Out Of The Ivory Palaces

Philippians 2:5-11

How much would you be willing to give up for someone you loved?  For some people, if they truly loved someone enough, and presumably that person also loves them in return, they might give up a lot.  Nobody gave up more for those He loved, mankind, than our Savior, Jesus Christ.  In my last couple of meditations I spoke of all that Jesus suffered for us on Good Friday.  Today I would like to look at all that Jesus gave up to come to Earth, something we often overlook.

Jesus always existed with God.  He is the second Person of the Trinity, and is equal with God the Father, as He is God.  (John 1:1; Colossians 1:15-19).  As part of the eternal Godhead He is as much the God of the universe as the Father is, as He is co-equal with Him (vs. 6).  Thus, as we ponder this, what a wonder it is for God to be willing to become a man and live here on earth as one of us, not in splendor, but in relative poverty.

When Jesus came to earth, He was not born a prince in a royal palace, or the son of a multi-millionaire business tycoon.  He was born the son of a lowly teenaged girl, and step-son to her young husband who was a carpenter.  Humble people with a humble job.  Their home was simple, the clothes and few belongings they would have would also be simple.

Imagine the courts of splendor that surround the throne of God in heaven!  We see glimpses of that in the Book of Revelation.  The pomp and circumstance that surrounds royalty today is nothing compared to what it was in times past.  Even the magnificence of royalty in those days, though, pales to nothing compared to what God’s throne and majesty is like.   I love the old-time hymns, and there is one, which is almost forgotten today, that speaks of all that Jesus gave up in heaven to come to earth as a man. The hymn is called “Ivory Palaces”, and its words are primarily taken from Psalm 45:8.  Jesus came down from the ivory palaces in heaven, gave up His beautiful robes, and came into this world of sin, all for you, for me.

Jesus exchanged a heavenly throne for a small, poor house.  Then when Jesus started His ministry, no house.  He slept on the ground outside, or perhaps occasionally in the home of a generous follower.  Jesus exchanged the robes of glory He had in heaven for one change of simple clothing, which the soldiers took when He was crucified.  He had no belongings, no bank account, no donkey of His own to ride across the country.  His food was whatever someone gave Him, whatever the apostles would cook up around a campfire.

Not only did Jesus give up all of that when He came to earth, but He also set aside for a time, the powers of being God, and took on Himself the limitations of being man.  He would get tired, hungry, thirsty.  If He tripped and fell, He felt pain.  If the sun beat down on Him, He might get a headache.  In heaven as God, He was served by angels.  As a man, though, He chose not to be waited upon by others, but instead, to serve others (vs. 7).  We especially see this on the night before Jesus died, when He got down on His knees and washed the feet of the apostles.  That was a job that only the lowest of the servants performed.

And then, as we looked at in earlier meditations, the horrible, cruel suffering and death that the Lord Jesus endured for our sins.  Verse 8 says that Jesus was “obedient”.  Before creation, it had been determined by both God the Father and the Son that He would come to earth and die for our sins.  He could, though, have changed His mind if He wanted to.  He was God!  But Jesus didn’t.  He sacrificed all for us.

This is not the end, though. This was not defeat.  There was victory! Because Jesus was willing to be obedient, and do this out of love for us, God exalted Him (vs. 9 - 11).  All those who mocked and jeered at Him, all those who spat on Him, put Him to death, all those who from the dawn of time and on through today, and in times to come have treated Him with scorn and turned their back on Him, will bow their knee at His Name!!  All those who have mocked Christianity and fought against the Bible will bow to the Lord Jesus, and they will confess that He is Lord, that He is God.   

Forsaken By God

Psalm 22

Forsaken!  That is a very depressing word.  Many of us have at one time or another felt forsaken by others.  Perhaps a spouse walked out on us.  Maybe you had parents who were never there for you, or a friend turned their back on you when you needed them.  There might be someone who could say that all of this describes how they are right now, and that there is no one in their life who cares.  God has never forsaken you, especially if you are His child.  There is One, though, who was forsaken by everyone, including God, and right at the worst time in His life. That person is Jesus.

As I wrote about in my previous meditation, the suffering that Jesus endured to purchase our salvation was horrendous.  The physical suffering alone would be more than most anyone could endure.  What was even worse, though, was that because Jesus took all of our sins upon Himself, God was forced at that time to turn His back on Him.  Sin separates us from God.  He is all-holy and all-pure, and He cannot abide with sin.  Thus while Jesus hung on the cross, and the sins of all mankind were laid on Him, God was forced to turn away from Him.  Forsaken by God!  That was worse than all of the physical torment that Jesus had endured, and He cried out in anguish because of this (vs. 1-2).  He, the sinless Son of God, and now as He hung on that cross, as the sky around Him darkened and all of creation hid their eyes at this, Jesus was forsaken by the Father!  We, if we are children of God through salvation, need never fear that God will ever turn His back on us, because Jesus endured that for us.

As we continue reading through this psalm, we see a very vivid description of the sufferings of Jesus while He hung on the cross.  Many of the events of the crucifixion were prophesied in this psalm, one which David wrote about 1,000 years before they were fulfilled in Jesus.   Crucifixion was a very cruel way to execute someone.  It was very slow and tortuous, often taking more than a day to die, as one hung exposed to the sun, the elements, and even birds of prey.  Verses 7 - 8 were repeated by the enemies of Jesus who stood around the cross, looking up at Him.  Verses 12-13 describe how these people acted as they continued to shout verbal torments to Him.  David describes them like bulls and lions, with how ferocious they came after Jesus.  Verse 16a pictures them like dogs circling around their targeted victim.

Verses 14 - 17 give a very vivid description of the physiological effects of one who has been crucified.  His bones were pulled out of joint (vs. 14a), which would be typical with being roughly forced on the cross for crucifixion.  With one’s arms continually outstretched on the cross, it might be difficult for the heart to beat normally (vs. 14b).  After the cruel scourging, beatings, and then carrying the cross across town, any strength or energy was depleted, and He had terrible thirst (vs. 15).  Hanging there on the cross, exposed for all to see, one could easily count all of His bones (vs. 17).

In verse 16 we see a prophecy that clearly points to Jesus.  “They pierced my hands and my feet” clearly describes a death by crucifixion.  This was prophesied by David as he wrote the psalm, some 1,000 years before Jesus.  Execution by crucifixion was completely unknown at that time.  This is evidence that David, divinely inspired, was prophesying the sacrificial death of Jesus thru this manner.

Verse 18 is also another prophetic verse that very clearly was fulfilled with Jesus.  As He hung dying on the cross, at the ground beneath Him the soldiers they divided up His only earthly belongings, His clothes, and threw dice to see who would get His robe.

This prophetic psalm describing in detail the death of our Savior ends in victory, victory over Satan, and a victory for us.  God was satisfied with the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, and our salvation was obtained.  The remainder of the psalm speaks of this.  As verse 31 says, the final verse of this passage, we need to tell everyone, all future generations such as our children, that the Lord Jesus has done this for us.

The Suffering Servant

Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12

Today marks the beginning of Holy Week, and our first reading from Scriptures comes from the Prophet Isaiah, with his description of the Suffering Servant, which is the Messiah Jesus.  In this brief passage of 15 verses, there are 12 prophecies of the Messiah, which were all fulfilled by Jesus during the last day of His life.  Let’s take a closer look at and meditate on a few of the verses of this passage.

As Isaiah opens this passage (vs. 52:13) he is speaking the words of God, and he tells of God’s “servant”, and describes him in very graphic and terrible detail.  How can we tell who this is?  The rest of the passage tells of how much this person, the servant, would suffer, and not for what he did, but on behalf of others.  It is quite obvious that Isaiah is not speaking of himself, nor of anyone he knew at that time.  As history has passed, we can see that this was all fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  God chose to save the world through a humble and a suffering servant, rather than some mighty, majestic and powerful king.  Exactly the opposite of what the world would expect.

In verse 14 we read that because of the suffering and abuse that He suffered, Jesus’ whole appearance was so disfigured that He barely looked like a man anymore.  We’ve all seen on TV and in movies a guy who’s ben beat up, maybe in a bar fight or something - the black eye, split lip, bloody nose, bruises, etc.  They still look like a man, though.  Jesus was so physically abused and tortured that Isaiah said he would scarcely even look like a man anymore.  He endured that for you and me.

Though there were many who followed and loved Jesus throughout His ministry, He attracted many enemies.  As verse 3 of chapter 53 describes, He was despised and rejected.  The people He had come to save and redeem turned against Him.   It is the same today.  Jesus is just as despised by people in our society as He was back when He walked the earth.  He came to redeem us from Satan’s grasp and control, save us from an eternity in hell, and what is our reaction to Him - despising and rejection.  No wonder He is a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief.

In verses 4 - 5 we read of the horrible suffering that Jesus endured.  Why did the Lord of Heaven go through this?  In verses 4 and 5 we read the word “our” five times.  Our griefs, our sorrows, our transgressions, our iniquities, our peace.  He endured all of this for us.  He was wounded, bruised and chastised for us.  The last part of verse 8 clearly says that it was for the sins of all people that Jesus was killed.  All this was prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus came, and He fulfilled each of these prophecies.

In verse 6 we are compared to sheep that have wandered off, going their own way.  Sheep are not a very bright animal.  To be honest, they are rather stupid animals.  They can’t be trained to do anything.  They are also very defenseless.  Like stupid sheep we have gone our own way, the way of sin, that leads to destruction.  It is our sins, our stubborn, willful iniquities, that God laid on the back of Jesus.  Jesus became the sacrificial lamb, being led to the altar to be the sacrifice for our sins (vs 7).  He didn’t fight, cry out against this, or curse those who did this to Him, which was all of us.

Though Jesus died like a common criminal, and because of that His body would normally have been buried in a criminal’s or pauper’s grave.  Instead a very wealthy follower of His, Joseph of Arimathea, gave Jesus his grave.  This was prophesied in today’s passage, as we see in verse 9.  He died with the wicked, but was buried with the rich.

Throughout this passage we have seen how it was our sins that brought the Savior such sorrow, grief, torture and death.  The passage, though, does not end on such a horrible note.  No, instead it gives us some hope.  Verses 10 - 12 tell how that the sacrificial death of Jesus satisfied the Father’s wrath for sin, and would make forgiveness and salvation available for all of mankind.  As many as would receive and accept Jesus’ sacrifice on their behalf would be justified and saved.

With Good Friday this week, the day when we commemorate this sacrificial death of Jesus for us and our sins, let us meditate on all that He suffered for us.  We should not take the Blood of Jesus lightly, as it purchased our salvation.  And if you have not personally acknowledged that Jesus died for you and have accepted Him as your Savior, I pray you will today.

Where Are You, God?

John 11:17-44

Most of us, at one time or another, have probably wondered where God was when we had a desperate need that only seemed to go from bad to worse.  We prayed and prayed, and got no response.  In this Gospel reading John from last Sunday’s Lectionary, we read the story of sisters Martha and Mary, and how it seemed that God was not hearing their prayer.

Martha, Mary, and their brother Lazarus, were good friends of Jesus and His disciples, and frequently hosted them when they were in the area.  It was natural then, when Lazarus became very sick, that the sisters called for Jesus to come and bring His healing touch to the dear friend He loved.  Why then, did day after day pass and no sign of Jesus?  Every day as Lazarus got worse, they would look for signs of His arrival in town, but nothing.  Finally Lazarus died.  As was the custom of the day, he would be buried within 24 hours.  Now several days had passed since the funeral, and still no sign of Jesus.  Where was He?  Doesn’t He care?

There have been many times in my own life, and perhaps in yours as well, when I have been plunged into some affliction or catastrophe, and fervently prayed to the Lord for His help.  Just like with Martha and Mary, though, I get silence from God.  “Where are you, God?  Don’t you care that this or that has happened?  Why aren’t you answering and helping?”  These women had seen Jesus work many miracles, and they knew His power.  Now everything was a puzzle.

Jesus finally did arrive, and when Martha came out to see Him, the first thing she asked was, “If only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  I have cried out similarly to God, too.  If only He would have answered my prayers when I first prayed them, this or that would not have happened, and I would not be in such a mess.  God’s timing is perfect.  He knows what is best and what He is doing.  Jesus knew exactly what He had planned, and it was much greater than just bringing healing to Lazarus from an illness.

Jesus had raised several people from the dead before Lazarus.  There had been Jairus’ daughter, and the widow of Nain’s son.  These two had been raised very shortly after they had died, and Jesus’ enemies then, as now, might claim that He just resuscitated them from having passed out.  This case, though, could not be refuted.  Lazarus had been dead and buried for four days.  His body was already decomposing.  This would be a wonderful miracle, something much greater than Martha or Mary would have ever expected.  Did they have the faith?  There brother would rise again, and not just in some far-distant future.  Jesus was the Resurrection and the Life.  If they believed in Him, if their faith and trust was in Him, He would bring life to what was fully dead.

In no matter what desperate trouble we find ourself in, Jesus does care.  His silence and lack of haste when Lazarus’ sisters first called on Him did not mean He didn’t care, and if we sense silence on the part of God, it is not that He doesn’t care about our problems.  Like with Mary and Martha, His delays mean even something greater around the corner.  He cares about our tears, and it grieves Him to see what damage sin and the Devil has wrought on this fallen world.   Remember, He is the Victor, and nothing, not the death of His friend, not any situation we may be in, can hold Him back.  He cried out, “Lazarus, come forth!”, and the powers of death had to let go!  Yes, Martha and Mary, Jesus had heard your cries and your prayers, and He hears ours, too!

The Wages Of Sin

Romans 6:16-23

At the end of the U.S. Civil War in 1865, one of the things that happened was that slavery was made illegal, and the slaves were set free from their masters.  They were free to go now, go find jobs for themselves, find other houses for themselves.  Most slaves left to go off and live their life now for themselves.  A few stayed behind.  Why would that be?  Was it because they hadn’t heard they were set free?  Maybe they didn’t believe they were free?  Maybe they were so used to working for the slave master they didn’t know anything else, because slavery had such a hold on them?

Before coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are slaves to sin.  It has its grip on us, and we follow its control.  We follow sin down its path, leading us further and further away from God, and eventually to its end, which is death and hell.  A slave could be set free if someone bought him from his master, and then released him from slavery.  Sin, which was our slave-master, had a price, a payment to be made, and that is death.  The only way to have those shackles taken off is with a payment of blood.  The Bible says in Hebrews 9:22 that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.  

God knew our condition in sin, and He knew that the only way we could be set free from that condition was to pay that price Himself.  He sent Jesus, His Son, the second Person of the Triune God, to shed His Blood for us, as our payment for our sins.  What we earned as being a slave to sin, our wages, was death, including eternal death in hell.  The payment to redeem us from that condition was blood.  Who paid that for us?  God did.  It was a free gift for us, and all we have to do is accept that gift (vs 23).

Where does sin lead if we haven’t repented and accepted Jesus as our savior?  It leads to hell.  This is a word that the world doesn’t want to hear about.  Many today don’t even believe that it exists.  A number of churches will never preach about it because they don’t believe a “loving God” would ever send someone there, and that God likes everyone just the way they are.  That is not the God of the Bible.  The Bible does speak about hell many times, and it says that those who have rejected God and His Son, Jesus Christ, will spend eternity there.

There is a way out from the slavery of sin and its penalty which is hell, and that’s through the shed Blood of Jesus.  That is something that some hesitate to speak about, the Blood of Jesus, the Sacred and Precious Blood of the Savior.  Even back in the days when the good, traditional hymns were sung more often in churches, in some churches the ones about the Blood of Jesus were frequently omitted.  For some reason the Blood is offensive to many.  The only one who shouldn’t want to hear about the Blood of Jesus should be Satan.  If I had been sentenced to be executed, and someone else came in to take my place, or if someone had stepped in front of a bullet that was heading for me, wouldn’t I be grateful?  That’s exactly what Jesus did for me - He took my place on the cross and paid that price.  Forever will I hold His Blood precious and dear!  It is not offensive.  That is the gift that God gave that paid the price for our salvation spoken of in verse 23.

With Good Friday just around the corner, the day that Jesus gave His life, shed His Blood for our sins, I would like to ask those who may not yet have accepted Him as their Savior to ponder exactly what happened that day.  Read and consider the following verses that will help to explain man’s condition and what Jesus did for each of us:  Romans 3:10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; Romans 5:8; John 3:16; John 14:6; Romans 10:13; and Romans 10:9-10.

Waiting On The Lord

Psalm 130

Have you ever felt so deep in some sort of trouble, that even with a long extension ladder you just could never climb out?  The author of this psalm had gotten so deep into some sort of trouble that he was in distress.  The psalmist knew that his troubles were so deep that only the Lord could help him, and so he cried out to Him from the depths of the pit he was in (vs. 1 - 2).  If we find ourselves in a mess and are in despair, that is when we need God the most.

Sometimes the problems we find ourselves in are of our own making, perhaps when we have decided to go our own way, wandering into sin, rather than following God’s way.  Verse 3 seems to indicate that this was the case with the psalmist.  We’ve all fallen into sin at one time or another, and sometimes the troubles that it causes can entangle us so tightly, spinning us out of control, plunging us deeper and deeper into that pit.  Don’t give up hope.  If our trouble is caused by any sin we’ve committed, confess it, and then accept His mercy and forgiveness (vs. 3 - 4).  He is the only one who can help.  God doesn’t keep a record of our sins after we’ve confessed them.  He forgives us completely.

In those problems that we find ourselves in, whether it’s because of any mess we’ve created ourselves or not, we should not panic or struggle to figure it out ourselves.  Instead stay calm and wait for God to come to our aid.  Trust in Him.  God does not operate on our timetable (vs. 5).  He knows the best time to step into a situation we are in and work things out.  The psalmist urges us to wait for God to come to our aid, wait rather than try to work things out for ourselves.  So many times I have tried to solve my problems myself rather than waiting for God, and I can attest it never worked out well.

We need to watch and wait just like the night watchman waits for the morning.  Years ago, when cities were encircled by a wall, there were watchmen who would walk the walls, particularly at night, keeping a lookout for enemies.  They would anxiously look for the dawn’s light.  If we have something very special and exciting planned on a certain day, don’t we find it hard to sleep the night before, and eagerly wait for the morning?  The Lord tells us to wait for Him, His help and blessings, with just such eager anticipation (vs. 6).

We can hope and trust in God’s Word, just as the psalmist says (vs. 5b).  When his problems were overwhelming him, and he was sinking down into the depths, where could he turn?  He turned to God, and put his hope in His Word.  That is exactly where we need to look to, as well.  God is our help, and we can know that our hope should be in His Word at all times, for it will never fail!

Can These Bones Live?

Ezekiel 37:1-14

As we start the readings from the 5th Sunday of Lent, we look into the Book of Ezekiel, at a very familiar passage of Scripture - the Valley of Dry Bones.  As we read the passage, the Lord God has taken Ezekiel in a vision to a valley filled with human bones, hundreds of them, all disconnected and scattered about.  I have seen pictures of bones, usually cattle bones, out in a dry desert, left in the sun and baking heat.  Dry, parched bones, lying in the sun, is a symbolic picture of complete lack of life.   

God then asked Ezekiel if these bones could live.  A dry bone is about as dead as one can be.  There is no way humanly conceivable to resuscitate them.  From a natural perspective, this was not something that could happen, but Ezekiel knew that God could do anything, and that if He wanted to, He could certainly cause these bones to live.  Our God is the God of the impossible.

Ezekiel was then told by God to prophesy to the bones, and tell them to hear the Word of God, that life and breath should enter into them (vs. 4 - 8).  He did as he was commanded, and just as God said, the bones started to come together.  Just like the children’s song, shin bone to knee bone.  Knee bone to thigh bone.  Muscles, tendons, and skin came upon the bones as well, so that they looked like human beings.  With no breath in them, though, they were lifeless.  God then commands Ezekiel to speak to the wind, that it would breathe life into these standing bodies.  This happens, and the bodies are now alive (vs. 9-10).

What does all of this mean?  God explains that the bones are the people of Israel.  They are spiritually dead, without any life spiritually, just like the bones.  God will call them, just like Ezekiel did, and they will rise up as a people, and come to life (vs. 11 - 14).   Half of this prophecy has taken place.  The Jewish people have been gathered together, coming from being scattered throughout the world, and brought together as a nation for the first time in thousands of years.  The people of Israel are still spiritually dead, though.  Except for a small number, the overwhelming majority of them have never accepted Jesus as their Messiah.  Someday the rest of this prophecy will be fulfilled.  In Zechariah 12:10 we read that they, as a whole people, will look upon the Lord whom they pierced, will mourn for Him, and God’s Spirit will come upon them.  Then they will come to have spiritual life.

Nothing is too hard for God.  He can take people who have turned away from Him, and turn their hearts around and breathe new spiritual life into them, like the people of Israel.  What about individuals?  This, too, can happen.  Are there people whom you have been praying for to come to accept the Lord Jesus as their Savior, praying and praying for many years, but there is no change?  There are many people I have been praying that they will get saved, for many years.  They are just like those dry bones, no sign of any spiritual life in them, seeming so unlikely there will be any change.  It seemed that way to Ezekiel, too.  But as he saw, God could bring life to dead bones.  Don’t stop praying, as the unlikely can happen.  Their heart can still be softened and they can turn to the Lord, and like those dry bones can come to life.   Pray for a revival, both with the lost in our families, for revival in our churches and in our countries.