BACKTRACKING TO ‘GOOD’
FRIDAY: LESSON 9
Jesus’ crucifixion
Reading
for today:
Matthew 27:32-66
Mark 15:22-47
Luke 23:26-56
John 19:17-42
Some of the prophecies fulfilled:
Psalm 22:1, 18
Isaiah 53:12
Psalm 34:20
Zechariah 12:10
I recommitted my life to the Lord in the Fall of 1970, after 2 years away from
Him. I walked away from God
because I decided God didn’t exist – a decision based on a huge mistake I had
made that I thought God should have prevented if He were real. My poor decision was the foundation of
my problem – but it was so much easier to blame God. During the time I was away from God I got a divorce, and remarried.
Two
months after remarrying I returned to Him because I was at risk for my body
aborting ‘our baby’ when I was pregnant with our eldest daughter. I was
bleeding, and I prayed and said, “God, I don’t know if You even exist, but if
you are real – and if you are there – if you will save this baby, I will
recommit my life to you.” He was there. He saved the baby. And He ‘saved’ me!”
What
wonderful memories thinking about her life elicits. In addition to all of the
memories of having her as a daughter, the miracle of her coming to full term is
one that has an eternal effect for me.
Another April 19 was the day she was baptized. It was Easter Sunday –her 16th
birthday. Since we were in the Presbyterian Church at that time, and they didn’t
have a baptistry to do immersion baptisms, we arranged to use the one at the
Church of God that afternoon for a special service. Pastor Al DeHaven was the
one who baptized her. She had accepted Jesus as her Savior as a young girl, but
the day she publicly professed her faith was a very special day.
April 19 is also a date tinged with sorrow. It was on another April 19 our
nation was shocked with the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
Because it was my daughter’s birthday, the date stuck in my mind. It was
horrific. I didn’t know anyone who was directly affected until several years
later – but it was incomprehensible to me that hatred could be vented against
so many innocent people. I cannot write today without extending my sympathy to
those still grieving.
It would be easy today to be swallowed up by the sorrow side of life.
I ache for others’ loss of one they loved so dearly. Some people never
experience that depth of love. It is a love many would love to experience. But
such a love lost is a grief beyond expression.
And so, with the reality of a mixture of joys and sorrows, I come to today in
my ‘catching up’ to the texts recording the events surrounding Jesus
crucifixion. But before I get into that, this morning’s loose ends include a
bit left over from the last time I wrote. I wonder about Barabbas – wonder how
being the one who was saved might have affected him later on….
And I lament Judas Iscariot’s rejection of Jesus. He had a choice – and he made
the wrong one. And by the time he recognized it, it was too late. The thing is
– I have made bad choices in the past, and God redeemed them. The reality is,
God looks on the heart. He knew my heart, knows my heart now – that I long to
live a life that honors Him. We do not walk this journey of life alone. Often
our intentions are misconstrued or misunderstood. We just have to keep walking
– living out our faith, and knowing He is the One who will judge men’s hearts.
And – He will judge fairly! That gives me comfort…but I know today will be a
grappling day.
I don’t recall previously paying such close attention to the discrepancies in
the gospel reports. But the key elements are there. John tells us that Jesus
carried his own cross. Matthew says that as they were going out they drafted
Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross. If Simon did, I wonder what effect it had
on him long term…. There is so much we do not know.
What we do know is enough. Jesus was nailed to a cross – a cruel, cruel cross.
To fulfill prophecy, the promised coming of the Messiah had to fall within the
span of years where crucifixion was the form used to kill criminals. It did.
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities….
The sign above his head proclaimed KING OF THE JEWS. They meant it to be
ludicrous – but it was true. He was hung on the cross at about 9 a m. At noon,
the sky turned dark and remained dark until 3 p m, when Jesus proclaimed, “It
is finished” and breathed his final breath. And at his death, the veil in the
temple – a woven veil that was about 4 inches thick, was torn in two – from the
top to the bottom. There was an earthquake, too, but it wasn’t the earthquake
that tore the veil. It was God. Jesus’ death on the cross paid the price for
sin forever. The wall that Adam built between man and God with original Sin,
was now paid for – paid in full…by the second Adam from above. The veil that separated God from his
created was torn and the New Covenant through Jesus’ blood came into effect –
with people having direct access to God for the first time since Adam and Eve
walked with Him in the Garden of Eden.
Monumental! Amazing!
It seems to me that the most awful thing Jesus endured in all of that process
was when He could no longer feel God’s presence. From birth He had always known
God’s presence with Him, through every trial and temptation. At the moment that
He became Sin for us, and became the sacrificial lamb, it appears God the
Father could not look upon that sin, for Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me.” It begs the question of ‘Did God actually forsake Jesus?’
or did it just feel that way? Feeling that way certainly felt real – and for
the first time in His life, an utter, empty loneliness….
When we truly walk in His footsteps we walk by faith, not by sight – and
certainly not by feeling. Sometimes, we, too, feel God has abandoned us. As
long as we, by our choice, remain ‘in the vine’ we are never left alone. That
was Jesus promise.
What He did for us on the cross is too amazing to understand completely – but we
do know that when God looks at us, He sees us through the filter of Jesus’
blood shed for Sin. The splotching of sin that stains us when we mess up is
hidden by Jesus’ cleansing blood. But – we do come freely – all because of what
He did on the cross. The veil represented that. It was torn in two from top to
bottom. The Most Holy place – the Holy of Holies was suddenly accessible to
man. What was only accessed by one priest once a year on the Day of Atonement
suddenly became available to all just for entering. And the only way we can
have that access is because God sees us through Jesus….
Now we can call him Abba – Daddy. God is no longer the unspeakable name – one
so fearful that we cannot approach Him. We should not lose the respect for Who
He is – but we should be very grateful that instead of being accessible to only
a few we can be in intimate relationship with Him – the very God who created
heaven and earth…. How amazing. What amazing love that God should love one such
as I, leave His home in glory, be brutalized by the created, and die for mankind.
Once they killed Jesus, many realized that He was indeed the Son of God.
After Jesus died, Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.
He and Nicodemus, both behind-the-scenes believers, took Jesus and laid him in
a borrowed grave. John tells us that they used 75 pounds of burial spices – and
they wrapped him in a linen cloth. By 6 p m – before the Day of Preparation for
this very special Sabbath ended – the stone had been rolled into place. The two
Mary’s saw where he had been laid before they left.
The next day, on the Sabbath, the chief priests and Pharisees who had heard His
prophecies about rising again from the dead went to the authorities and asked
if a guard could be posted until after the third day…just to be sure no one
came and stole his body and then claimed He had risen again. Pilate
accommodated their request – but later, when Jesus ‘went missing’, he didn’t
execute the guards…. After what Pilate experienced personally with Jesus, did
he hope the prophecy was true?
Reading for today:
Matthew 27:32-66
Mark 15:22-47
Luke 23:26-56
John 19:17-42
Some of the prophecies fulfilled:
Psalm 22:1, 18
Isaiah 53:12
Psalm 34:20
Zechariah 12:10
I recommitted my life to the Lord in the Fall of 1970, after 2 years away from Him. I walked away from God because I decided God didn’t exist – a decision based on a huge mistake I had made that I thought God should have prevented if He were real. My poor decision was the foundation of my problem – but it was so much easier to blame God. During the time I was away from God I got a divorce, and remarried.
Another April 19 was the day she was baptized. It was Easter Sunday –her 16th birthday. Since we were in the Presbyterian Church at that time, and they didn’t have a baptistry to do immersion baptisms, we arranged to use the one at the Church of God that afternoon for a special service. Pastor Al DeHaven was the one who baptized her. She had accepted Jesus as her Savior as a young girl, but the day she publicly professed her faith was a very special day.
April 19 is also a date tinged with sorrow. It was on another April 19 our nation was shocked with the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Because it was my daughter’s birthday, the date stuck in my mind. It was horrific. I didn’t know anyone who was directly affected until several years later – but it was incomprehensible to me that hatred could be vented against so many innocent people. I cannot write today without extending my sympathy to those still grieving.
It would be easy today to be swallowed up by the sorrow side of life.
I ache for others’ loss of one they loved so dearly. Some people never experience that depth of love. It is a love many would love to experience. But such a love lost is a grief beyond expression.
And so, with the reality of a mixture of joys and sorrows, I come to today in my ‘catching up’ to the texts recording the events surrounding Jesus crucifixion. But before I get into that, this morning’s loose ends include a bit left over from the last time I wrote. I wonder about Barabbas – wonder how being the one who was saved might have affected him later on….
And I lament Judas Iscariot’s rejection of Jesus. He had a choice – and he made the wrong one. And by the time he recognized it, it was too late. The thing is – I have made bad choices in the past, and God redeemed them. The reality is, God looks on the heart. He knew my heart, knows my heart now – that I long to live a life that honors Him. We do not walk this journey of life alone. Often our intentions are misconstrued or misunderstood. We just have to keep walking – living out our faith, and knowing He is the One who will judge men’s hearts. And – He will judge fairly! That gives me comfort…but I know today will be a grappling day.
I don’t recall previously paying such close attention to the discrepancies in the gospel reports. But the key elements are there. John tells us that Jesus carried his own cross. Matthew says that as they were going out they drafted Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross. If Simon did, I wonder what effect it had on him long term…. There is so much we do not know.
What we do know is enough. Jesus was nailed to a cross – a cruel, cruel cross. To fulfill prophecy, the promised coming of the Messiah had to fall within the span of years where crucifixion was the form used to kill criminals. It did.
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities….
The sign above his head proclaimed KING OF THE JEWS. They meant it to be ludicrous – but it was true. He was hung on the cross at about 9 a m. At noon, the sky turned dark and remained dark until 3 p m, when Jesus proclaimed, “It is finished” and breathed his final breath. And at his death, the veil in the temple – a woven veil that was about 4 inches thick, was torn in two – from the top to the bottom. There was an earthquake, too, but it wasn’t the earthquake that tore the veil. It was God. Jesus’ death on the cross paid the price for sin forever. The wall that Adam built between man and God with original Sin, was now paid for – paid in full…by the second Adam from above. The veil that separated God from his created was torn and the New Covenant through Jesus’ blood came into effect – with people having direct access to God for the first time since Adam and Eve walked with Him in the Garden of Eden. Monumental! Amazing!
It seems to me that the most awful thing Jesus endured in all of that process was when He could no longer feel God’s presence. From birth He had always known God’s presence with Him, through every trial and temptation. At the moment that He became Sin for us, and became the sacrificial lamb, it appears God the Father could not look upon that sin, for Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” It begs the question of ‘Did God actually forsake Jesus?’ or did it just feel that way? Feeling that way certainly felt real – and for the first time in His life, an utter, empty loneliness….
When we truly walk in His footsteps we walk by faith, not by sight – and certainly not by feeling. Sometimes, we, too, feel God has abandoned us. As long as we, by our choice, remain ‘in the vine’ we are never left alone. That was Jesus promise.
What He did for us on the cross is too amazing to understand completely – but we do know that when God looks at us, He sees us through the filter of Jesus’ blood shed for Sin. The splotching of sin that stains us when we mess up is hidden by Jesus’ cleansing blood. But – we do come freely – all because of what He did on the cross. The veil represented that. It was torn in two from top to bottom. The Most Holy place – the Holy of Holies was suddenly accessible to man. What was only accessed by one priest once a year on the Day of Atonement suddenly became available to all just for entering. And the only way we can have that access is because God sees us through Jesus….
Now we can call him Abba – Daddy. God is no longer the unspeakable name – one so fearful that we cannot approach Him. We should not lose the respect for Who He is – but we should be very grateful that instead of being accessible to only a few we can be in intimate relationship with Him – the very God who created heaven and earth…. How amazing. What amazing love that God should love one such as I, leave His home in glory, be brutalized by the created, and die for mankind.
Once they killed Jesus, many realized that He was indeed the Son of God.
After Jesus died, Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. He and Nicodemus, both behind-the-scenes believers, took Jesus and laid him in a borrowed grave. John tells us that they used 75 pounds of burial spices – and they wrapped him in a linen cloth. By 6 p m – before the Day of Preparation for this very special Sabbath ended – the stone had been rolled into place. The two Mary’s saw where he had been laid before they left.
The next day, on the Sabbath, the chief priests and Pharisees who had heard His prophecies about rising again from the dead went to the authorities and asked if a guard could be posted until after the third day…just to be sure no one came and stole his body and then claimed He had risen again. Pilate accommodated their request – but later, when Jesus ‘went missing’, he didn’t execute the guards…. After what Pilate experienced personally with Jesus, did he hope the prophecy was true?
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