A Vision Of Jesus

Revelation 1:9-19

Our New Testament reading from the Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer begins a series of readings from the Book of Revelation as the New Testament Scripture for each week for a while.  The Book of Revelation is a fascinating book in the Bible, consisting of a series of visions that the Apostle John had.  Today’s Scripture begins with the first vision that John had.  Let’s take a look at what he saw, and what it means.

Our Scripture begins with the Apostle John introducing himself as the author of the Book of Revelation.  He continues by telling us that he is on the island of Patmos, which is a small island east of Greece in the Aegean Sea (vs. 9).  The apostle had been exiled or banished to that island due to his preaching the Gospel of Jesus.  It was while on this island that the Lord gave John a series of visions, most of which involve end-time events.

The beginning of John’s visions commenced as the apostle was praying and praising the Lord on a Sunday, and at that time he heard a loud voice, which was the voice of the Lord Jesus (vs. 10).   Even though he was exiled because of his preaching and teaching, John’s faith did not waver.  He was still committed to God’s Word and his faith in the Lord Jesus.  Many believers around the world may also face persecution for their faith.  Some may be exiled like John.  Others may be imprisoned, beaten like Paul was, or even martyred like so many of the early Christians, and believers down through the ages were.

While worshiping, John heard a loud voice which was so startling to him, just like a trumpet would have been.  Such a voice showed divine authority.  In fact, the voice identified Himself as being the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last (vs. 11).  Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.  By calling Himself that, Jesus was saying that He is the first and the last, and everything in between.  He is eternal, existing from the beginning of time and will exist past the end of time.  He is omni-everything.  He is omniscient - having all knowledge, omnipotent - having all power, omnipresent - is everywhere at once.

The Lord Jesus told John to write what he saw, and then distribute it to seven churches which were located in Asia Minor (present day Turkey).  The Word of God is not to be hidden away in some corner, but is to be spread abroad for all to hear and read.

John continued by describing what he saw in his vision of the Lord Jesus physically (vs. 12-16).  Jesus is seen walking among the seven golden lamp stands.  Those seven lamp stands symbolized the seven churches mentioned in Asia Minor, and also symbolized the overall Church in general.  This shows that the Lord Jesus is present among the Church, and walks among His children.  The appearance of Jesus is radiant.  His hair is described as white as snow or wool, which symbolizes purity.  His eyes glow like a flame of fire, which shows judgment, and His voice is like rushing waters, which would symbolize His power and authority.  John also described a vision of a sharp two-edged sword coming from Jesus’ mouth.  This symbolizes the Word of God, which both convicts and judges (Hebrews 4:12).

How would you react if you just saw the Lord Jesus in such a manner?  Throughout Scripture when someone had a vision of the Lord, they all fell down prostrate on the ground, which is exactly what John did, as well (vs. 17).  However, the Lord Jesus reassured John, repeating that He is the First and the Last.  He tells him that He once was dead, but is now alive (vs. 18).

Jesus entered the realm of death and came out on the other side so that we might no longer fear death, but find eternal life in Him (John 11:25).  Jesus knows death first-hand, and has conquered it.  He wants us to see death as an enemy that He has defeated.  Jesus speaks in the past tense here.  He was dead, but now look at Him!  Jesus triumphed over death and grief, and gives us a picture of His victory which is an everlasting one.  Jesus, alone, holds the keys to unlock death’s door.  Death does not hold the last word for Christians!

Learning The Message In God's Word

Psalm 111

When we were very little children, many of us had children’s books that helped to teach us the alphabet.  The book would go through the alphabet with big bright pictures of something that began with each letter - A is for Apple, B is for Bear, etc.   As we grew older, we learned some other alphabetic memory devices to help us learn things.  I still remember one I learned in early grade school - “My very efficient mother just sent us nine pies” which helped to learn the nine planets (we counted Pluto as a planet back then!).  As we got older, we learned other alphabetical devices to learn other things.  Some of the psalms were written that way, as acrostics, with each verse starting with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which might have helped Hebrew young people memorize and learn God’s Word.  Our psalm today is one such psalm.

As we read through this somewhat short psalm, most of us are not reading it in Hebrew, so we miss the acrostic or alphabetical aspect.  We read it in our native language.  However the same message comes forth, that of God’s greatness, righteousness, and His faithfulness.  His works are sure, He is unchanging and faithful to His covenants, and His Word should be the primary and final authority in our life.  This was something that the unknown author was trying to teach the readers.  Whether they were children or adults, it is something that we all need to learn.

As our psalm begins, the psalmist instructs us to bring praise to the whole heart, especially during our worship services, “in the congregation” (vs. 1).  Both in the days of the Old Testament, later in the New Testament, and including today, both public and personal worship and praise to the Lord should be a vital part of our Christian life.

One thing that the psalmist believes we should be praising the Lord for are His great works (vs. 2-6).  He tells us to study and learn about them, and how we go about doing that is by reading His Word.  In the Bible we read over and over again the great things the Lord in creation and for His people.  In addition, we can share with our Christian brothers and sisters in and outside of church, the things that He has done for us personally, how He has watched over us and provided for our needs.  As believers, we need to be studying and meditating on God’s Word, and sharing with others the mighty works He has done for us, including His righteousness (vs. 3), His grace and compassion (vs. 4), and His provisions (vs. 5).

As the psalmist continues with his acrostic teaching, he specifically instructs his readers, and us as well, that God’s Word, the Bible, is absolutely true (vs. 7-8).  They will stand fast forever, and will never change.  Many men and women, and certainly many governments over the ages have tried to stamp out and destroy the Bible.  Throughout many times in history it has been illegal to read or own a copy of the Bible, including in some places today.  However, no one has ever succeeded in destroying it.  It stands fast forever!  And the truths that we find therein are unchanging.  What was true back when it was written is still true today, regardless of the passing of time or changing cultures.  God and His Word does not change.

It is through God’s Word, and through those who teach us His Word, that we learn of redemption, that God sent His only begotten Son to die for our sins, and that by accepting Him as our Savior, we have salvation (vs 9).  That promise is one that will last forever.  Until Jesus returns to set up His millennial kingdom, everyone, as long as they are alive, have the opportunity to come to Him for salvation through His holy and awesome Name.

Our psalm closes with the reminder that if we want wisdom (and who doesn’t?), that we need to have a good fear of the Lord (vs. 11).  This fear of the Lord means having a deep reverence and respect for God, respect for His power and authority, and obedience to His Word.  Genuine believers will have a healthy fear of the Lord, which leads to respect for His commands, precepts, and principles, and we will have a reverent awe of God’s majesty that will lead to righteous living.

Obey God Or Man?

Acts 5:12-29

How willing are you to fight those who oppose you for something you believe in?  If the opposition is strong and threatening, and the penalties severe, one might not be too willing to stand up for some personal beliefs.  They instead may stay quiet, or give in to the demands of their opposition, doing as they are told.  Others, though, when their beliefs are challenged become more bold.  That is what we see in our Scripture today from the Book of Acts.

The Book of Acts gives the account of the very early Church, focusing first on Peter and the eleven apostles, and then on Paul and the spread of the Gospel to the Gentiles and into Europe.  Prior to our Scripture, the apostles Peter and John had been arrested for preaching in the Name of Jesus, and for the healing of a crippled man in His Name.  They were sternly threatened and then released (Acts 4:1-22).  Now, a short while later, the fame of the apostles was spreading.  People were coming to hear the message that they preached, and many more people were saved (vs. 14).  The crowds remembered the recent healing of the crippled man by the hands of Peter and John, and they brought sick folk to them, as they believed in the divine power to heal that the apostles had.  Such was this divine power that the apostles didn’t need to physically touch the sick, but sometimes just their shadow falling upon the sick was enough to bring healing (vs. 15).

After two of the prominent apostles having just recently been arrested and threatened, one might have thought they would have laid low for a while, and just kept quiet.  However, they so strongly believed in their message, that none of the apostles stopped preaching or healing in the Name of Jesus.  These miracles demonstrated God’s power and His affirmation of their mission.  The healings and miracles were evidence of God’s active presence in the Church.

The miracles performed might give anyone an inflated ego, but not Peter.  He could not forget what he had done a few short months earlier in denying Jesus, along with His forgiveness which he received when Jesus personally came to him (Luke 24:34).  Peter knew where the real honor and glory belonged - with Jesus.  When we do something for the Lord in whatever ministry we might be involved in, and the results are good, do we start to think that maybe we are something special, or do we give the praise and glory to where it belongs, to the Lord Jesus?

The high priest and religious leaders in and around Jerusalem and Judea quickly heard about the further miracles that were being done, along with the preaching in the Name of Jesus.  They heard that many were joining this new religious movement, and they were angry (vs. 17-18).  These religious leaders were filled with jealousy when they saw crowds turning to the apostles, just as they had been with Jesus, and they had the apostles arrested and thrown in prison.  This showed the ongoing spiritual battle between truth and opposition.

However, God had other plans for the apostles, and He sent an angel to open the prison doors, telling them to return to the Temple area and continue to preach the Gospel (vs. 19-20).  When the high priest and the religious council heard this, they quietly re-arrested the apostles and brought them before the council again, further threatening them, telling them they had been strictly ordered to never speak publicly in the Name of Jesus.  To this Peter answered that they were to obey God and not man (vs. 27-29).

Peter’s response to the religious leaders is a rather well-known verse in Scripture, that we are to obey God rather than men (vs 29).  God’s commands are supreme over any human institution, especially when they conflict with Biblical truth.  As Christians, we are to treat our government with respect and obey its laws unless they run contrary to the Word of God.  We are to bring our influence to bear on our society as it strays further and further from God’s Word.

As time progresses, we see that society, and even in some places governments, are persecuting the Church more and more.  Peter and the other apostles show us how to respond to suffering and persecution with faith and joy.  Sometimes God may intervene and deliver His children, as He did in our Scripture today.  At other times He doesn’t, as we see later in the Book of Acts and throughout Church history.  History records that each of the Apostles, with the exception of John, died a martyr's death, along with Christians down the ages up to today.

United In Christ's Death And Resurrection

Romans 6:3-11

As we close out this Easter week, our Scripture selection for today takes us to St. Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.  In this Scripture passage we see how believers identify with the Lord Jesus in His death and in His resurrection.  Let’s take a quick look, and see what the Lord can teach us from His Word.

Paul begins this section of his epistle with a comparison of baptism with the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  Most baptisms in the early church were done by full immersion into the water, and today some Christian denominations continue that tradition, while others pour the water upon the believer’s head.  My purpose here is not to promote one tradition or style of baptism over another, as both are meaningful.  The baptism by immersion does give a clearer picture of what Paul is talking about right here (vs. 3-4).  As the person being baptized is lowered down backwards into a more horizontal position, that gives a picture of someone being lowered into the ground in burial.  Then the person is raised up out of the water, a picture of being raised up in resurrection.  In addition to saying that they are baptized in the Name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, those churches which practice baptism by immersion often say something like “Buried in the likeness of His death, and raised in the likeness of His resurrection.”  The idea behind that statement also comes from this passage (vs. 5).

What is the Apostle Paul talking about here, especially the idea of being baptized into Christ’s death?  Paul is speaking about believers being spiritually united with Jesus in His crucifixion.  Our baptism should signify the end of our old sinful nature.  And just as the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead, so also believers are raised to live a new life, free from the bondage of sin (vs. 6).  When a person accepts the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior, they are no longer a slave to sin.  The old self has been crucified, and sin no longer has dominion over them (vs. 7).  Since Christ died once for all, and now lives for God, believers are called to consider themselves dead to sin, but alive to God (vs. 11).

Through Jesus’ death, the power of our sinful nature was shattered.  Our old sin-loving nature was buried with Him when He died.  And when God raised Jesus from the dead, we were given His wonderful new life to enjoy.  The moment someone becomes a Christian, their sinful nature dies, but there remain sinful aspects of their character that have not gone to their graves willingly.  If these sinful attitudes are allowed to remain alive, they will stifle the fruits of the Spirit.  We cannot say “That’s just the way I am”.  That’s the way we were but that person died with Jesus, and we are now a new creature (II Corinthians 5:17).  We need to allow God to complete His work in us, and see what fruits our life will produce.

God’s gracious provision of forgiveness isn’t designed as a license to now sin since we know He will forgive us.  The commandments that God gave us in the Bible are in place to protect us from enslavement to sin.  Each choice to break God’s rules adds another link to our slavery chain.  Any and all sin is rebellion against the Lord.  We are not freed from sin so that we can continue to disobey.  Sin threatens to dominate our hearts, and then the joy drains from our relationship with Jesus.  But through the death and resurrection of Jesus, that threat is an empty one.  Sin has no authority over us.

There were those back in Paul’s day, and even plenty today who say that it’s okay to sin, especially if “no one gets hurt.”  They say that God won’t judge, as He is “all love.”  He will forgive the sin, so why worry.  However, God says that anyone who calls themselves a Christian, but who isn’t serious about sin is a liar, not a true Christian (I John 2:3-6).  We can choose to be a slave to sin or free in Christ Jesus, not both (John 8:34-36).

As we look back over this Scripture before we close, it is important to note that personal salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is vitally necessary.  If you have not already asked Him to be your Savior, don’t hesitate another day.  Once you become a true believer, the power of salvation transforms you, and you are no longer under sin’s control.  As believers, it is important to aim for a holy life, rejecting sin and striving for righteousness.  Baptism is important, though not a requirement for salvation.  Baptism does not save us, but is a public declaration of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Let us now go forward in our lives in the power of His resurrection.

The Victory of the Resurrection

Psalm 118:14-24

When we have a great victory, whether it be a win for our school or city sports team, a victory in battle or the victorious end of a war, or the victory of our favored political candidate, we often break into song, and maybe even a little victory dance.   Our psalm for this Easter week is a portion of a song of victory.  This is a time of great rejoicing in the Church calendar, which our psalm addresses, along with being quoted several times in the New Testament, including by the Lord Jesus.  Let’s look into this portion of Psalm 118.

Though there is no specific author listed for Psalm 118 in the Bible, many scholars believe that it was written by King David, possibly on the occasion of his coming to the throne, along with bringing the Tabernacle into the City of Jerusalem.  David had been anointed to become the next king by the prophet Samuel when he was a young teen.  Then following his victory over Goliath, his life was a whirlwind, primarily due to having to spend so many years fleeing the murderous intentions of King Saul.  Now he is finally entering Jerusalem as the victorious king!

Does your life sometimes feel like it’s in a whirlwind, like your life is on some type of carnival ride, whipping around curves with ups and downs like a roller coaster, or spinning out of control like a Tilt-a-Whirl?  When our life seems like an amusement park ride, spinning and racing every which way, sometimes seemingly out of control, we need to lean into God, and find His peace and strength, and He will give us victory, like He did with David.

Though David would have further challenges and troubles in his life, he praised the Lord that his time of running from Saul was over.  He celebrated God’s deliverance, strength, and salvation, and declared to the world God’s sovereignty, faithfulness, and ultimate victory.  David knew that it was God who brought him to this day, and that He was the source of both his spiritual and physical strength (vs. 14).

The majority of people tend to be right-handed, and whether in sports or battle, or even in everyday tasks, they want their right hand to be strong and able to perform the tasks they need to.  Though God Himself is neither right nor left-handed, in writing this psalm the author speaks of God’s right hand as being strong, heroic, and exalted (vs. 15-16).  He has all the power and authority.  This was shown most triumphantly on the Resurrection morning, when Jesus rose from the dead, and was victorious over Satan, sin, and death.  Though momentarily it might have looked like Satan and death won, however, Jesus triumphed over death, and likewise all believers will, as well (vs. 17-18).  Our hope is in Jesus Christ who did rise from the grave and gives eternal life to all who trust Him.

When David finally became king, he entered triumphantly through the city gates.  Jesus, likewise, entered through the gates of heaven in triumph.  We, as believers who have put our faith and trust in Him, can enter the gates of righteousness, representing our access to God’s presence (vs. 19-20).  Through faith we have the righteousness of Jesus, and are able to come into the Lord’s presence.

As we continue in our psalm we read in verse 22 a prophetic reference to the Lord Jesus, who was rejected by men, but chosen by God as the foundation of salvation.  When He told one of His last parables, that of the wicked vineyard workers, Jesus spoke of how He was rejected by the religious leaders, but became the Chief Cornerstone of the Church (Matthew 21:42).  In his first sermon on the Day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter also references Jesus being the Cornerstone (Acts 4:11), along with in his first epistle (I Peter 2:7).

In ancient buildings certain unique stones, different from the regular blocks, were used at pivotal points in the structure.  The cornerstone could set a foundation or anchor a wall.  Just as a stone, different from all the rest, is the only one that will fit the need to hold up a wall or establish a firm foundation, only Jesus can restore our world.  He may not fit the mold of what the world is looking for in a Savior, but He is the only Cornerstone.  This is the Lord’s work.  God’s redemptive plan, through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, is something marvelous in our eyes! (vs. 23).

As our portion of Scripture today draws to a close, we read how we rejoice in the day that the Lord has made (vs. 24).  While this can refer to any day as a gift from God, it is often, and especially this particular week, pointing to the day of salvation and Christ’s resurrection, a cause for eternal rejoicing.

In closing, our psalm today reminds us to trust that God is in control in every situation, even when the circumstances in our life might seem dire.  Most importantly we see in the psalm that we rejoice in the Lord Jesus, recognizing that He is the Cornerstone of faith, and celebrating in the salvation He provides.

The Redeemed of the Lord

Isaiah 51:9-11

We are now in the beginning of the season of Easter in the Church calendar, and our Old Testament Scripture for this Easter week is a small portion from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.  In this Scripture we read a prayer to Yahweh, the One and Only God of all the universe, to show forth His power on behalf of His people.

On Easter, which we just celebrated a few days ago, we saw a most powerful display of God’s power in the raising of the Lord Jesus from the dead.  Centuries earlier Isaiah had appealed to God to show forth His power on behalf of His people, recalling a prior time when He had stepped forth with might, power, and deliverance for His people.  Isaiah ministered to the Kingdom of Judah during a period when they were threatened by the Assyrian Empire, and they were a bit more than a century away from being taken captive by the Babylonian Empire.  They needed God’s help then and into the future.

As our Scripture opens, Isaiah prays to the Lord, asking Him to step into action on behalf of His people.  He remembers many times in the past where the people needed God’s help, and He was there with His power and strength.  Sometimes when we pray, it seems like God is asleep, and we receive only silence.  Of course, God never sleeps (Psalm 121:4).   He hears our prayer, and answers at the best possible time for our good.

Isaiah speaks of Rahab in verse 9.  This is not the woman from the city of Jericho that we read of in the early chapters of the Book of Joshua, and who was an ancestress of the Lord Jesus.  In the Bible, the name “Rahab” also frequently refers to both a mythological sea monster, the personification of pride and arrogance, and a poetic reference to Egypt.  Sometimes it may feel that our problems are like some giant sea monster which has wrapped its strong tentacles around us and we can’t escape.  When we turn to the Lord in prayer, and trust in Him, He will rise up and cut them to pieces.

Then Isaiah recalls in verse 10 the greatest deliverance that the people of Israel had experienced, that being the dividing of the waters of the Red Sea for the people to cross in order to escape the armies of Pharaoh and Egypt (Exodus 14:21-22).   Isaiah wanted the people to remember that Yahweh is the sovereign God, and that He still has the power and ability to save His people.  He is faithful to His covenant, and can bring His people out of even the most impossible seeming circumstances.  As we recall, the descendants of Jacob had been slaves in Egypt for several generations, and now God was bringing them forth to the land of Canaan, which He had promised their forefathers as their inheritance.  While escaping, the people come up to the large body of water ahead of them, and the army of Pharaoh behind them.  What were they to do?  God stepped in and parted the waters, making a path across.

We all are slaves of a different sort.  We are slaves to sin, which through Satan, held us in strong bondage (John 8:34; Romans 6:16).  As long as we remain in this condition, we are doomed to destruction, as surely as the Israelites would have been to the Egyptian army.  However, just as God brought a miraculous deliverance for them, He has stepped in to bring deliverance to us, as well.   God sent His only Son, the Lord Jesus, to come and pay the debt price for our sins by His death on the Cross, and raised Him from the dead to show that the price paid was sufficient and satisfactory.

For those who acknowledge the sacrifice that Jesus made on their behalf, accepting Him as their personal Savior, they are ransomed from the slavery of sin.  They will come to the heavenly Zion with singing and everlasting joy, free from all sorrow and mourning (vs. 11).  As believers, we have the hope and assurance of God’s eternal salvation.

In closing, we see here that God’s nature is unchanging.  What He has done in the past, He can and will do again.  He promises us redemption and restoration.  God is faithful, and He guarantees future deliverance to all those who seek Him.

A Witness For The Resurrection

Luke 24:1-10

Do you enjoy watching courtroom shows on TV?  I do.  I sometimes watch real life court cases on Court TV, along with old-time fictional shows like Boston Legal, Matlock, and even going way back to shows like Perry Mason.  One thing common among all of these shows is that both sides, the prosecution and the defense, have to have good witnesses and solid evidence to back up their case.  Without either of these, a case is not easily won in court.  Today, as we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, we look at the Biblical account of that event in Scripture, and see that very few believed that it would happen before that morning.  It took some convincing for the disciples to accept, and with others, particularly the religious leaders, they went so far as to refute that claim, stating that it never happened.  So we have the religious leaders, claiming someone stole the Body of Jesus, versus the disciples, with the Scripture account as their defense for the Resurrection.  Let’s look into this.

As our Scripture opens, we observe several women coming to the grave site of Jesus, bringing spices and other ointments in order to anoint the Body of Jesus, and complete all burial traditions that couldn’t be done earlier due to the Sabbath.  The word “they” in verse 1 refers back to the end of chapter 23, where several women helped Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus, noting where the tomb was (Luke 23:55-56).  Now, on the third day following the crucifixion, these women, along with a few more came to the tomb to finish a proper burial for Jesus.

Here we come to the first piece of evidence, that being that the stone over the entrance to the tomb was rolled away (vs 2).  The Jewish religious leaders had insisted that Pilate seal the tomb and set guards there, which was done.  Now the guards are gone and the stone rolled away.  The stone was a large, very heavy, disc-shaped rock, easily weighing close to 2 tons (4,000 lbs.).  A bit of a depression would have been dug right at the entrance, which the stone lay in, making it so that if one wanted to move the stone, it would have to be rolled up a slight incline, making it even more difficult to move.  This would have been impossible for women to move.  Even the religious leaders would have had a very difficult time moving the stone.

Another bit of evidence would be the Roman guards.  Something extraordinary would have had to happen for them to leave, as abandoning a post assigned by superiors, especially the Roman governor himself, would likely bring the death penalty back then.  And they certainly were not friends with the disciples, nor likely to do favors for these women.

Then we have eyewitness testimony.  These women all testified the same thing, that they saw the empty tomb, and each saw and heard the same message from the angels (vs. 3-7).  A shared hallucination?  That is unlikely.  How likely is it to happen that different people have the exact same hallucination and hear the exact same words?  Not likely!  The prosecution could use that argument if it was just one woman who went there.  They could say she was drunk, on drugs, or whatever, but not three or more women.  And then Peter and John went to the tomb, as well, and did not find a body (John 20:3-8).  Later that evening the apostles saw and talked to Jesus, along with the two on the road to Emmaus.  And another time before His Ascension over 500 disciples saw Him (I Corinthians 15:6).

We also must remember that the band of now eleven apostles, along with other faithful disciples, were afraid for their lives.  They saw what the religious leaders did to Jesus, and feared that this would happen to them, as well.  Most of the disciples fled when the Temple guards came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Peter followed behind, and lingered in the courtyard of the High Priest to hear the outcome of His “trial”.  However we know he lost his nerve and ended up denying Jesus out of fear, and then fled.  John came to the cross, but later left and also hid.  What is the likelihood that these deathly frightened men would knock out several Roman guards, move a 4,000 lbs. stone, and steal a dead body, carrying it around Jerusalem, when likely they are being watched by spies for the High Priest?  Yet after the Resurrection, these same men and women become bold witnesses for Jesus and His Gospel.  They are no longer afraid, and are even willing to lay down their life for the Gospel.  Would they likely do that if in reality the Body of Jesus was really just lying hidden in one of their closets or basement?!

Now the defense attorney, the one defending the apostles and other believers, must challenge the prosecuting attorney, the side of the unbelieving religious leaders, to bring proof that the Body of Jesus was stolen, and He didn’t rise from the dead.  From that day till today, no one has come forth with a body, or today bones, of what they claim is Jesus.  These religious leaders had the power and authority to go into any of their homes to search for a body.  They were a very powerful group.  In the decades that followed the High Priest and Pharisees had the opportunity to try and find Jesus’ Body, and then produce it.  If they were so sure that it was all a lie made up by the disciples, then produce the body and end, once and for all, the new Christian faith that they so hated!  But they had no stolen dead Body of Jesus because He was no longer dead.  He arose, just as He said He would.  He arose because He was and is the Messiah, the Son of God!

Suffering Beyond Compare

 Luke 23:33

It is Good Friday as I write this, though it may be a different day when you read it.  Good Friday, the day we commemorate when Jesus was brutally abused and then crucified, all to pay the debt for our sins.  What exactly did Jesus go through on that day?  We read the Good Friday narratives in the Gospels, but they just say simple words, such as that He was flogged, carried His cross, and then was crucified.  No other details or descriptions were given.  Many of us have a crucifix hanging in our home and our church, and we have seen paintings of the crucifixion, but they are rather sanitized.  Several years ago I read a physician’s account of what exactly Jesus would have gone through during His crucifixion.  I would like to share some of that with you, along with my own thoughts, as we take a closer look, and meditate on what our Lord went through for each of us.

The suffering of Jesus on that first Good Friday really begins on the night before, when He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Following the Last Supper, Jesus and His disciples went to the Garden, and there He spent several hours in intense prayer.  Jesus knew what lay ahead of Him for the next approximately 18 hours.  He knew what unspeakable and terrible agony He would go through.  We read in the Gospels that Jesus prayed so intensely that His sweat became bloody (Luke 22:44).  Occurrences such as this, though quite rare, are medically verified.  It is called hematidrosis, and happens when someone is in such intense emotional distress that the tiny capillaries in the sweat glands break, mixing sweat with blood, often leaving the person physically weak.

Following Jesus’ arrest, He was roughly brought by the Temple guards to the High Priest and Sanhedrin.  After going through the mockery of a phony “trial”, Jesus was blindfolded, spat upon, and repeatedly slapped in the face (Luke 22:63-65).  These slaps were undoubtedly given full-force, though not quite a punch, as some of the Gospels indicate it was with the palm of the hand.  What made it even more traumatizing was being blindfolded when this happened.  Then the battered, bruised, and dehydrated, Jesus was sent to Pontius Pilate.

Neither Pilate nor King Herod thought Jesus was worthy of execution, but bowing to the pressure of the High Priest and Sanhedrin, Pilate ordered Jesus to be scourged and then crucified.  This is where the torture really began.  As bad as a whipping with a belt or even a horse whip would be, a Roman flogging was much, much worse.  First the victim would be stripped of clothing, and then tied by their hands to a post overhead.  The victim was then flogged with a scourge of rope and leather which was embedded with metal balls, bones, and spikes.  A strong Roman legionnaire would proceed to flog the victim, and would not show mercy.  This scourge would quickly tear through the skin, then the muscle, and often go down to the bone.  Flogging, alone, could and did often kill a person.  The Bible does not specify how many lashes Jesus was given.  The Law of Moses said no more than 40 were to be given (Deuteronomy 25:3), but these were Romans who wouldn’t have to follow that law.

Jesus was then dragged away, and the soldiers decided to have some cruel sport at His expense (Matthew 27:27-31).  Hearing that some had called Him a king, they crafted a crown made of thorny branches which they crushed down upon His head.  Though the type of plant that was used is not specified, some believe it to be the euphorbia milii, which has very long, sharp thorns.  Wounds to the head often cause a lot of bleeding, so this would have shed even more of Jesus’ Blood.  They also gave Him a rod as a “scepter”, which they beat Him with, and wrapped a scarlet cloak around Him as a “robe”.  When they removed the cloak, it would have begun to cling to the blood clots from the scourging, and removing it would have been painful, just like removing a surgical bandage without care.

Following this treatment, Jesus was then made to carry His cross to the execution site of Calvary, also called Golgotha.  Often the victim would only carry the crossbeam, which was easily at least 100 lbs.  This was laid upon Jesus’ back and shoulders, already ripped open during the flogging.  Weak from the abuse, loss of blood and bodily fluids, along with dehydration, Jesus stumbled multiple times, until they called on Simon of Cyrene to help carry the cross (Luke 23:26).  When they arrived at Golgotha, the soldiers attempted to give Him wine mixed with pain killing drugs, but Jesus refused it (Mark 15:23).  Jesus would take the full punishment for our sins, with nothing to dilute or diminish it.

Jesus was thrown down onto the cross where His hands and feet were nailed to the wood with large stakes.  When the cross was raised, the weight of His body pulled upon the nails in his hands, actually wrists, and the pain would increase.  In order to alleviate the pain, crucified victims would try to push themselves upward, then putting weight on the nail through the feet.  That would then, likewise, put terrible pain on the feet.  Repeating this would bring cramps to the muscles of arms and legs, inhibiting the movement.  Air could be brought into the lungs, but not exhaled.  Carbon dioxide would build up in the lungs and bloodstream, and the cramps would partially subside, then allowing the victim to shift his weight and exhale.

This cycle would continue over and over, and slowly the pericardium (membrane sac that encloses the heart) would fill with serum and compress the heart.  The heart would struggle to beat and the lungs struggle to gasp air.  The soldiers would often try to end this cycle after a number of hours, because sometimes death could take many hours or even days to occur.  They would break the legs of the victims so they could not move to relieve pressure and achieve a breath.  However, when the soldiers came to Jesus, they found He was already dead.  The soldier then took his lance and drove it between ribs, through the pericardium, and into His heart, bringing forth a water-like fluid and blood (John 19:34).  Jesus did not die from the usual suffocation that crucifixion victims usually die from, but instead from heart failure due to shock and the constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium.

This was a gruesome tortuous death that the Lord endured for us, in atonement for our sins.  What the religious leaders and the soldiers thought was the end, was not the end of the story.  As a preacher once said, “It’s Friday, but Sunday is coming!”

Our Sin Debt Is Paid

Hebrews 10:1-23

A debt is owed, and payment must be made.  A wrong has been committed, and punishment must be given.  Sometimes the debt or wrong done is not too much, and can quickly be taken care of.  Other times it is a larger debt or crime committed, and to pay that off might take months or even years to accomplish.  Then there is a debt, a penalty which is so high that it is impossible to pay, but which, even so, must be paid.  We might think that we are good and responsible people, we would never get into such trouble.  However, I’m here to say that we, each one of us, already have.  We each have a sin-debt that we owe, and which we have no humanly way possible to pay, but which must be paid.  What are we to do, then?  Our Scripture today will give us an answer.

Each one of us has sinned.  I have, and you have.  Even if we have never murdered, committed adultery, or stolen anything, we have each told lies, and likely have had unkind thoughts towards others.  They are sins, and any sin will keep one out of heaven because God is all holy.  A holy God cannot have sin in His presence.  As the Bible tells us, the wages or penalty of sin is death, eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23).  The payment for sin is the shedding of blood, for without that there can be no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22).  However our blood is tainted with sin.  What can we do?

In the days of the Old Testament, the Law of Moses required that people bring an animal sacrifice to the Temple for their sins.  That was done repeatedly, year after year, because that sacrifice was insufficient.  The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin (vs. 4).  This ritual was a shadow, pointing to what was to come with the ultimate sacrifice of the Messiah, Jesus.  The Law and the priests were not created to be a solution to the problem of sin, but only a shadow of what was to come.  They temporarily atoned for sin, but they didn’t prevent it.

Our sin debt is still owed, and we still have no way to pay it.  But look!  As we continue to read in our Scripture we see that the Lord Jesus came into the world to pay that debt, to offer Himself as the sacrifice (vs. 5-10).  He had no sin in Himself to atone for, His Blood was not tainted with sin.  Jesus’ sacrifice was once for all, unlike the repeated sacrifices of the Old Testament.  Through His obedience to the Father by offering Himself, all who believe in Him are sanctified and perfected.  Jesus died at Calvary to pay the price of every sin.  As believers, our sins are thrown into the deepest sea, never to be remembered (Micah 7:19).  We are blessed by God’s gift of mercy, which allows us to place our sin into the cleansing pool of Christ’s righteousness, so that we emerge sanctified by His holiness.

Through trusting in what Jesus has done on our behalf, we can find forgiveness and the power of God to resist sin (vs. 14-16).  We have been moved from death to life by Jesus’ sacrifice.  Now we are no longer viewed by God as sinful, but as His redeemed children.  We have been completely forgiven (vs. 17-18).  That does not mean that we will never sin again, but it is an assurance that those sins are covered once and for all by Jesus.

As we conclude our Scripture, we have a call for all believers to approach God’s throne with boldness, not shame (vs. 19-23).  Our status before Him is secure through the cleansing work of our spotless High Priest.  True holiness is not a matter of physical appearance, but of being “clothed” with righteousness.  This is only possible if we clothe ourselves with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which happens when we accept Him as our personal Savior.  We can come into God’s presence with confidence if we draw near through the Blood of Jesus.

In closing, we can rest, knowing that our debt has been paid, our penalty covered, through the shed Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.  If you haven’t already, I pray that you would ask Jesus to be your personal Savior, and apply His Blood to yourself.  Then you will have access to the Father, and may come into His presence through Jesus.

A Prophetic Psalm

Psalm 69:1-24

As we continue in Holy Week, and we draw closer to Good Friday, we often look into various Scriptures that speak of Jesus’ sacrificial death for us.  Naturally we read the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, and sections of the Prophets, especially Isaiah.  Several of the Psalms have prophecies and allusions to Jesus’ death, Psalm 22 being one most people think of.  Our psalm for this week, Psalm 69, is a less familiar psalm to many, but which also contains some prophecies of what Jesus went through when He died for our sins.  Let’s look into today’s psalm.

Psalm 69 was one of the 73 psalms that King David wrote throughout his life.  As we know, he went through many difficult periods in his life, spending many of his young adult years fleeing for his life from King Saul.  Then there were his wars against enemy nations, and then the attempted coup of his son Absalom.  Many of his psalms reflect these difficult times, including this psalm, and several verses are prophetic of the Lord Jesus.

As our psalm opens David reflect4r on what he went through, and how sometimes it felt like he was drowning in his troubles (vs. 1-2).  His distress was overwhelming, but he also knew where to turn.  He had cried so many tears that he felt dried out (vs. 3).  David felt that the enemies that he had were so numerous, they were more than the number of his hairs, and that they had no good reason to come against him (vs. 4).   However, rather than succumbing to the trials, or turning to someone or something that cannot help, David turned to the Lord for refuge and help.

As we look at the life of the Lord Jesus, we see that verse 4 relates to His years of ministry, especially at His arrest, mock trial, and crucifixion (John 15:25).   The Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, and other religious leaders opposed Jesus all throughout His ministry, though they had no just cause.  They did not like that He didn’t follow all the man-made religious traditions, and resented His popularity.  After His arrest there was no one who stood up for Jesus’ defense.

David continued in his psalm and told of how he endured reproaches from people for his stand and dedication to living for the Lord, and how even members of his own family turned against him (vs. 7-8).   Jesus also went through this, when He was rejected by the people of His hometown of Nazareth when He came to preach and minister to them, and also by His own physical family.  The Gospel of John relates this, that His own people did not receive Him, either the people of Nazareth specifically, or the Jewish people in general (John 1:11).  The other Gospels record instances when His own relatives did not believe Him (Mark 3:21).

We see another specific prophecy in this psalm that was fulfilled by the Lord Jesus found in verse 9.  The Gospel writers related this verse to when Jesus drove out the money changers and those who sold sacrificial animals from the grounds of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Jesus did this twice, once at the start of His ministry which we read of in John 2:13-16, and then once again during the last week of His life, shortly before Good Friday, recorded in Matthew 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; and Luke 19:45-48.  This action of Jesus showed His passion for God's holiness and worship.

Further on in this psalm we see another prophecy that was fulfilled while Jesus hung on the cross, and that is in verse 21.  While Jesus hung on the cross, He was very thirsty.  He had not had anything to drink at all since the Last Supper meal the night before.  Enduring all of the torture of the day, now hanging on the cross to die, Jesus was thirsty.  Yet what they offered was not water, but old wine that had turned to vinegar that was laced with a narcotic-like substance called gall.  The soldiers often gave the drugged drink to the crucified to dull the pain.  However when Jesus tasted it He refused it, as He would endure the full penalty for our sins (Matthew 27:34).

As our Scripture passage comes to an end, David spoke some harsh words against the enemies of God (vs. 22-24).   However, the Apostle Paul echoed verses 22 and 23 in his Epistle to the Romans, applying them to those who reject the Gospel of the Lord Jesus (Romans 11:9-10).

As we conclude this psalm, one which contains some prophecies fulfilled by the Lord Jesus, both at the time of the crucifixion and earlier, we see the depth of His suffering, and also His unwavering commitment to God’s will.  We are reminded of God’s faithfulness to us in times of our despair, and the hope that we have through the Lord Jesus of redemption to all who place their faith and trust in Him.

The Suffering Servant

Isaiah 52:13-53:12

As we begin Holy Week, that week prior to the celebration of Resurrection Sunday, a week where we remember the suffering that the Lord Jesus went through for our salvation, let us start off by looking at one of the clearest Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah which were clearly fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  This is a portion of prophecy given by God to the prophet Isaiah, and has been referred to as the Suffering Servant prophecy.

Our Scripture from Isaiah begins with the prophet introducing this Servant.  He is shown as someone who will act wisely, and be exalted and lifted up.  However, He is also shown as someone who is quite disfigured due to the suffering He is called upon to endure (52:13-15).  This Suffering Servant is the Lord Jesus Christ.  He showed wisdom all throughout His life and ministry, as He is Wisdom itself.  And He has been exalted and extolled, far above all, but first He had to suffer terribly in order to obtain our salvation.

We read that His “visage was marred” (52:14).  Have you ever seen someone who has been very badly beaten up?  Most of us haven’t in actual real life, unless one works in a hospital emergency room, however most of us have seen something like that on TV or in the movies.  Their face and looks are horribly disfigured.  When the Temple guards and officers of the chief priests and Pharisees arrested Jesus, He was terribly abused and beaten by the time He stood before Pilate.  But He endured that, knowing the joy that was set before Him at His resurrection and ascension (Hebrews 12:2).

The Servant was despised, rejected, and acquainted with grief (53:1-3).  As Jesus stood before the crowds when Pilate asked the people if they wanted either Jesus or Barabbas to be released, the crowd shouted back that they did not want Jesus.  They rejected Him (Matthew 27:15-25).  After having been beaten, flogged by soldiers, not having had anything to drink, “there was no beauty that we should desire Him.”

Isaiah continues by showing that this Servant was a subtitutionary sacrifice (53:4-6).  As we read, He bore our griefs, carried our sorrows, was wounded for our transgressions, was bruised for our iniquities, was chastised for our peace, and by His stripes (the wounds left by the flogging), we are healed.  We receive salvation if we personally accept this for ourselves.  This was all done for us.  Jesus had no transgressions or iniquities of His own.  Instead, God laid upon Him all of our iniquity.  Jesus died in place of sinners, in our place.  Because of that, we can be set free from Satan’s strongholds.

We continue to read how the Suffering Servant was silent and did not fight back throughout all the brutality He endured (53:7).  Isaiah compared Him to a lamb being led to the slaughter.  This is fitting, as one of the Names given to the Lord Jesus is “Lamb of God” (John 1:29).  Jesus didn’t try to escape from the agony and shame that faced Him when He was led to the cross.  Instead, He went willingly, silently, with no verbal retorts to those who mocked and jeered.  How many of us would be like the Savior?  Even someone who is naturally quiet, like myself, would likely yell out and try to fight or escape.

After the Servant’s unjust condemnation, He was led away to be executed with “the wicked” (53:8-9).  We see that fulfilled when Jesus was condemned to be crucified, which was the form of execution given to criminals in the Roman Empire.  At Calvary, Jesus was crucified between two thieves.  If it wasn’t for the love and kindness of St. Joseph of Arimathea, His dead body might have been buried in a common mass grave used for criminals.  However, Joseph, a wealthy man, allowed Jesus to be buried in the nice garden tomb he had planned for himself (Matthew 27:57-60).

As our Scripture ends, Isaiah describes how, despite His suffering, the Servant’s life is prolonged, and He sees His offspring, men and women who have come to salvation (53:10-12).  Jesus’ sacrifice justifies many, and He is rewarded.  Jesus thought of us when He was walking towards the cross.  He still thinks of us, now that His suffering, death, and resurrection are accomplished.  When He looks at a born-again Christian, Jesus sees His offspring, the child He has given His life for.  We are the result of the anguish of His soul, and He is satisfied.

The Wicked Vineyard Workers

Luke 20:9-19

Jesus told a lot of parables during His time on earth.  Many of those parables make us feel good when we hear them, parables such as the one we just looked into last week, the parable of The Prodigal Son, along with the parables of the Good Samaritan, and the Lost Sheep.  Some make us think, such as the parable of The Sower and the Seed.  However, a few of His parables make us uncomfortable.  Some people may not even like them at all, and would like to omit them from the Bible.  Today’s parable is one that does make some people uncomfortable.  It did back in Jesus’ day, and still does today for some.  Let’s see what Jesus was instructing the people that day.

Earlier in the week Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem upon a donkey, while the crowds cheered and waved palm branches.  The Pharisees and other religious leaders were at a fevered pitch, filled with hate towards Jesus, and they wanted to bring Him down.  Jesus has only a few days left to live, and on one of those final days He gave one of His last public teachings to the crowds.  As was frequently the case, there were plenty of Pharisees in the crowd making note of everything Jesus said.  He begins to tell the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers.

The parable tells of the owner of a vineyard who traveled to a far country after leasing the vineyard to workers.  At the appointed time, the owner sent a servant to collect the fruit.  Yet, instead of giving the servant what belonged to the owner, they beat the servant up (vs. 9-12).  This happened several times, with them beating up each servant that was sent, until the owner decided to send his son, who he thought they would respect.  However, they not only did not respect the owner’s son, they took him outside the vineyard and killed him (vs. 13-15).

At the close of the parable, Jesus asked the crowds what the owner should do to these workers.  When no one answered, Jesus told them that the owner would destroy those workers and lease the vineyard to other workers who would now work the vines. The Pharisees answered that should not happen, as they know that He told the parable referring to them (vs. 15-16).  Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22, and predicted what would happen to those who did not accept the Lord’s Messiah, the Cornerstone (vs. 17-18), the foundation upon which the Church is built.

In this parable, the owner of the vineyard was God, the workers were the people of Israel, and the servants were the many prophets God sent.  God had given the people of Israel His truth and His Word, which they were to believe themselves, and share with the world.  God repeatedly sent the prophets to try and get the people back on track, but instead they were rejected, badly treated, and some even killed.  The fact that God had repeatedly sent His messengers over and over again shows God’s patience with Israel, despite their disobedience and rejection of Him.  However, God’s authority is unshakeable, and His plan will ultimately prevail.

The son that the owner sent represents the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whom He sent into the world to redeem mankind.  He is the Messiah that the workers, the Jewish leaders would reject and crucify.  Because of the workers' treatment of the owner, the servants he sent, and especially the son, the owner would destroy those workers, and lease the vineyard to new workers.  This pictured God’s judgment on unfaithful Israel, and His inclusion of the Gentiles into the plan of salvation.  Jesus told this parable as one last outreach to the people, yet within a few short days the religious leaders would reject Him and His authority, leading to their condemnation.

In addition to this parable being a picture of what happened to both the people of Israel, the Gentiles, and the Church, there are some things we can learn for our own lives today.  Like the vineyard workers, believers today are entrusted with responsibilities to bear fruit for God.  Rejecting His authority, both back then and today, will lead to judgment.  Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone, and He must be the foundation for our faith and our life.  If someone rejects Jesus, they reject salvation itself.

Forget The Past And Look Forward

Philippians 3:8-14

How many of us like to dwell on things that happened in our past?  We either like to crow about our past achievements, and how great they were, or we get down and discouraged about past mistakes and failures.  Either way, we are stuck in the past, not the present.  That could have been a problem for St. Paul, too, if he would have let himself.  However, he didn’t, as we see in our Scripture passage today from his letter to the Philippians.

The Apostle Paul had a past.  Some of his achievements people might feel he could be proud of, other things he did, perhaps not so much so.  As a youth, Paul studied with the greatest Jewish scholar of the day, Gamaliel.  He was undoubtedly a good student, and became a scholar in his own right.  Paul became a Pharisee, and zealously kept the Old Testament Law.  That was something that some might say he could be proud of.  However, after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, when the early Church was beginning to be established, Paul, in his zealotry for the Jewish faith, persecuted the new believers.  He went so far as to track them down, arrest them, and see that they would be put to death.  That was something that after he became a Christian, he could get really depressed and discouraged about.  What did Paul think about either one?  Let’s look at what he said.

As our Scripture begins, Paul told how, instead of bragging about his background, his excellent education, and his life as a devout Pharisee, he said that he counted this all as loss, something not worth keeping, something that he considered as rubbish (vs. 8).  What he did consider gain was his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  When eternity came, Paul wanted to be found in Jesus.  He knew that his salvation wouldn’t be gained through his own righteousness, any good works or adherence to the Law, but through his faith in the Lord Jesus and His righteousness (vs. 9).  What Paul will boast of is the power of Jesus’ resurrection, and what he has gained spiritually through Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross.  These, and not anything that Paul could have done himself, would lead him to gain the resurrection of the dead (vs. 10-11).

In addition to not bragging about some things that many people would have felt was justifiable, Paul also was not going to be brought low due to discouragement or depression for past deeds that he was ashamed of, namely his persecution of early Christians.  Paul knew that he wasn’t perfect or attained perfection  (vs. 12-13), however he would press on in his Christian life.

Like Paul, each of us have sins of our past that we may feel bad about, some more grievous than others.  Sometimes we feel so bad or ashamed of these sins, we have not told anyone about them.  However, in addition to God knowing about them, Satan knows, as well, and he will do everything he can to use those sins to bring us down into the depths of depression about them if he can.  If he can, the devil will try to get us so discouraged that we give up doing any type of work or ministry for the Lord.  He certainly tried to with the Apostle Paul.  The apostle, though, wasn’t going to fall into Satan’s trap.

Instead of getting depressed or discouraged over his sins, Paul knew that the Lord Jesus had forgiven him of all of his sins, and he was going to forget the things of his past, things that were behind him (vs. 13).  Instead, Paul was going to press forward to his goal of the calling that God had given him (vs. 14).  Like Paul, once we have come to the Lord for salvation, we need to remember that He has then forgiven our sins, and we should not listen to the devil or any other person tell us otherwise, or try to make us continually feel bad about our past.  We need to believe what God says about us over what everyone else says.  Stop listening to those who say that you cannot do anything for God because of something in your past.

While it is wise to learn from our past, we shouldn’t live in that past.  We cannot redo or undo our past mistakes, but by God’s grace we can press forward and serve God faithfully today and in the future.  Someone once said “Don’t stumble on something behind you.”  We usually stumble on things in front of us.  But we can get derailed by focusing too much on the past, which prevents us from living our lives fully as God intends.

In closing, we should take the example of two national animals native to Australia, the emu and kangaroo.  In addition to being two animals that are native to that country, they also share one other characteristic.  It is nearly physically impossible for either animal to move backward without turning around.  Us humans can easily walk backwards, and most other animals can be trained to walk backwards, as well.  Let’s not dwell on our past achievements or past sins, but instead, like the kangaroo and emu, let’s look forward, keeping our eyes on the Lord Jesus.