Approaching Easter... thoughts...

[murjahel]

Thinking about the time of the 'passion', the time of the crucifixion & resurrection, it is perhaps good to share some of the thoughts on all that happened in that awesome week...

The FORGIVING WORDS of Jesus...

Luke 23:
34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted His raiment, and cast lots.
35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided Him, saying, He saved others; let Him save himself, if He be Christ, the Chosen of God.
36 And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him, and offering Him vinegar,
37 And saying, If Thou be the king of the Jews, save Thyself.


Verse 34
Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do

While they were casting lots for His garment, these unwitting helpers of the crucifixion, found that Jesus had love and mercy for their part.

Most, if not all of us, would have trouble speaking mercy to terrorists who were torturing us, due to orders from their superiors.

Even when others unwittingly do less wrong to us, as braking their car on the freeway, unaware of how close we are behind them, or someone who steps out into our way in a supermarket aisle, often gets a dirty look, or cruel words.

We find it hard to be merciful to even those who are unwitting accomplices to things that hurt us in even minor ways.

Jesus was ‘nailed’ to that cross, and the cross He gives us holds us back too, with spiritual nails. We hang upon it, we cannot walk away and hide. It is real, and we must let it happen. We must speak forgiveness, and let them continue in their crucifixion of us.

Jesus arrived at Golgotha around 9 a.m. First, the upright of the cross was planted into the ground. It was not high, but the victim’s feet were only a foot or two off the ground. The lips could be moistened with a sponge attached to a short stalk of a hyssop. The transverse part of the cross was placed on the ground, and the victim was laid upon it. The arms would be bound, then ropes were used to draw up the victim to the upright piece.

In the case of Jesus, his hands and feet were also nailed to the wood.

And they parted His raiment, and cast lots

Casting lots is unfamiliar to most of us. We do not do it, and at best, we understand ‘flipping a coin’ to make a decision. This was a custom in those days, and had gone on for centuries. David divided the priests by lot. Canaan was divided by lot. Casting lot by the righteous, was considered an appeal to God to render a decision on a matter that the people could not decide.


The manner in which it was done is not known for certain. The most common of methods was to write the names of persons on stones, and the names of the office, or portion to be divided on other stones. They were put in one or more urns. In this case, the four had claim, so, into one urn were put stones with the four names, and the one ‘cast’ out of that urn, became the owner of the outer robe of our Lord.


There was a quaternion (four soldiers charged with delivering Jesus to Golgotha, and crucifying Him there) that had the right by law to take the garments of the condemned prisoners. They parted the garments, each choosing one of the items. There were sandals, a girdle (belt like garment that held the garments close, and could be used to carry items), the outer robe, and the head-dress. These four parts could be claimed. The outer robe was normally two parts, but in the case of Jesus, it was ‘without seam’, knit from head to toe. The High Priest wore an outer robe made without seam also. They did not want to rend it, for it had greater value than a normal outer robe. In casting lots for the garment, they fulfilled prophecy.

Psalm 22:18 (KJV)
18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

This part is made clearer in John’s gospel.
John 19:
23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also His coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
24 They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted My raiment among them, and for My vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.

The women in Jerusalem collected money to pay for strong wine with myrrh in it, to deaden the pain. Jesus refused this.

Two others were crucified on this day. One was to the right of Jesus, the other was to His left. There was a sign at the top of the cross of the Lord Jesus, written in Latin, in Greek, and in Aramaic, stating that this was ‘Jesus, the King of the Jews. This was meant by Pilate to be a mocking of those who had pressed him to crucify this man he had deemed innocent of any real crime.

Isaiah 53:5-8 (KJV)
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? for He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was He stricken.

Verse 35
And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided Him,

The people, who had in curiosity, or in desire to see a bloody crucifixion, along with the members of the Sanhedrin, and the priests, who wanted to make sure their goal was achieved, had followed Him to this place. They turned up their noses at Him, mocking.

Psalm 22:7-8 (KJV)
7 All they that see Me laugh Me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 He trusted on the LORD that He would deliver Him: let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him.

They mocked the Lord, but look at their charge. They charged Jesus with ‘trusting’ God, and that Jesus delighted in God. That is a wonderful set of charges to have against one. If some mock one of us, hopefully that is the worst charge they could come up with, to mock us.

Jesus was oppressed, afflicted, betrayed by a friend, led as a Lamb to slaughter, falsely accused, forsaken by all. We, who today bear the cross that Jesus gave us, can be ‘wounded’, ‘bruised’, ‘oppressed’, ‘afflicted’, ‘stricken’, and also feeling like a ‘lamb’ brought to slaughter. These afflictions are real and at times, the pain is felt deep through our souls.

The supreme religious council had plotted and planned His death. An insulting price of a slave was paid to a betraying friend to secure the arrest of Jesus. A few days before, all of His disciples had declared to ‘never forsake’ nor betray Him. The darkest hours of His earthly life had come, and crowds had cried out, ‘crucify Him’, though’ He had never done any of them harm.

The words of others, crying out, to or about us, hurt us deeply. Jesus felt the pain of unkind, unloving words. We too, bearing this cross He gave for us, feel the hurt of cutting words.

Verse 36-37
And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him, and offering him vinegar, And saying, If Thou be the king of the Jews, save Thyself.


The soldiers chided and mocked showing the spiritual ignorance of the people. If Jesus had saved Himself, then He could not have saved any of us. It was mandatory for our salvation, that Jesus not save Himself. He was ‘Chosen of God’ to bear our sins, take our death, so that we might have life.


This could be expected of heathen soldiers, for they had contempt for the Jewish people, and they had loyalty to Caesar. The Jewish priests, and those who had studied the law and the prophets, had no such excuse.

It was in this context that Jesus prayed ‘FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO...’

more to come

 

[murjahel]

Many find it hard to be as forgiving as was Jesus. He had all the physical abuse, an illegal trial, now hanging on a cross with mockers railing on Him. Yet, He was forgiving.

When we accept the Lord, we are made into ‘new creations’. As a new creation, we have all the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law .

Those were in me, in you, in all of the saved. Yet, what has happened? Why now is forgiveness and longsuffering, love and peace gone from so many lives? Why do some
Christians have no ‘joy’, little ‘love’, fleeting ‘peace’? We find that happens in most Christians, and few have those fruit of the Spirit continuing on and on. We are supposed to have them. They are what can make us be able to forgive those who hurt us, abuse us, mock us. We need to be able to pray for their forgiveness, so if they ever repent to Jesus they can be saved. They need mercy.

The devils attacked Jesus through this trial and crucifixion.

1 Corinthians 2:8 (KJV)
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

The devils are still attacking all that take the name of Jesus. The devils attacks are merciless. All these attacks are assaults on our spirits, on our bodies, on our persons.
We are not put on crosses, but we are attacked in a multitude of ways. Television programs glorify selfishness, lusts, greed, avarice, and perversions. We walk through a shopping mall, and hear words that assault our spirit. We see attitudes in the neighborhood which shake our faith, our temperance. We are confronted by the angry, by the ones upset in life, and our meekness and longsuffering are assaulted. The curse upon this world assures that weather chaos, job insecurity, personality conflicts, physical weaknesses, etc cause us to feel assaulted, and battered.

The assaults upon mankind are against our bodies, our souls, and our spirits. The food we eat has been genetically changed and who knows what we eat. The body is assaulted by non-nutrient food, insufficient rest, insufficient exercise. The pills mankind has devised to counter those, are full of side effects, requiring more pills with more side effects. The assaults against our bodies are all encouraged by the devil, and seldom fought by the Christians.

The assaults against our soul involves the inappropriate contentographic world that has filled the magazines, the television programs, the bill boards, the theaters, and the most every venue out there. The soul is also attacked by the language, the vocabulary of the society. The words include blasphemy, cursing, insults, vile humor, insults, and anger.

The words fill our ears, pass through our mind. Even when disdained, the words have become so common, our minds are tainted by them. The soul is flooded with the news events reported on television, internet, and in newsprint. The violence, vile and evil actions of man against man, fill the news.

The assaults against our spirit are ‘other gods’ that try to take place of real Lord and Savior. Voices in our heart are often not the voice of God, but purport to be God suggesting revenge, anger, discouragement, etc.

The assaults come daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, to all of us. We desperately need the fruit of the Spirit to be able to say with Jesus, ‘Father, forgive them...’ Sometimes, if we lack that fruit, we react far differently than did Jesus. Many come to times of fear and loss of control. There is sometimes not even time to figure out what is happening.

We may panic, we may lose focus of what is important. We can grow cold and calloused, we can feel physical and mental changes in our person. The assaults are going to continue till we meet Jesus in heaven. We need to keep the fruit of the Spirit dominant over the alternative, the works of the flesh.

The curse upon this world, the oppression by devils, the weakness of our flesh all bring assaults on the love, joy, peace, longsuffering, etc. that we had the moment of salvation. We need to have to cleanse out the assault damages. These are not random events, but a daily confrontation, impossible to totally avoid. If we don’t want to live a Christian life that is missing much love and joy, we need to face these troublesome ravishments of our spirit.

When facing the assaults of the devil, our heart rate may quicken, our blood pressure may rise, our throat may choke, and our hands and feet may tingle. The assaults on our spirit are no laughing matter. We may feel like we are unsaved, or we may feel this is really what the Christian life is. Both those are incorrect. God wants us to be ‘more than conquerors through Christ.’ The Lord wants us to have ‘life abundantly’. We are told to ‘walk in the Spirit’. It is time we get a handle on the kind of daily healing we need to face the ‘facts’ of life on a cursed world. We, like Jesus, can declare to the ones who bring us harm, that we are praying for them, not against them.

The devil would like to make us feel as though we are helpless, and that impending trouble and its resulting effect on the fruit of the Spirit in our lives is inevitable. The assault may be inevitable, the loss of joy, peace, love, etc is not inevitable. We do not need to awaken every morning in a state of fear and stress.

Some Christians have resorted to prescription drugs and alcohol to settle their stress. That adds another assault to our lives. Emotions get out of control, with anger, depression, stress, panic attacks, and sullenness to be where joy in the Lord should be. Some, if not most, begin to live a worldly life, feeling the joy they thought they would have when becoming a Christian. Drugs and alcohol never help. In fact, they are a big part of the devil’s plan for his assault on us.

We are Christians. We are different. We are not citizens of this world anymore. We are sojourners here, waiting for our Father to call us home to heaven. The world should notice a difference in us. Our whole life should reflect Jesus.

Romans 12:2
"Be not conformed to the world."

Some want to be a little like the world, and a little like the Lord. They try to be on both sides. Their escape from the assaults of the devil, is to join his ranks, allow sin to be a normal in their lives. They let worldliness be their way of life. No, the ‘crucifixion’ events do not come when we side with the devil’s side. When we take a stand for Jesus, when we refuse to compromise our love for Him, the crucify-ers begin to do their work.

Sometimes, the devils get saints to be weakness in the flesh, ‘sick’ in the spirit. Then the ‘fear’ takes over, bringing many to cowering instead of ‘bearing the cross. Fear has become the main oppression of many Christians. There are many, many phobias. Psychiatrists claim to have named more than 700.

Christians battle fear. Many battle the fear of past sins. Many fear due to the worldliness that has replaced the holiness of their salvation past. Some fear that God didn't really forgive them. Some fear that they've sinned the unpardonable sin. Some fear that God may give a minister a word of knowledge about them. Others fear sickness. Some fear dying.

With those fears, it is hard to be as Jesus, and say ‘Father, forgive’. The devil takes advantage of our insecurities and encourages fears. He wants to paralyze the Christian soldiers with fear. Fear is not just an inconvenience, as you have tried to tell yourself. It does prevent you from having the spiritual joy and victory that you should have. The devil is trying to rob you, and many Christians, of their joy, victory, and peace - by inspiring fear. Fear robs the fruit of the Spirit from your heart.

To maintain the fruit of the Spirit, to be able to pray as Jesus, ‘Father, forgive them...’, we need to maintain a relationship with Jesus throughout all the other events. If you lose that relationship with Jesus, all fruit of the Spirit dissolves, and the trials of life become insurmountable. Relationship with Jesus is vital to maintain your faith.
What we need to find in the Christian life is victorious living.

Psalms 51:12
"Restore unto me the joy of my salvation."

David sinned, and found a life to be miserable until he repented. Peter denied his Lord, and was forlorn. Through carelessness in prayer and Bible study, many Christians lose the relationship with Jesus. The miracle of Christianity and its joy, is the relationship.

John 1:12
"But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name."

The key is to "receive Him." That simply means to accept Him. He has knocked on the door, all we must do is open it and commune with Him. Many receive trashy magazines, receive questionable T.V. programs, receive gossip of a friend, receive criticism against another... etc. We all do much receiving. The moment we ‘receive’ the assaults of the cursed world, and try to live with them, we lose Jesus.
Just simply keep receiving Jesus on a daily basis. Learn to greet Him "good morning" in the morning when you wake. Talk with Him as you toil through the day. Say "good night" to Him at bedtime. This Christianity is a relationship.

The fruit of the Spirit, will continue to one who receives Jesus, and His Word, and His truth. It is not difficult. It is so easy. Most church people will even think you strange, but you will be a very "happy" strange. Many in churches who have lost this relationship are the miserable, the hypocrites, the abusers. Those who have a relationship with Jesus, are the ones who can truly smile, and can love others, and can radiate the real Christ-life. When wronged by others, they, like Jesus, can say ‘Father, forgive them...’
When we have Jesus, we do not need to have fear anymore. Jesus said to John on Patmos:


Revelation 1:17-18
"FEAR NOT, I AM THE FIRST AND THE LAST... I AM HE THAT LIVETH, AND WAS DEAD, AND BEHOLD I AM ALIVE FOREVERMORE..."

This loving, forgiving Jesus wants to be living within us, living through us, manifesting His nature of forgiveness out of us.

 

[murjahel]

THE HEARTBROKEN WORDS
OF JESUS ON THE CROSS



　

Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
　
"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’
This is a quote from Psalms 22. (Eli, Eli, lamah sabachthani).

It could have been better translated as:

‘My God, My God,
to what sort of persons
hast Thou left Me?’​

This is a reference to the obstinate nature of the crucifiers. Jesus was astonished at the wickedness of mankind, of the heartless, cruel, uncaring nature of those who had likely killed many in this way. Their minds were uncaring of the pain and suffering which they had put upon these victims.

He was feeling saddened by the treatment, by the harshness of their hatred for Him.

Jesus would see someone suffering hunger, blindness, leprosy, lameness, etc. and would immediately be moved with compassion. Yet, here, with pain and suffering, these people were mocking, reviling. Jesus was shocked by this evil. We sometimes are shocked by the evil we see in the world, and even sometimes see in the churches. When death would come to us, we would not want our enemies present to heartlessly mock our suffering pains.


David had been a ‘man after God’s own heart’, and some of his Psalms reveal that David was made privy to the feelings of the Lord Jesus at various times. In Psalms 22, we find revealed much of what Jesus was to feel when He was upon the cross.

Psalm 22:1-31 (KJV)
1 My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? why art Thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but Thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
...
6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
7 All they that see Me laugh Me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 He trusted on the LORD that He would deliver Him: let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him.
...
13 They gaped upon Me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint: My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels.


Jesus was deeply saddened at this abuse, this hatred, this evil in mankind. We too get shocked at the evil in this world. They can mock we Christians for righteousness, and then rape, murder, abort, steal, and blaspheme, with nary a conviction of guilt. We feel trapped in this sinful world, and it hurts.

Psalm 69:20 (KJV)
20 Reproach hath broken My heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.


These words in Psalm 69, are also prophetically given thoughts of Jesus, given long before He said or thought them, to David, a ‘man after God’s own heart.’ David wanted to know and understand the thoughts and feelings of God, and many of his psalms show God’s revelation to him of what God, and Jesus, would be feeling at various times in the future. These words of Jesus at the crucifixion time show a ‘broken heart’ due to the ‘reproach’ that He was suffering from friend and foe.

The words ‘broken heart’ are figurative language. It is not speaking of a literal ‘heart’ that was ‘broken’. The words rather express of one who is suffering deep inside from pain and sorrow over the hurtful deeds of another. One’s life feels shattered, and hence the ‘broken’, one’s love has been rejected, hence the word ‘heart’.

God expresses that He even is brokenhearted due to mankind’s behavior and their unfaithfulness to Him. Jesus was brokenhearted when He came to the night of the betrayal, the arrest, trial, crucifixion, and especially from the disciple who denied Him. God understands brokenness due to the sins of others.

Many of the things we need healed from are due to our own sins. Brokenheartedness is sometimes due only to the sins of another. God was brokenhearted, Jesus was brokenhearted, and neither of them sinned. Yet, the pain of the brokenness is real to them.

When someone is brokenhearted, they feel an inner pain that needs to be healed. The pain is real, though a doctor could never find its scar. The medicines that the world offer, do not heal the broken heart, they dull the mind, they calm the system, but the broken heart, when the medicines wear off, is still there.

When broken in heart, it is constantly upon their minds. Some must find outlets to express their emotions of the broken heart. Others refuse to feel at all, and hide well their hurts. Some will mourn over the hurts. Some will create ways to cope and distract from the hurt. While some will need encouragement on a constant basis, others will need to create other victims to achieve revenge.


Tears are far from uncommon when one is brokenhearted. They flow and should flow, for one is greatly hurt. God sheds tears over those who have forsaken His loving gifts. Jesus wept greatly in Gethsemane at the time Judas was betraying Him for the price of a slave. Crying is not sinful, it is an emotional release that God has designed for us, and for Himself. Someone once said: ‘if someone you love hurts you, cry a river, then build a bridge, and get over it.’

Crying is often the first step in getting over it.
Since Jesus knows first hand what it feels like to have a broken heart, He can also know the steps of healing.

Many times, if not most always, restoration of a relationship is not found, for God will not overrule the stubborn will of sinners, who arrogantly hurt Him, or His children. Allowing that relationship that brought so much hurt to go, is not symbolic of ‘weakness’, but it takes a holy strength to let go, and let God heal in another way.


God is close with those that have broken hearts, for He knows their agony and pain. When Jesus asked ‘who do men say that I am’, one of the answers was ‘Jeremiah’, for Jeremiah was the ‘weeping prophet’. Jesus likewise was a ‘weeper’, feeling the pain of the rejection of many, the coming pain of the cross and its perpetrators. God knows what ‘brokenhearted’ means, and has been ‘touched with the feelings of our infirmities.’

Hebrews 4:15-16 (KJV)
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.


Therefore, the brokenhearted can find help from the Lord when they turn to Him.


Psalm 34:18 (KJV)
18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

The Lord is ‘nigh’ to the broken of heart. He does save those who come with a humble and contrite heart to Him for such healing.

Psalm 147:3 (KJV)
3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.


In these words from the cross, ‘My God, My God, why have these wicked ones done this?’ we find Jesus going to the Father, and expressing His broken heart to Him. He came to God for healing, for these wicked men were speaking harshly to Him, and condemning Him. He felt pain from that rejection, but kept faithful to His love and trust in God. The translation of those words, the common conception of what they meant, is far from their real meaning.

Whereas, we are sometimes brokenhearted in damaging situations with humans, we now have a divine relationship with a God Who loves us tenderly and completely. We have Jesus Who has also felt brokenhearted.


Hebrews 4:15-16 (KJV)
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.


Jesus understands, has felt the same kind of pain as the brokenhearted. He has an answer, He knows how to heal.


Hebrews 7:25 (KJV)
25 Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.


Jesus asks of the brokenhearted, to have ‘faith’ in Him. The brokenhearted need to realize that He will ‘reward’ those who come to Him for their healing.


Hebrews 11:6 (KJV)
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

There is no need for loneliness, for being in the presence of the Lord makes a difference in the life of the seeker.

Acts 4:13 (KJV)
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.


God has riches of His glory, ready and prepared to give to the brokenhearted.


Romans 9:23 (KJV)
23 And that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory,

Hebrews 10:22-25 (KJV)
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised.
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.




Jesus knows your pain, your heartbreak, and has comfort for you!

Matthew 11:28 (KJV)
Come unto me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. ​

　

 

[Optimax]

Easter!

We all know that is all about bunnies and the eggs they lay.

 

[Yitzchak]

I can't object to the scriptural aspects of what you are saying. but as for the holiday of Easter , I still have a tough time not thinking of it as a pagan holiday....I also don't think too highly of so called " good friday " , it seems more likely that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday...

 

[murjahel]

　

THE WORDS EXPRESSING HIS BEARING OUR GUILT AND SHAME


John 19:28 (KJV)
28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
　

"I thirst."
　
Prophetically, it was prophesied that Jesus would be thirsty and dry. We read that in Psalm 22:14-15 (KJV):
14 I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint: My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and My tongue cleaveth to My jaws; and thou hast brought Me into the dust of death.


The heat, the loss of blood, caused this thirst. They offered vinegar, mingled with gall. This was a stupefying sour wine, frankincense and myrrh. It was used it to assuage sufferings making victims unaware of the pain.


Proverbs 31:6-7 (KJV)
6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.


Christ was suffering. He had wanted something for thirst, not something to make Him drunk.


Psalm 69:20-21 (KJV)
20 Reproach hath broken My heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave Me also gall for My meat; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink.

Jesus refused to make this death for us to be easier. He had come to take our sins upon Himself, to suffer and to die for those sins. He did that, and did not inebriate Himself to make it easier.

Three times, there were drinks were offered to Jesus.


1. Upon arrival at Calvary

Mark 15:
23 And they gave Him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but He received it not.
Matthew 27:33-34 (KJV)
33 And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,
34 They gave Him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when He had tasted thereof, He would not drink.


2. During the suffering time on the cross


Luke 23:36 (KJV)
36 And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him, and offering Him vinegar,


3. At the end of life

Matthew 27:48 (KJV)
48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink.

John 19:29-30 (KJV)
29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to His mouth.
30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost.

The drinks offered were meant to relieve the pain. Jesus wanted only water to relieve the thirst. The thirst is typical, a teaching, and has a great lesson for us.

There are times that some have sought to alleviate the pain by taking prescription drugs, alcoholic beverages, eating binges, etc. to relieve the inner spiritual pain. When we alleviate the pain, we cease to look for a remedy of the problem. Guilt and shame are covered over by many, with drugs and alcohol. Many feel no need to repent of sin, for their mind is stupefied by these drugs. It is wise to keep a clear mind, and to set about the task of curing the problem of sin and of guilt. The thirst is a reminder to be looking to conquer the problem. We must keep our mind alert, even if pains are seemingly unbearable.

THE THIRST OF JESUS WAS BROUGHT UPON HIM DUE TO HIS BEARING OUR SINS. HE BORE OUR GUILT AND SHAME. HE HAD NONE OF HIS OWN, FOR HE WAS SINLESS.


THERE IS A ‘THIRST’, A DRYNESS OF SPIRIT, A GUILT AND SHAME OF SOUL THAT SHOULD BE ON THOSE WHO STILL BEAR THEIR OWN SINS.

THIS SHOULD BRING A GUILT AND FEAR, SO THAT THE PERSON SEEKS TO ALLEVIATE THE ‘THIRST’ BY SEEKING THE LIVING WATER OF GRACE IN JESUS.
DRUGS, TO ERASE THE PAIN AND SENSIBILITY OF GUILT ARE NOT THE ANSWER, AND JESUS REFUSED THE VINEGAR AND GALL. HE WOULD NOT DRINK. THEY FINALLY, MOMENTS BEFORE HIS DEATH, PUT A SPONGE UP TO HIS MOUTH WITH VINEGAR UPON IT.


Our Lord said: ‘If any man thirst.’ We do ‘thirst’ i.e become dry and needy of the Living Water of salvation in Jesus. Bodily thirst is a infamous and painful sensation. Those who have traveled in deserts, under a hot sun, find that it is miserable feeling to be totally dry and thirsting for something unobtainable.

The rich man in hell’s tormenting heat, cried out, ‘Send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame’ (Luke 16:24). His desire was for even a ‘drop’ of water, to help with the thirst. It is terrible and hard to thirst in heat, to be totally dry of water.

But if bodily thirst is so harmful, how much more is the thirst of the soul? Physical suffering is not the worst part of hell’s punishment. The inward guilt, shame, conviction for sin, is a thirst, a dryness that is unbearable. Jesus bore our shame, guilt and sin, and to illustrate that, we find His body had a physical thirst. For sinners without the atoning work of Jesus applied to them, there is a spiritual thirst, that drinks up soul and spirit. And this is the thirst that Jesus bore for those who accept His atoning work on the cross.

This is the thirst which many experienced when Peter preached on the day of Pentecost. They were "pricked in their heart, and said, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’" (Acts 2:37). Their guilt and shame of sin made them spiritually thirsty.

This thirst was felt by the Philippian jailer felt, when he awoke, feeling the consciousness of spiritual danger. He ‘came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’" (Acts 16:30).

When convicted by the Holy Spirit for sins, the money, power, pleasure, honour, of this world does not quench that thirst of guilt. The natural man is called in Scripture ‘dead’, and ‘sleeping’, and ‘blind’, and ‘deaf’, and is therefore, without the Holy Spirit, unaware of the ‘thirst of his soul’ for God. Conviction makes one aware. The wine that Jesus refused in the beginning of the crucifixion would have deadened that guilt and shame of sin, but Jesus chose to bear our guilt, shame for sin, for us..

The church of Laodicea, had deadened their guilt and shame, and Jesus said ‘Thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked’ (Revelation 3:17).

FEAR OF GUILT SHOULD ENCOMPASS SINNERS​

Acts 2:42-43 (KJV)
42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.


When the early church began to minister to this world, they preached, and signs and wonders followed. The result was ‘fear’ came upon all. Why would a rousing sermon, a miracle or ten, make people fear? We do not see that reaction now very often, and perhaps the church has been giving spiritual tranquilizers, or sedatives to the world to remove the ‘fear’ that the gospel message is supposed to arouse.

THE KIND OF FEAR THE CHURCH MESSAGE IS TO ENGENDER

The word for ‘fear’ in Acts 2 isthe Greek word "phobos". It is from the primary root word "phebomai (to be put in fear)" It is translated ‘fear’ 41 out of 47 times in the New Testament. It is a feeling of terror suddenly to some thing considered alarming. We shall look in more depth to the word shortly.

Fear was a natural result to the gospel message being preached, and to the events seen in the church. When Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit amidst that early revival, they fell dead. Fear upon the church resulted.

Acts 5:11 (KJV)
11 And great fear came upon all the church, upon as many as heard these things. (Ananias and Sapphira die)

They realized that sin would bring judgment, and their own guilt made them fear. They could have had polite, politically correct sermons to assuage their guilt, calm their fears. Yet, it is guilt and fear of God that brings repentance.

God promises blessings and attention to those who ‘fear Him’ with this reverent, respectful awe of His being.

Psalm 111:5 (KJV)
5 He hath given meat unto them that fear Him: He will ever be mindful of His covenant.


The Christians should be ‘walking with God, fearing Him, keeping His commandments, obeying Him, serving Him, cleaving unto Him, not out of dreadful fear, but of a reverent respect for His Person, His omnipotent power, and His perfect holiness.

Deuteronomy 13:4 (KJV)
4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and ye shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him.

This kind of ‘fear’ amidst the saints of the church will bring signs and wonders, and those demonstrations of God’s power will bring a ‘fear’ to all of the world. Too many churches, and too many saints, have lost the key elements that brought ‘fear’ to the communities of this world. We have been preaching messages that inspire spiritual sleep, not reverent repentance. We have been telling the world that God requires no change from their sinful life. The homosexuals want to be invited into the church and accepted without changing. Wife abusers, child abusers, abortion doctors, rapists, persons living in sin, drug abusers, find pats on the back, handshakes, and not the loving presentation of how to repent and be saved by Jesus. Therefore, there is no ‘fear’ amidst the world of what God is doing, for the Lord is outside those churches, knocking and wanting to come in and change things.

Fear and guilt are like the ‘thirst’, needing a remedy, not needing a dulling of the reason for the thirst.

TWO KINDS OF FEAR
The disciples were in a boat, crossing the Sea of Galilee, when a great tempest arose, the sea roaring and flooding the small boat they were in. Great ‘fear’ came over them, but Jesus calmed the storm. Then He mentioned another kind of ‘fear’ that came upon them.

Mark 4:40-41 (KJV)
40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? (deilos) how is it that ye have no faith?
41 And they feared (phobeo) exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

In verse 40, we see the word ‘fearful’, and Jesus questions the reason for this fear. It is the Greek word "deilos". The root of this word is deos meaning dread. It is a word signifying ‘fear’, a cowardly timidity, a sense of dread that is lingering, creating a life of panic and resignation to defeat when confronted by the object or reason for the fear.

The disciples were terrified, and always would be in the midst of such turbulence of water, such overflow into the ship, and the fact that it would be impossible to swim amidst such a storm, and perishing seemed certain.

Most would be ‘terrified’ at such kind of situation. Jesus marveled that their faith had not yet grown to the place where they could trust that Jesus had said that they were ‘going to the other side’, and what Jesus speaks will come to pass.

In verse 41, we see the disciples have a different kind of ‘fear’, and they ‘feared exceedingly’. This is the Greek word "phobeo" which refers to the kind of fear where one is suddenly confronted by something startling, and the reaction is to avoid, run, withdraw, in being startled by the event, person, idea. It is sometimes translated ‘awe’, ‘fear’, ‘reverence’.

We get the word ‘phobia’ from this Greek word, and a ‘phobia’ is often of something that is not really ‘fearful’. One may have a phobia of ‘peanut butter sticking to the roof of one’s mouth’ (arachibutyrophobia), or a fear of computers (logizomechanophobia). Phobias do not always need rationale, they can sometimes be an emotional response to something one is not truly prepared to face. The feeling of alarm is a phobia.

THE ‘FEAR’ WE SHOULD HAVE IS A REVERENT AWE OF GOD’S POWER. A THIRST FOR FORGIVENESS, A DESIRE TO REPENT. SOME SEEK TO DO AWAY WITH GUILT AND FEAR, WITHOUT REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS AS THE CURE FOR IT.

WE, AS CHRISTIANS, DO NOT NEED A TERROR FEAR OF OUR LOVING LORD. WE NEED TO RECOGNIZE THE GUILT AS A THIRST FOR THE MERCIFUL FORGIVENESS OF GOD. OUR FEAR SHOULD BE A MOTIVATOR TO RESTORATION IN THE GRACE OF GOD. OUR FEAR NEED NOT BE THE ‘TERROR’ FEAR, FOR WE HAVE JESUS, OUR EVER ABUNDANT SOURCE OF LIVING WATER.

.

 

[murjahel]

PART 2 OF 'I THIRST'

Jesus said to John on Patmos:
Revelation 1:17-18
"FEAR NOT, I AM THE FIRST AND THE LAST...I AM HE THAT LIVETH, AND WAS DEAD, AND BEHOLD I AM ALIVE FOREVERMORE."

Christ will still be ruling, and in control when the future arrives that you have been fretting. "The First" will still be in charge in "the Last" of our days. Jesus is the "same yesterday, today, and forever."

"Fear not" is in the Bible 80 times. God seems to want to make sure that we know that it is a command. He expects us to be full of faith, not full of fear.

THE SAVIOR IS THE CURE FOR THIRST OF FEAR AND GUILT.

John 4:13-14 (KJV)
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
　
Luke 2:10-11
"FEAR NOT, FOR BEHOLD, I BRING YOU GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY... UNTO YOU IS BORN... A SAVIOR."

The angels announced that the shepherds did not need to fear, because a Savior had been born. We have that same Shepherd. We can go to Him when fearful thing s arise. Too many are full of fear, because they have gotten their eyes off of the Savior.

Luke 12:22-23
"FEAR NOT, LITTLE FLOCK, FOR IT IS YOUR FATHER'S GOOD PLEASURE TO GIVE YOU THE KINGDOM."

We are still the flock of God. Jesus is still our Shepherd. Our Shepherd still wants to give us, the kingdom. Our Shepherd still wants to take care of us. As a good Shepherd, He still provides for us.

II Timothy 1:7
"GOD HATH NOT GIVEN US A SPIRIT OF FEAR, BUT OF POWER, AND OF LOVE, AND OF A SOUND MIND."

Isaiah 43:5
"FEAR NOT...I AM WITH THEE."

The Lord is still with each of us. He is with us whenever we go through the times of deep "waters". When we go through the times that are like "fire", He is with us. He is with us, during our times of battles.

Deuteronomy 20:3-4
"YE APPROACH THIS DAY UNTO BATTLE AGAINST YOUR ENEMIES, LET NOT YOUR HEART FAINT, FEAR NOT, AND DO NOT TREMBLE, NEITHER BE YE TERRIFIED BECAUSE OF THEM. FOR THE LORD YOU GOD IS HE THAT GOETH WITH YOU TO FIGHT."

Psalms 118:6-7
"THE LORD IS ON MY SIDE: I WILL NOT FEAR WHAT MAN CAN DO TO ME. THE LORD TAKETH MY PART."

The Lord is with us to strengthen us. He does not want us to be weak soldiers , fearful to go to battle.

Isaiah 41:10
"FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH THEE, BE NOT DISMAYED FOR I AM THY GOD, I WILL STRENGTHEN."

The spiritual battles of life create a soul thirst, the sins and failures of life create a thirst for forgiveness in God’s grace. That thirst should only be relieved by the LIVING WATER, THE FLOWING WATER FROM THE THRONE OF GRACE. The people offered Jesus vinegar and gall. The world today wants to alleviate guilt, shame, remorse for sin, with words and beliefs that deny its presence, that dull the senses to the guilt there.

John 7:37 (KJV)
37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.

Revelation 7:16-17 (KJV)
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
　

THE CHURCH IS NOT TO BE PASSING OUT SPIRITUAL SEDATIVES, SPIRITUAL TRANQUILIZERS, THAT MAKE THE SINNERS OF THE WORLD FEEL UN-NEEDING OF REPENTANCE, FORGIVENESS, AND A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS. WE PREACH REPENT, AND POINT SOULS TO THE LIVING WATER OF JESUS.


Fear comes to the sinful world when the gospel is preached.

Luke 1:65 (KJV)
65 And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea.
　
When sin is rebuked, righteousness is promoted, sinners then fear.

1 Timothy 5:20 (KJV)
20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.
　

Those that apostatize lose their fear of God. They have taken the vinegar and gall offered by the devil, and do not see their sin, their unrepented guilt of sin.

Jude 1:11-12 (KJV)
11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;


There are many blessings to a ‘fear’ of God. The spiritual thirst has a reason, it draws us to the Living Water.
　
Fear and guilt for sin is the beginning of wisdom.

Proverbs 1:7 (KJV)
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 9:10 (KJV)
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Fear is like the ‘thirst’ that brings us to the throne of grace. Fear helps one depart from evil, and will bring forth a hatred for evil.

Proverbs 3:7 (KJV)
7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

Proverbs 8:13 (KJV)
13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

Proverbs 16:6 (KJV)
6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
　
Fear brings a true humility.

Isaiah 2:10-12 (KJV)
10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:


The sterile, formal, ear-tickling, lukewarm, hypocritical, fault-finding, weak, impotent congregation, is not God's way. Sin is to bring a ‘thirst’, and that thirst is to be quenched only with the Living Water.

Yet, the church has not lived up to the intent of God. It has bickered, fought, slept, and pew-sat for most of its existence. Its sermons are too little on the wicked sins that rob one of God’s blessings. The sermons in many congregations, the witness of many Christians, are sedatives, and tranquilizers to the world, not an offering of the Living Water of grace and forgiveness.

In the Lord's description of the best of the seven churches described in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, the church of Philadelphia is told:

Revelation 3:8 (KJV)
8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name.

Though this church receives much praise, still there is the statement that the church has "but little strength" There is little power in many churches today. Why is the church, even at its best have just a "little" of the power that it should have? We, in the church today, have the hope to make great impact on this world. We desire to see many signs and wonders. We want to see the world won to Jesus, therefore, we must not give them tranquilizers, but let the ‘fear’ of God, the spiritual thirst for repentance, upset their sinful lives.

Jesus even indicated that the church would, or should, have great impact.

Matthew 16:18
"Upon this rock, I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

How do we get the church to live up to the great desire of the Lord. How do we take the church from the horrible reputation that it now has to the great revival of the last days that is prophesied in the Bible? We have so much to do. We must first get our own house in order. We must then tell the world of the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then we must prepare the world for the second coming of Jesus.

This will require action and articulation. It requires us to not give sedatives for guilt and shame of sin, but to offer the real cure for that thirst, to offer Living Water.
　

OUR REAL MISSION MUST BE DISCOVERED.

First, we have a mission to worship the Lord. He has said that we are to worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
John 4:24
"God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

Some are going through the motions of worship. Some have not spoken to the Lord for more than a minute a day for a long time. Others have not heard the Lord speak back to their hearts. Some neglect His Word. Some who do hear from Him refuse to obey His Word. To yield to the Lord and His Word, and to then worship Him in spirit and in reality, is a goal we must soon accomplish as a church. This will awaken the world from the tranquilizer the church has been to them. Their hearts will be stirred by the presence of God that comes to inhabit our worship.

Secondly, another part of our mission is to evangelize and make disciples. The message of the gospel must be taken and presented to the world. This requires first a study of the Word of God. Then we will be ready to take the great message of God and trumpet it before the world. The lost of the world must hear the gospel message. Sinners need regeneration. They must know that they have sinned, and we must offer only Living Water, i.e. Jesus the Savior, not some sedative of guilt.

There is great value in every soul. It is a tremendous tragedy that many will meet God unprepared for eternity. We need the Holy Spirit's enablement to witness to the lost souls. We must proclaim to the world a message of hope and love. We are instructed to admonish, proclaim, declare, herald, exhort, preach, prophesy, testify, witness, teach, instruct, and indoctrinate the gospel. This is quite a challenge.
　

LABORERS MUST BE ACTIVATED.

We cannot activate laborers until the church itself comes into a holy, reverent, fear of the Lord. As we ourselves come into a relationship with Jesus, this fear and reverence will encompass us. Those who have this ‘fear’ will be able to be His ‘laborers’. Those who do not have that ‘fear’ will be passing out spiritual tranquilizers and sedatives to the sinful world.

II Chronicles 7:14
"If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

The early church did not pass out those sedatives, they spread a holy, reverent fear, and the signs and wonders that followed that message brought revival, salvation of souls.

Too often, preachers today, strive to be the ‘greatest’. They plaster their weekly letters to their congregations with their picture, their accomplishments, their degrees and awards. Instead of preaching Jesus and His power, they preach messages to satisfy the people. The church of Laodicea, is spiritually tranquilized, and their name means ‘please the people’. They had no thirst for Jesus. They had no desire to see sins revealed in their lives. They took spiritual sedatives, and saw no need for the Living Water, i.e. Jesus, Who stood at their door knocking.
　

The Lord can heal the pathetic state of the modern church. The fear of the Lord can again overwhelm the world. Surely, some will persecute, some will slander us. It is better to be in the Lord’s will, doing His work when they do, rather than trying to escape the hatred of the world by not presenting a Lord Who is worthy of an awesome reverence. The Lord will back up that kind of ministry with signs and wonders. They always follow that kind of preaching.

When Jesus came to the ‘dust of death’, bearing our iniquity, our guilt, our shame, He physically thirsted. The waters of life were about to burst forth, and the bitter, the dry, sins of life that He bore for us were to have a cure. Jesus ‘thirsted’, and sinners without Him still thirst. We must not offer them sedatives for guilt, nor quench thirst with anything but the Living Water of salvation in Jesus.

 

[murjahel]

On the road to Gethsemane, Jesus preached a sermon to the disciples... here is what was on His mind...

HATRED, TO BE EXPECTED
　
John 15:
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for My name's sake, because they know not Him that sent Me.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
23 He that hateth Me hateth My Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father.
25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated Me without a cause.

JESUS BORE A CROSS
DUE TO THE HATRED OF THE WORLD.
WE ARE TOLD TO BEAR A CROSS.
HATRED WILL COME AGAINST US.
WE SHALL BEAR WOUNDS.​

Matthew 16:24 (KJV)
24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

Mark 10:21-22 (KJV)
21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.
22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.



This is quite a challenge, in fact, it is more than that, it is a command. We are to bear a cross. Crosses are heavy, and they are not just a weight, they are a place where we will be nailed, lifted up for the world to mock, and left to die there.

Yet, there is also a resurrection for us. We do not bear these crosses to be defeated there, but we bear the cross to go to the victory Jesus has assured us by His cross.



Jesus was betrayed by a friend. This broke His heart, and the day that surpasses all previous days of history had begun. Jesus was led to Caiaphas’ house and was falsely accused.

Then they took Him to Pilate, and there He was again falsely accused. Pilate questioned Him, and then Pilate sought a way to not have this obviously innocent man to be punished. He gave the people a choice between a feared and hated criminal, named Barabbas, and this Jesus, a healer and teacher of righteousness. The people chose to have Barabbas freed. Jesus was then beaten, spat upon, mocked, crowned with thorns. Jesus was hated.

Isaiah 53:5-8 (KJV)
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? for He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was He stricken.


Jesus was oppressed, afflicted, betrayed by a friend, led as a Lamb to slaughter, falsely accused, forsaken by all. The lives of we who today bear the cross that Jesus gave us leave us ‘wounded’, ‘bruised’, ‘oppressed’, ‘afflicted’, ‘stricken’, and also feeling like a ‘lamb’ brought to slaughter. These afflictions are real and at times, the pain is felt deep through our souls.


The supreme religious council had plotted and planned His death. An insulting price of a slave was paid to a betraying friend to secure the arrest of Jesus. A few days before, all of His disciples had declared to ‘never forsake’ nor betray Him.


The darkest hours of His earthly life had come, and crowds had cried out, ‘crucify Him’, though’ He had never done any of them harm.


The words of others, crying out, to or about us, hurt us deeply. Jesus felt the pain of unkind, unloving words. We too, bearing this cross He gave for us, feel the hurt of cutting words.


Luke 9:23-26
"And He said to them all: If any man will come after Me, let Him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whomsoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it."

Galatians 5:11
"Then is the offense of the cross preached."


The offense of the cross has never ceased. To suppose that it would - is absurdity. The religion of Jesus is the most peaceful, mild, benevolent, and yet history has shown it to be the most attacked and hated. The sinners are offended by the cross. The times of the early church were well-acquainted with the cross. The worst of sinners were put upon crosses and were made to die the most humiliating deaths upon crosses. To be told that the Savior of the world, the Son of God, the Messiah, was put in such a humiliating place for our sins was repugnant to those of that day. It offended them.


Mankind has never liked to admit that he has sinned.
Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."


Mankind deserves death, but they are unwilling to admit it.
Romans 6:23
"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life."


Mankind is too proud, and wants to cover sin, and wants to call their sins to be mistakes. The cross humbles mankind. To defend against the humbling effect of the cross, mankind takes offense, and is angered by the cross. They consider it to be foolishness.

I Corinthians 1:18-24
"preaching of the cross is foolishness to them that perish."

Sinners of the early church period protested the religion of the cross, and wanted to proclaim that they could be "all right" if they did their best. Any who believe otherwise, are persecuted. Believers are called "old fashioned", "fanatics". Believers in the cross are criticized, called 'weak minded'.

​

​

I John 3:13
"Marvel not if the world hate you."​

Many in Christianity today have also been offended by the cross. Many have done away with songs and sermons on the blood, and on the cross. They reject doctrines on Christ's death and sacrifice for us. They do not want the cross, for they do not want to admit there is a real hell, or sin that could send them there. So many churches preach a bloodless, cross-less gospel. They substitute "social change", "riot", and "marches".

Those in the early church soon began to wear small crosses on a chain or ring about the neck. They loved the cross, they valued what it meant. They wanted to wear such a symbol.

Yet, the Lord wants to have us to do so much more than wear just a symbol. The Lord has to us to "take up a cross, and follow Him."

Though the world hated the symbol, though the whole idea of a Savior, a Messiah Who would die such a horrible death was repugnant to mankind, still the saints of the early church proudly wore a small cross around their neck. It meant reproach in greater measure, for it identified them to the world as a believer in the Jesus Who died upon an old wooden cross as a horrible criminal would.

In the Psalm quoted by Jesus while He hung upon the cross, we see how He was feeling at that time.


Psalms 22:6

"But I am a worm, and no man;
a reproach of men, and despised of people."​

We all must bear a cross for our Lord. This will involve suffering, agony, pain, sorrow, etc.


Psalms 31:11,13
"I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbors, and a fear to mine acquaintance; they that did see me without fled from me. ...For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side; while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life."

Because of the cross, because of the life we must live for the Lord, and because of the message we must proclaim to this world, we find a cross that is difficult to bear. Our friends will reproach us, our friends will even lie against us, misunderstand what others tell them about us, will believe every lie told about us. They will take counsel against us, plot against us.

 

[murjahel]

JESUS CURSES THE FIG TREE
FOR FALSE PROFESSION​

After the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, during the passion week, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, and chases the money changers out of the Temple site. Later, He leaves town and goes toward Bethany.

At Passover time, lodging would be difficult to find about Jerusalem. The house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus was available to Jesus.

Then on the next morning, He returned to Jerusalem. He approaches a fig tree and desires to eat thereof. This cursing occurs on Monday morning...

Matthew 21:17-20
"And He left them and went out of the city into Bethany, and lodged there. Now in the morning as He returned into the city, He hungered. And when He saw a fig tree in the way, He came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it. Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth forever. And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!"
　
On the fig tree, the fruit appears before the leaves. It was in leaf, and means it was in a sense, proclaiming it had fruit.

This fig tree was barren, and had leaves only. Israel was that barren fig tree. Christ's word caused the fig tree to wither.

To profess something, and not have it... angers the Lord.

God wants fruit from this world. Israel proclaimed to know Jesus as the Messiah, and to give honor to Him. Yet, they would shortly crucify Him.

Likewise, many profess to be Christians in our day. Some of these ones do not really have fruit to prove their profession. We have ministers, board members, teachers, song leaders, etc. who are hypocrites, abusers, and false prophets... They offend and do iniquity... and yet call themselves to be Christians. Jesus is still angered at such.

The book of Matthew says that "presently" the tree withered, but in Mark, we find how long that time was.

Mark 11:20
"And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto Him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away..."

It was Tuesday morning when they passed by again that they found the tree to be withered.

A day had passed... The judgment of the fig tree had taken a day...

The verses in Mark (Mark 11:12-14), that tell about the cursing of the fig tree on Monday, and the verses that tell about the withered tree found on Tuesday (Mark 11:20-21), are interspersed with a story about a casting out of the moneychangers (Mark 11:15-19).

This puts the casting out of moneychangers to be on Monday... i.e. the day following the casting out of moneychangers on Palm Sunday found recorded in Matthew 21:12-16.

This means that two days in a row, Jesus went to the temple and cast out the moneychangers... He was so angered by their desires to get rich off the worshippers in the temple... that they exchanged Jewish coins for the offering for the foreign coins which could not be used since they had images of false gods. They cheated the people in the exchange. Jesus does not want the house of God to be used for cheating of the worshippers.

The two chasing out of moneychangers, one on Sunday afternoon, and the other on Monday afternoon... is divided in between, on Monday morning by the cursing of the fig tree...

The three events have their message in common... There comes a time, in which, God will not be merciful any longer with the religious hpocrites and false prophets... Judgment will come to the falsely religious... the house of God will be restored to a place where people will speak to God and God will speak to them.

 

[murjahel]

THE TIME OF THE CRUCIFIXION

The Passover time was a three day sabbath. It began that year on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. and ended Saturday at 6 p.m. There has been an error within Christian circles for many centuries. Years ago, while studying the Bible, some Catholic priests saw that they wanted to take the body down from the cross before the sabbath began. Since most sabbaths are Friday at 6 until Saturday at 6, they assumed that this meant that Jesus was crucified on Friday. This has brought about the teaching and observance of "Good Friday."

This was not the ordinary Sabbath. This was the Passover Sabbath, and it was a three day Sabbath. Jesus then would have had to be crucified on Wednesday, and in the tomb before 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

This makes us able to understand the rest of prophetic teaching concerning the event.

Matthew 12:40 tells us:
"For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

If Christ were crucified on Friday, there is no way to get "three days" and "three nights" before Sunday morning. Yet, there is Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights, and Thursday, Friday, and Saturday days, between the crucifixion and the resurrection in the correct teaching. Jesus was resurrected on Saturday about 6 p.m., and was already out of the tomb. before daylight when the women arrived in the morning. We should celebrate a "Good Wednesday" to be accurate.

Many ministers and Bible scholars have known this, but allow the idea of "Good Friday" to continue. It is time we correct this errant teaching and show how Jesus fulfilled Bible prophecy in His three day, and three night time in the heart of the earth!

The passover is an appropriate time for the crucifixion. It celebrated a remembrance of the time when the lamb was slain and the blood sprinkled upon the doorposts in Egypt just before the deliverance. The Passover taught the concept of freedom, and deliverance through the shedding of the blood of the lamb. John the Baptist had said - "Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world."(John 1:29). The message of Passover taught the freedom from sin, guilt, and death through the death of a lamb. Jesus came and fulfilled the type and shadow that Passover represented. We do not celebrate Passover as they did in the Old Testament, for we now have the fulfillment of Passover in Jesus Christ, the Lamb slain for our sins!!!

JUDAS, THE BETRAYER

Judas agreed to betray the Lord.


Matthew 26:14-16 (KJV)
14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,
15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.
16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

Judas had an unavailing remorse, but lacked true repentance.

Matthew 27:3-10 (KJV)
3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
6 And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.
7 And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in.
8 Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.
9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value;
10 And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.


The chief priests purchased a potter's field (a worthless field filled with broken pieces of useless pottery.) This field was filled with those remnants of the failures of the potter. No one wanted to walk across such a field, for it would cut, scrape and hurt to walk across all those pieces.

This broken pottery was a fitting type for Judas, for he had been the one piece of pottery that the Lord had labored, as the great POTTER, but had to cast out broken and useless. The flaw in that piece of pottery known as "Judas" was his love for money.


Judas went to this same field of a potter, before they purchased it, and he hanged himself there upon a tree in that worthless field. After he had broken his neck in the hanging, his body fell from the tree upon the broken, sharp pieces of pottery below. His body was mutilated by the broken shards of pottery. His blood flowed upon these broken pieces. The field became known as the "field of blood." When the body was found the next day, the chief priests decided to use the money of Judas to purchase it, and use the field to bury Judas, and others who were worthless, and had no proper burial spot, nor could their families afford such.

Acts 1:16-20
"Men and brethren, this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, who was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of his iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein; and his bishoprick, let another take."

This part of Psalms, which Peter in his sermon tells us refers to Judas, also adds some more revelation concerning him...

Psalms 69:25-28
"Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents. For they persecute Him Whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. Add iniquity unto their iniquity, and let them not come into Thy righteousness. Let them be BLOTTED OUT OF THE BOOK OF THE LIVING, AND NOT BE WRITTEN WITH THE RIGHTEOUS."


Judas did not find repentance and redemption... but had his name blotted out of the book of life... This is quite a warning for us... who walk with the Lord daily as did Judas... We have read of the great miracles of Jesus, which Judas stood there and literally watched... He failed and betrayed that same Lord... and so could we, if we choose! Beware of the sins of Judas.
　
　
THE ARREST OF JESUS

The betrayal by Judas, and the arrest by the servants of the High Priest came quickly.

Matthew 26:47-56
"Judas, one of the twelve came... with him a great multitude with swords and staves... betrayed Him... sign... Whomsoever I shall kiss, hold him fast... Friend, why are you come?... laid hands on Jesus and took Him... all the disciples forsook Him and fled."

Judas was a disciple about whom Jesus had said, that his name was written in heaven. Yet, this one who had been saved, betrayed the Lord Jesus. It is "funny" how the religious people of then and now can betray, let down, turn on, and attack each other.

THE DENIAL OF PETER

Jesus had foretold the denial of Peter. First it was told Peter in the upper room John 13:8, and also in Matthew 26:

Matthew 26:31-35
"Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended of Me this night: for it is written: 'I will smite the Shepherd, the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.' (Zechariah 13:7) But after I am risen again- I will go before you into Galilee. And Peter answered and said, Though all men shall be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended... This night before the [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] crow, thou shalt deny me thrice... though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee... Likewise said all of the disciples."


The fulfillment of this word from Jesus is told to us in Matthew 26:69-75:
"Peter sat without the palace and a damsel came... Thou wast with Jesus of Galilee... he denied before them all... I know not what thou sayest ... another maid... This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth... he denied with an oath... They that stood by said - surely thou art one of them... speech betrayeth thee... began he to curse (katanathematidzo = to call curses on self if not true what he had said) and to swear (means to swear by the name of God if it was untrue). I know not the man... [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] crew... Peter remembered ... went out... wept bitterly..."

THE TRIAL

Then the Lord was taken to a mock trial.

Matthew 26:57-68
"...led Him away to Caiaphas... scribes and elders were assembled... Peter followed afar off... sought false witnesses... found none... at last two false witnesses... said 'This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days...' Jesus held His peace... Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power... High Priest rent his clothes saying, Blasphemy!... They answered and said, 'He is guilty of death!' ... spit in His face... buffeted Him... smote Him with the palms of their hands... saying, 'Prophesy... Thou Christ... who smote Thee?"

Note the disdain of the Sanhedrin and the religious people. It is quite common in congregations of today for people to become judgmental, 'holier than thou', and to do evil to those who are Christ-like. Some people who were shouting "Hosanna" a few days before were now shouting - "Crucify Him."

Were they fickle? Were they absent? Were they silent? or were they present and deceived by the passion of the religious leaders? When some passed by the cross and realized Jesus had been crucified, did they protest? When they were traveling out of the city to prepare for the Passover meal were they upset at seeing their Lord bearing the cross to calvary? In our day, we see many abuses and Christians hurting Christians, where are the saints who will protest? Are they silent? all absent? fickle? deceived? We find the same questions today, for they must all be like the disciples who forsook Jesus, for most are not heard from, and the victims of todays' spiritual abuse go through the trials alone, as did the Lord.

The chief priests, elders, and scribes taunted Jesus to come down from the cross. They reviled Him. These were the attackers. Intercessors rarely attack, and attackers rarely intercede.


When Jesus was before Pilate, the two witnesses that came forth to lie about Jesus must have "laid it on thick." but Jesus did not try to speak forth a "rhema" word of rebuke against the false accusers.

Matthew 27:11-26
"...governor asked... Art Thou the king of the Jews?... Thou sayest! ... when He was accused of the chief priests and elders, He answered them nothing... Hearest Thou not how many things they witness against Thee?... He answered them never a word (rhema)... governor marveled greatly... to release unto the people a prisoner... had then a notable prisoner, Barabbas ... Whom shall I release, Barabbas or Jesus?... when he was sat down... wife (Claudia Procula) sent to him... Have nothing to do with the just man... dream because of Him... chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude to ask for Barabbas... What evil has He done? ... cried out, Let Him be crucified... I am innocent of the blood... scourged Jesus... delivered Him to be crucified."
　

THE MISTREATMENT OF JESUS

The mistreatment of Jesus was incredible, and hard to believe that they could enjoy doing these things to One Whom no one could find a charge that was true to incriminate Him as worthy of mistreatment. Here was One Who had healed the sick, raised the dead, taught love and mercy, and offered salvation to all who would accept, and they did these horrible things to Him.

Matthew 27:27-32
"...stripped Him, put on a scarlet robe... crown of thorns, reed in His right hand (mock sceptre), bowed the knee and mocked Him... spit on Him... took reed and smote Him on the head... mocked Him, took robe off Him and put on His own raiment... led Him away to crucify Him.. found a man of Cyrene... Simon.. compelled to bear His cross."

This was sport to these soldiers. They enjoyed the mistreatment. People may watch gory movies on television, and yet, it is far beyond that to treat people as these men did Jesus.

 

[murjahel]

HIS EVANGELISTIC WORDS From the Cross

Luke 23:
39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on Him, saying, If thou be Christ, save Thyself and us.
40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this Man hath done nothing amiss.
42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with Me in paradise.
　


Verse 39
one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him

The thief is called a "malefactor". The word used, "kakougos", is one of two which could have been translated as such. Luke did not use "kakopoios" which was a milder word meaning "a bad doer". The word that Luke chose to describe this man was much, much stronger, and means "one who creates, and originates with energy, aggressive criminal acts." Therefore, this man was very evil, diabolic, sinister, profane, and corrupt.


Verse 40
Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?


These two may have been friends in crime, with similar evils in their resume. Yet, suddenly, they are different.

One had come under conviction, and had changed. One continued to mock Jesus, demonstrating utter lack of conviction on his soul. The other demonstrated the conviction of the Holy Spirit. One now feared God, rebuked the other for not fearing God. He now acknowledged his own helpless condition, and recognized the justice he was receiving. He was ready to confess his faith in Jesus and admit Jesus was as the sign said, ‘King’. He foresaw that this King would not end the Kingship here, but would be ‘coming into His kingdom’. That is ‘faith’ brought into his heart, via the repentance and humbling confession to Jesus.


Jesus had led a soul into the kingdom, in the last hours of his life, this thief found Jesus as Savior. He walks streets of gold, and worships at the throne of God now, saved in the last moments of his life, due to a Savior Who while in pain and agony on the cross, was concerned about winning souls to the kingdom of heaven.

We will find the Lord leads us to some who would not be our natural choice of friends, with which to fellowship. Some who do find the Lord from our witness will be ones who did horrible things in their sinful life. I have had ‘satanists, KKK henchmen, come to Jesus. It was beautiful to see God change such people. Yet, in the natural, many Christians would rather avoid those kind of converts, and preach only to the moral, the rich, the powerful leaders.

NO! God leads us to hungry hearts, and seldom are the latter group ‘hungry’ for God. The criminal, the hated, blatant sinners get hungry for help, and we can more easily win them, than most any other group. We who carry the cross, will find on either side of us, as Jesus did, on one side a sinner who mocks, and on the other side, a sinner who accepts Jesus.

Any person who objects to sudden conversions should give attention to how this man was converted. For if a person must live a consistently good, and errorless life to get to heaven, this thief on the cross did not have a chance. It was only the worst of the criminals who were condemned to the cross. This thief was not a insignificant and minor burglar guilty only of trivial crimes. Whatever his crimes, they were serious.

When a prominent man dies, people often ask what were his last words. When Christ was dying upon the cross, when most would have been thinking only of their own troubles, this Person, Jesus Christ, spoke hope, forgiveness, and promise to a person that was hated by the moral and ethical of the day. Christ Jesus' last act upon the cross was to save a sinner. He took this thief from the jaws of death.

This thief was on the borders of hell-fire, in the grasp of a merciless devil. Christ saved one of the two thieves who while hanging on the cross changed from a reviler to a saint.

What was it that converted this thief? ​

He had reviled Christ shortly before salvation. What brought the change? Justice demanded death, but Christ was there to give eternal life. Christ did not offer judgment, but offered concern, and comfort. Some today are so very evil, immoral, and corrupt that Christ Jesus, and those who truly are in tune with His nature will have mercy.


The sign identified this Man to the thief. Perhaps it brought back memories of someone who had witnessed to him about Jesus, the ‘King’. Perhaps a relative had tried to get him to come hear this Jesus. Perhaps, he had, and had rejected Jesus then, to continue in his sinful ways.

Or, perhaps it was the prayer of Christ Jesus that changed the thief's heart. This thief had heard Jesus pray:
Luke 23:34
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!"

Jesus forgave a sinner who had be lowered down through the roof to be healed by Jesus. The man was a hated sinner in the town. Matthew, a hated tax collector saw and heard that forgiveness freely given to that man, and dropped all his tax collecting things, to follow Jesus that day.

Stephen later prayed a similar prayer to this prayer of forgiveness of the Lord, and it was which likely one of the main reasons that Paul became a Christian.

This thief had likely been beaten, scourged, and publicly condemned. Yet, what all that could not do, a prayer from the lips of Jesus changed, converted, and transformed him.

This thief realized that this Jesus is not the same stock as others he had met. For he had watched Jesus be mocked, reviled, spat upon, have his garments stolen, and yet this same Jesus was asking for God to have mercy on them.

This great love of Jesus "moved" the thief.

It is the "goodness of God
that leadeth men to repentance." ​

The goodness of Jesus, the forgiveness of an innocent man being unjustly punished, made a change come upon this thief. The goodness of God is shown in His revelation of His willingness to forgive even the worst of sin, if the person repents. That goodness puts within one the ‘fear’ or reverence of this awesome God.

The fear of God came upon him, for the convicted, and repentant thief asked the unchanged thief:
'DOST THOU NOT FEAR GOD?"

Solomon had said: "THE FEAR OF GOD IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM!" And it was the fear and reverence for God, awakened and inspired by a dying Savior that made this thief different from the other thief.

The two thieves were alike when they were put upon the cross, but soon one was bound for paradise, and the other was bound for hell. Some today, hear the same message of love and forgiveness, but some will respond and accept God's offers, and others will callously reject. Why can some be cold-hearted to the loving Jesus? Why can some can be insensitive to offers of mercy?

Yet, why can some others, as the thief who accepted Jesus, change? We had better examine the changed thief, for if we studied the other thief, we would only find what stupid, moronic, and absurd reasons he had for stubbornly refusing to change, even while at the gates of hell. But the other thief had found reasons to change his life.


Verse 43
Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with Me in paradise

Jesus died that day, and He went to paradise, in the lower parts of the earth. There, in paradise, this thief also arrived later this day. The other thief went to hell where the rich man mentioned in Luke 16:19-31 was. This repentant thief, heard a great message from Jesus. ‘To day shalt thou be with Me in paradise.

These were blessed words to hear, when dying. Words like this take the fear out of dying, they give comfort and joy.

The anticipation these words gave replace the hopeless state of sin, the joy they give replace the misery of a guilty conscience. The grace and mercy it took to bring this guilty, sinful, malevolent man to salvation is too awesome to comprehend. The words "Today, thou shalt be with Me in paradise." brought peace to this man.

Several copies of early church gospels left out this verse.

Some find it hard to understand how Jesus could allow this criminal, at the end of a sinful life, to go to paradise. Many still today find it hard to comprehend the grace and mercy of our Lord. Some want ‘good works’ to be piled up in earning a salvation so great. But, Jesus wanted this story in the Bible, so we can see that His desire for mankind to find salvation, reaches even to those who have wasted their whole lives in sin, but in the end, come to Him. His mercy is unfathomable, mystifying, and awesome.

This thief that was given mercy was, according to writings in the early church time, named ‘Titus’. He repented. He succumbed to the Lord’s love. Early church writings also tell us this man was a brother to ‘Luke’. He had a reputation for evil and hatred, and it was hard for Christians of that day to see Jesus, in a moment, forgive all the evil they knew of this man.

This man met Jesus in ‘paradise’. This is where Jesus went, in the heart of the earth, for three days.

Matthew 12:40 (KJV)
40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Jesus ministered to those in paradise, who had been awaiting His sacrifice so they could then ascend to heaven.

Ephesians 4:8-10 (KJV)
8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9 (Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the Same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things.)

When Jesus ascended, those like Abraham, Moses, and other saints that had been waiting for the price for sin to be fully paid by the blood of Jesus, were taken to heaven. They had been waiting in the part of sheol called paradise.

Psalm 16:10-11 (KJV)
10 For Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell (sheol, the inner earth where hellfire, paradise, and the abyss are located); neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.
11 Thou wilt shew Me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Paul had been shown this place, after his stoning. There he had seen things he could not adequately describe and had to have a thorn in the flesh to make him able to not think only of the glories of paradise.

2 Corinthians 12:1-7 (KJV)
1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth such an one caught up to the third heaven.
3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth
4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.


This was a wonderful place for the thief to sit down and get to know Jesus, his Savior. This place, filled with saints of the Old Testament, having there Jesus that all were rejoicing in His work for them, and the anxious anticipation of all those there of finally getting to ascend to heaven.

What a glorious place to meet Jesus.

Jesus cared about winning souls, even at the time of a painful death. We need to care about souls. Some have wronged us, spoken lies, stolen from us, hurt our loved ones horribly. These thieves had done those kind of things, and Jesus forgave the repentant one, and he went to heaven. We need to preach 'repent', and allow the Holy Spirit to convict. We can then rejoice when a sinner accepts the merciful forgiveness of the Lord.

 

[murjahel]

"It is finished"​

　
What is finished? That is the first question we should be asking. Jesus had chosen to come to earth, to become a man, to give up His powers of deity, in order to live a sinless life, and then die for our sins. The Father had sent Him, had instructed Him along the way, and Jesus had been obedient, even unto death.


The word ‘finished’ is in the passive perfect tense. Jesus was speaking of the work the Lord had done here, not just the work He was doing. God had planned to offer a Sacrifice for sin, and He sent Jesus to be that Lamb. Jesus’ work was to live sinless so He could be that Perfect Sacrifice, and could then be resurrected and conquer sin and death. God had His part of that work now finished, in the Sacrifice.


Jesus had maintained a sinless life so the Sacrifice would be spotless, pure, and able to be a Sacrifice for all of those who repent to Him of their sins. Now, Jesus is finishing His work at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us. The Spirit is finishing His work in leading mankind toward Jesus, and empowering the church for the works they need to do.

The Father’s work was finished, here, in the sacrifice that He had provided. Salvation was now available.


Reconciliation means ‘to restore favor’. God had been offended by sin. Mankind is the offender. Christ is still being our Mediator. The blood of an innocent Sacrifice has been presented and offered. The remission of sins is now possible.

Romans 3:24-25 (KJV)
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

Romans 5:10 (KJV)
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.


The Sacrifice part is finished. Our part is not finished till the rapture, resurrection part. We have a part to continue therein. We have a mission to complete, to do the works of the Lord, winning souls to the kingdom.

Jesus finished His work, as He hung nailed to the cross. We often get in a hurry for God to get us off our cross, we want the ‘throne’ for now. Yet, our work will be finished here, not while sitting on the throne, but while hanging on the cross we have been given. We cannot say ‘it is finished’, for our work is not finished here. We have a charge, to continue the works of Jesus, until He returns.

Luke 19:13 (KJV)
13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.


The word ‘occupy’ is the Greek. "pragmateuomai’ meaning to trade, to stay busy. We are to be busy doing our assigned work, until He comes. We have a mission, we have a cross to bear, we have a destination to reach for the Lord. Until we have done so, we cannot say, as did Jesus, ‘it is finished’.
　

‘Into Thy hands, I commend My Spirit.’


Jesus had said that no one would take His life, but He would lay it down, and then be able to take it up again.

John 10:17-18 (KJV)
17 Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again.
18 No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father.


Laying down His life, willingly giving His life, so that the Sacrifice might be completed, was the finishing work of the Lord. When He had done all else that He had been sent to do, He laid down His life.
　
Jesus wept at Lazarus’ tomb. He knew that He would momentarily raise Lazarus from that tomb, but still Jesus felt the pain of death. He knew what Mary and Martha had suffered for the four days, missing their brother. Death does have pain, for every one of us. Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave, for his work was not yet finished. Lazarus, we are told in church history, ministered for thirty more years, witnessing of the Jesus that he knew.

We someday will face the death of our own selves. As Christians, we know we will soon see Jesus, and the glories of heaven. Yet, the leaving of our responsibilities, our unfinished dreams, our uncompleted hopes is painful. The Lord has a mission for each of us, and many a saint has reached heaven and there still not able to say as Jesus it, that their work was ‘finished’ here on earth.
　

Psalms 116:15 NKJV
"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints."

What is a "saint"? We have heard certain religious bodies use that word for some few, special, beloved Christians who few could claim to have equaled in works, St. John, St. Peter, etc. Yet, the Greek word is "nagios" meaning "a holy one". It is used in the Bible to refer to all Christians. When we accepted Jesus as our Savior, the Lord took away all our sins, and we became "new creations" in Christ Jesus. Our sins were forgiven by God, and when God looks at a forgiven Christian, He sees "a saint." But, if we die with unfinished work, with a mission we ignored, or shunned, will the Lord find our death as ‘precious’ as He would have, had we truly ‘finished’ our work for Him?


In the death of any of us, His saints, the Lord is on the receiving end of the event, and we, those who do not die, are on the losing side. We see the body left in the casket, the person is gone. We may grieve their loss from us. The presence of the saint has been acquired by the Lord. The Lord acquires a loved one to His heavenly abode, and we must relinquish the same loved one from their earthly sojourn with us. Therefore, we sorrow in the loss, and the Lord rejoices in the gain. We miss theirpresence, but the Lord welcomes them home.

The person in the middle of this event, is gone from us, gone from the earthly work they were to be doing for God, and now standing before the Lord, with the necessity of explaining if they had ‘finished’ their mission.


Death is the separation of the soul and spirit from the body. At death, we see the body of the beloved saint, but the real person, the soul and the spirit of the saint, is no longer in our midst, but is safely in the presence of the Lord. The Lord and His angels are rejoicing with the saint.


While the Lord is seeing the coming as ‘precious,’ and as the angels are seeing the coming as ‘joyous’, the saint is going to have to answer the Lord as to their mission here.

Did they ‘finish’ their mission?

2 Corinthians 5:6-9 NKJV
6. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.
7. For we walk by faith, not by sight.
8. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
9. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.


Our aim, our goal, our intended end is to be able to say, ‘It is finished’ when asked about our work for Jesus.


Surely, every saint in heaven misses their husband or wife, their family, and their friends. Heaven does not subside our love for one another. The departed saints have the Lord to comfort them. The Lord knows all things, and can tell the departed saints of the exact times of the arrivals to that heavenly place of all their ‘left-behind’ loved ones. This will comfort them. From the lips of the Lord, the ones in heaven already can hear all about how the rest of us here are doing, for He knows all things. We will be comforted when we reach heaven.


Still, down here, the ones left behind will grieve, miss, sorrow, and await. They have each other for comfort. That is one of our missions down here, to help the bereaved and grieving. We must exercise our faith in the Lord, in the reality of heaven, and in the certainty of our salvation, knowing in such faith, that we will soon be reunited with the saint who has gone on ahead.

The saint has much to say to Jesus, many questions to ask, much learning to do, as the saint stands before the Lord.

Yet, there is one thing that will make the saints far happier in that moment of meeting our Captain of the Lord of hosts, i.e. if we can truly tell the Lord, that our work here was ’FINISHED’.
　
END OF PART 1

 

[murjahel]

PART 2

1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (KJV)
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, Who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.




The word for ‘sting’ is the Greek word ‘kentron’. It refers to a ‘goad’ that was used poke a stubborn ox, to make him move on and on. That constant pain of the goad kept him moving forward, if only for the desire to have it finally quit.


Well, death for the saint, has lost its ‘poking ability’, for we know that one moment after death, we face our loving Savior.



We are not, as Christians, to be ‘prodded’ to move on to heaven. We must, as did Jesus, willingly pick up our cross, finish our work here, and be able to joyously arrive with the words ‘it is finished’. Our work here is to be completed, and though not all we witnessed to were saved, we have done our job, and given the witness.



Jesus hung upon that cross, forgiving the sinners who had just nailed Him there, forgiving the ones who remained evil and defiant to the end. Jesus was not responsible for their response to His work, He was only responsible for doing the work God had given Him.



We may not have multitudes of souls to claim as respondent ones to our work, but we need to be able to say, we gave the witness, we taught the lessons, we prayed the intercession, we ministered. If we have done that which the Lord requires of us, then we can say ‘it is finished’.



As the St. Paul of the Bible times, we can see life as a race, a contest. We all have three score and ten years, maybe a bit more. Death is not to be hurtful to us, but it should be seen as the ‘crossing of the finish line’ in this race in which we are. This life is a difficult contest and we can rejoice to be be finished.



St. Paul sat in a lonely cell writing his last letter to Timothy before they came to take him to his execution. Shortly before his beheading, Paul the apostle wrote:



2 Timothy 4:6-8 NKJV
6. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.



When someone down here on earth finishes a race as the winner, we applaud, we joy for them. When our favorite team wins its football game, we cheer, and applaud. When we have finished our race, have run a good race, have finished our course, and enter into the presence of Jesus and begin receiving much reward, we will no longer think of ‘death’ as a ‘hurt’, but as a blessing beyond measure.



God wants to cheer our arrival, our Lord Jesus wants to greet us too, with 'Welcome home, child!'



Jesus’ hurt of dying on the cross was lessened by His having finished the works that He had been given. Jesus knew that having finished giving the sinless Sacrifice that He is, the church from that point on would be powerfully blessed.




Hebrews 12:2 (KJV)
2 Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisherof our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.


We, too, can endure the pain of death, by being busy in our ministry for others. We have work we are to finish. We are to worship the Lord, do His works, see souls come to Him, intercede for them to grow in the faith, and finish that work we are assigned, before we leave this earth.



How wonderful it is to see a soul come to Jesus. The greatest joy, other than our own salvation, is to win someone to Jesus. To busy ourselves with soul winning, with planting seeds of truth, with intercession for sinners, will bring soon a day, when we can joyously stand face to face with Jesus, and say ‘it is finished’.


When Jesus Himself was in the midst of His own death, He led someone to salvation. He also prayed for those who had beaten and crucified Him.



When Paul and Silas sat in a dungeon, with a sentence of death on them, they had a worship service, and led the Philippian jailer and his family to Jesus that night.


As we finish our work for the Lord, we can be intercessors, witnesses of the love of God, and see great victories.

OUR MISSION TO FINISH
IS TO PREACH:
THE OFFENSE OF THE CROSS ​

Luke 9:23-26
"And He said to them all: If any man will come after Me, let Him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whomsoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it."


Galatians 5:11
"Then is the offense of the cross preached."


The offense of the cross has never ceased. To suppose that it would - is absurdity. The religion of Jesus is the most peaceful, mild, benevolent, and yet history has shown it to be the most attacked and hated. The sinners are offended by the cross. The times of the early church were well-acquainted with the cross. The worst of sinners were put upon crosses and were made to die the most humiliating deaths upon crosses. To be told that the Savior of the world, the Son of God, the Messiah, was put in such a humiliating place for our sins was repugnant to those of that day. It offended them.


Mankind has never liked to admit that he has sinned.


Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

Mankind deserves death, but they are unwilling to admit it.


Romans 6:23
"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life."


Mankind is too proud, and wants to cover sin, and wants to call their sins to be mistakes. The cross humbles mankind.


To defend against the humbling effect of the cross, mankind takes offense, and is angered by the cross. They consider it to be foolishness.



I Corinthians 1:18-24
"preaching of the cross is foolishness to them that perish."

People of the early church period wanted to think they could save themselves. People today think likewise. Government cannot save your soul. The United Nations cannot save your soul. No charity can save your soul. Turning over good leaves cannot save your soul.


Sinners of the early church period protested the religion of the cross, and wanted to proclaim that they could be "all right" if they did their best. Any who believe otherwise, are persecuted. Believers are called "old fashioned", "fanatics".

Believers in the cross are criticized, called 'weak minded'.


I John 3:13
"Marvel not if the world hate you."


Many in Christianity today have also been offended by the cross. Many have done away with songs and sermons on the blood, and on the cross. They reject doctrines on Christ's death and sacrifice for us. They do not want the cross, for they do not want to admit there is a real hell, or sin that could send them there. So many churches preach a bloodless, cross-less gospel. They substitute "social change", "riot", and "marches".



Those in the early church soon began to wear small crosses on a chain or ring about the neck. They loved the cross, they valued what it meant. They wanted to wear such a symbol. Yet, the Lord wants to have us to do so much more than wear just a symbol. The Lord has to us to "take up a cross, and follow Him." We are not ‘FINISHED’ with our work, until we have borne the cross.



Though the world hated the symbol, though the whole idea of a Savior, a Messiah Who would die such a horrible death was repugnant to mankind, still the saints of the early church proudly wore a small cross around their neck. It meant reproach in greater measure, for it identified them to the world as a believer in the Jesus Who died upon an old wooden cross as a horrible criminal would.




In the Psalm quoted by Jesus while He hung upon the cross, we see how He was feeling at that time.



Psalms 22:6
"But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of people."


We all must bear a cross for our Lord, finishing the mission we have been given. This will involve suffering, agony, pain, sorrow, etc.



Psalms 31:11,13
"I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbors, and a fear to mine acquaintance; they that did see me without fled from me. ...For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side; while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life."


Because of the cross, because of the life we must live for the Lord, and because of the message we must proclaim to this world, we find a cross that is difficult to bear. Our friends will reproach us, our friends will even lie against us, misunderstand what others tell them about us, will believe every lie told about us. They will take counsel against us, plot against us.


Psalms 41:5
"Mine enemies speak evil against me, When shall he die, and his name perish?"


Yet, though it be hard and difficult, we are to FINISH our work. When Jesus was dying upon the cross, in the human, mortal body He had chosen to take, He could then say ‘it is FINISHED’. We too can carry the cross given to us by the Lord, and bear it, finally then able to say ‘it is finished.

 

[murjahel]

HIS WORDS TO HIS MOTHER

John 19:
25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple standing by, whom He loved, He saith unto His mother, Woman, behold thy son!
27 Then saith He to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
"Woman, behold your son... Behold, thy mother."


John refers to himself here as ‘the disciple that Jesus loved’. Of course, Jesus loved the other disciples, He even loves me. John reveled in the fact that he was loved by the Lord. He enjoyed the closeness of relationship. We must also do that. We need a close, personal, loving relationship with Jesus.

Some today shy from talking about Mary. Some, in certain denomination, have honored Mary far beyond what the Bible shares about her. They teach that to get close to Jesus one needs to go through Mary. Mary was a human, unable to have omniscience to hear prayers of all, she was not deity, she was not infallible. She is not able to tell Jesus what to do. The answered prayers, the miracles of statues crying, etc. are not from the real Mary who is currently in heaven with the other saints, but are from an evil spirit impersonating Mary. We do need to beware of mariolotry.

The annunciation to Mary at Nazareth is recorded in:
Luke 1:26-38
"...Hail, thou who art highly favored, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women... Fear not, for thou hast found favor with God."


At Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph were visited by shepherds.
Luke 2:8-20
"And there were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field... And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger."


The Levite shepherds told of the angelic chorus that they had witnessed and these same shepherds became the first preachers. Mary pondered these sayings of the shepherds for many years.

Mary "highly favored". She was more favored than any other woman, to be the mother of the Lord.

Mary's character was one to be greatly admired. For she had a quietness of spirit, a meditative, inwardness of disposition, self-control, and she was very devout. She was honored and favored of God for such character.

Mary continued to have such disposition and character, because she knew that she was raising the Messiah. The love of offspring was deeply embedded in Hebrew women. (Jacob obeyed his father and mother, the law said to honor father and mother, a child that strikes a father or mother was killed (Exodus 20:15-17). Thus showing the great respect given by God to the mother.

Who did God choose to be the mother of Jesus? Mary, a descendant of David, a young girl, a devout person.

　​

By the 12th year of Jesus, Jesus had grown, learned, and become very wise:

Luke 2:40-52
"Jesus grew and waxed strong, filled with wisdom and grace of God was upon Him... advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."


At the age of 30, Jesus traveled to a wedding at Cana. It was at that age, 30, that priests would begin their ministry in the Temple. At this wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11), there was a crisis of need. Mary turned to Jesus and was rebuffed by Him. Undaunted, undisturbed by His reply, Mary still prepared the servants to await and to obey His answer. Mary's quiet and yet forceful personality was thereby shown.

When Mary learned of the plot of the religious of that day to kill her Son, she brought His brothers with her to dissuade Jesus from going to the dangerous area of the country.

Matthew 12:46
"While He yet talked to the people, behold, His mother and His brethren stood without desiring to speak with Him."

At the cross, Mary was there. (John 19:25) Mary was about 46 years old at the time. Jesus could not have spoken as He did there, had he not maintained and fulfilled the role of "eldest son". The words of Jesus to John and to His mother, shows the tender love and mutual understanding for each other. Jesus gave a sacred charge to John. She then went with John to Ephesus, more cognizant of the warning of Simeon, that a "sword would pierce her" via this Son.

At Pentecost, (Acts 1:14), Mary was being obedient to the command of Jesus to "tarry until".
"And they (the disciples) continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren."

This is the last mention of Mary in Scripture.

Jesus loved Mary. The earthly work was to be done in 43 more days. After His resurrection, before His ascension, Jesus was going to be very busy. So, Jesus assigns John the special privilege to be like a son to Mary. Mary was likely about 46 years old at the time. John was the one who would not face martyrdom, and he was going to live many more years. Therefore, this loving apostle was a good choice of the one to watch over Mary’s welfare. John and his brother James had been known as ‘sons of thunder’, but their natures had greatly changed. Jesus knew that John would gladly take responsibility.

While carrying our cross, we will still have family concerns. Jesus bore the concern for His mother. We will have siblings, children, a mate, parents, etc for whom we also will have to bear some responsibility. This concern and need to address their needs, is a part of bearing our cross.

We may only intercede, we may witness, we may have to call for help from others, as did Jesus utilizing John to aid His mother.

Jesus was concerned for her welfare. He trusted John more than He trusted His own brothers, James and Jude, who had not yet come to accept Jesus as the Messiah, and as deity.

They did after the resurrection, and became great apostles for the Lord, but Jesus still chose John to care for His mother, whom He loved and appreciated greatly.

Hanging on that cross, in great pain, suffering mocking and hatred from many at the foot of such cross, Jesus was still feeling concern for His mother, the woman who gave Him birth, raised Him, taught Him, and loved Him. She knew He was deity, she respected Him as authoritative.



Jesus had come to earth, to take human form, human identity. He left behind the glories of deity, and was for a while only human in power. The Holy Spirit gave the power for Him to do miracles, God the Father informed Him with words of knowledge and guidance.

So, during the first twelve years of His earthly life, Jesus was obedient as a son to Mary. After twelve, a son was to learn His father’s trade, but His Father was God. So, in the Temple, He made it clear that He was already ‘about His Father’s business.’ The obedience to His mother had ended, and now He was learning from the Father, and working at His Father’s work.

The idea that Jesus is still subservient to Mary is ridiculous.

Jesus answered that hypothesis with a definite "no".
Look at what He taught:
Matthew 12:46-50 (KJV)
46 ... behold, His mother and His brethren stood without, desiring to speak with Him.
...48 But He answered and said unto him that told Him, Who is My mother? and who are My brethren?
49 And He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples, and said, Behold My mother and My brethren!
50 For whosoever shall do the will of My Father Who is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.

Jesus, even then, before He left this earthly time, had already wanted it known that Mary, His earthly mother, was no more family, nor in charge of Him, than any other disciple. I do not tell Jesus what to do, and neither can Mary. We are all in His family now, but He now is totally Supreme, and we all answer to Him as earthly children of God.

This passage in the words of Jesus on the cross of ‘Behold, your mother.... Mother, behold your son...’ was put into the Scriptures, to show us that Jesus wants all of us to likewise remember, that we are all family. Jesus, after the death of Mary’s husband, Joseph, was the firstborn charged with caring for, providing for His earthly mother. He was in charge, making provision for her. Upon leaving this earth, Jesus chooses to have John take over that work for Him.

Mary might have chosen James, or Jude, her other two sons. Yet, Jesus made the determination. Jesus chose the disciple that was closest to Him, knowing John would know what Jesus would have done in various decisions to make. Mary was not even John’s boss, let alone Jesus’.

 

[murjahel]

ON THE WAY TO GOLGOTHA

Luke 23:26-49 (KJV)
26 And as they led Him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.
27 And there followed Him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented Him.
28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.
29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.
30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.
31 For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

Crucifixion was not a mode of punishment of the Jewish people. The Maccabean King, Jannaeus, did use it once to kill over 800 in Jerusalem once. Even the Romans did not use crucifixion until the time of Caesar. During the last siege of Jerusalem 68 to 100 crosses a day were utilized for crucifixions. The soldiers began to amuse themselves with variations of the crucifixions. Crucifixion was of Phoenician origin, and Rome had later adopted it. The punishment was reserved for only those crimes of idolatry and blasphemy.


There were three kinds of crosses used. The Andrew’s cross was a large X, the crux commission was a T, and the Latin cross which was a t. Most believe it was the last one, for a sign was posted above the head, and this is only possible with the third one.

The location of the crucifixion was called ‘Golgotha’, which means ‘the place of the skull.’ Some think that ‘skulls’ littered the area, and therefore it was called that name.

Yet, it was illegal to allow skulls to lay around, so it is likely due to the shape of the hill that the place was called ‘golgotha’. The site is located two to three minutes from the roadway, and it has a high, rounded, skull-like rocky plateau, with a sudden depression beneath, as though the jaws of a skull had opened.

The trip to Golgotha, for a crucifixion, began. Six soldiers led by a centurion walked with Jesus. One carried a sign, supposed to notify on-lookers of the crime of the criminal, but Jesus’ sign said, ‘This is Jesus, King of the Jews’. The walk was a long one, walking about the town, so many would see and know the fate of criminals. Jesus was weak from the 39 stripes, the mocking and jeering had weakened His stamina, and the long night of no sleep made Him unable to carry this heavy cross. He falls under the weight of the cross.


The Old Testament had prophesied that the Messiah would be weak in His crucifixion time.

Psalms 109:24-25
"My knees are weak from fasting; and My flesh has grown lean, without fatness– I also have become a reproach to them; When they see Me, they wag their head."


The soldiers press into service a slave from Cyrene, named Simon. The city of Cyrene, from which Simon came, was a city of Libya, in North Africa. (latitude 32 degrees 40' North, longitude 22 degrees, 15' East) This city was therefore West of Egypt, and separated from Egypt by the Libyan desert. It was where Barca and Tripoli are now. This city was 2000 feet above sea level, and ten miles from the ocean. There was a high range of mountains to the south, (about 80 miles away). This range of mountains sheltered this area from the Sahara heat. The area has a great variety of climate and vegetation. The soil is very fertile. Cyrene was a Greek colony in 630 B.C. It was a center known for its great education. Many Jews were transported there in the dispersion. The Jewish occupants and the converts of such made frequent trips to Jerusalem for feast times. In Jerusalem, the Jews who had been raised in Cyrene, had their own synagogue (Acts 6:9). At the time of the persecution of Stephen, some Cyrenians converted to Christianity. Some of the Christian converts of Cyrene went to Antioch, and preached there the ‘Word, to the Jews only.’ (Acts 11:19)

Matthew 27:32 NAS
‘As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene, named Simon, who they pressed into service (compelled in the KJV, Greek, aggareuo, to be a courier, to press or draft into public service) to bear His cross."

Mark 15:21 NAS
" They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear His cross."

Luke 23:26 NAS
"And they led Him away, they seized (KJV ‘laid hold upon’, Greek epilambanomai, to take hold of)a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed (Gk, epiththemi, imposed upon) on Him the cross, to carry behind Jesus."

Paul mentioned Rufus and his mother, as being in the church of Rome.

Romans 16:13
"Salute Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine."

So, this Simon, had two sons, Alexander and Rufus. ‘Alexander’ meant ‘defender of men’, and ‘Rufus’ meant ‘red, or reddish’. The name Rufus was a common ‘slave’ name.

Mark, at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus was a young person, and he is the one who mentions Simon as being the father of Alexander and Rufus. So, it is likely that Mark and these two boys were near the same age. Likely, Simon was in Jerusalem for the Passover feast, and had brought his family with him. These two young persons became well known in the Christian church, and Mark seems to assume the readers all knew who these two were. The mother of the two sons, and wife of Simon, had obviously done some kindness to Paul, and Paul considered her like his own mother.

Since Rufus and his mother are mentioned in the list of those in the church at Rome, it is likely that they had been taken there in their ‘servitude’. This pressing into service by the Romans may have been made permanent, and this family was transported to Rome to serve further. In the lists of names of the servants of Nero, we do find the names of brothers, Alexander and Rufus.

So it seems that these two became household servants of the most wicked and despicable man of the age, Nero. As servants of the emperor of Rome, indentured to the most anti-Christian gentile of the time, these two not only had found Jesus as Savior, but were in the toughest place to serve their Lord. Rufus, is called by Paul to be ‘chosen of the Lord’, so, he likely was one of the leaders of the church in Rome.

The results of Simon of Cyrene bearing the cross were that Simon himself was saved; Alexander and Rufus, his sons, were saved; the church at Rome was blessed with their testimonies; Rufus became a leader in the church at Rome; many in the household of Nero were saved (including the wife of Nero); and the story has been in the Bible for countless more to be blessed by it.

Our cross bearing will lead to souls being saved too, if we do it as we are called to do. Jesus had a purpose in His carrying of the cross, and He has a purpose in telling us to do the same. The first one to bear the cross of Jesus, was this Simon of Cyrene. He bore it, and his family became part of the early church. Many have been blessed by his story, and by the following events due to his carrying of the cross. The wounds of the cross we bear, are great. So are the benefits of carrying this cross.

Verse 28
Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me ...

In 70 A.D. Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. While Jesus was beginning the sermon of the crucifixion, His mind was on the victims of the judgment that would come as a result of this cruel act done upon Him. He is not dreading the crucifixion, He is seeing it as part of God’s plan. Yet, these women, their children, the innocents of Jerusalem, would shortly, in three decades, be facing destruction of the city, the Temple, and multitudes of Jewish people killed.

This prophetic word was for the ‘daughters’, i.e. the women, of Jerusalem. These women were from Jerusalem, not from Galilee. They were told to weep for themselves and for their children. Christ foresaw their terrible sufferings over 30 years later when many in this same crowd perished in the horrible carnage which took place on the capture of the city.

Other women were in the crowd, women who were followers of Him. These were part of the 70 disciples, and wives, mothers, friends of the disciples.


Luke 23:49 (KJV)
49 And all His acquaintance, and the women that followed Him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.

Luke 23:55 (KJV)
55 And the women also, which came with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how His body was laid.

But this part of His sermon here, is directed to the women of Jerusalem, that shortly would see great judgment, and be affected by the horrible carnage that would ensue.


Verse 29
Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck

The famine in Jerusalem during the Roman siege of the city left many thousands dead. Women often had the choice of feeding what little food was available to themselves, or to their children.


Verse 30
Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us: and to the hills, Cover us

There is a similar cry during the tribulation, but this verse refers to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
In the sixth seal of the tribulation, similar words will be said, as they cried out in 70 A.D. The wrath of God for the ones who reject Jesus, who mistreat the Lord and His disciples, is great. Sin does not escape judgment. Sin is either judged on the cross for us, or sin will bring judgment on us. We must accept the judgment of Jesus for us, on the cross.

Revelation 6:12-17 (KJV)
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?


These words of ‘fall on us’ to the rocks, is a cry of desperation, hoping for any kind of death rather than the kind of death they were facing. Many felt this despair at the time of the siege of Jerusalem. In the tribulation, there will also be this kind of desperation.



Verse 31
For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

This is a proverb expressing the truth that if the Romans would do this to Jesus, as sinless, full of truth and life, as He is, then what will they do to the ones in 70 A.D., who would be rebellious, evil, murderous. In this proverbial statement, Jesus is the fruitful and living "green tree"; the Jews are the "dry tree," dead and unfruitful. If the Romans could treat Jesus with this cruel crucifixion, Who had never given them offense, what will they do to the nation that provokes them greatly.


Jesus had prophesied much about this coming judgment. His coming preceded it by a few decades. Jesus warned the disciples, and told them what to do when the city would be put into siege. They were to flee to the mountains, and hide in caves till the judgment was over.

Matthew 24:1-2 (KJV)
1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and His disciples came to Him for to shew Him the buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

end of part 1, stay tuned for part 2

 

[murjahel]

part 2....

In 70 A.D., the city of Jerusalem was destroyed. Every stone of the Temple was thrown down. Some of these stones were 94 feet by 10 ½ feet, by 13 feet. There were 162 marble columns that were 52 feet high. These stones were thrown down, and the destruction was so complete that Micah’s prophecy was fulfilled, that the site would be plowed.

Micah 3:12 (KJV)
12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

The Temple was set afire, and the gold melted and went into the cracks of the stones. This required the soldiers to move and cast away all the stones in order to retrieve the gold.

Many had rejected the Messiah, Jesus, Who had come to them. They rejected Him, crucified Him, and refused the idea that they had sinned in so doing. This brought swift judgment from God allowing the Romans to destroy Jerusalem and the Temple.

The Jewish nation had considered themselves the "chosen people." They had an exclusive claim to God, they thought.

They have over the centuries come to believe that God preferred them over all other nations. This is not the true meaning and concept that was taught of God. God presented Himself to this world as One who "no respecter of persons." He is also presented as "the same yesterday, today, and forever." So He does not prefer one nation over another.

The idea of being a "chosen people" refers to Israel being chosen to perform a special ministry for God. The Jewish nation were chosen of God to be the vessel that He would use to evangelize the rest of the world. They not only failed in that mission, but many lost their own salvation and rejected the Messiah that was to come and to provide the salvation for all of mankind. God turned from this "chosen people", and chose the "church" to now be the ones given that special ministry to the world.

There is no distinction with God. He loves all. He has no preference in people. The church, however, has the same tendencies as the Jews. The church has tended to shut out certain people, races, etc. throughout its history. There have been cliques, denominational factionalism, bigotry, bias, and exclusivism in many church peoples.


The church is to be "one body in Christ." It is to have many members, but each are to be dependent upon the others. God does not give preeminence to any. He does not even want a priesthood in the church. All of the church are equal in God's eyes. He may give different gifts and offices to those in the church, but never makes any person, or persons, superior or more favored than another. Male or female; rich or poor; right-side-of-the-tracks or wrong-side-of-the-tracks; educated or uneducated; black, white, red, or yellow; are all loved and cherished by the same God -the Lord of Hosts.

I Corinthians 12:13-26
"For by one Spirit are ye all baptized into one body... one body is not one member, but many... if the foot shall say -Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body - is it therefore not of the body? ... God hath tempered the body together."

Galatians 3:28
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ."

Colossians 3:11
"Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian (strangers and foreigners), Scythian (lowest type of bond slaves), bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all."

There is universal salvation offered to everyone. Not all will accept it, some refuse it, and are doomed to fiery judgment. He created many different races, two genders, and allowed many cultures, not to later choose to love only part of them, but to love all.

John 3:16
"For God so loved the world."

I Timothy 2:4-5
"Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

II Peter 3:19
"not willing that any should perish."

Revelation 22:17
"And the Spirit and the bride say 'Come'. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely."

God intends for the church to carry on where Israel failed. We are to do now revival what the Jewish people failed to do then. We are to carry the gospel to all genders, all races, all economic levels, to everyone. God is the "Lord of Hosts."

Jesus experienced in the day of this sermon, the rejection of Israel. He was condemned to death, and He knew that this rejection would bring doom to the people. Here in the first words of the sermon, He expresses a grief for the judgment that would come to them, for their rejection.

 

[murjahel]

THE SERMONS OF JESUS,
THE LAST SEVERAL DAYS BEFORE THE CRUCIFIXION​

Matthew and Mark devote one third of their books to the passion week in the ministry of Jesus, and John allots one half of his book to the same. The week of the crucifixion and resurrection is so vitally important to the gospel message that much space needs to be allocated to its events.


It begins with the arrival of Jesus to the area, and the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Of the events of the week, this one is perhaps the most misunderstood. We have rejoiced at the same events that made our Lord weep, and we have missed the important lessons to be gained from this event.

Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem, amidst shouts of joy, palms carpeting His way into the city. The people were shouting "Hosanna", and rejoicing in the fact that their Messiah had arrived. They expected Him to enter the city, and miraculously, or militarily expel the Romans and begin the new "kingdom" that He had preached about.

If you were there, would you have thought this day to be the greatest ever? Or would you have been weeping, upset, and troubled knowing what was about to happen? The event of the triumphal entry has much to teach us. If Jesus wept, when others rejoiced, what was in His mind that caused such sorrow? Jesus used the event for some great teachings, and these teachings should make us realize that we too should weep before the Lord.

JESUS PRE-WARNED THE DISCIPLES
　

Matthew 20:17-19 (KJV)
17 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them,
18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death,
19 And shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day He shall rise again.

This is the third prediction of the crucifixion given by the Lord to His disciples.

The first is found in Matthew 16:21:
Matthew 16:21-23 (KJV)
21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto His disciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee.
23 But He turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind Me, Satan: Thou art an offence unto Me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

The second is found in Matthew 17:22:

Matthew 17:22-23 (KJV)
22 And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:
23 And they shall kill Him, and the third day He shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.
　
The disciples should have known that the Lord was headed toward a calvary experience, but their hopes, dreams, and whole expectation of the kingdom were warping their discernment. They heard the first part, the ‘killing’ part, but did not discern or understand that the second part, the ‘raised again the third day’ part meant all the difference.

Too many hear sermons today, and are blinded by the devil to hear only a part of the sermon. The best part is often missed. Jesus rebuked Peter as being blinded by the devil as to what the goal and purpose of this ‘death’ would be. Death, sin and the devil were about to all be defeated, and the devil does not want us to understand his end is assured.

On the mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah discussed the crucifixion and resurrection with the Lord. The disciples slept through most of that discussion. Jesus wanted the disciples to know of the hard times, the trials, and the events about to transpire. He warns us likewise, prepares us, and equips us for trials we are about to experience.

Yet, many reject - refuse - ignore - forget - or sleep through such warnings. Jesus tried to prepare the disciples for the trial later in the week with this warning in Matthew 20, and they should have been sensitive to the message, as we should likewise be sensitive to the Spirit and listen - learn - and heed the Spirit's messages to us. If they had been sensitive to what the Lord was trying to tell them, they too would have been far more prepared for the week’s events. Jesus wept on this day of triumphal entry, for He knew that many were not prepared for this weeks events.
Jesus had been waiting in Ephraim, teaching and preparing His disciples for the events of this week. There, overlooking the Jordan river, He finally noticed the crowds down along the river, traveling to Jerusalem for the Passover observance. The scribes, Pharisees, and chief priests had been searching for Jesus, with the intent to have Him put to death, but had not located Him. Now Jesus would be safe amidst the vast crowds of people traveling to Jerusalem, and could make His way without undue delay to the site where He would be crucified.


First, He traveled to Bethany to stay at the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. Many in the crowd were going to stop in Bethany to see the one they had heard had been resurrected after being dead four days. As they made their way to his home to see and talk with him, they came upon a celebrating feast. When they enquired of the resurrection, they were pointed to Jesus, as the One Who had called Lazarus back from paradise.

Many of the Jews began to believe on Jesus, and the excitement of traveling to Jerusalem with the One Who was the Messiah began to grow and to grow. Prophetic awareness was great in some in those days, and the awareness of the prophecy of Daniel of the soon coming of the Messiah, and the prophecy of Zechariah of the Messiah riding into Jerusalem upon a donkey, was known by many.
　

THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY
INTO JERUSALEM​

Matthew 21:1-11 (KJV)
1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto Me.
3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,
7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set Him thereon.
8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.
9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
10 And when He was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?
11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.

SEE PART 2

 

[murjahel]

PART 2

Verse 1
drew nigh unto Jerusalem... were come to Bethphage


Bethphage (which means ‘house of figs’) is about one mile from Bethany, and obviously a town where Jesus had met someone who had some donkeys. Perhaps the man was hoping that when the coming Messiah rode into Jerusalem, it would be on a donkey that he had raised. We do not know if that is the case, but Jesus and he did have an understanding, and the disciples were told to feel free to go, give the message pre-ordained by the Lord and this man, to indicate the time was now for the need of the animals.


The disciples were dispatched to get a colt and its mare, and their excitement likely grew. They forgot the warnings of the Lord concerning His impending death and His promise of the resurrection. Their long held beliefs that the Messiah would expel the Romans, and bring prosperity to the nation began to override all other information in their minds.


Verse 2
Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto Me ...

The Lord had a formerly made agreement with the owner of the colt and mare. The owner likely knew the impending coming of the Messiah and the prophecy of Zechariah. He had the animals tied and waiting the Lord to say that He was ready to use these animals.


When the animals were picked up, the word began to spread that the Messiah was about to proclaim His arrival. The crowd became excited, and the One Who had resurrected Lazarus, and was healing the blind, the lame, etc. as He traveled to Jerusalem, was the obvious Messiah.


This day of entry into Jerusalem was a fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy. Daniel had prophesied (Daniel 9:25) that from the giving of the commandment to return to Jerusalem until the coming of the Messiah would be 69 weeks of years.

69 times 7 = 483 years

The command was given in the 20th year of Artaxerxes' reign. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica this was 445 BC, the first of Nisan which was March 14, 445 BC.
483 years times 360 days each is 173,880 days

From March 14, 445 BC until April 6, AD 32 is exactly 173,880 days.


The book called "The Coming Prince" by Sir Robert Anderson tells us that on April 6, AD 32, on the tenth of Nisan, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey, and offered Himself as King and Messiah (Zechariah 9:9, Luke 19:28-44, Matthew 21:1-11).


Zechariah had predicted the ‘how’ that He would come:

Zechariah 9:9 (KJV)
9 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.


Verse 5
Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass


Matthew loves to record the many Old Testament prophecies that the Lord fulfilled in His first coming. This is one that woke up the city, confirmed what many had begun to believe, that Jesus is the promised Messiah.


Verse 8
And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way


This was common in parades of conquerors, being honored by the people. Yet, many were being reminded of the prophecy of Zechariah, and were seeing this as Jesus announcement to them, of Who He is. So, the crowd began to lay their outer garments and branches broken from the trees into the pathway of Jesus. They boldly called Him to be the "Son of David", which is another term referring to the Messiah.


Jesus rode both a colt and a mare. There has been much argument concerning this, but it is not worth a long debate. Zechariah 9:9 seems to answer the debate of whether Jesus rode one or both.

"... riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

　
Verse 9
Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest


This same phraseology was said once daily, for seven days, during the feast of tabernacles. They said it as they marched with palms around the altar. On the eighth day they marched seven times, and called it the ‘great hosanna’.


This crowd on what we call ‘Palm Sunday’, expected Jesus to save them from human enemies, but Jesus had come to save them from sin, death, and the devil. Some of them may have, two days later, cried out for His crucifixion.


The term "HOSANNA" expresses hope and triumph. The basic meaning of such is "SAVE NOW" or "HELP NOW".


Perhaps they had the verse in Psalms 118 in mind, and were quoting it:
Psalms 118:25
"Save now (hosanna) I beseech Thee, O Lord, I beseech Thee, send now prosperity."


The terms "SON OF DAVID" is equivalent to "MESSIAH" or "ANOINTED ONE". The crowd was accepting Jesus as the Messiah, the Sent and Anointed One Who had come to bring them help and prosperity. Their eyes was on the carnal prosperity, and not on spiritual prosperity though.

Verse 10
And when He was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?


The word moved is the Greek, seio (G4579), meaning to be agitated.


Who is this? The agitated crowd, the pharisees and scribes who days earlier had tried to stone Him, question the crowd. They knew it was Jesus, but they are intimidating the crowd, letting them see their agitation, to make the crowd fearful to admit what they had just acknowledged.


Verse 11
And the multitude said, This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee


The crowd who moments before had said Jesus was the "Son of David" now comes upon the crowd in Jerusalem, which was "moved", ie. agitated by the arrival of Jesus. The ones who had called Jesus to be "the Son of David" now waver in faith, and announce Him to be "the prophet".


Jesus noted their wavering, their backsliding from the revelation they had. This, amidst the hatred of the pharisees, the desire to steal money by Judas, and him impending betrayal of Jesus, breaks the heart of Jesus.

THE SHORT LIVED ‘HOSANNA’
BROKE THE HEART OF THE LORD JESUS​

Elijah hid beneath a juniper tree. He felt discouraged, alone, feared being killed by Jezebel, and was weary and tired. God knows when we are physically and mentally drained. He is merciful in those times. God sent an angel to Elijah, provided food, and had Elijah rest. then Elijah was sent to a cave, and there he heard the ‘still small voice’ of God. Elijah, despite his inclination to hide and pout then, was still chosen to return to finish his ministry during the tribulation.


SEE PART 3.

 

[murjahel]

PART 3

Nicodemus came to talk to Jesus in the darkness of night, in the seclusion of a private area. He was fearful of being seen with Jesus. He was scared to look ‘dumb’. Jesus met with him, and explained ‘born again’. Later Nicodemus was saved, and became a great witness for the Lord. His fear was gone, he could speak of Jesus in the daylight. Even if you are fearful, still, like Nicodemus, talk with Jesus. In the car when alone, on a walk alone, when doing chores alone, talk to the Lord. He will speak powerful messages to you when you are alone


Peter hid by the fire, ‘afar’ off from the trials and beatings of Jesus. He was fearful of ridicule, and of the same fate that Jesus was suffering to come upon him. Many try to blend in with the devil’s crowd today also. Some can say a few curse words, tell a dirty joke or two, and no one will suspect that they are religious.


The crowd will be more comfortable, if they think one is as hell bound as are they. The Lord forgave Peter. He ceased from his hiding ways, and began to stand up for Jesus, even if it meant prison and crucifixion.


The disciples hid in a room, the doors and windows being locked, afraid of suffering the same death as did Jesus. The hatred of the world can be so intense upon we Christians, that we may think to hide from it. The disciples locked the door, locked the windows, and still Jesus paid them a visit.

The fear and hiding were unnecessary, but they let their rebellion against the truths that Jesus had told them about the reality of the crucifixion, to blind their hearts from faith.

They thought denial of the facts that we suffer if we are Christian from attacks from the devil would save them. It did not, so then they hid. There are many today, not getting stronger to fight the devil, not resisting in faith against his attacks, but simply wanting to deny that there are any attacks. When the attacks do come anyhow, some hide.


All but one of the disciples were martyred. Even that one, John, suffered, for he was put in boiling oil, and did not die, and he was exiled to Patmos, a prison island, and still survived. So, the wrath of the devil and the world can come upon us. The wrath of God will not come to us, we have His love and care. So, we seek the Lord, and reverence only Him.


Anna and Simeon did not hide. They were at the temple daily watching and waiting for revelation, so that they could see the Christ when He would be brought to the Temple for dedication.


John the Baptist did not wimp out. He gathered a crowd wherever he was, and preached repentance, and mentioned by name the sins that needed repentance, even the sins of Herod. It cost him his head, but it gained him the title of the ‘greatest’ of all the Old Testament prophets.

John the Baptist was given revelation about Who the Lamb of God, and His arrival. He had a great number of disciples.

The crowds were huge, and many were repenting and being baptized. Then he was suddenly arrested, imprisoned, and was to face the ‘beheader’. Why? He had fulfilled his mission, and had become the ‘greatest of all’ the Old Testament prophets. His honor for eternity is great, due to these trials he had faced.


Paul had revival or riot in his ministry. He started many churches. Yet, he was beaten many times, stoned once, imprisoned often. Finally, he was beheaded. Yet, during all that time, he had visions or visits to paradise, revelations from the Lord aplenty. The troubles of his life, were faced with contentment, and he rejoiced in these troubles, for he saw the great blessings that came with them.

So, we may suffer things that will make us be intimidated by the sinners of this world, and some may be tempted to hide. It would be easy to hide. But, if we stand firm, fight the enemy in faith, we will find miracles and be overcomers for the Lord.



Why do we face trials, persecutions, mockings, and battles? We face them so we can be overcomers. We are told that ‘all things work together for good to them that are called of God and working according to His will.’ That describes what we are to be.


The messages to the seven churches in Revelation 2 & 3 says ‘to him that overcometh will.’ God has ‘will’ for each overcomer. The overcomer will receive great blessings for their stedfast faith, for their willingness to not hide.


If there were no mountains, not barriers, no burdens, no trials, no persecution, no battles, there would be nothing to overcome. God gave us armor, not tuxedos and wedding dresses. God gave us a sword, not a lazy boy chair. God gave us a shield, not a ping pong paddle. God said we would be hated, not loved. God said ‘many are the afflictions’ not many are the carnal rewards.


Paul and Silas sang in the dungeon. Job said ‘though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.’ Peter said to Jesus ‘bid me come’ when the Lord was walking on the water. Elijah heard the still small voice, Joseph was made second to pharaoh in Egypt. Why? They were not hiders, they were overcomers.

Why do some saints have bland, pew sitting existences? They have no victories to report, no overwhelming joy to express because they are hiders, not overcomers.


To avoid battle, Jonah took a ship of flight and hiding in it from the storm. Saul hid in baggage. Prophets hid in caves. !3,000 of Gideon’s army would rather be hiding from battle, and 9700 more would like to delay battle for a while so they can refresh themselves. They were rejected from Gideon’s army.


The ones at the triumphal entry were crying ‘hosanna’, but moments later were too scared to speak the same revelation to those who did not want to hear it. We need to beware lest we break the heart of our Lord, He is still deserving of praise, worship, honor, and witness from us

 

[murjahel]

JESUS WEPT OVER JERUSALEM
　
After this "triumphal entry" on what we call ‘Palm Sunday’, Jesus went to a hillside near Jerusalem and wept. Others thought that the day had been triumphant, but Jesus knew what was about to happen. The people shouted, laughed, and were joyful. HOWEVER, Jesus wept for the hypocrisy, for the instability of mankind, for the soon-to-come deception, and for the betrayal by one of His disciples. He knew what was about to happen.

Jesus could have joined in the laughter, and shouted that the people were momentarily accepting Him as the Messiah, but He knew the soon-coming change in the seemingly wonderful conversion of the crowd.

Luke 19:41-43
"And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it. Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes..."

What things were on the mind of Jesus, that could have made Him weep on what seemed to many others to be a day of rejoicing? He said that these things and reasons that made Him weep were hidden from the eyes of those who were there. It would be wise to step into His select group of disciples, and listen to His message to them. It will reveal what was on His mind...

Let's check what Matthew (the most accurate and precise recorder of Jesus' words) had to say about Jesus' message on the several days following this Palm Sunday.

Look further at the thoughts of Jesus, recorded by David prophetically, but thought by Jesus while on the cross.

Psalm 69:20 (KJV)
20 Reproach hath broken My heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

These are the words of Jesus, given long before He said or thought them, to David, a ‘man after God’s own heart.’ David wanted to know and understand the thoughts and feelings of God, and many of his psalms show God’s revelation to him of what God, and Jesus, would be feeling at various times in the future. These words of Jesus at the crucifixion time show a ‘broken heart’ due to the ‘reproach’ that He was suffering from friend and foe.

The words ‘broken heart’ are figurative language. It is not speaking of a literal ‘heart’ that was ‘broken’. The words rather express of one who is suffering deep inside from pain and sorrow over the hurtful deeds of another. One’s life feels shattered, and hence the ‘broken’, one’s love has been rejected, hence the word ‘heart’. Even on the day of the Triumphal entry, Jesus noticed the hypocrisy of their purported joy. From ‘hosanna’ to a ‘prophet from Nazareth’, the people had quickly backed down from what looked like a spiritual revelation.

Jesus expresses that He even is brokenhearted due to mankind’s behavior and their unfaithfulness to Him. Jesus was soon again brokenhearted when He came to the night of the betrayal, the arrest, trial, crucifixion, and especially from the disciple who denied Him. God understands brokenness due to the sins of others.

Many of the things we need healed from are due to our own sins. Brokenheartedness is sometimes due only to the sins of another. God was brokenhearted, Jesus was brokenhearted, and neither of them sinned. Yet, the pain of the brokenness is real to them.

When someone is brokenhearted, they feel an inner pain that needs to be healed. The pain is real, though a doctor could never find its scar. The medicines that the world offer, do not heal the broken heart. Pills may dull the mind, calm the system, but the broken heart, when the medicines wear off, is still there. A broken heart needs a ‘healing’ only God can give, for a broken heart.

When broken in heart, some relish and cannot stop to think about it. It is constantly upon their minds. Others cannot think of it at all, and refuse to let the memory of the hurt be contemplated. Some must find outlets to express their emotions of the broken heart. Some will mourn over the hurts. Some will create ways to cope and distract from the hurt. While some will need encouragement on a constant basis, others will need to create other victims to achieve revenge. Jesus did not seek revenge, in fact, in several days, He would die for these ones who had just broken his heart.

Tears are far from uncommon when one is brokenhearted. They flow and should flow, for one is greatly hurt. God sheds tears over those who have forsaken His loving gifts. Jesus wept greatly in Gethsemane at the time Judas was betraying Him for the price of a slave. Jesus wept at Lazarus’ tomb.

Crying is not sinful, it is an emotional release that God has designed for us, and for Himself. Someone once said: ‘if someone you love hurts you, cry a river, then build a bridge, and get over it.’ Crying is often the first step in getting over it.

Since Jesus knows first hand what it feels like to have a broken heart, He can also know the steps of healing. Not all who broke the heart of Jesus, who inspired this weeping of the Lord, would ever return to Him. Healing is not dependent upon restoration of the hurting relationship. Yet, God can work on the heart of the one who is broken and hurting. He can heal that heart, no matter what the perpetrator ever does.

Someone once said, ‘God can heal a broken heart, but He needs all the pieces’. The brokenhearted need to come to Jesus, and lay out all the ‘hurting and shattered pieces’ of their lives, and let God begin to put things back together. Many times, if not most always, restoration of a relationship is not found, for God will not overrule the stubborn will of sinners, who arrogantly hurt Him, or His children. Allowing that relationship that brought so much hurt to go, is not symbolic of ‘weakness’, but it takes a holy strength to let go, and let God heal in another way. Jesus was weeping over a city that would that week reject Him, unmercifully beat Him, and put Him on a cross to die, and He had not done any sin to deserve this treatment. If He could heal from that mistreatment, so much, that He could lay down His life for them, and pray ‘forgive them, they know not what they do’, then we too can be healed in our grief.

Jesus is close with those that have broken hearts, for He knows their agony and pain. When Jesus asked ‘who do men say that I am’, one of the answers was ‘Jeremiah’, for Jeremiah was the ‘weeping prophet’. Jesus likewise was a ‘weeper’, feeling the pain of the rejection of many, the coming pain of the cross and its perpetrators. Jesus knows what ‘brokenhearted’ means, and has been ‘touched with the feelings of our infirmities.’

Hebrews 4:15-16 (KJV)
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Therefore, the brokenhearted can find help from the Lord when they turn to Him.

Psalm 34:18 (KJV)
18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

The Lord is ‘nigh’ to the broken of heart. He does save those who come with a humble and contrite heart to Him for such healing.

Psalm 147:3 (KJV)
3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

Jeremiah came to God for healing, for other prophets were speaking harshly to him, and condemning him. He felt pain from that rejection, but kept faithful to speak the words that God gave him. It was heartbreaking to have all the people wanting him to cease. But he called out to God in humility and God was there to comfort him.

Jeremiah 23:9 (KJV)
9 Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.

Hosea had to continue to speak God’s words too. He had an illustrated lesson in his own life of what God was feeling due to Israel’s unfaithfulness. He felt some of what God felt, and could preach his message to the people of what God felt, due to his illustrated lesson with Gomer.

The Lord Jesus that week of the crucifixion felt the anguish of a broken heart due to the rejection of those He had ministered to for three years.

WHAT ARE WE TO DO,
WHEN BROKENHEARTED?​

LOOK WHAT JESUS DID... AND HOW HE DID IT


Hebrews 12:2-3 (KJV)
2 Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider Him Who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.


Jesus, had a ‘joy set before Him’. He knew that this rejection, the coming death on the cross, would being ‘joy’, for sin would be defeated, death would be destroyed, and those who accept Him could have eternal life. That joy, in the thoughts of Jesus made Him able to suffer the pain of the broken heart.


The joy that was set before him was the redemption of all who choose to accept His work on the cross, and so Jesus could ‘endure the contradiction of sinners against Himself.

So, we too should learn how to conquer the broken heart, by the same way Jesus did. He endured, He suffered, He even wept, but the ‘joy’ in knowing that this was the Father’s will, and great good would come from Him doing the will of the Father, so He could endure the suffering.

Whereas, we may often be brokenhearted in a damaging situation with humans, we now have a divine relationship with a God Who loves us tenderly and completely, and shows us joys to come.


Hebrews 4:15-16 (KJV)
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.


God understands, has felt the same kind of pain as the brokenhearted. He has an answer, He knows how to heal.


Hebrews 7:25 (KJV)
25 Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.


God asks of the brokenhearted, to have ‘faith’ in Him. The brokenhearted need to realize that He will ‘reward’ those who come to Him for their healing.


Hebrews 11:6 (KJV)
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.


There is no need for loneliness, for being in the presence of the Lord makes a difference in the life of the seeker.


Acts 4:13 (KJV)
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.



Jesus wept over Jerusalem. He felt grief, and so do we. It is not sinful to weep, to feel a broken heart. It is normal, and yet, we must endure the pain, and look forward with joy, for that is how Jesus did it.