Humanity's Cry

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"--Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34 

I am struck by the anguished tone of this expression compared to the first three words of Jesus. This cry is from the painful heart of the very human Jesus who must feel deserted by His Father and the Holy Spirit, not to mention his earthly companions and family.  As if to emphasize his loneliness, Mark even has his loved ones "looking from afar," not close to him as in the Gospel of John. Jesus feels separated from everyone, but especially his Father. He is now all alone, and he must face death by himself. Jesus lives the maximum of human experience and the ultimate pain in death, and by doing so, frees humanity from the clutches of sin.

His fourth word is the opening line of Psalm 22, and thus his cry from the Cross recalls the cry of Israel and of all innocent persons who suffer. Psalm 22 of David makes a striking prophecy of the crucifixion of the Messiah at a time when crucifixion did not exist: "They have pierced my hands and my feet, I can count all my bones.” The Psalm continues: "they divide my garments among them, and cast lots for my clothing."

There cannot be a more dreadful moment in the history of humanity as this. Jesus, who came to save us, is crucified.  He realizes the horror of what is happening and feels the full measure of what He is now enduring. He is being engulfed in the raging, unrelenting, unrepentant sea of sin.  Evil triumphs, as Jesus admits to the pharisees and scribes as they arrested Him: "...this is your hour—when darkness reigns."  

But it is only for a moment. The burden of all the sin of humanity for a moment overwhelms the humanity of Jesus.

But doesn't this have to happen?  Doesn't this have to occur if Jesus is to save us?  It is in His death that the Divine plan of His Father and Himself will come to fruition.  Evil is defeated by an evil act.  the foolishness of God is His ultimate triumph, the very "power of God" as Paul writes to the Corinthians.  For it is by His death that the unimaginable, unbridgeable chasm between God and humanity is bridged, not by our deeds or our power, but by His.  "For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men."

That is how much He loves us.

Taking Care of His Own

“Woman, behold your son…Behold your mother.”--John 19:26, 27

While the crowd mocked and jeered, it is good to know that there were those present who really cared.  Jesus looked down and saw His mother standing near the cross.  By her side was the disciple John.  This little group of sympathetic and bereaved souls furnished a striking contrast to the rest of the mocking crowd.  Jesus lifted his voice and said to his mother, “woman, look at John, from now on he will be your son.”  And then to John He said, “from now on, she will be your mother.

In these words, we learn that our welfare is an abiding concern of our Savior.  He knows our pain and sorrow, even in the midst of his own.  He also demonstrated that he helps, strengthens and encourages us through one another.  At the cross we learn to appreciate the mutual love and care that exists within a community of believers as well as the responsibility that members of the body of Christ have to one another.  If in his deepest suffering He loved his own so much that he would provide for their mutual welfare, how we should also care for and love one another.

I can't help but turn back to to what Mary was experiencing.  Try to hear the thoughts and emotions of Jesus' mother's heart.  His disciples had deserted Him, His friends had forsaken Him, His nation had rejected Him and His enemies cried out for His blood.  But His mother stood sorrowing at the foot of the cross.  Surely she remembered the words of the righteous man Simeon who spoke these prophetic words to her when Jesus was presented at the temple as an infant.  "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.  And a sword will pierce your own soul too."  As she saw her beloved firstborn son in such agony, surely the nails pierced her heart as much as they pierced His flesh.

               

               

Is This Fair?

“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”--Luke 23:43

We don’t know much about the men crucified with Jesus, one on his right and one on his left.  Matthew and Mark call them robbers, Luke and John:  criminals.  But whatever their crimes, they were guilty of them and they were heinous enough to merit the most notorious form of execution devised by man.

As the gospel recounts:  “One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him:  ‘Aren’t you the Christ?  Save yourself and us!’  But the other criminal rebuked him.  ‘Don’t you fear God’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.  But this man has done nothing wrong.’  Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’  Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’”

 

"But that isn't fair!" some may say.  "Where is the justice in that?"  After all, this guy is no good, right.  He is a bad person, undeserving of heaven, just look at what he has done. 

 

But, wait a second.  What had Jesus just said to all the "good" people just before all this?  You know the ones.  The religious authority who very carefully observed the law and did everything "right."  The soldiers who were just doing their job.  Pilate, who handed Him over to the crowd just to get Him off his back.  The crowd of righteous people who shouted "crucify him!"  Jesus pleaded that they be forgiven:  "Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing."  If his grace extends to the "righteous" who have placed him on this cross between these two men, why would we think for a second that it wouldn't extend to the "sinner" who pleads for mercy?

Jesus response should be a comfort to us.  This man did not plead his works or any righteousness of his own.  How could he?  He had wasted away his life in crime and was now receiving the just reward of his deeds.  If ever there was a testament to the fact that salvation is by grace through faith and not by works, this is it!  Salvation is not earned, but given—the debt paid in full by Jesus on the cross!  Instead of wondering how this criminal could be shown such grace, let us marvel in the fact that God’s grace is so rich to include him—and even to include us, whose souls are also stained with sin and crying out for a savior.  As one church father observed, “I do not ask for the measure of Paul’s grace.  I ask not for Peter’s portion, but I fervently beg to receive what on the cross you gave to the thief.”

Let us hold to this truth that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves.  Let us realize what good news that is!  We cling to the cross, we hold on to Jesus in repentance and humility and say, ‘remember me, Lord!’ and in response he says ‘you will be with me in paradise.’

Any Last Words?

Jesus' final hours were excruciating, a new word created to describe the type of pain that crucified men endured, which litterally means "out of the cross."  Still, in His agony, Jesus had more to share.  Each of the last seven phrases that Jesus spoke from the cross have significance for us now.  Over the next seven days of lent, I want to share them with you.

“Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing”--Luke 23:34

It was not unusual for crucified men to speak while hanging on the cross, but their words were usually wild expressions of pain and pleading for release.  They would shriek and curse and spit at the spectators.  But Jesus, though suffering untold agony, neither cried out for pity nor cursed his crucifiers.  Instead, he lifted a prayer of intercession and forgiveness. 

He prayed for the Pharisees and teachers of the law who condemned him, the crowd that shouted ‘crucify him,’ the soldiers who mocked him, beat him, and nailed him to the cross.  These things can seem rather distant from us.  After all, we did not hold the hammer that pounded the nails.  Our hands did not weave together the crown of thorns and place it on his head.   Nor did they hold the whip that scourged him.

But we cannot forget that in that moment he also prayed for his betrayer, the denier, his disciples who fled and hid.  Perhaps these sins don’t feel so distant from what we ourselves have done at various times of life.  Perhaps if we’re really honest with ourselves, we will realize that our sin was felt in his wrists and feet when the nails were pounded in.  Our sin was placed on his head and beaten into his shoulders.

Jesus was in fact praying for us as well.  So often we do not know what we are doing.  Our sin was as present upon the cross as the sin of the soldiers or the crowd, the Pharisees or Judas.  So we pray ‘Lord, forgive us!  We have sinned against you in thought, word and deed by what we have done and by what we have left undone.’  And still, the words of forgiveness echo from the cross to us today:  that we are in fact forgiven.

Good Eeev'ning

Today, March 12, is National Alfred Hitchcock Day.  I can't really figure out why March 12.  It isn't Hitchcock's birthday (August 13), anniversary of his death (April 29) or anything important to his life as far as I can tell.  But still, I couldn't let the day go by without giving the most famous director in Hollywood history a little attention.  He still has his critics who say he was over rated, etc., but I don't see how anyone could say that.  Not only are his films vastly entertaining, they are visually and thematically rich as well.  The man truly was a genius and a true film innovator.  Everyone working in the movies today owes him a debt.  We would do well to have movies of the caliber that Hitchcock produced coming out regularly today.

One of his truly great, and to many his greatest film is Vertigo.  This last year, respected British film magazine Sight and Sound's poll of critics that is done every ten years named Vertigo the greatest movie of all time, demoting long time champ Citizen Kane to second place.  It is ironic that one of Hitchcock's financial and critical failures upon its original release is now considered by many to be the greatest movie ever made anywhere, anytime.  Because of its lack of success at the time, Hitchcock did some distancing from it, naming Shadow of a Doubt as his personal favorite of his own movies, though many suspected that Vertigo actually held that title.  All that said, the film is truly remarkable.

I am going to tie this all in to lent, believe it or not, but without giving too much away for those who have never seen Vertigo, I want to focus on some of the story.  It is about a former police detective, "Scottie" Ferguson (played with surprising subltety by the great Jimmy Stewart) who suffers from a crippling fear of heights because of a major accident on his last day on the job.  He is hired by an old college friend to follow his wife to find out what she has been up to during the day, just to make sure she's safe.  You see, this old chum, Gavin Elster, believes his wife Madeline believes that she is being posessed by the ghost of a dead relative who committed suicide and is afraid that Madeline might do the same.

So there is lot's of following and mysterious happennings eventually leading to Scottie and Madeline (played by the stunning Kim Novak) fall in love.  But still, Madeline runs to the top of a mission tower and Scottie, suffering from crippling vertigo, is unable to follow her and sees her jump to her death.

Scottie is haunted by this deeply and soon starts seeing Madeline wherever he goes.  Then, one day, he swears that he actually sees her and approaches a young woman named Judy.  Except for her hair color and clothing, Judy is the spitting image of Madeline.  Scottie then becomes obsessed with remaking Judy into the image of Madeline, buying her clothes and jewelry and eventually asking her to dye her hair blonde and put it up like Madeline used to.  I'm not going to give away more.  If you haven't seen the movie, you must see it.  It's a great film and a powerful meditation on obsession, love and acceptance of people as who they are. 

But, I think we can be a lot like Scottie in our relationship with God.  We would rather He fit into our concept and be made in our image than be who He is.  We can fall in love with a God who does what we ask and can be controlled.  The omnipotent, untamable God of scripture is big and even scary sometimes.  But, God will not be changed.  But, we must stop creating God in our image or casting Him as we hope He would be.  The more we know God for who He really is, the less we want to change Him and the more we want Him to change us. 


Not in some false fashion like Scottie changed Judy into Madeline.  Instead, God changes us to be who we really are, how He created us to be in the first place.  He made us to be stripped of fear, idolatry, jealousy, contempt and clothed in compassion, mercy, righteousness, grace.  What joy it is to let go of changing God, who cannot be changed, and allowing Him to not change us, but make us new and remake us daily into who we are meant to be. 

The Fourth One Is Real Shiney

Over the past several years, I've seen a lot of Veggie Tales.  Then we had kids and I watched them even more often (he-he-he).  For the uninitiated, Veggie Tales is a series of videos that tell Bible stories and Biblical moral lessons using animated vegetables.  That may sound wierd, but they're actually really well done.  In fact, I just realized that 2013 marks twenty years of Veggie Tales.  Okay, that makes me feel a little older than I felt a few minutes ago.

Anyway, one of the classics is called Rack, Shack and Benny, which is the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the firey furnace from Daniel chapter 3.  The scene is transplanted to Nebby K. Nezzer's chocolate factory where Rack, Shack and Benny work making chocolate bunnies.  Mr. Nezzer decides to erect a giant statue of the bunny and, when he says so, everyone will bow down and sing "The Bunny Song," which is filled with lyrics that the boys know are wrong.  Well, as you probably guessed, the boys don't sing and are thrown into the firey furnace.  Mr. Lunt, the foreman then remarks, "Hey, there are four guys in there, and one of them's reeeeeaal shiney."

So, fun stuff and a memorable way to remember the story and the lesson it teaches about faithfulness to God.  But today, as I was thinking about the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego as told in Daniel 3, I realized something was missing.  I hadn't thought about it before, but there is something very conspicuous by its absence.  Where's Daniel?  He is in every other chapter of the book, but is not mentioned once in chapter 3.  Why is that?  There are a couple different possibilities.  This particular story could have taken place in a different part of Babylon; Daniel could have been away on an envoy to another nation.  The most disturbing possibility is that he was not only present when this happenned, but was one of those who bowed to the giant image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had constructed.

Whether or not this was the case, we don't know, but imagine for a moment that it was.  Why would he do it?  Well, I know if I was there, there would be a certain amount of something called, I don't know, fear that might grip my soul.  Remember, no one knew the end of the story at that time.  Daniel may have thought "what good would it do me to serve God in this country if I'm dead, burnt to a crisp?  I won't really be bowing in my heart and God will know that."  I can also imagine that after the end of the story (if this is in fact what happenned) the immense guilt Daniel would have felt for compromising when he knew he should have stood with his friends. 

It's an interesting speculation. Whether Daniel bowed the first time or not, we can learn from the idea that he may have. I can certainly say that there have been times that I have compromised, that I have bowed to other gods. Over the years, my idols have had various names: music, popularity, girls, money, career...etc., etc., etc. You can probably name some of the same and perhaps others.

Now, compare Daniel 3 with Daniel chapter 6, usually known as "Daniel and the Lion's Den."  The two chapters are strikingly similar.  There is a new king who doesn't know about previous events and orders that he is to be worshipped as god.  Anyone who worships another god will be torn apart by lions.  Well, this time, Daniel does what he knows is right and worships God alone "as was his custom since early days."  He then faces a "firey furnace" of his own and is thrown into the lion's den, but is unharmed.

Praise God that He is forgiving.  He is the God of the second chance.  Think of the Biblical examples of this:  Cain, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Jonah, Peter, Mary Magdelene, Zaccheas, etc. and etc. and etc.  When we fall, He helps us back up.  If we learn from our mistakes, the next time the opportunity to bow comes along, we would rather face a horde of lions than do it.

Overcome!

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
                                             --Matthew 5:10

When I think about persecution of Christians throughout time and throughout the world today, I have to stop and thank God that I have been so blessed to live in the place and time that I do.  The early Christians living in the Roman Empire had to face the sword of the soldier and the gladiator, the claws of wild beasts, and the tyranny of an insane emperor who lit believers on fire to light his banquets.  In the world today, many Christ followers are forced to meet in hidden places and worship in hushed tones for fear of the state, their neighbors, and even their own families.  Imprisonment, torture, exile, and even death are still prevalent in some parts of the world as though the Roman Empire still reigned.  (If you have a strong stomach, google images of Christian persecution.  It is shocking!)  To stop for a moment and pray for believers and those sharing the gospel around the world is always appropriate.

The persecutions we face here at home seem small in light of world history and current world affairs, but they are still real for us here and now.  Almost every day, we hear of some twelve year old girl being sued for talking about her faith at school, a nativity scene being torn down, a beauty pageant contestant being ridiculed for standing up for her beliefs, and on and on and on.  We experience less freedom to talk about faith matters in the workplace and various public arenas.  In light of current trends, do not expect things to get any easier.

So, whatever trials you're dealing with; whatever persecutions or hardships, remember these words from Jesus' brother and leader of the first century church in Jerusalem, James:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance...Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him." (James 1:2, 3, 12)

And so we see that the crown of life, the kingdom on heaven, will be given to those who perservere through trial, persecution, hardship. 

And again, Jesus does not ask us to do what He is not willing to do.  Think about this.  Jesus was thrown out of His hometown, his brothers thought He was crazy, threatened with stoning, tried in a circus of a trial, denied, deserted by His closest friends, beaten, mocked, spat upon, unsulted, and nailed to a cross.  Now those are trials.  Did Jesus perservere?  Absolutely!  And praise be to God He did because not only does the kingdom of God belong to Him, but, through His trials, He has opened the kingdom of heaven to us.  And He Himself will bestow the crown of life to those who perservere the trials.  I for one, will gladly take on the insults of men to hear the words "well done" from Him.