Behold the man upon a cross, My sin upon His shoulders; Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice Call out among the scoffers. It was my sin that held Him there Until it was accomplished; His dying breath has brought me life – I know that it is finished.-How Deep the Father’s Love for Us, Verse 2, Stuart Townsend
And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. Mark 15:29-32
The crowds loved Jesus, until they didn’t. They loved him for his healing, they loved him for what they could get from him, but when He didn’t fulfill their expectations, they mocked him and had him crucified. How often do we do that? We want Jesus to fulfill our wants, wishes and desires, but we get angry when things don’t go our way. We want Jesus to do our bidding, to be made in OUR image, rather than be transformed by the Holy Spirit and be conformed in to His Image. How often am I just as guilty? How often do I want a brand of following Jesus that suits my needs, but, in reality, I’m just seeking myself instead of Jesus? Loved ones, the cross is evidence that salvation is a messy process. Jesus even said “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26).
I have no doubt that many of the scoffers that day had celebrated Jesus the Sunday before. I have no doubt that some, even, had been recipients of His miracles. These people followed Jesus for what He could do for them, they wanted a Messiah of their choosing, not the Messiah they were promised. The Messiah they looked for would remove Rome from Israel, make them prosperous and happy, make them the top nation over all in the world. They sought the god of their tradition and self-righteous acts, not the living God of the Old Testament (or simply the Scriptures in their time). They were not ready for their visitation, and crucified He would was promised to them. Yet Jesus died just as much for those who mocked Him as anyone else. Such is shown by His request through His agony “Forgive them father, for they know not what they do.”
Loved ones, let us no longer be scoffers, seeking after a Jesus of our design. Let us take up our cross, share in the suffering of Christ, and put feet on our faith, living out what we believe in every aspect of our lives. Let us no longer be bound up in the shackles of traditions, or collect spiritual trophies, but seek to be the community of Christ, as God calls us to be. Let us surrender, and die to our whole selves, our wants, wishes and desires, and seek Jesus, not only in the areas we want to improve, but in all parts of our lives.
Luke 23:26-49
And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.
留言