No mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him

--1 Corinthians 2:9

-- From Six Hours One Friday, by Max Lucado, Chapter 18.