Anticipating 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."]

Anticipating Easter - A Violent Death - From Timothy Keller

Jesus' death had to be a violent one. The writer of Hebrews says that "without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin" (Hebrews 9:22).

This is not a magical view of blood.

Rather, the term blood in the Bible means a life given or taken before its natural end.

A life given or taken is the most extreme gift or price that can be paid in this world.

Only by giving his life could Jesus have made the greatest possible payment for the debt of sin.

Jesus' death was not only a payment, however; it was also a demonstration.

James Edwards writes:

       The prediction of Jesus' passion conceals a great irony,
       for the suffering and death of the Son of Man will not
       come, as we would expect, at the hands of godless and
       wicked people...rather at the hands of "the elders, chief
       priests, and teachers of the law".....Jesus would not be
       lynched by an enraged mob or beaten to death in a criminal
       act. He will be arrested with official warrants, and tried
       and convicted by the world's legal jurisprudence -- the
       Jewish Sanhedrin and the Roman court.

The Jewish chief priests, teachers of the law, and,
of course, the Roman rulers should have been standing up for justice but instead conspired to commit an act of injustice by condemning Jesus to death.

The cross reveals the systems of the world to be corrupt, serving power and oppression  instead of justice and truth.

In condemning Jesus, the world was condemning itself.

Jesus' death demonstrates not only the bankruptcy of the world, but it also reveals the character of God and his kingdom.

Jesus' death was not a failure. By submitting to death as penalty, he broke its hold on him and on us.

When Jesus went to the cross and died for our sins, he won through losing; he achieved our forgiveness on the cross by turning the values of the world on their head. He did not "fight fire with fire."

He didn't come and raise an army in order to put down the latest corrupt regime.

He didn't take power; he gave it up -- and yet he triumphed.

The corrupt powers of his world have many tools to make people afraid, the worst one being death.

But since Jesus died and rose again from the dead, if you can find a way to approach Jesus and cling to him you know that death, the worst thing that can possible happen to you, is now the best thing.

Death will put you in God's arms and make you all you hoped to be.

And when death loses its sting, when death no longer has power over you because of what Jesus did on the cross, then you will be living a life of love and not a life of fear.

       -- From King's Cross, Chapter 9,
                                      by Timothy Keller



       When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable,
          and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is
          written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in
          victory.'

         "Where, O death, is your victory?
           Where, O death, is your sting?"

         The sting of death is sin...But thanks be to God! He gives
         us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
                                     --1 Corinthians 15:55-56

Anticipating Easter - What's in your cup (Besides Coffee) ?

When we encounter death or other severe losses and heartaches...

The worst thing is not the sorrow or the loss or the heartbreak. The worst thing is to be encountered by death and not to be changed by the encounter. 
-- Richard John Neuhaus, As I Lay Dying

"...to have the experience and miss the meaning" 
T S. Eliot, Four Quartets


When we experience pain and heartbreak, sometimes there are pills or drugs we can take to help us get through the dark days. Or we can try frantic acts of busyness to deaden our emotions.

Part of that danger, though,  is that the experience is still waiting when we are through with the pills and the frenzied activities. We didn't move on; we just delayed facing the grief.

The other part of the danger is that God intended us to experience the pain and suffering.

His goal? To make us into images of His Son, who did not take pills to deaden His pain.

There are people in our society, who, through carefully prescribed medication, receive the help they need to get through life. To avoid, as Shakespeare described, "The slings and arrows of outrageous
fortune."

This is not about those folks...

For most of us, we should not get used to the ease in which we can resort to chemical relief...to the dulling of all the sharp edges of painful experience.

Jesus prayed, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will." (Mark 14)

Later at His arrest He said, "Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?" (John 18)

In the Old Testament that cup is described as the cup of God's wrath, His absolute judgment on the wicked world. (Isaiah 51:17; Psalm 75:8).

Of all who had ever lived on this planet, this omnipotent God-man had the ability to remove that cup. To smash it into pieces and throw it into utter cosmic darkness. He did not have to drink the cup.

But He chose to drink the cup.


I think the cup we are given always comes from our Father.

Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,

E're to take, as from a Father's hand,

One by one, the days, the moments fleeting

Til I reach the promised land.

         Day by Day, by Caroline V. Sandell-Berg


Jesus drank the cup. He drained it dry. He lifted it up and took the very last drop.

Are we to do the same?

Anticipating Easter - What's most important?

                                

                                       Easter - What's Most Important?

My universalist friends tell me that we evangelicals emphasize the crucifixion too much -- that we should concentrate more of our attention on the resurrection instead.

It's an interesting thought.

But when I read through the gospels in preparing myself for Easter I notice something different.

The gospel writers themselves place far more emphasis on the death of Jesus than they do on His resurrection - if, that is, we can measure such a thing by the space they allow for the events.

It seems much more of the gospel material recorded relates to Christ's death than to His resurrection.

Matthew - 28 chapters. Chapter 21 begins with the Triumphal Entry in Jerusalem (Palm Sunday), the last week of Christ's earthly life, climaxing in chapters 26-27 with His arrest and death. Only chapter 28 records the resurrection.

In my copy, Matthew takes up 54 pages, with 18 pages on Christ's last week, and one page for the resurrection.

Mark has 16 chapters, with 11-15 devoted to the last week and only chapter, 16, to the resurrection.

Luke is a similar arrangement.

John has 21 chapters and the record of the last week begins in Chapter 11, with the resurrection of Jesus covered in chapters 20 and 21.

Also significant is the obvious slowing down of activity, a winding down, as the gospel writers record their words for us. We can see the climax coming.

When we celebrate Lord's Supper, we "proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" 

(1 Corinthians 11:26)

The scene of Christ's death is bloody and horrifying. It has been retold so many times that perhaps we have developed an immunity to the pain involved.

It was not fast like executions today in gas chambers, or electric chairs. It went on for hours in front of  scornful, mocking crowds, jeering at our Lord and Savior. Mocking Him -- Save Yourself, if You indeed are the Messiah!"

Jesus' death is the cornerstone of our faith, the most important fact of His Incarnation.

He came to die.

We can't follow Jesus without confronting His death.

"The gospels bulge with its details. He laid out a trail of hints and bold predictions about it throughout his ministry, predictions that could only be understood after it had been done, when to the disciples, the dream looked shattered.

"His life seemed prematurely wasted. His triumphant words from the night before surely must have cruelly haunted His followers as they watched Him groan and twitch on the cross."  (From The Gift of Pain by Philip Yancey)

No matter how glorious and celebratory the resurrection morning, it is the gruesome death that brings us back to God.

We glory in the resurrection, but our atonement and reconciliation comes from the death.

We call that day, not Black Friday, but Good Friday.

But after all that is said, He had to conquer death, because He is God and through His resurrection He guaranteed our own resurrection. And he fulfilled prophecy and also his own promises to His disciples.

Hear Paul's words to the Corinthians:

Now brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise you have believed in vain.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures....
                        -- 1 Corinthians 15:1-4


Death, burial and resurrection - it takes all to complete the gospel - the good news! This is the "gospel by which you are saved"!
   

Anticipating 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?

Anticipating Easter - Every Sunday!

                                      REMEMBER EASTER

What do we celebrate?

"The angel said...then go and tell His disciples: He has
risen from the dead and is going ahead of  you into Galilee.  
There you will see Him." Matthew 28:6

YOU WILL SEE HIM!

Yes, He has risen...and yes! you will actually see Him!


What extraordinary news! 

And it was to be announced to the disciples;  not to Pilate, not to Herod, not to the prestigious religious leaders. 

But to the disciples, because it had serious implications for them. They now knew He was who He said He was all along. 

And they remembered His words: "Because I live you shall live also."

What a miracle - IT WAS ALL TRUE!!! 

So this Sunday, and every Sunday (because every Sunday is a celebration of that first resurrection Sunday) we celebrate two resurrections...His and ours!

But also we celebrate every day! Every morning we wake up...

every glorious sunrise, every miracle we experience all day -

it's all a celebration of His resurrection..because it is also a celebration of our redemption and restoration to His special family to live with Him forever!

Let's go celebrate!

Anticipating Easter - Charles Spurgeon - Substitution

The foundation upon which our faith rests is this: that "in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them" (2 Corinthians 5:19).

The great fact upon which genuine faith relies is that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us," (John 1:14) and that "Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18).

"Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

In one word, the great pillar of the Christian's hope is substitution.

The vicarious sacrifice of Christ for the guilty. Christ made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him....

If this foundation were removed, what could we do?

But it stands firm as the throne of God.

We know it; we rest on it; we rejoice in it; and our delight is to hold it, to meditate upon it, and to proclaim it, while we desire to be stirred and moved by gratitude for it in every part of our life and conversations.

In these days a direct attack is made upon the doctrine of the Atonement. Men cannot bear substitution. They gnash their teeth at the thought of the Lamb of God bearing the sin of man.

But we, who know by experience the preciousness of this truth, will proclaim it confidently and unceasingly and in defiance of them.

We will neither dilute it nor change it, nor desire to distort it in any shape or fashion.

It shall still be Christ, a positive substitute, bearing human guilt and suffering in the place of man.

We cannot, dare not give it up, for it is our life, and despite every controversy we affirm that "God's firm foundation stands."

    -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Anticipating Easter - Everyday!

Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.

For what I received I passed on to you, as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according  to the Scriptures....1 Corinthians 15:1, 3



This is the gospel - What Paul received and what he passed on to the struggling church at Corinth: that Jesus Christ, the Messiah of God, came in flesh, died for our sins to bring us back to God, and now lives.

This is the Easter story. A story we need to tell ourselves every day - every morning when we rise and throughout the day. It's the song we keep singing!

It's about being "saved."

Not only has God forgiven our sins, He has also credited to us the perfect righteousness of His Son.

This is sometimes called the "Great Exchange"-- He took away our sins and gave us righteousness --   God's own righteousness which comes to us by faith (Colossians 3:9)

God's eternal forgiveness includes all sins--past, present, and future.

All of what we think of as our own "righteousness" is like filthy rags--God removes those rags and dresses us in new, clean clothing of His righteousness. Just removal of our rags would not be enough.

But sin still remains with us, and in us, here on earth. Yes, sin still remains, but it does not reign! With the power of the Holy Spirit we can begin to control and conquer the power of the sin still in us.

"Saved" is not a word relegated to the past -- to that day we received God's free gift of grace and accepted it through faith in Jesus Christ.


"Saved" is a word we can use every day.


                                                       PAST                  
We have been saved (freed) from sin's guilt.  That happened once, in the past. (Has it happened for you?)

PRESENT           

We are being saved (freed) from sin's power. That happens continually, every day.

FUTURE             

Someday we will be saved (freed) from sin's very existence. That will be when we live in God's Presence.


"Saved" is a word we will use forever. That song will never end.


So if someone asks me, "Are  you saved?" I can say confidently: "Yes, I am saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved!"

We can preach the gospel to ourselves - EVERY DAY!

The result is a joyful, grateful heart, praising God for His never-ending goodness to us. A heart of peace.

The sun comes up.

It's new new day dawning.

It's time to sing Your song again.

Whatever may pass and

whatever lays before me

Let me be singing when the evening comes!

Anticipating Easter - Why Barabbas? Why not Jesus?

Pilate:

"But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release the 'King of the Jews'?"

The crowd:

They shouted back, "No, not him! Give us Barabbas!"
Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion.

(John 18:39-40)





The world will always choose a robber, insurrectionist, or murderer to the innocent Jesus.

Why? Because Barabbas is one of them, and however dangerous he may be, he is at least controllable.

They can handle him. 

But how do you handle Jesus?



Tom Skinner writes in Words of Revolution:

Barabbas is the guy who was going to destroy the system. Barabbas was going to burn them out. Barabbas was going to kill them. Why would they want Barabbas?

It's very simple.

If you let Barabbas go, and he starts another disturbance or another riot, you can always call out the National Guard, the federal troops or the Marines to put his thing down. All you have to do is push a few tanks into his neighborhood and you can squash whatever he's up to. You can find out where he's keeping his guns and raid his apartment. You can always stop Barabbas.

But the question is: How do you stop Jesus?

How do you stop a Man who has no guns, no tanks, no ammunition, but still is shaking the whole Roman empire?

How do you stop a Man, who -- without firing a shot -- is getting revolutionary results?

They figured there's only one answer -- get rid of Him.

They made the same mistake people have made down throughout the history of man.

They thought they could get rid of the idea by getting rid of the man from whom the idea comes.

So they said, "We can get rid of Jesus. We don't want him to rule over us."

Barabbas would never really ask to run your life.

Jesus would ask to run you life. Jesus would ask for the right to rule  over you!

And that's the problem.

Men would rather be enslaved to tyranny than let Jesus rule their lives. They would rather be exploited  than let Christ determine their lives.

So they said, "Give us Barabbas!"

So great was their opposition to Jesus, that they chose a convicted dangerous murderer over the mild Jesus.


Barabbas is an Aramaic word meaning "son of a father" - "Bar" means "son" and "abba" means "father."

So by his name we can consider him a representative type of all the sons of all the fathers who have ever been born into this world.

We, like Barabbas, are all of Adam's race. We are in rebellion against God. We are robbers of His glory. We are murderers of our souls and the souls of others. We are bound in the dark prison of our sin.

Like Barabbas, we all seek freedom.

And like in the case of Barabbas, Jesus gave His life to bring us that freedom!

Anticipating Easter - Pesach

The word pesach means Passover, and it commemorates God's mercy toward the Jewish people on the night of the Passover in Egypt, for He took the lives of the Egyptian firstborn, but He passed over the homes where Jews were eating their pesach offering because they had placed lamb's blood on their door frames.

This just preceded their exodus from Egypt and slavery, led by Moses, and their journey toward the Promised Land.

From Exodus 12:1-7

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 'This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.

'Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.

'If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are...

'The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.

'Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.

'Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs...'


Notes:

1. The Hebrew word for lamb and kid (baby goat) are the same. There is no one-word translation in English.

2.  The Hebrew word we translate "community" or "assembly" refers to a society united by their common calling. This is the first time the word is found in the Torah, implying that the commandment of the pesach-offering ushered in a new era. The Jewish people were now a nation, united by its common calling as God's Chosen People.

3. The animals were to be chosen on the tenth day of the month and then brought for sacrifice on the late afternoon of the fourteenth day.

4. The animals were to be inspected for blemishes.

5. Lambs and kids were worshipped by the Egyptians as part of their religion. When God chose these animals as acceptable sacrifices, He was showing the Egyptians that He, the LORD God Almighty, was in control of world events.

6. The four-day interval was part of the miracle of redemption, according to Hebrew rabbinical scholars.

     The Egyptians would see their gods -- the lambs and goats -- tethered to the beds of the Jews and would ask, "What is the purpose of this?" The Jews would explain that the animals were being prepared as sacrifices and offerings for God. The Egyptians would be furious, but at least would know what was happening.

7. Because this happened on the tenth day of Nissan, which was the Sabboth that year, the Sabbath before Passover is called Shabbos HaGadol (The Great Sabboth), in commemoration of that great miracle.


8. The household would be the extended family: grandparents and their families.

Those participating in the meal must be counted and designated in advance and the appropriate amount of meat provided for each. (The minimum required for each person eating the meal was the volume of an olive, according to Hebrew commentaries.)

"Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world," John the Baptist declared of Christ.

(John 1:29)

"For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed."

(1 Corinthians 5:7)

Christ was crucified at the time of the Passover celebration.

Anticipating Easter - It's About the Cross!

 

                                          It's About the Cross!

A reminder - No matter how beautiful and glorious Easter morning is - how joyous and how hopeful - how beautiful and sparkling - it was not that day that brought us back to God.

It was the bloody, gruesome, ugly events  of Friday that did that miracle!

The early Christians understood this. Read through the gospels and see how much space they give to the suffering of our Lord - His beatings, His humiliations, and finally His crucifixion: may pages and great detail.

But only a chapter or two about His resurrection.

Many of my non-believer friends are bothered by this. They want to know why we focus so much on the blood and horrifying gore.

That's easy to answer. All sin is such an act of disobedience and rebellion against our holy God - the penalty required to remove those sins is high indeed. In fact, only a perfect substitute could take our place and bear that guilt and penalty for us. By taking our place and paying the cost to clear us, Christ was able to bring us back into a relationship  with God. - that is, achieve our salvation and giving us access again to our Father - restoring us to the position God intended for us all along.

And Christ came to do this! He came to die! It was His blood that saved us. It was His sufferings that brought us peace with God. "By His stripes we are healed the prophet Isaiah, predicted.

So it's not about Christmas. It's not about Easter Sunday. 

It's about the cross!

Anticipating Easter - Ancient Words

Ancient Words about the Messiah Jesus....


Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our
iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter...

He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 
                                -- Isaiah 53: 4-9, written about 700 BC

The punishment that brought us peace was upon him

By his wounds we are healed


And that's why we call that Black Friday...
Good Friday!

Anticipating Easter - Gethsemane Prayer (2) - Charles Spurgeon

Then Jesus went with  His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray."

He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with Him, and He began to be sorrowful and troubled.

Then He said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here an keep watch with Me."

Going a little further, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will."
      -- Matthew 26:36-39


There are several instructive features in our Savior's prayer in His hour of trial, says Charles Spurgeon.

In Morning and Evening, for March 22, he tells us:

It was a filial prayer. You will find it a stronghold in the day of trial to plead your adoption. You have no rights as a subject -- you have forfeited them by your treason, but nothing can forfeit a child's right to a father's protection. Do not be afraid to say, "My Father, hear my cry."

It was a prayer of resignation. "Yet not as I will, but as You will"...

Let it be as God wills, and God will determine for the best.

Be content to leave your prayer in His hands who knows when to give and how to give, and what to give, and what to withhold.

So pleading, earnestly, importunately, yet with humility and resignation,  you will surely prevail.

Anticipating Easter - Gethsemane Prayer - (1) Charles Spurgeon

Then Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray."


He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with Him, and He began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then He said to them, "My soul is over whelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep with with Me."


.....Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping...
                       Matthew 26:36-40


Thoughts from Charles Spurgeon:


There are several instructive features in our Savior's prayer in His hour of trial.


It was a lonely prayer.


He withdrew even from His three favored disciples.


Believer, be diligent in solitary prayer, especially in times of trial.


Family prayer, social prayer, prayer in the church will not be sufficient; these are very precious, but the fragrance of heaven will be sweetest in your private devotions, where no ear hears but God's. 


--From Morning and Evening, March 22,

         Charles Spurgeon

Anticipating Easter - Philip Yancey

Random notes from Philip Yancey's book, The Jesus I Never Knew, Part One, Who He Was


I would have puzzled over the strange mixture represented by the Twelve.  Simon the Zealot belongs to the party violently opposing Rome, while Matthew the tax collector has recently been employed by Rome's puppet ruler.

No scholars like Nicodemus or wealthy patrons like Joseph of Arimathea have made it into the Twelve.

In my observation, in fact, the disciples' most obvious trait seems to be their denseness. "Are you so dull?" Jesus asks again and again.

While he is trying to teach them servant leadership, they are squabbling about who deserves the most favored position.


Oddly, as I look back on Jesus' time from the present perspective, it is the very ordinariness of the disciples that gives me hope.

Jesus does not seem to choose his followers on the basis of native talent or perfectibility or potential for greatness.

When he lived on earth he surrounded himself with ordinary people who misunderstood him, failed to exercise much spiritual power, and sometimes behaved like churlish schoolchildren.

Three followers in particular (the brothers James and John and Peter) Jesus singled out for his strongest reprimands -- yet they would become prominent leaders of the early church.

I cannot avoid the impression that Jesus prefers working with unpromising recruits.

Once, after he sent out seventy-two disciples on a training mission, Jesus rejoiced at the successes they reported back.

No passage in the Gospels shows him more exuberant. "At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.'"

From such a ragtag band Jesus founded a church that has not stopped growing in nineteen centuries.

~~~~~~~

[Note: the selection of the Twelve gives me hope, too. And Christ actually selected these men Himself. Unlike most rabbis, whose followers came to them seeking appointment, Jesus  sought each of these men, as Mark tells us in his Gospel (Mark 3), for specific reasons:

     Jesus went up on a mountain and called to
     him those he wanted, and they came to him...
     that they might be with him and that he might
     send them out to preach.....

These are the men He wanted to be with.....

And it is from these men that we have the Easter story and its miracle of re-birth and gift of authority and power through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

It's the way God worked then and the way He works now.]

Thank you, God, that you have chosen to take the
poor, ordinary and powerless people (and that includes me) to accomplish your Kingdom work!

Anticipating Easter - - Jerry Bridges - The Goats

[In the Old Testament, The Day of Atonement featured two goats - one to be sacrificed and its blood sprinkled on the mercy seat (the golden cover of the Ark of the Covenant) inside the Most Holy Place, and the other to be sent out into the wilderness to function as a living scapegoat.]

The First Goat

Put yourself in the shoes of a devout Jew on the Day of Atonement.

He sees the High Priest slay the first goat as a propitiatory sacrifice. He watches as the priest disappears into the Tent of Meeting, knowing he is going into the Most Holy Place to sprinkle the blood of the slain goat on and before the mercy seat.

He knows that only the High Priest is allowed to enter that room, and even then only once a year, and only with the blood of the sacrificial animal.

Very conscious that atonement for his sins is conditioned on God's acceptance of the High Priest's ministry, he waits with some anxiety for the High Priest to return.                 

The Second Goat

Finally, after sprinkling the  blood on the mercy seat, the High Priest comes out and, in view of all the people, lays his hand on the live goat's head and confesses over it all the sins of the people. (In this act he symbolically transfers their sins to the goat.)

All Israel hears his voice as he solemnly confesses, perhaps with weeping, all their wickedness and rebellion--all their sins.

Then those devout Jews watch as the goat is led away into the desert bearing their sins.

Two things were necessary for the scapegoat ritual to be meaningful to an individual Jew.

First, he must identify with the sins the High Priest is confessing. He must acknowledge them as his own personal sins, not just the sins of the nation as a whole.

Then he must by faith believe that the goat did indeed carry away those sins he acknowledged. He probably did not understand how a goat could carry away his sins, but he believed that God had ordained this rite, and that somehow his sins had been removed from the presence of God and were no longer counted against him.

His faith was not in the goat but in God, who had ordained the ritual of the goat....

    From The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges



The atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ not only took away the guilt of our sin, but also removed our sins from us, as the Scriptures tell us:

   He does not treat us as our sins deserve or give us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:10-12


(Note: The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) is celebrated in the fall of the year   -  The 10th day of the 7th month, as described in the Old Testament  -- see Numbers Chapter 29 for more information.)

Anticipating Easter - The Easter Gospel

How Paul explains the Easter Gospel.....

Now, brothers I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance.

     That Christ died for our sins according to the
          Scriptures,
     that he was buried,
     that he was raised on the third day
     according to the Scriptures,
     and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the  
         Twelve.

After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time.

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.

For as in Adam all died, so in Christ all will be made alive.

Thanks be to God!
He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.



    1 Corinthians 15:1, 3-6, 12-14, 20-22, 57

An Extraordinary Attitude

Today I am thinking about a well-known passage: 

Philippians 4:11-13

"Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me...."

Such familiar words  ... we memorized them as children in Sunday School and VBS and cheered when the characters of the Midford Series proclaimed them all over town!

Maybe these words are so familiar we have become immune to their meaning. 

What we see here is that Paul is talking about not just extraordinary times, but an extraordinary attitude. Being content in every circumstance, and that is extraordinary!

We also learn:  (1) that is is not common or easy to feel this way. He had  to learn it - it is not one of the gifts bestowed so generously by the Holy Spirit and (2) it is a secret. It is not obvious. It has to be searched out. That's where the Holy Spirit comes in - He teaches us that precious secret. 

As I look around at people these days I am aware more than ever how blessed we are!  We can face everything that comes before us - we find contentment in Jesus, because He is with us! We know He is leading us on this journey, and it is for our good and for His glory. Those two ideas that are attached like Siamese twins to our hearts: His glory and our good!

How to Defeat Satan - From Screwtape

When I was a young Christian, my pastor introduced me to "The Screwtape Letters" by C S Lewis. These writings are really helpful in understanding how Satan works to deceive and manipulate us to to do HIS will, not the will of our Father God!

(Screwtape refers to our Father God was 'our enemy' in his letters.)

Screwtape is a senior demon in Satan's kingdom and has certain new interns he is training to become full demons. One of this trainees is his nephew, Wormwood. Here is one of Screwtape letters to Wormwood:

"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 around upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and then still obeys."

(Read that paragraph again......)

So when we obey our Father, no matter what is happening in our lives, we make Satan's work much harder - We endanger his cause! We quench his deadening work in our lives! We defeat him!

Sounds like a good project for today, right? 

Let's obey our Father God and destroy Satan's plan for us!

Let's keep trusting God, no matter what!

P S - Remember Job 13:15? 'Though He slay me, still I will trust Him!'

What Actually Took Place - From The Message

 

What Actually Took Place

                                               - from The Message

What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man.

Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with Him. 

Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am  no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me.

The life you see me living is not "mine" but it is lived by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.

I am not going back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God?

I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace.

If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.

                                             -- Galatians 2:19-21, The Message