THE FIFTH WORD FROM THE CROSS

THE FIFTH WORD
"I thirst." Gospel of John 19:28

"The fifth word of Jesus is His only human expression of His physical suffering. Jesus is now in shock. The wounds inflicted upon him in the scourging, the crowning with thorns, and the nailing upon the cross are now taking their toll, especially after losing blood on the three-hour walk through the city of Jerusalem to Golgotha on the Way of the Cross."   Source: http://www.jesuschristsavior.net/Words.html

Jesus is fully a human being.  When he was on earth, before his resurrection, he had all the same needs that you and I do.  How else could he convince us that he understands our pain and has walked where we walk?  How else could he “learn obedience from the things he suffered”?  How else could he take our place and take our punishment?  And so he became the only human being worthy to stand before God:

 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.  And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”  But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.  I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.  Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”  …

 “You are worthy to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
    and with your blood you purchased for God
    persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
    and they will reign on the earth.”   Revelation 5:1-10

THE FOURTH WORD FROM THE CROSS

THE FOURTH WORD
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34

This was the only expression of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Both Gospels related that it was in the ninth hour, after 3 hours of darkness, that Jesus cried out this fourth word. The ninth hour was three o'clock in Judea. After the fourth Word, Mark related with a horrible sense of finality, "And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last" (Mark 15:37).

One is struck by the anguished tone of this expression in contrast to the first three words of Jesus. This cry is from the painful heart of the human Jesus who must feel deserted by His Father and the Holy Spirit, not to mention his earthly companions the Apostles. As if to emphasize his loneliness, Mark even has his loved ones "looking from afar," not close to him as in the Gospel of John. Jesus feels separated from his Father. He is now all alone, and he must face death by himself.

But is not this exactly what happens to all of us when we die? We too are all alone at the time of death! Jesus completely lives the human experience as we do, and by doing so, frees us from the clutches of sin.

His fourth Word is the opening line of Psalm 22, and thus his cry from the Cross recalls the cry of Israel, and of all innocent persons who suffer. Psalm 22 of David makes a striking prophecy of the crucifixion of the Messiah at a time when crucifixion was not known to exist: "They have pierced my hands and my feet, they have numbered all my bones" (22:16-17). The Psalm continues: "They divide my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots" (22:18).

There can not be a more dreadful moment in the history of man as this moment. Jesus who came to save us is crucified, and He realizes the horror of what is happening and what He now is enduring. He is about to be engulfed in the raging sea of sin. Evil triumphs, as Jesus admits: "But this is your hour" (Luke 22:53). But it is only for a moment. The burden of all the sins of humanity for a moment overwhelm the humanity of our Savior.

But does this not have to happen? Does this not have to occur if Jesus is to save us? It is in defeat of his humanity that the Divine plan of His Father will be completed. It is by His death that we are redeemed. "For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as ransom for all" (I Timothy 2:5-6).

"He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross,
so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness.
By his wounds you have been healed."
I Peter 2:24

Source: http://www.jesuschristsavior.net/Words.html

THE THIRD WORD FROM THE CROSS

THE THIRD WORD
"Jesus said to his mother: "Woman, this is your son."
Then he said to the disciple: "This is your mother." Gospel of John 19:26-27

Jesus and Mary are together again, at the beginning of his ministry in Cana and now at the end of his public ministry at the foot of the Cross. The Lord refers to his mother as woman at the Wedding Feast of Cana (John 2:1-11) and in this passage, recalling the woman in Genesis 3:15, the first Messianic prophecy of the Redeemer, and anticipating the woman clothed with the sun in Revelation 12.

What sorrow must fill Mary's heart, to see her Son mocked, tortured, and crucified. Once again, a sword pierces Mary's soul: we are reminded of the prediction of Simeon at the Temple (Luke 2:35) . There are four at the foot of the cross, Mary his Mother, John, the disciple whom he loved, Mary of Cleopas, his mother's sister, and Mary Magdalene. He addresses his third word to Mary and John, the only eye-witness of the Gospel writers.

But again Jesus rises above the occasion, and his concerns are for the ones that love him. The good son that He is, Jesus is concerned about taking care of his mother. 

Source: http://www.jesuschristsavior.net/Words.html

About Freedom -- An Easter Meditation

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  Galatians 5:1

 

Galatians is truly a wonderful book.  It is about freedom.  “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”  This is such good news we can hardly believe it.  In fact, most of the time people don’t believe it.  If, when they hear this good news and come to Christ they feel a rush of happiness at this freedom, they soon replace it with some level of bondage again. 

Even though we long for freedom with our whole being, we human beings find it hard to STAY free!  Why is that? 

For some, it’s because we don’t think we deserve it.  DUH!!  Isn’t that the whole point of the gospel!  We didn’t deserve it and God loved us and sent his Son who paid the price of our undeserving selves.  Last night I heard a story that comes from Leviticus.  The Israelites were told to bring in two pigeons as offerings.  The one was killed and they put its blood on the other one and set it free.  Bingo!  Jesus and I come before God – Jesus was killed and by my acceptance of that God puts his blood “on” me – I fly free.

Good news!

There are other psychological reasons that we don’t STAY free.  One is pride.  Accepting God’s offer of a free exchange doesn’t leave me any room to brag.  I am standing there psychologically naked before God.  That is uncomfortable – since the time of Adam who went and found some old leaves to cover up his nakedness!  I feel I must get rid of my sense of uncomfortableness by doing something – even leaves will do.  But that is a slippery slope.  First leaves, then skins.  Then Eve looks at the two of them and says, “We can do better than this.  These skins have no style!”  And she creates a whole industry based on looking good.

Voila! --

Looking good to each other and to ourselves begins to take over and cover up the reality that, yes, we are naked before God but we don’t have to be ashamed anymore because God himself has covered us, through Christ, and we are really, truly, forever, freely OK.

When will we ever learn!   

These intrusions on our freedom are so sneaky.  There is the religious cover-up, also.  We accept Christ and are happy.  We come to church to be with other people who know Christ (because our old friends don't understand us anymore), but after a while we notice these people aren’t all happy.  They have problems, and we still have problems, and someone says, “Come over here – I have found a fix for this problem.”  And someone else says, Going to church often will help the problems.  And then it’s, “Serving the poor will help us feel better and fix the problems.”  Or “Serving the poor in Africa will really put us in good stead and make us happy.”

And, voila! --

Next thing you know we are dragged down the same path of thinking – that our own actions will get us right with God and people.

Help!

Although there are many paths to losing our freedom in Christ,  

there is always the same simple way out. 

Come to the cross. 

Kneel there. 

Confess that you can’t do it. 

Receive God’s forgiveness and ask for his help. 

Open your heart to His Spirit doing it through you.

Get up and go with God.

Breathe.

Isn’t freedom wonderful.