- Oct 13, 2009
- 2,852
- 3,872
- 53
- Country
- India
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Celibate
Dear friends, I hope that the Lord had been blessing and prospering you 
. It’s good to be back with all of you. No, this isn’t about the Robert Redford movie (that title ends with Condor). Easter is just about a month away and some of you have already been fasting and praying. Churches across America and the world will be resonating with Easter sermons. I merely wanted us to see things from the perspective of Jesus, the Son of Man, lest we desecrate His sacrifice (Hebrews 6:4, 10:29) and reject His Grace out of ignorance (Matthew 12:31-32). It’s one thing to see Jesus as the Son of God and marvel at His sacrifice for us and it’s a totally different issue to see an innocent man (Luke 23:4) die for us (Mark 15:37). How would we feel about a man who held no grudge against us (Luke 23:34), even when we killed Him (Isaiah 53:5-6)? Could this man be innocent or was He just a fool? If we concluded that He was innocent, would we still be complaining about our sufferings and our difficulties or would we be filling up in our flesh what was lacking in regards to His afflictions (Colossians 1:24)? If an innocent man could be so full of the Holy Spirit and power that He could endure the most brutal form of execution at that time, isn’t it possible that we’d have the staying power in this life? Wouldn’t misery be replaced with joy (Romans 12:12), wouldn’t the lame rise and walk (Acts 3:6), wouldn’t the feeble be strengthened (Isaiah 35:3), and wouldn’t Satan and his demons be bowing down to us (Luke 10:18)? If a 33 year old young man who had His whole life ahead of Him died prematurely, would we be still afraid of death (1 Corinthians 15:55)? If you’re convinced that this Jesus of Nazareth was a good and innocent Man, and truly the Son of God, then please read on.
I’d like for us to start with the events that transpired before the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:1-6). This passage narrates how Judas Iscariot was seduced by Satan to betray the Lord Jesus. How would we feel if our best friend betrayed us? Would we be enraged or would we acknowledge that God Almighty was somehow accomplishing His will through such betrayal (Luke 24:7)? Would we seek revenge or would we simply point his or her folly (Luke 22:48)? Why would a Man deliberately choose a traitor for a confidante (John 6:70)? Was this man a fool who lacked common wisdom or was He eternally wise (Matthew 26:56)? Was His foolishness wiser than man’s wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:25) or was He just a common criminal who deserved to die (Luke 23:35-37)?
Let’s move on to the Last Supper (Luke 22:7-38). This Man who called Himself the Son of God and hence God (John 10:30, Luke 22:70) was eager (Luke 22:15) to eat the last meal with His friends. Men on death-row, i.e., those ready to face capital punishment are granted one last wish. Most generally wish for a good home-cooked meal. Did this good Man from Nazareth desire such a meal in the company of friends one last time? Was He behaving like a Man on death-row, or should we have taken His place?
Men in ancient Israel greeted each other with a holy kiss (Romans 16:16, 2 Corinthians 13:12). Here we see a Man who was washing the feet of His friends (John 13:3-12). Was He a renegade intent on rebelling against the status quo or was He Divinely inspired to set new and better standards? Was the lowly carpenter’s Son demonstrating His inferiority or was He Divinely inspiring His friends to a higher calling and leadership (Matthew 20:26)?
Now let’s us look into His anguish in Gethsemane. This Galilean prayed so earnestly that He sweat great drops of blood (Luke 22:44). What was causing this Man such distress and sorrow? Was it His impending crucifixion? How could someone Who predicted His Own death (Mark 10:32-34) be terrified of dying? Is it possible that this innocent Man who always loved and obeyed God (Philippians 2:8) was terrified of being shut out from God’s Presence (Matthew 27:46)? Can such a devout Man be God’s Son or did He put up a good performance? I’ll let you decide.
For brevity, let’s quickly move on to the narrative about the death of this itinerant Evangelist (Mark 1:38). Matthew 27:51 tells us that a great earthquake occurred at the moment of the Son of Man’s death. Tombs broke open and the dead were raised to life (Luke 27:52-53). Jefferson Williams, Markus Schwab and A. Brauer reported in 2012 in the “International Geology Review” that a 6.3 magnitude (on the Richter scale) earthquake occurred between 26-36 AD, i.e., during the time of Jesus of Nazareth. Was this just a geological fluke? Or did the death of this Man have more significant ramifications? Was God Almighty shaking up the planet as He promised (Haggai 2:6, Hebrews 12:26) to weed out sin? Did it herald the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire (which didn’t officially end until 1453 AD) and herald the beginning of God’s kingdom?
This gentle Nazirite (Isaiah 42:3), who was buried in a borrowed tomb (Matthew 27:57-60) and had a Roman sentry guarding his tomb lest His Body be stolen (Matthew 27:65-66), was nowhere to be found on the dawn of first day of the week (Matthew 28:1)! Did His disciples steal His body as the Jews had feared (Matthew 27:62-64) or was He resurrected as the Roman guards had truthfully reported (Matthew 28:11)? Did His beloved followers Mary Magdalene and the other Mary have delusions or did they see truly see the Angel of God reporting the resurrection of the Son of God (Matthew 28:2-8)?
If we believe that this Jesus, the Son of Joseph, is indeed the Son of God, then this Easter let’s try and understand His passion as that of a Man who gave everything so that we may live. This Easter when Pastor’s across America and the world deliver sermons on the Passion of the Christ, let’s not forget the suffering of Jesus, the Nazirite, an ordinary carpenter who died young, was deprived the pleasure of a family, a career, and a life (as we’d call it). If this Man was resurrected in power, will you and I not rise in glory? If His crucifixion spared us our punishment, don’t we have an obligation to tell the world that their punishment is spared as well? If His resurrection put a spring in the step of His terrified followers and caused them to hurry (Matthew 28:8) to tell others, should we not be in a similar hurry to tell the world? The Missions team of the travelingteam.com estimates that 764 million people are yet to be evangelized and have never heard the gospel. That’s more than 2.5 times as many as Rev. Billy Graham reached out to. This Easter will we all make a commitment to fulfill Billy’s dream and our Lord’s mandate (Matthew 28:19) to reach out to the ever growing number of unsaved? I pray that we do. Amen.
Sorry about the very lengthy post saints. I was hoping to focus more on the Passion of Jesus the Son of Man, so that we could relate to His humanity better and hopefully understand His redemption on the Cross better.
Dear friends, I’m quite certain that all of you are sanctified, Holy Ghost baptized saints. Should there be any among you that don’t know the Lord yet, I pray that the Lord of the Universe will set you free from sin and disobedience into His glorious light and freedom. Amen.
Finally friends, my intention in this writing was only to illustrate some concepts and not incriminate anybody in anyway. I apologize if some or all of this content offended you in anyway, as my intention was quite the opposite
PS: Thanks for taking the time to read my scribble saints. If you find a lot of similarities between this writing and those of Rev. Oswald Chambers, that’s because the late Rev. Chambers is my mentor. “Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will raised in glory (1 Corinthians 15:43).” Amen.
. It’s good to be back with all of you. No, this isn’t about the Robert Redford movie (that title ends with Condor). Easter is just about a month away and some of you have already been fasting and praying. Churches across America and the world will be resonating with Easter sermons. I merely wanted us to see things from the perspective of Jesus, the Son of Man, lest we desecrate His sacrifice (Hebrews 6:4, 10:29) and reject His Grace out of ignorance (Matthew 12:31-32). It’s one thing to see Jesus as the Son of God and marvel at His sacrifice for us and it’s a totally different issue to see an innocent man (Luke 23:4) die for us (Mark 15:37). How would we feel about a man who held no grudge against us (Luke 23:34), even when we killed Him (Isaiah 53:5-6)? Could this man be innocent or was He just a fool? If we concluded that He was innocent, would we still be complaining about our sufferings and our difficulties or would we be filling up in our flesh what was lacking in regards to His afflictions (Colossians 1:24)? If an innocent man could be so full of the Holy Spirit and power that He could endure the most brutal form of execution at that time, isn’t it possible that we’d have the staying power in this life? Wouldn’t misery be replaced with joy (Romans 12:12), wouldn’t the lame rise and walk (Acts 3:6), wouldn’t the feeble be strengthened (Isaiah 35:3), and wouldn’t Satan and his demons be bowing down to us (Luke 10:18)? If a 33 year old young man who had His whole life ahead of Him died prematurely, would we be still afraid of death (1 Corinthians 15:55)? If you’re convinced that this Jesus of Nazareth was a good and innocent Man, and truly the Son of God, then please read on.I’d like for us to start with the events that transpired before the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:1-6). This passage narrates how Judas Iscariot was seduced by Satan to betray the Lord Jesus. How would we feel if our best friend betrayed us? Would we be enraged or would we acknowledge that God Almighty was somehow accomplishing His will through such betrayal (Luke 24:7)? Would we seek revenge or would we simply point his or her folly (Luke 22:48)? Why would a Man deliberately choose a traitor for a confidante (John 6:70)? Was this man a fool who lacked common wisdom or was He eternally wise (Matthew 26:56)? Was His foolishness wiser than man’s wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:25) or was He just a common criminal who deserved to die (Luke 23:35-37)?
Let’s move on to the Last Supper (Luke 22:7-38). This Man who called Himself the Son of God and hence God (John 10:30, Luke 22:70) was eager (Luke 22:15) to eat the last meal with His friends. Men on death-row, i.e., those ready to face capital punishment are granted one last wish. Most generally wish for a good home-cooked meal. Did this good Man from Nazareth desire such a meal in the company of friends one last time? Was He behaving like a Man on death-row, or should we have taken His place?
Men in ancient Israel greeted each other with a holy kiss (Romans 16:16, 2 Corinthians 13:12). Here we see a Man who was washing the feet of His friends (John 13:3-12). Was He a renegade intent on rebelling against the status quo or was He Divinely inspired to set new and better standards? Was the lowly carpenter’s Son demonstrating His inferiority or was He Divinely inspiring His friends to a higher calling and leadership (Matthew 20:26)?
Now let’s us look into His anguish in Gethsemane. This Galilean prayed so earnestly that He sweat great drops of blood (Luke 22:44). What was causing this Man such distress and sorrow? Was it His impending crucifixion? How could someone Who predicted His Own death (Mark 10:32-34) be terrified of dying? Is it possible that this innocent Man who always loved and obeyed God (Philippians 2:8) was terrified of being shut out from God’s Presence (Matthew 27:46)? Can such a devout Man be God’s Son or did He put up a good performance? I’ll let you decide.
For brevity, let’s quickly move on to the narrative about the death of this itinerant Evangelist (Mark 1:38). Matthew 27:51 tells us that a great earthquake occurred at the moment of the Son of Man’s death. Tombs broke open and the dead were raised to life (Luke 27:52-53). Jefferson Williams, Markus Schwab and A. Brauer reported in 2012 in the “International Geology Review” that a 6.3 magnitude (on the Richter scale) earthquake occurred between 26-36 AD, i.e., during the time of Jesus of Nazareth. Was this just a geological fluke? Or did the death of this Man have more significant ramifications? Was God Almighty shaking up the planet as He promised (Haggai 2:6, Hebrews 12:26) to weed out sin? Did it herald the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire (which didn’t officially end until 1453 AD) and herald the beginning of God’s kingdom?
This gentle Nazirite (Isaiah 42:3), who was buried in a borrowed tomb (Matthew 27:57-60) and had a Roman sentry guarding his tomb lest His Body be stolen (Matthew 27:65-66), was nowhere to be found on the dawn of first day of the week (Matthew 28:1)! Did His disciples steal His body as the Jews had feared (Matthew 27:62-64) or was He resurrected as the Roman guards had truthfully reported (Matthew 28:11)? Did His beloved followers Mary Magdalene and the other Mary have delusions or did they see truly see the Angel of God reporting the resurrection of the Son of God (Matthew 28:2-8)?
If we believe that this Jesus, the Son of Joseph, is indeed the Son of God, then this Easter let’s try and understand His passion as that of a Man who gave everything so that we may live. This Easter when Pastor’s across America and the world deliver sermons on the Passion of the Christ, let’s not forget the suffering of Jesus, the Nazirite, an ordinary carpenter who died young, was deprived the pleasure of a family, a career, and a life (as we’d call it). If this Man was resurrected in power, will you and I not rise in glory? If His crucifixion spared us our punishment, don’t we have an obligation to tell the world that their punishment is spared as well? If His resurrection put a spring in the step of His terrified followers and caused them to hurry (Matthew 28:8) to tell others, should we not be in a similar hurry to tell the world? The Missions team of the travelingteam.com estimates that 764 million people are yet to be evangelized and have never heard the gospel. That’s more than 2.5 times as many as Rev. Billy Graham reached out to. This Easter will we all make a commitment to fulfill Billy’s dream and our Lord’s mandate (Matthew 28:19) to reach out to the ever growing number of unsaved? I pray that we do. Amen.
Sorry about the very lengthy post saints. I was hoping to focus more on the Passion of Jesus the Son of Man, so that we could relate to His humanity better and hopefully understand His redemption on the Cross better.
Dear friends, I’m quite certain that all of you are sanctified, Holy Ghost baptized saints. Should there be any among you that don’t know the Lord yet, I pray that the Lord of the Universe will set you free from sin and disobedience into His glorious light and freedom. Amen.
Finally friends, my intention in this writing was only to illustrate some concepts and not incriminate anybody in anyway. I apologize if some or all of this content offended you in anyway, as my intention was quite the opposite
PS: Thanks for taking the time to read my scribble saints. If you find a lot of similarities between this writing and those of Rev. Oswald Chambers, that’s because the late Rev. Chambers is my mentor. “Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will raised in glory (1 Corinthians 15:43).” Amen.
