Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

Luke 23:50 – 54

As we examine the way the Jewish elders treated Jesus, we might think that no one among them believed that Jesus is God’s Messiah.  Hold on.  A man named Joseph appears, a member of that Council that hated Jesus.  He was waiting for the coming of the kingdom of God.  His wait was over, Jesus appeared.  He could not just stand back when Jesus was killed on that Cross.  He rushed in to help Jesus, now dead.

I tend to bundle people into groups.  In this case, the Council.  They rejected Jesus vehemently.  So, I raise my eyebrows when I realize that at least one of the Jewish Council members believes in Jesus.  Not only that, but he was from Judah, the heartland of those who rejected Jesus.

Even when the vast majority hate Jesus with real hate, here is a Judean who loves Jesus and follows Him in spite of what his colleagues might believe.  Why am I surprised by that?  I should be open to the fact that people in every culture and nation, any time, find Jesus to be the One they knew who is to come, God’s Messiah.  They believe just like I do!

As I write this, people are embracing Jesus as their Lord all over the world, in cultures that I tend to neglect altogether.  They love Jesus like I do.  That is a huge, huge new thing on the earth.  It disregards culture and looks only on Jesus!  All who love Jesus are in the new Kingdom of God, like Joseph.  Can I comprehend that?  With eternal thanks and huge gratitude, I recognize that is the way God works.  I rejoice in that and love him dearly for it.  May it punctuate my thoughts this Easter season.

We felt honored to open our house to the dozen or so friends of Elizabeth who celebrated her first teenage birthday, 13th.  The evening was full, sleepover fun and now a breakfast to get the day going.  What fun.  We were honored to have them here.

The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Luke 23:47 – 49

It was a Centurian, a hardened Roman soldier, who saw what was happening, the first non-Jew we know of who was convinced that Jesus was a righteous man.  This is, at first, not what we would think a soldier would say.  He was a Roman.

The elders of the Jewish nation cursed Jesus and pronounced him fit for death on the cross.  Do you feel the contrast?

I see the sides forming, the eager Roman believers on the one side and the Jews who, probably out of confusion and darkness simply “beat their breasts” in a dirge and silently walked away, confused and troubled.

As this contrast presented itself, at a distance the women of Galilee and others who loved Jesus observed the hate of his persecutors and the distress of those who beat their breasts.  Luke wrote, they stood at a distance, watching these things.

I feel a bond with the Centurion.  He was not a Jew. He had no place among the followers of God. He was, in a sense, an outsider.  But he believed!  Now what?  I believe his faith and belief wiped away everything – history, culture, prejudices, etc.  I this not me?  And, probably you?  The only thing that binds me with Jesus is that I believe on him and place my entire life into his hand.  He is my life.

I have no way of knowing but I do believe that the first flower that won my heart was the daffodil.  Here is our first, alongside the house.  What precious memories!

Fixing your eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12: 2

I have been blessed and comforted as I pondered the last 7 sayings of Jesus.  My attention was on trying to discover what Jesus is doing.  The writer to the Hebrews knows how important that is.  Jesus is becoming the sacrifice for our sins!  Can there be a greater thing on earth?  I think we do well to ponder the role of Jesus Christ in our salvation.

Also, I hear in my heart of hearts the Word of God as I consider how Jesus went through all this.  The secret?  For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame.  In a way, suffering for Christ is joy postponed.  There was no joy in taking on the sins of the world, dying for them and suffering unbelievable difficulties doing that while being ridiculed by the Jewish authorities.

The joy was to come.   When Jesus finally sat down at the right and of God on the throne, He was full of joy, not only for himself but what he did for all who love him.  I suppose John is using the phrase, then, sat down, to indicate that the work is finished, as Jesus had announced from the Cross, his dying words.

What happened as Jesus died for all sins of all those would believe was not to be repeated.  It was done!  It need not be redone, ever.  This Easter season I will focus thought on that reality.

Tammy, Paul and Elizabeth and Evan revolutionized our basement, as you can well see. Elizabeth becomes a “teenager” on Thursday, her 13th birthday and on the 15th Evan will be sixteen!  Milestones, indeed.  Our basement will see a lot of activity this week!

Jesus’ Last Word on the Cross

Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

Luke 23:46

Jesus died as he lived, trusting his Heavenly Father.  That was not easy, particularly when the sins of the world were laid on his shoulders   In that most inexplicable moment Jesus felt abandoned, so much so that he cried out, not because he was cut off from friends, family and community, from food and drink or for any other loss in that moment. No, he felt the worst abandonment possible, abandoned by his Heavenly Father with whom he lived in perfect unity from before time was, now, diverting his eye from Jesus who is bearing all sin in his body there on the tree.  Alone.

We see his complete trust in the Father.  Jesus entered death in the same way he lived each day of his life, offering up his life as the perfect sacrifice and placing himself in God’s hands.

Who killed Jesus?  Did the Roman Empire kill him?  Did the Jews kill him?  No, his was killed by my sin and yours.  When we truly believe that, life takes on an entirely new meaning.  Jesus Christ saves us!  I owe everything to him, everything.  I gladly relinquish my need to understand.  The understanding is blended with faith and trust in God.

Even though Jesus felt alone, in his darkest hour he committed his spirit to God.  All of us need to learn this lesson. Heaven and earth will pass away.  God’s love for us is eternal!  Praise Him forever, and ever, amen.

Later knowing that everything had now been finished…When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

John 19:28 -30 (here and there.)

We come to Jesus’ sixth word on the cross.  After six hours hanging on the cross, slowly dying, Jesu cries out, “It is finished?”  John, the Gospel writer and a witness to these events, wrote that Jesus knew that everything had now been finished. We stand before a mystery here.

If Jesus is simply saying that he is dying, we have no problem with that.  But, listen my friend, what he had done changed the relationship between God and mankind forever, something so huge that we can scarcely grasp it.  So, it was Jesus announcing the coming of the new era in heaven and earth.

His shed blood, his poured-out life ushered in an entirely new era.  The victory is won. This is the praise song of all of us who believe, out of every tribe and nation.   Jesus was and is right!

One of my favorite passages is this cry of Jesus, It is finished.  For me, the ‘it’ is my salvation and that of every believer. And there is far more than that – which I am beginning to perceive.

That battle, the huge one, is over.  Victory is won. Now all mankind can be saved by believing on Jesus.

“I thirst.”

John 19:28

Death is near.  His body is reaching its limit.   What it craves more than anything else is water!  We hear that cry from the cross as darkness is covering the earth.

A body can live for a while without food, but not water.  The body needs water!  Jesus cannot help it, he cries that miserable cry, “I thirst.” In his extremity he finally thinks of himself!  But only for a moment.  He was soon to draw his last breath.

The bit of vinegar that the soldiers provided in a sponge helped Jesus in his distress not at all.  Nothing could help. Jesus knew that he must die.  He settled the matter, he will die consumed by thirst.  There is no more unthinkable thing that one can imagine than to bear all the sins of mankind, all at once, all on the back of a single person on an ordinary Roman cross used for enemies of Rome. The cross was for killing a person. That is what is happening.

Listen to the pathetic word of Jesus, “I thirst.”  Only he knew that thirst that he suffered.  He faced death in a few moments, probably, consumed by thirst – just a drop of water, please!  The Creator of water had not a drop for himself!

Jesus died thirsty!  He thirsted that we may never thirst.  He died that we may never die! That is the heart of Easter.