The greatest day in history

The greatest day in history, Death is beaten
You have rescued me
Sing it out: Jesus is alive!
The empty cross, The empty grave
Life eternal You have won the day
Shout it out: Jesus is alive!
He's alive!

Chorus:
Oh happy day, happy day
You washed my sin away
Oh happy day, happy day
I'll never be the same
Forever I am changed

Verse 2:
When I stand, in that place
Free at last, meeting face to face
I am Yours Jesus You are mine
Endless joy, perfect peace
Earthly pain finally will cease
Celebrate! Jesus is alive!
He's alive!

Bridge:
Oh what a glorious day
What a glorious way
That You have saved me
Oh what a glorious day
What a glorious name

Holy Week Thoughts - Saturday

Their hopes had been crushed.

Most of them had fled.

Doubt and anguish - the two-headed monster they sought refuge from.

So painful...I'm sure they would not have been able to eat

Into hiding...

"What if they come looking for us because we followed Him?"

Their grief... overwhelming

weeping, weeping, weeping

And they did not have the luxury that we do to scan down the next few lines of history to find the outcome.

It was Saturday...

Holy Week Thoughts - Good Friday

Jesus' Song While on the Cross


They are called The 7 Last Words of Christ

His last 7 utterances while hanging on the cross

Have you ever considered that most of them were lyrics from a song?

As He was hanging in agony on the cross - Christ was worshipping

A crucifixion, in part, killed through asphyxiation. Using the nail through His feet, Jesus was able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen. It was entirely likely that during these periods that He uttered the seven short sentences that are recorded.

The first - looking down at the Roman soldiers throwing dice for His seamless garment, He said: "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do." (Luke 23:24)

The second - to the repentant thief: ""I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43)

The third - looking down at Mary His mother, He said: "Woman, behold your son." Then turning to the terrified, grief-stricken disciple John, He said: "Behold your mother."

And here is where the song begins.

Psalm 22 - a song of worship - is also a Messianic prophecy.

Read it and you see a crucifixion on display - again, Psalm 22 was written hundreds of years before crucifixion was devised.

Take for example:
16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.

Psalm 22 is the song the Savior spoke (sang) on the cross - the song of worship.

The fourth of the seven last words (utterances) is from the beginning of Psalm 22 - verse 1:
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

He suffered hours of limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, and searing pain as tissue was torn from His lacerated back from His movement up and down against the rough timbers of the cross. Then another agony began: a deep crushing pain in the chest as the pericardium, the sac surrounding the heart, slowly filled with serum and began to compress the heart.

The prophecy in Psalm 22:14 was being fulfilled:
"I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me."

The end was rapidly approaching. The loss of tissue fluids had reached a critical level; the compressed heart was struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood to the tissues, and the tortured lungs were making a frantic effort to inhale small gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated tissues sent their flood of stimuli to the brain. Jesus gasped

His fifth cry: "I thirst." Again we read in the prophetic psalm:

"My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death." (Psalm 22:15 NIV).

A sponge soaked in posca, the cheap, sour wine that was the staple drink of the Roman legionnaires, was lifted to Jesus' lips. His body was now in extremis, and He could feel the chill of death creeping through His tissues.

This realization brought forth His sixth word: "It is finished."

Even this cry, whether a tortured whisper or a cry of victory is the end of Psalm 22:

"They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn—
for he has done it"

"It is finished" -"Tetelestai!" In the Greek it implies that something has come to an end, it has been completed, perfected, accomplished in the full and that something has consequences that will endure on and on.

His mission of atonement had been completed. Finally, He could allow His body to die. With one last surge of strength, He once again pressed His torn feet against the nail, straightened His legs, took a deeper breath, and uttered His seventh and last cry: "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit."

I have wondered... is it possible that Jesus said more than is recorded here? Is it possible He recited the entire Psalm 22. He 'sang' the first verse as well as the last. Isn't it possible He 'sang' the whole song? Maybe internally with bursts coming out verbally as He pushed Himself up to breathe.

His sacrifice on the cross was worship. It was full and complete obedience to the Father's will.

Was He reciting this Psalm to say to the arrogant Pharisees (who should have been very familiar with Psalm 22), "Here I am - the fulfillment of David's line and prophecy!"

Or maybe to remind Himself that God had not turned His face away...
" For he [God] has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help."
(Ps. 22:24)

and that His mission, the redemption for mankind was being fully accomplished?

Isaiah 53 tells us that God's servant was "cut off" (killed) before He had any descendants, but that because of His suffering sacrifice, he would have many spiritual descendants.. that He would see them and be satisfied AND that He would rejoice with them in the inheritance or the spoils that He would receive for what He had done.

Even in His most agonizing hour, Jesus worshipped.

No wonder we are told that it was for the "joy set before Him" that Jesus endured the cross.

The joy!

This is why we celebrate today and call it Good Friday

So as we worship today,
"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb 12:2 NIV)

Let us fix our eyes on; let us worship the One who Himself worshipped while on the cross.


'Suffering Servant' music by Gary Cherone (singer from Extreme, Van Halen & Tribe of Judah)
lyrics - Isaiah 53

NOTE* - some of the above medical descriptions excerpted from:
"A medical explanation of what Jesus endured on the day He died"
By Dr. C. Truman Davis
A Physician Analyzes the Crucifixion.
From New Wine Magazine, April 1982.
Originally published in Arizona Medicine,
March 1965, Arizona Medical Association

A Medical Analysis of Jesus' Crucifixion

The following is a medical account of what Jesus' physiological body endured on the cross at Calvary. When Christians say that Jesus died on the cross, such simple words fail to convey the seriousness of such agony and death.

The basis of this analysis was completed by Dr. C. Truman Davis, originally published in Arizona Medicine, 1965, Arizona Medical Association. Dr. Davis is a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine. He is a nationally recognized Opthamologist, and vice president of the American Association of Opthamology.

Also contributing to this compilation analysis are the findings of Alexander Metherelli, M.D., PH.D. Dr. Metherelli has a medical degree from the University of Miami in Florida and a doctorate in engineering from the University of Bristol in England. He is board certified in diagnosis by the American Board of Radiology and has been a consultant to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health of Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Metherelli's added insight has been gathered and added from The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel.

NOTE: Pleased be advised that this discription is not for the faint of heart. It contains medical terminology and objective descriptions of the trauma the physical human body endured during the Roman practice of crucifixion.

The Garden of Gethsemane
"And being in agony, He prayed longer. And His sweat became as drops of blood." Luke 22:44.

The occurrance of hematidrosis has been well documented in the medical field, and this condition is associated with severe psychological stress. In this condition, severe anxiety causes the release of chemicals that break down the capillaries in the sweat glands. Because of this rupture, a small amount of bleeding occurs, and the individual sweats, and the sweat is twinged with blood. Hematidrosis causes the skin to become extremely fragile and sensative.

Before Pontias Pilate - The Scourging
While Jesus suffered no abuse from Pilate, himself, he condemned Jesus to scourging and crucifixion. A prisoner under this condemnation was stripped of his clothes and his hands were tied to a post above his head. A Roman legionnaire would step forward with a flagrum or flagellum. Normally, flogging would consist of 39 lashes, however, the number often depended on the mood of the scourging soldier. This instrument used was a short whip consisting of several heavy thongs of leather with two small balls braided into each thong at the end. Also embraided in the thongs were hard pieces of sharp bone. The whip was brought down with heavy blows across the prisoner's legs, buttocks, back, and shoulders. When the whip struck, the balls caused deep bruises or contusions which broke open with further striking. The sharp pieces of bone would shred the skin to the point that even part of the spinal column of the prisoner would be exposed. This instrument tore into skeletal muscle and often laid the prisoner's veins and bowels bare. Because Jesus was already suffering from hematidrosis, His skin was particularly susceptible to the bruising and shredding power of the flagellum. Most people condemned to crucifixion never actually made it to their crosses - they died from this beating, first.

Surviving victims were in a tremendous amount of pain, experienced large amounts of blood loss, and their bodies usually went into hypovolemic shock. While in hypovolemic shock, the heart races to pump blood that isn't there. The blood pressure drops, causing fainting and collapse of the victim. The kidneys ceace to produce urine in an attempt to maintain what bodily fluid volume is left. The victim often becomes thirsty, which is the body's response to try to replace the lost blood volume.

The Soldiers' Mockery
When the beating was over, the soldiers allowed Jesus to slump to the ground. They saw humor in the fact that this man, who claimed to be the King of the Jews, was reduced to just a gasping, bloody mass. They threw a robe around His shoulders, the weight of which caused the cloth's fibers to stick to the ribbons and nerves of the exposed ribbons of flesh and exposed muscle tissue. The soldiers then needed a crown to make their travesty complete. Small, flexible branches, riddled with thorns that were used for the cording of kindling wood were braided into a crown. The crown of thorns were forcibly smashed upon the head of Jesus, causing copius bleeding as the thorns pierced the vascular tissue of Jesus' head. The soldiers then proceeded to circle Him, spitting on Him, smacking Him in the face, and hitting the crown upon His head, which drove the thorns in further. Finally, when they had their fill of the mockery, they ripped the robe from Jesus' back, which had become adherant to the blood and serum in the wounds, and the clots were painfully torn away, causing the wounds to bleed again, just as in the careless removal of a surgical bandage.

Golgotha - The Place of the Skull
In keeping with Jewish custom, the soldiers returned Jesus' clothes to Him. A heavy crossbar (called a patibulum) was tied to Jesus' shoulders. As was the custom, condemned prisoners were marched through the streets of the city as they carried their crossbars to the permanent upright stakes at the crucifixion mound. The Romans would parade these victims in an attempt to publically display the punishment for crime, as a deterrant act for the general public. The public, however, also took sport in the spectacle, spitting on and throwing objects at the condemned. It was a 650 yard walk from the Fortress Antonia to Golgotha - the crucifixion place. However a short walk, the victims' bodies had already been pushed beyond the limits of human endurance. While Jesus walked, He fell, causing the heavy crossbar to drive its splinters in His open-wounded back and shoulders.

Once the prisoners reached the crucifixion mound, they were offered a wine mixed with myrrh, which acted like an analgesic, pain relieving mixture. Jesus, however, refused this drink and endured the full force of the torture that would occur next. The prisoner would be laid down and his arms outstretched across the beam. The legionnaire would feel for the depression in the wrist in which the nails would be driven. The Romans used nails that were actually 5"-7" long spikes. They were driven through the wrist where the median nerve runs, and this nerve would be crushed. It felt the same as if you hit your "funny bone", althought the pain was more of that of a pair of pliers crimping and twisting this nerve without end. Pain of this very occurrance was so great that the language of the time had no word powerful enough to describe it, and a new word was invented just for this purpose. That word is "excruciating" and means "out of the cross".

Once the spikes were driven, it was time to hoist the crossbar onto the vertical post. When the crossbar was hammered into place, the victims shoulders would dislocate from the dead-weight pull of gravity on the exhausted body. The victim's feet were then nailed into place, using the same sized spikes as the wrists, and he would feel the same pain as in his hands, due to the crushing of the nerves. With the left foot tucked behind the right, and the knees slightly bent, the spike would be driven through the arches of both feet. The victim was now crucified. As was the Roman custom, a plaquard, upon which was written the crime of the crucified man, was nailed above his head. Jesus' plaqueard read, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews".

Death By Crucifixion - The Process
Crucifixion meant a slow, painful death by asphyxiation. Stresses on the muscles and diaphragm caused the chest and lungs to remain in an inhaled position. To exhale, the victim was forced to press upon the nail of the feet and raise himself up. The pressure of the nail would tear into the foot, locking up the tarsal bones. As the victim pushed up, the rough-hewn splintered wood of the vertical beam would further shred the back and remove any clots that had again formed since the prior flogging. Pieces of wood would lodge in the wounds. This action would continue until the person couldn't push up any longer. At this point, as the arms fatigued, great waves of throbbing pain and cramps set into the muscle tissue. Hanging by the arms, the pectoral muscles (the large muscles of the chest) were paralyzed, and the intercostal muscles (the small muscles between the ribs) were unable to act. Air could be drawn into the lungs, but it could not be exhaled. At this point, the person goes into respiratory acidosis, during which carbon dioxide in the blood is dissolved as carbonic acid. The acidity of the blood increases causing an irregular heartbeat, ultimately leading to cardiac arrest. Because they hypovolemic shock would have already sustained a rapid heart rate, the new irregularity would result in total heart failure. Once the body had reached this point, fluid would have collected in the membranes surrounding the heart and lungs (called the pericardial and pleural sacs, respectively). This is called "pericardial (heart) effusion" and "pleural (lung) effusion."

The common method of final death was called "crucifracture", in which the legs of the crucified were broken by an iron bar in order to speed up the dying process. Once the legs were broken, the victims could no longer push up to exhale. During Jesus' crucifixion, the legionnaires had a special interest in hurrying-up the condemned, as the Jews demanded that there be no crucifixions on the Sabbath or during Passover, which were both scheduled to begin at sunset that day. As the soldiers made their rounds of crucifracture, they arrived a Jesus' body and found that He was already dead. To be sure, a soldier thrust his spear in to Jesus' side, apparently piercing the cavities surrounding His heart and lungs. John 19:34 records that John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, saw blood and water flow from His side - the pericardial and pleural effusions.

This is post-mortem conclusive evidence that Jesus did not die of the expected suffocation as did most crucified prisoners, but rather that He died of heart failure due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium.

Daily Thought for Holy Week – Thursday

Maunday, Maunday – la da, la da, da, da

Oh wait – that’s not what the Mamas & the Papas were singing?

Taking a break from the heaviness of the crucifixion scene in Isaiah, I thought it would be good to explore other facets to Holy Week

So – today is Maunday Thursday

say what?

Hopefully if you’ve been around the church you’ve heard this phrase. So what’s it all about? Let’s start with the name:

The word Maundy is derived through Middle English, and Old French mandé, from the Latin mandatum, the first word of the phrase "Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos" ("A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you"), the statement by Jesus in the Gospel of John (13:34) by which Jesus explained to the Apostles the significance of his action of washing their feet.

Not bad for a non-liturgical, protestant evangelical, eh?

- actually...thank you Wikipedia

Before we get to the practical outworking of the “Mandatum Novum” let’s look at that Thursday.

Jesus and His disciples are in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.

Quick refresher:

Passover is the celebration of God using Moses to lead God’s people out of 400 years of captivity and slavery in Egypt. Great story – book of Exodus.

God heard the groaning of His people under oppression and sent a deliverer.

Part of that deliverance included plagues that came upon the oppressors – the Egyptians. The last plague was the worst – the death of the firstborn. It happened the night before the Exodus began.

Through Moses, God gives the people many directions. Among which are these: they were to house a sheep or lamb without defect for a time and then sacrifice it, spreading its blood on the door frame. They then roast it and eat it along with bitter herbs and unleavened bread.

[Aside: I’m sure that many children and not a few adults would have at the very least grown fond of the lamb living with them and been saddened when sacrifice time came.]

The unleavened bread indicated that time was short – their deliverance came on God’s terms and timing, not theirs – there would be no time for the bread to rise before their journey began.

As the Hebrews trusted God to deliver them by observing these commands, the angel of death – the destroyer – passed over them, and this is where we get the name “Passover”. they then started their exodus out of Egypt to the promised land.

With these things in mind, Jesus celebrates the Passover with His disciples.

This is a feast of observance and remembrance celebrated by people who genuinely love each other; remembering the greatest deliverance their people have known. They’ve surely had their quibbles with each other – in fact they argue during the celebration - but they’ve spent the past 3 years following Jesus, seeing miracles and beginning to understand He is no ordinary prophet; beginning to see He just might be the long awaited Messiah – the One who will deliver them and make things right with God.

Jesus teaches them many things during the course of their night. (read John 13)

He takes the traditional elements of the Passover – the bread and the wine (which represented the lamb’s blood) and told them that these were now symbols of what He would do for them. That a greater covenant is being instituted, confirmed and sealed in his flesh and blood.

He prays for them – deep earnest prayers. (again, see John 13)

But what was the Mandatum Novum? The “Maundy” of this Thursday?

Were’ told in John 13:1 “Having loved his own who were in the world, he [Jesus] now showed them the full extent of his love.”

Before the meal, Jesus humbles himself and washes the disciples feet. You must realize that in 1st century culture this task was assigned to the lowest of servants. This would have been shocking to their sensibilities. Especially if they were beginning to get an inkling of Who Jesus was (and is). The Messiah… God in the flesh – stooping to wash the grime off of their stinking nasty feet.

What a picture of Who this God is! He is not some fickle, trigger-happy, overbearing, pugnacious overlord. Not only does He come to bear our sins on the cross, but He is a God who serves by humbling Himself to the point of the lowest of servants.

“…even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45

Yes, but the Maunday? His Mandatum? His New Mandate (Commandment)?

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34)

Serve each other out of love. Wash feet. Not just the water and towel kind. Wash feet – bring refreshment to the souls of those you know. Be to them a blessing – not just because it’s commanded! To do so with a sense of ‘Obligatory love’ is an oxymoron. Love is compelled by the heart.

So let Christ wash the feet of your soul. Humbly welcome His demonstration of love. Don’t be like Peter thinking that surely God would not want to wash your feet – let Him.

And then, moved by His love, wash feet around you.

Daily Thought for Holy Week – Wednesday

Justice Miscarried

"He was beaten, he was tortured,
but he didn't say a word.
Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered
and like a sheep being sheared,
he took it all in silence.
Justice miscarried, and he was led off—"

Isaiah 53:7-8a (Message)

He has to be God in the flesh. Has to.

Beaten and tortured and... He took it all in silence...not a word.

Not a word of complaint, or trying to justify Himself.

no cries of, "you've got the wrong guy! I've done nothing wrong!"

None of it.

And all in light of justice miscarried.

justice miscarried.

This should be a gut-wrenching statement. It should cause us to cry, "no!"

It means that fairness, rightness, what legally and logically "ought to be" is cut short, is disregarded, is thrown out the window.

It is tragedy

It used to be just a phrase to me, but I understand this phrase so much better now.

2 years ago in February we went through the agonizing miscarriage of our third child.

It began slowly and there were quasi-reassurances that things would probably be OK.

But I remember the turning point as clear as if it were yesterday:
Getting the call from my wife during a worship team practice. "We need to go the hospital - right now."
Waiting what seemed an eternity to be called into an ER room, having Nurses and Doctors dismiss my wife's experiences.
"You haven't lost that much blood - you just think you lost more than you did"
Being 'released' and watching my wife pass out in the hallway (due to blood loss).
Getting her admitted for the night... going home without her and weeping uncontrollably as I hugged my in-laws back home, not knowing for certain what was to come.
Getting back to the hospital to learn my wife required 4 pints of blood - this was not a 'normal' miscarriage.
Learning that we had lost this child and being heartbroken again.

'no. no. please God, no.'

'why....?'

And well meaning nurses and doctors saying, "miscarriages happen all the time." And trying to reassure us that we could get pregnant again.

They had no idea.

We had struggled with infertility after our son was born, and here 7 years years later, a miracle!

And then ten weeks later this crushing heart-break. hope dashed and lost.

'why....?'

Leading worship at church 4 days later was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. And God continues to bring us through the healing process emotionally, spiritually, and for my wife even physically.


Isaiah tells us that justice was miscarried for the servant of God - the Christ. And, rightly understood, all the agony and gut-wrenching that came with our miscarriage pales in comparison to what happened there.

The perfect Son of God who had only ever brought love, compassion, grace and truth was slandered, beaten, tortured, flogged with a cat-o-nine-tails, mocked, spat on, crucified. The Innocent condemned.

'why God, why is this happening?'

The miscarriage of justice for the Christ is infinitely worse than what happened to usbecause He got what I rightly deserve. It was no fluke or bad biological processes - no 'accident'.

And did He sulk or complain or try to persuade the Romans He was innocent?

When beaten and flayed, "He opened not His mouth", "he took it all in silence"

Could a mere human do this?

If it was a mere human , if it were me, you can bet I wouldn't be silent. From pleading my case to screaming in agony over that torture, I can guarantee you, I would not be silent.

The night before, in the Garden, He definitely asked the Father to take the cup away:

'Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me..'

- but ended with "yet not My will, but Yours be done."

He knew full well what was in store. And He chose to go anyway.

Yes, the reason was ransom of us - but let's not make the cross simply all about us.

The agony of miscarriage is that the heinousness of our sin demanded the cross - demanded the miscarriage; that the innocent be counted as a death-penalty criminal.

Our hearts should break over what we did to Him.

Our hearts should be rent at the knowledge of the cost of the cross and the miscarriage that happened.

But equally, our hearts' sorrow is mixed with awe, adoration and yes, even joy over the fact that God's heart is so much purer than ours and that this miscarriage does not lead to hope dashed - but hope assured, hope solidified, because through it we are ransomed back to God by the hand of God through the Son of God.

What a God this is!

"Alas and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I
Was it for sins that I had done
He hung upon the tree
Amazing pity, grace unknown
And love beyond degree!

My God why would
You shed Your blood
So pure and undefiled
To make a sinful one like me
Your chosen precious child

Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut His glories in
When Christ the mighty Maker died
For man the creature’s sin
Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear Cross appears
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness
And melt mine eyes to tears"

Music and chorus lyrics by Bob Kauflin
Lyrics by Isaac Watts
© 1997 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI).

Daily Thought for Holy Week – Tuesday

The Divine Exchange

Stop to think about this:

9/11

What comes to mind?

Tragedy? Sorrow? Grief? Loss?

Anger towards those who perpetrated it?

I think it’s safe to say ‘Love your enemy’ doesn’t come quickly to our minds. At least it doesn’t to mine. And because those responsible have not been brought to account, there’s still a part of me that longs for justice. Not forgiveness.

Let’s bring it closer to home. We are offended by someone or a situation and what do we do? We write them off. We cut off communication. We harbor bitterness, resentment or anger. We long for justice.

Let me step into the spotlight here and just say – this is me all too often.

I’ll be branded first on this, lest you think I am standing in judgment or striking an altruistic pose.

Not so with Christ.

Back to Isaiah 53. This is verse 3:
“He was despised and rejected —
 a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
 We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way.
 He was despised, and we did not care..” (NLT)

What a sad and powerful end to that statement. He was treated cruelly and we could care less.

It’s as if in this prophecy we’re reminded that God’s servant – the Christ – went through all this and we held him in contempt.

Big deal. Who cares.

Sobering.

But it gets more heart rending…

Verse 4:
“Yet it was our weaknesses(the sickness of sin) he carried;
 and He carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him punished by God. We naively thought that God was punishing Him, striking Him down because of His sins.” (my expanded translation)

(It was our punishment he bore but we stupidly thought, “He’s getting what He deserves.”)

And then comes the lynch pin…

“But”

verse 5
“But He was pierced for our rebellion,
 crushed for our sins.

the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, 

and by His wounds(with his stripes) we are healed (made whole).

700 years before Christ’s birth Isaiah predicts a flogging and piercing through.

And did you catch what Isaiah says?

He’s getting what we deserve.

He goes on…

6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.

We have left God’s paths to follow our own.

Yet the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all.

We screwed up. We failed. We didn’t just stumble. We ran headlong into sin, laughing skipping and thumbing our nose at God. Even the ‘best’ of us like senseless sheep wander away.

BUT

Here is the divine exchange: God’s suffering servant takes upon Himself our sin and the just punishment for those sins.

Why? We’ve done nothing to earn it. Isaiah even clarifies this for us later in 64:6 -

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”

We’re told that when we recognize and receive this substitutionary sacrifice, turning from our own way to His we receive forgiveness. Complete and total forgiveness. And it is a gift. This is what is meant by “repent and believe”.

At the cross, God chose to forgive those who would shred His laws and flaunt their sin.

Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

This breaks me afresh again – because I know the mud holes I wallowed in (and am still drawn back to).

Forgive me if this next word picture makes you cringe, but I have found it very helpful:

At the cross, God chose to embrace those who were giving Him the finger.

And more than embrace – go to jail doesn’t cover it. Pay the penalty, pay the debt doesn’t cover it.

Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

He died … for reckless, wayward, rogues who couldn’t care less. For little hellions throwing bricks through the stained glass windows, laughing maniacally.

For. Us. Sinners.

wow. This is grace – unmerited favor.

So how does this relate to 9/11? How does this relate to other awful, senseless tragedies and injustices, crimes and atrocities?

I am not naively saying that extending forgiveness in the light of bare-faced evil is easy. Not by any means. It’s tough when it is required for the ‘little’ things.

What I am saying is this – what an amazing God, Who demonstrates forgiveness on a level that boggles our minds. It proves again that He is God because He demonstrates that which we are sometimes unwilling and sometimes unable to do ourselves:

He forgives the unworthy - the desperately and completely unworthy.

He takes on flesh, He endures humiliating abuse heaped upon Him, He suffers excruciating torture and death – all borne out of His heart of love & justice; “for the joy set before Him” (Heb 12:2); out of a passionate, all consuming desire to see the glory of Yahweh preeminent.

What mercy at the cross! What grace! What compassion!

So be overflowing with thanks and humbly glory in the Divine Exchange.

Daily Thought for Holy Week – Monday

The Face of Christ

In preparation for Holy week and our services on Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, I have been reading Isaiah 53 in several translations: NIV, ESV, KJV, NLT, CEV and the Message – and I am in awe of Christ again.

These prophetic words, written some 700 years before Christ’s incarnation will give you pause to reflect in humble adoration if you let them.

God’s plan of redemption through his suffering servant on display.

Here’s today's piece of the passage:

“There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
 nothing to attract us to Him.” (53:2b NLT)

Had we been alive when Jesus walked the earth He would not stand out, physically, in a crowd.

Our culture is so preoccupied with beauty and attractiveness (sadly, this is even in the case in the church – just look at 95% of ‘Christian’ album covers).

Beyond leading to an unhealthy view of others, diminishing their value in the sight of God – it distorts our perceptions of God.

I think our view of salvation can be diminished when we “clean-up” Jesus & when we “clean-up” the cross (or coat it in gold and wear it around our necks!)

[aside: can you imagine how absurd it would look to have a little gold electric chair on a chain hanging around your neck? But I digress…]

I think the more we understand that He wasn't good looking, the more we can relate to his humanity.. Jesus - fully God, fully man. When we gussy Him up I think we lose some of that reality.

According to Revelation - Jesus still bears our scars

Thankfully, this passage in Isaiah is the only physical description we have of Christ in the Scriptures.

Honestly, when was the last time you saw a movie of the life of Christ, where the actor portraying Jesus was unattractive?

- The Passion of the Christ




– good looking guy






- The Jesus Film




– good looking guy






- Matthew




– good looking guy






- The Gospel of John




– good looking guy (it’s Desmond from LOST for Pete’s sake!)






- Jesus of Nazareth








– good looking guy (my wife and I disagree on this one, so I went with her opinion)



*NOTE: OK – Willem Dafoe (Last Temptation) ‘works’, but the film was awful (imo)












Now, I realize that film companies hire mostly on looks, second on talent… but you know who I’d like to see portray Jesus? Given the above passage from Isaiah?


















Steve Buscemi (Fargo, ConAir, Armageddon)

I tried to find an image online that wasn’t glamorous of Steve and had a hard time.

With all due respect to Mr. Buscemi, who is a very fine actor, he is just not your classic Hollywood definition of attractive. This makes him a great candidate for a film version of the life of Christ.

Actually most of the men here are a good starting place.

I’m so thankful Christ didn’t come as one of the ‘in’ crowd, but He came as described in Isaiah – a humble, suffering servant.

So please, this Holy Week, keep in mind that Jesus was not attractive physically; he didn’t seem kingly, but outward appearance has never mattered to God. And consider those around you who you might think have: "nothing beautiful or majestic about (their) appearance, nothing to attract us to (them)" - for these too bear the image of God - perhaps more than we realize.

This holy week – give God what He values most – your heart, your soul, your ‘inner man’.