A loud voice

April 14, 2012

The Life of Jesus; read today: Jesus cries out; Matthew 27:50; Mark 15:37; Luke 23:46

BBE: Matthew 27:50. And Jesus gave another loud cry, and gave up his spirit.

I will admit that what I am typing today is not original, I heard it in a sermon yesterday and the church I attend.

Stop and think about things for a few minute and you can see something unique in this verse.  Jesus cried out in a loud voice.  A man who was about to die would not cry out with a loud voice, he would barely talk at all.

Jesus was in full control of the time that He was about to die.  It is said that this was the time of the Passover lamb sacrifice and the timing, if accurate, was important, but more important was the fact that Jesus was in control. Too often I have read this and thought that Jesus died at a point when His body could take no more. Further fact that Jesus chose to die for me.

Read for next time: "Into Thy hands I commit my spirit."; Luke 23:46

A final journey begins...

April 14, 2012

The Life of Jesus; read today: "It is finished."; John 19:30

Weymouth: John 19:30. As soon as Jesus had taken the wine, He said, "It is finished." And then, bowing His head, He yielded up His spirit.

I have always read this verse and connected the statement and the giving up of Jesus Spirit as tied to each other.  Another thought came across my mind today.  “It is finished” might not be referring to the death, but to the life that He had to participate in.

They had beat Him, whipped Him, mocked Him, nailed Him to a cross, and as a final insult gave him sour wine to drink as He thirsted.  The time had now come, all prophecy had been fulfilled. It was time to start the final journey.

I have heard many stories about people who have lived long, productive lives.  They die peacefully, with a smile on their faces. They have started on their final journey as well.  Jesus may not have said this in the way I have looked at it for so many years. It may have been a cry of happiness, now that He was on His way to be back with the Father.



Read for next time: Jesus cries out; Matthew 27:50; Mark 15:37; Luke 23:46

Sour Grapes

April 13, 2012

The Life of Jesus; read today: Jesus is offered sour wine on a reed: Matthew 27:47-49, Mark 15:35-36, John  19:29-30

Sour grapes.  The term brings up something that all of us would try to avoid.  Something that is so bad you just want to spit it out of your mouth.

BWE: Mark 15:36. One man ran to get something called a sponge. He made it wet with sour wine and put it on the end of a stick. With it he gave Jesus a drink. He said, ‘We will see if Elijah will come and take him down!’

Here was the man that would save them all and all they could give Him was sour wine, made from grapes. That act was the final rejection of Jesus.  After this He would give it up.  The final thing that was done to Him was an insult.

But who did that to Him?  We can claim that it was some bystander like the Bible says, but really, wasn’t it you and me that did this to him.  Every time I respond in anger to someone, try to cheat someone, try to get my own way, I put that wine on the sponge.  Jesus did that all for me.


Read for next time: "It is finished."; John 19:30

Thirst

April 9, 2012

The Life of Jesus; read today: "I thirst."; John  19:28


NET: John 19:28. After this Jesus, realizing that by this time everything was completed, said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty!"

Through all that Jesus had been through, not one complaint had been made to the people in charge of His treatment.  Even His last words of abandonment were not a complaint against God but a question as to why.

So now Jesus complains that He is thirsty, why?  The answer is the the scripture itself.  Everything had been completed according to the scripture, except him being fed the vinegar. So He says, ‘I thirst.’

What is interesting is, that Jesus is the Word, and the Word needed to be fulfilled.  Jesus put all this in to the prophecies of His own coming, long before man even came into existence.

We often say to let the Bible interpret the Bible.  Here is a case of God interpreting Himself.


Read for next time: Jesus is offered sour wine on a reed: Matthew 27:47-49, Mark 15:35-36, John  19:29-30

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Abandoned

April 4, 2012

The Life of Jesus; read today: "Eloi, Eloi, Lamma, Sabachthani"; Matthew  27:46; Mark 15:34

When I was young and in Cub Scouts, I remember going for a hike up the small hill that was in the area, it was part of the Blue Hills in eastern Massachusetts.  We did it every year so we could earn some sort of pin or badge and we did it as a den.  As we climbed up that hill I remember getting a pebble in my shoe. I was near the tail end and stopped on a rock to get it out.  The group moved on and I was sure that I could catch up.  I then got distracted with some bit of nature and next I knew one minute turned to five and I was alone.  I had a bad feeling, it was called abandonment.  I kept going on the path but I was sure they had gone off and left me and I would never see home again.  A few minutes later, I rounded a turn and there was my den. My mom, the den mother, had stopped the group knowing that if I stayed on the path I would be OK. I was happy to see them but I will never forget that fear of abandonment till this day.

As an adult who had become a Christian, I had a troubled relationship with my wife. I felt that God had told me to do something and she was not co-operating. I felt abandoned by God, and decided that it was time for me to move on and make myself happy.  It was a wrong choice, and I learned from it.

Jesus had abandonment issues as well.


BBE: Matthew 27:46. And about the ninth hour Jesus gave a loud cry, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why are you turned away from me?

How did Jesus feel about this situation.  He was not only 100% God, He was 100% man as well.

When He could not sense God the Father, did he feel hopeless and alone like a little boy on a trail, lost?  Did it occur to Him to keep following that trail, knowing that the end was worth it.

Did His flesh kick in and want to tear Himself off the cross and yell, ‘enough, I can not handle this anymore.”  Did He think that He must go on or all that He had done so far, all that pain, would be totally useless.

I can not know what He felt. I can only know what I felt. I can know how it feels to have that feeling of abandonment. I cannot imagine how it felt to Jesus who had been with the Father forever. What a snap that must of been in His brain. I will never know that pain, but I will know that He did it all for me.


Read for next time: "I thirst."; John  19:28

Sacrifice and pleasure

March 9, 2012

The Life of Jesus; read today: Darkness from 6th to 9th hour; Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44-45


BWE: Matthew 27:45. About midday, the whole land became dark and stayed dark for three hours.

There was darkness. The light of the sun was made of no affect because the light of the Son was being extinguished.  It was a sacrifice so I could gain heaven.

This causes me to think about my sacrifices.  My sacrifices are made so that someone else can receive happiness.  If there is not enough money and the kids want to go out to eat, I will take a smaller portion so that they can enjoy the time. When my daughter was little she used to love to play Uno, a game I did not care for. Because of my love for her, I would sacrifice my time so that she could be happy.

What happiness could be gained from Jesus sacrifice I wondered. God was not pleases with putting sin on His Son. The followers of Jesus were not happy at all that He was dying on the cross.

The happiness came from what has happened. All men can now enter into salvation and relationship with the Father.  If that sacrifice had not been made, we would all be dammed to hell. I am thankful that the sacrifice was made.

Read for next time: "Eloi, Eloi, Lamma, Sabachthani"; Matthew  27:46; Mark 15:34

Last minute conversions

March 8, 2012

The Life of Jesus; read today: "…you will be with me in Paradise."; Luke  23:43

The third of the recorded words that Christ spoke from the cross.


NET: Luke 23:43. And Jesus said to him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."


My daughter asked me a few years ago if she would see grandpa in heaven as she never knew him. He died many years before she was born.

I paused and thought before I said anything. My dad, if he had accepted Jesus certainly did not live the life of a Christian. He was an alcoholic who was only sober when he was in the hospital, and sometimes I wondered if he was then. On his last visit they told him he would die if he kept drinking, and he said I can not give up living to live.  He died two weeks later, in his recliner, a drink by his side.

Maybe somewhere deep inside, something that someone said came back to him that night and caused him to turn to Jesus and ask for forgiveness. I do not know. I only know that if he did, then like the thief on the cross, he would see Jesus in paradise that day.  I do not put down death bed conversions, Jesus died for people who put it off to the end just like He did for me. I can only think about how much richer and fuller both his life and my children’s lives would be if Grandpa was still alive today.

So my answer to her was I do not know. I can only hope that he is.

Read for next time: Darkness from 6th to 9th hour; Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44-45