2020-09-04
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The suffering that the Lord Jesus went through may not be the most pleasant subject to discuss, but such a conversation helps us to realize just how much love our God has for us. His humiliation and suffering was not just in obedience to God, but it was the quintessential act of love for mankind. This is love which enables the obediently faithful person to have his sins eternally forgiven, be deemed acceptable in the Father’s eyes, and to be saved for time and all eternity. It doesn’t get more personal than that! I hope you will review MT 27: 31-44 to have an idea of what Christ went through. After being subjected to the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, arrested, made to go through a kangaroo court, and listening to the people shout, “Crucify Him! He was scourged (beaten and physically abused), people tore off his clothes (which were later the subject of gambling over them), Christ was laid on the ground atop two poles perpendicular to each other. Nails were driven through his hands and feet into the poles. Once attached to them, they were erected at Calvary next to those of the crucifixion of two thieves to his left. For three days Christ hung there, slowly and agonizingly dying once he could no longer push Himself up to catch breaths. Some of what I mention here is from an article written years ago in the Journal of American Medicine [JAMA]. Yes, crucifixion is the slowest, most painful death ever devised by an evil mind. It should be mentioned that humiliation and disrespectful words were the last ones ever heard by Christ before physical death finally overtook Him.
The question was hurled at Him, “If you are really the ‘King of the Jews,’ why don’t you save yourself?” Christ knew the answer but remained silent and without complaint. Should we wonder why He did this? As I see it, there were two reasons for His silence. The first was any answer in His favor would have been seen as an excuse or ignored. The second is the most important one to us. Christ knew that His all-important connection to the Father had to be temporarily broken for His Atonement to be effective. That, to Him, was the greatest pain of all. He knew obedience to the Father was of greatest importance. That pain was even greater to Christ than the pain of His own physical death. Being omniscient, the Lord Jesus knew the long-term function of His suffering was for the betterment of mankind. He knew it would bring eternal forgiveness, justification, and salvation-things that had never before been available to believing mankind.
Christ, when still physically alive, had spoken of tearing down the temple and building it up again in three days. Matthew, Mark, and John had all mentioned that [MT 26: 61; MT 27: 40; MK 14: 58; 15: 29; JN 2: 19-21]. There was misunderstanding as this question was hurled. Christ was referring to “His body” or a temple not built by human hands, when He said He would build it up again in three days. If one reads the description of His temple in EPH 2: 20-22, Christ’s meaning is clearer. 2 PET 3: 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. Jesus is always on the Father’s time clock. The Father’s plan of salvation is also that of Christ and the Holy Spirit. We must remember that if a person doesn’t have the Holy Spirit, he can’t understand the things of the Holy Spirit [1 COR 2: 14]. These are the three Personalities of the Trinity, one divine Being.
In reading the story of Christ’s suffering, arrest, trial, and crucifixion, you will notice that He doesn’t ever blame others, not His disciples or any other human being or angel for His trouble. This is His way of being obedient to the Father’s wishes that He should not loose a single soul that the Father has given Him and that He should raise them to eternal life on the last day [JN 6: 39-40]. The difficulty that our Lord Jesus went through and the way He lived His earthly life with such humility, which pleased the Father very much. The exquisite pain that Christ suffered in His temporary separation from the Father is what made His resurrection and our opportunity for eternal salvation possible. The ramifications of goodness brought into the lives of believers can’t be measured. Think about how this fact impacts each of us.
PRAYER: O Lord, we pause reverently and with awe to consider why Your suffering was necessary to our eternal fellowship with You. We live in a world of losses, challenges, ethical slippage, pandemics, and other trials. Only belief in Your Son, Jesus, can save us from this misery and give us the strength to avoid sin and foolishness. We acknowledge that we are not perfect and are sinners. However, faithful obedience to Your word is the only way out of certain spiritual death. In the last 75 years, the changes in the nature of our challenges have been enormous. As You told the disciples when they asked when will Christ’s second coming will be, “The Father alone knows the exact date and time; not even the Son knows” [MT 24: 36]. We eagerly await that time [RO 8: 19]. Our relationship with You is a covenant relationship. This means that we share in Your suffering, so that we can join You in Your glory. We offer You praise and thanks for bringing Christ to earth, for His teaching, and for three gifts never before available to mankind (because of His faithful obedience) -eternal life; forever forgiveness; being deemed acceptable to You. In Christ’s holy/mighty name we offer this prayer. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m led to discuss the effect of not blaming others for our own wrongdoing. We need to have a better understanding of the blessing to us of Christ’s taking responsibility for His own deeds. I’ve always felt this is a measure of maturity and still do. It keeps a person from being tempted to lie. It also encourages a strong moral code to live by. And yet, it can often mean taking the hard way toward a solution to relationship and other problems encountered. Like most people, I haven’t always made the hard choices in my life, and surely it would complicate my unhappy childhood. Christ suffered painful and often humiliating trials in His life, but He never lost a soul that the Father had given Him to save. With our limited human perspective, we struggle to understand things that I believe we are meant to know once we are in heaven with the Father. For now, we must live with being limited by the laws of physics and relativity, leaving the supernatural things of God for later. Our present pandemic has limited where we can go and whom we can see. However, phones, Skype, Zoom and other technology make this easier than it was in the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1919-1922. The numbers of deaths from Covid 19 are so large, we can hardly comprehend them. Only our first responders can speak to that. Please join me in praying for the ill and the families of all who have succumbed to this virus. In the meanwhile, remember that prayer is powerful. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2020. All Rights Reserved.
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