Because He Loves Us
As Jesus rode into Jerusalem on what is now known as Palm Sunday, He fulfilled one of many prophecies foretold long before that day. Zechariah 9:9 says, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."
When the people saw Jesus riding into the city on a donkey, they cheered and lined the streets with their cloaks and palm branches as befitted the entrance of a conquering hero. Their hope was that He would free them from the oppression of the Roman government. But their hopes were too small. As Jesus looked on their cheering faces, His heart must have longed for them to realize that they were bound by a much greater oppressor than Rome.
He was coming as a conqueror of a much greater foe. He was coming to redeem them from the bondage of sin, death, Satan, and Hell. While Rome oppressed their temporary physical lives, sin oppressed their soul.
In just a matter of days, many of these same people would be chanting for His death because they felt disillusioned by the fact that Jesus did not fulfill their hopes. I wonder how many times I allow my hopes and desires to crowd out what God wants to teach me through the situation that He didn't allow to go exactly as I expected Him to. His goal for me is Christlikeness, when my goal is often comfort. He is trying to mature me, while I desire ease.
In the song, "Trust Me" by Andy Gleiser, there is a line that says, "Since I see beyond your view, surely trust Me, falt'ring one." Actually, I love the whole song, but this line is a great reminder that while I may not be able to see the reason something is happening, I can trust the one who does.
On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus told His disciples that it was "expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." (John 16:7)
Last year our family saw the production of "Jesus" at Sight and Sound Theater in Branson, Missouri. One of the most moving scenes for me was the scene of the last supper when Jesus told His disciples that He was going to leave them. At their obvious distress in hearing that their Master would no longer be with them, Jesus comforted them by explaining that He would not leave them comfortless but would send the Holy Spirit to be with them at all times.
For some reason, that scene really struck me. The disciples were with Jesus on a daily basis, but think of the times that He was not physically with them. When He sent them ahead by boat and the storm came up, they were alone. When He sent them out two by two, they were alone. When He went apart to pray, they were alone. It wasn't until He returned to Heaven that the Holy Spirit came to indwell the believers at all times.
I guess, at least for me, I have often not appreciated the great gift that the Holy Spirit is to us. Acts 2:38 says, "Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost,"
Even in His impending death, Jesus was encouraging His followers and promising them that they would not be left to flounder on their own. He sent the gift of the Holy Spirit to be our comforter, to convict of us of sin, to intercede for us when we can't even pray for ourselves, and to be the guarantee of His return and our future forever with Him.
After He was done speaking, the Bible says that Jesus led His disciples to the Mount of Olives. There in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus poured out His heart to God in prayer. Knowing what awaited Him in the hours to come, He sought His Father. The different gospel accounts portray a depth of anguish that we will never have to know, yet many of us have prayed a similar prayer at one time or another.
"Abba, Father, all things are possible
unto thee; take away this cross from me:"
Maybe you recognize your own pleading in that prayer. Have you ever told God, "God, you can do anything, so please don't make me go through this. God, you are all powerful, so heal this disease/end this abuse/stop my spouse's unfaithfulness/return my wayward child/or whatever situation you may face. We bring our problem to the right place and recognize God's ability to do all things. Unfortunately, too often, that is where we stop. And then, when God does not do what we ask, we become discontent and resentful. "If God can do anything, and He didn't get me out of that situation, I am not going to trust Him again. If God is love, He wouldn't have allowed me to face this."
The problem is, we never finished the prayer. After Jesus recognized His Father's power to rescue Him from His situation, and had specifically asked Him to remove it, He finished by saying, "NEVERTHELESS, not as I will, but as thou wilt."
In essence He said, "God, you can do anything.
So, don't make me do this.
But, in spite of what I am asking you to do,
I want what You want even more.
He surrendered His will to the will of God. He was willing to go through with the crucifixion, because He desired to obey more than He desired to avoid the horror that awaited Him.
I realize that often times the most difficult things we face are caused by the sin of someone else. And God does not specifically desire that for us, but the gift of our free will to make choices for ourselves means that as sinful men, we will hurt one another because of our selfish desires. And isn't that exactly the case with Christ? The excruciating death He was about to experience was caused by the sin of someone else, us. No matter how "little" your sin is compared to what others may have done to you, the truth is that it still put Christ on the cross. As he was pleading with God to take away the cross from Him, it was my sin and your sin that was sending Him there. Praise God, He surrendered His will to God's or else we would be doomed. In turn, we should surrender our will to His.
When I said that Jesus faced an anguish that we will NEVER have to know, you may have thought, "but you don't know what I've had to deal with." And that is true. Still, I can say with complete confidence that it is NOTHING like what Jesus endured. And the reason is this. As Jesus hung on the Cross in the midst of unbelievable pain because of someone else's sin, God was forced to turn His back on Him. When Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Jesus experienced a pain and rejection we will never be forced to endure. No matter what we face in life, Jesus Himself has promised "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." (Heb. 13:5) The one who felt the pain of God's absence because of us, promised that we would never have to experience it ourselves. It is only our own rejection of God that keeps us from His love.
No matter what you may be facing, rest in the confidence that God is all powerful and asks us to bring our cares to Him. No matter what it is you face, you will never have to face it alone.
One other thought that has stuck out to me this Easter is the finality of Christ's words on the cross when He cried, "It is finished!" Oh friend, do you realize what that means? FINISHED! The price for sin was complete. There would never be any other action that would be required to free us from the bondage of sin and eternal punishment. FINISHED! It is done. Complete. Final. There is nothing else that God requires of you except to accept Christ's payment on your behalf.
It's Friday, but Sunday's coming!
HE IS RISEN!
HE IS RISEN INDEED!
For three days, Jesus' body lay in a borrowed tomb. The disciples gathered together in fear and grief. The powers of Hell must have exulted in their presumed victory. They had rid the world of the only one who stood in their way. And then, Jesus! He rose in victory and now we can say with Paul, "O Death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." The cheering crowds from the week before may not have grasped the magnitude of His purpose, but praise God, He was victorious!
Last night, as I thought about this final thought, I was reminded of what the angel told the ladies who came to visit the tomb early that first Easter morning. When they were startled to see the stone rolled away from the entrance, the angel reminded them, "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where his body lay" (Matthew 28:6). As He said. On multiple occasions Jesus had told His disciples that He would die and rise again. In fact, shortly before entering Jerusalem for this final week, He had called them aside and told them, "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem [They saw that happen]; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes [They saw that happen], and they shall condemn Him to death [They saw that happen], and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock [They saw that happen], and to scourge [They saw that happen], and to crucify him [They saw that happen]: and the third day he shall rise again. [They missed it.]" Why were they not camped out with lawn chairs in front of that tomb the second night? He said it; they saw it, and yet they missed the grand finale.
Now, before I judge too harshly, how many times have I heard Him through His Word, and how many times have I seen Him keep His Word, and yet how many times have I let fear or distraction or indifference keep me from believing Him.
As He said. We can take Him at His word because He cannot lie. What He has said He will do. When He says He will never leave us, we can know that He will not. When He says He loves us, we can know He does. When He says that He will come again, we can know that He will. In a world where it is getting more difficult to know who to believe, we can count on Christ to be true to His word.
These were just a few of my thoughts as we went through the week. Perhaps something here will encourage you, as well. It has been good for me, I know, to spend some extra time thinking about all that Christ's death and resurrection means to us as believers. When the Apostle Paul talked about Christ's victory over death and the grave, he followed it up by encouraging us to be "stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." As we go throughout the year, let's not loose sight of the victory we have through Christ!
Good stuff. Made me thinka bout some things a little differently.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pam.