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Tag: crucifixion

CRUCIFIXION! – The Pangs of Sin
So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified.
John 19:16 NASB

Tarrying on the road of Suffering

“Father, the hour is come,” the Lord Jesus had prayed in a most personal prayer just hours before.

Then in the darkness of Gethsemane Jesus had asked Peter, “Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?”

It it the Cup of the Blood of His suffering; some by scourging just witnessed, when 39 times Jesus had NO SIN to confess.

“Crucify ben ‘elyown ‘elyown,” they had shouted; CRUCIFY the SON OF GOD!

And shortly Jesus will cry out from His final pain:

“ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”
Mark 15:34 NASB

What Father remains silent on suffering?

And what Man must suffer silently for sin?

Crucify! Crucify!

John 19:17 They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, carrying His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called, Golgotha.

Hours before: Sanctification of the Sacrifice

Jesus spoke these things; and raising His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, so that the Son may glorify You, just as You gave Him authority over all mankind, so that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
John 17:1-3 NASB – The Son’s High Priestly prayer

The Pangs of Death

‘I feel your pain,’ some must have mocked toward Jesus at His suffering the 39 lashes of scourging. No one ever truly feels the pain of another’s suffering.

But for His dear friends the Apostles the Son of God had assured:

“A little while, and you no longer are going to see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.”
John 16:16 NASB

Jesus had not dwelled on His prophesied suffering. Yet by the scriptures perhaps the Disciples denyingly sensed what He must suffer this day.

Isaiah 53:

Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

The Apostles did not want to believe all of it, but to them the LORD revealed the Son embraced by the Father’s right arm.

For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

They also grew up near Him and even though some knew Jesus’ family, they were not attracted to Him until by Him they were called. In these three years Jesus became their Lord, Teacher and beloved friend.

He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Jesus was despised by the ruling council and leading Jews. The Disciples continually witnessed the Jews hatred for Him.

Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isaiah 53:4 NASB

John 8:

Temple officials had previously despised and did not esteem Him. These Jewish scholars had never believed His message or the Prophets.

21 Then He said again to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.”

25 Then they were saying to Him, “Who are You?”

These politically powerful religious officials most likely asked this mockingly, as they did while striking their blindfolded Messiah during the mockery of a trial before Caiaphas High Priest of the Jews and later in the presence of Pilate.

‘Who are YOU to talk of God or teach us the Law?‘

So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am, and I do nothing on My own, but I say these things as the Father instructed Me.
John 8:28

And the Apostle John adds this witness then in his Gospel:

30 As He said these things, many came to believe in Him.

Many believers will follow Jesus Christ in a victorious procession to the place of worship, but only a remnant remains following a captive King to the Cross of Calvary.
Roger Harned – talkofJesus.com

The Pangs of Pain

Returning to Jesus’ metaphor of suffering, He prophesies this day to His Apostles:

John 16:

20 Truly, truly I say to you that you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy!

As the Disciples had scattered as sheep from the wolves, surely they did not recall this at the time of Jesus’ arrest, trials, scourging and crucifixion.

Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come;

but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.

22 Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one is going to take your joy away from you.

And why this suffering? – SIN!

The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!

..Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, Cursed are you..

And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.” – Genesis 3

The Prophesy of Christ’s Suffering

But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5 NASB

..

‘By oppression and judgment He was taken away,‘ prophesied Isaiah in the generation of Uzziah king of Judah. It was more than seven centuries Before Christ.

Isaiah, by the mouth of the LORD, indicts those who falsely convict Jesus.

They have just sent innocence to the Cross as the Substitute Lamb of Sacrifice for their own transgressions (sins).

‘And as for His generation,
who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living
for the transgression of my people,
to whom the stroke was due?
Isaiah 53:8 NASB

The Good News of John:

1:¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

¹¹He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

מֵעֲמַ֤ל נַפְשֹׁו֙ יִרְאֶ֣ה יִשְׂבָּ֔ע בְּדַעְתֹּ֗ו יַצְדִּ֥יק צַדִּ֛יק עַבְדִּ֖י לָֽרַבִּ֑ים וַעֲוֹנֹתָ֖ם ה֥וּא יִסְבֹּֽל׃
Yeshaiya 53: WLC

²⁹.. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

And now sinners take the sinless Sacrifice to the altar of the shedding of Blood.

They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, carrying His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.
John 19:17-18 NASB
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To be continued...
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November 4, 2020
DEATH cries out! from many perspectives
A poem of death’s despair.
From cries of pain

Surrounded by suffering

Entombed in death

Men and women

Hung their heads

In death’s despair.

+

His pain I now know

His suffering I deserve

From this dark place of justice

My sorrow must pierce.

Roger Harned - TalkofJESUS.com
“ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?”
22:1 אֵלִי אֵלִי לָמָה עֲזַבְתָּנִי רָחֹוק מִֽישׁוּעָתִי דִּבְרֵי שַׁאֲגָתִֽי׃
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“Eli, Eli, lama” are Hebrew words in the Hebrew Bible (Ps. 22:2)
David said “lama azavthani” (why have you forsaken me?) and 
Jesus said “lama sabachthani” (why have you sacrificed me?). 
-source [2016 site not secure]: http://messiah-study.net/sabachthani.htm
```
Jesus from the Cross

So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other one who had been crucified with him. When they came to Jesus, they did not break his legs since they saw that he was already dead. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.
John 19:32-34 CSB

Zechariah 12:10 וְשָׁפַכְתִּי עַל־בֵּית דָּוִיד וְעַל יֹושֵׁב יְרוּשָׁלִַם רוּחַ חֵן וְתַחֲנוּנִים וְהִבִּיטוּ אֵלַי אֵת אֲשֶׁר־דָּקָרוּ וְסָפְדוּ עָלָיו כְּמִסְפֵּד עַל־הַיָּחִיד וְהָמֵר עָלָיו כְּהָמֵר עַֽל־הַבְּכֹֽור׃

DEATH! surrounding a Cross

Is your own heart pierced by the cry of death — the death of a loved one, that of your own inevitable failing flesh?

Would your soul cry out even from the grave that the death of God’s own Son should have been your own?

What those imprisoned in the dark dungeons of death must have thought as Jesus cried out as Sacrifice of Blood and Flesh from the Cross!

Who is the Son of Man entering the Jerusalem of the Jews?

In the year of our Lord, 2020, of these last days of a new covenant, I have been sharing the Good News of John.

We cannot cover all of the nuances of reactions to the Messiah entering Jerusalem for the Passover some two thousand years ago, but look back to some of the thoughts of those encountering Jesus between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday which the church celebrates with great joy.

The context of their first century perspective also includes witnesses of many signs of the Messiah including healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, miraculously feeding crowds of followers and raising the dead who include recently Lazarus of Bethany.

The Apostle Philip & the crowds

John 12:

9 Then a large crowd of the Jews learned he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, the one he had raised from the dead.

10 But the chief priests had decided to kill Lazarus also, because he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting them and believing in Jesus.

The Apostle Philip, of course, travels with Jesus when the Messiah returns to Bethany. Crowds follow them into Jerusalem and friends of the Apostle hear about Jesus the Rabbi of their friend Philip.

21 So they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested of him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

23 And Jesus answered them, saying,

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…

Jesus has much more to say and then this witness before them:

“…and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.”
John 12:27b-28a NASB

Then a voice came out of heaven:

“I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

29 So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes.

Philip witnesses this truly awesome scene after Jesus had said,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit…
John 12:24 NASB

Thomas: ‘Lord, we know not..’

Don’t you have to love a guy who just has to ask the questions you want to ask the Lord?

Peter was one of these sometimes clueless Disciples who asked Jesus the obvious. We have heard much preaching on Peter, this anointed Apostle of the early church, about his denials and restorations in this Holy Week.

Like Peter, a man of bold faith, Thomas, a man of bold questions often gets a bad wrap for questions and doubt exactly like ours.

Observe the Lord’s Supper from this perspective of Thomas.

The Lord got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself, after which Jesus washes his feet along with the other eleven.

[Later] He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.”

22 The disciples began looking at one another…

33 Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come…’

36 Simon Peter said to Him,

“Lord, where are You going?”

Jesus answered,

“Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.”

37 Peter said to Him,

“Lord, why can I not follow You right now?

[Thomas must have also have wondered what Peter so typically blurts out.

Why? We all wonder.]

John 14:

Perhaps Thomas’ perspective was something like this:

‘Jesus was troubled in spirit then Judas left {on an errand for the festival, I guess.’}

2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you.
John 14:2 CSB – Jesus comforting Disciples about death and resurrection

… And you know where I am going, and you know the way

5 Thomas said to Him,

“Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”

Be honest, fellow saint:

Don’t you have days of doubting the resurrection as well?

Yet though you may quote the assurance which follows of Jesus to Thomas, your faith frequently falters .

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
John 14:6 NASB

Again, fellow believer, consider the gravity of Jesus’ exclusive claim.

For the Lord draws a line in the dust we often omit, when witnessing to win others to Christ through our own blurred vision of this life.

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life;

no one comes to the Father

but through Me. –

John 14:6

Jesus’ exclusive ____line____ in the dust between death and eternal life

7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

8 Philip said to Him,

“Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip?

Let’s pause a moment there, fellow saint of Christ:

Has Jesus been so part of your routine that you have failed to know your Lord?

Jesus continues instructing Thomas:

He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say,

‘Show us the Father’?

Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?
John 14:10a NASB

The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

12 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Between Gethsemane & Doubt

We know that Thomas and the Disciples fail to keep alert in the late hours after Jesus shares the New Covenant Cup of communion and broken bread symbolizing and making memorial of what is about to happen to His broken Body and shed Blood of Sacrifice for our sins.

Jesus prays, is betrayed by Judas as the eleven stand near, then bound and taken away to appear in secret before those who will judge their Messiah. They will then sentence their Redeemer to death on a Cross — ALL in fulfillment of Scripture.

We may self-righteously go on about Peter denying Jesus as he also attempts to run away from death for a time.

In fact, all of us may only escape death — for a time.

CHRIST DIED!

The Apostle John relates more details of these events worth your perspective on DEATH from the darkness of these days.

DEATH then Resurrection

From the depth of isolation and despair

of darkness and fear

of the judgment of your dust

in the grave —

beyond the — line — of hope

found only in Jesus

we peer dimly from the depths

of our soul seeking the Light

of the Resurrection —

the Way of Truth

to eternal life

born anew

in a raised body and soul

to the glory of the LORD

our Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

John 20:

Perspectives of these first witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection

Mary of Magdala (a small village on the shore of the Sea of Galilee) discovers Jesus’ tomb EMPTY!

“They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
Mary tells Peter and John

They all return to the tomb with the sealed stone rolled away.

“Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”

“Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”

She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” [My great teacher, master.]

Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

Later Appearance to the Disciples

When it was evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews.

Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them,

“Peace to you.“

20 Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

21 Jesus said to them again,

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”

22 After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit…

Did you miss the RESURRECTION OF JESUS?

Don’t some of the most important things in life often happen when you least expect?

Returning later to the scene of the Disciples (but not all of them) in the locked room), Thomas returns.

He missed it! (and perhaps was somewhat sceptical when he heard the witness of his fellow Disciples).

“We’ve seen the Lord!”

“Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

Eight more days pass

What disappointment. To have followed Jesus the Messiah as He walked the earth for three years of His ministry prior to His fulfillment of Scripture. AND you missed HIS return!

His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst…

“Peace to you.“

And the Lord, turning to Thomas,

“Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”

“My Lord and my God!”

And yet again…

John tells us:

30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book…

John 21:

After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias…

12 Jesus said to them,

“Come and have breakfast.”

None of the disciples ventured to question Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was the Lord.

Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise.

14 This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.

CHRIST IS RISEN!

— a traditional opening to a sunrise service on Resurrection Sunday or other Easter Sunday worship.

And the joyous response of the congregation of worshipers:

HE IS RISEN INDEED!

ALLELUIA – ἁλληλουϊά

praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah!

יָהּ הָלַל

Yet without DEATH! resurrection remains irrelevant

— that is, until the inevitable inescapable day.

CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN!

You will die — your body returning to dust…

And your soul — the spirit that is you in this ever-so-brief mortal life…

What will the judgment and resurrection be like for your fallen flesh and soul forgotten?

Jesus reveals even more to John long after the deaths of all the other Apostles.

apokalypsis Iēsous Christos

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.

And He placed His right hand on me, saying,

“Do not be afraid;

I am the first and the last, and the living One;

and I was dead, and behold,

I am alive forevermore,

and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Revelation 21:

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying,

“Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

אָמֵן אָמֵן

amen, amen.
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Even so, Come Lord Jesus.
AMEN.
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April 11, 2020
You’re a Damn Sinner

Sinners and Damn Sinners

Are you offended by me calling you a damn sinner? I must confess: I’m also a sinner every day; in thoughts, words and deeds. In that sense I’m just like you.

Lord, forgive us our treapasses.

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God… – Romans 3:23 (but read further for understanding the Sacrifice of Christ)

“And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. – Deuteronomy 21:22-23a ESV

Damn; Damnation; Damnable:

I was somewhat shocked to read in a definition that these words have changed meaning. Yet I acknowledge a contemporary preaching trend toward not offending the hearers of God’s word. A brief look at the definition of ‘damn, damnation and damnable’ reads:

These words have undergone a change of meaning since the King James Version was made. They are derived from Latin damnare = ” to inflict a loss,” “to condemn,” and that was their original meaning in English.

Now they denote exclusively the idea of everlasting punishment in hell. It is often difficult to determine which meaning was intended by the translators in the King James Version. They have been excluded altogether from the Revised Version (British and American).

Damnation invades the guilty minds of the wicked. They then accuse the Christian of morality irrelevant to their own demise. Hell for so many revelers is their daily entertainment of self-indulgence. Raising hell becomes their goal of response to a life without meaning and a death without consequence.

A further defining of the concept of damnation will include uncomfortable synonyms given infrequent consideration by most men of dust. These include:

condemn, damn, judgment, avenge, accusation, go to law, pernicious, perdition, destruction, waste, die and to perish.

Not a list of well-used words in our 21st century lexicon or smiling solicitations from some pulpits.

Hellfire and Brimstone!

Not to dwell too long in these hell-pointing descriptions above for damnation, but here would be the time to mention that other contemporarily offensive word: sin.

Sin, damnation and other uncomfortable, almost archaic words like judgement point to man’s accountability to God.

Jesus, the Messiah, perfect and sinless, became substitution for my sins and for yours. God therefore sacrificed His righteousness, undeserving of death, as redemption from the damnation you and I deserve.

The sin of man and love of God led to the Cross.

Jesus and Judgment

For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver;
the LORD is our king; he will save us. – Isaiah 33:22

John 8:

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples…

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin?

No, they could not convict the Son of Man of sin. The accusers of Jesus could only bring the righteous Messiah to the Cross by bribery and lies.

51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

A King’s Condemnation for the Sins of His Subjects

Matthew 26:

.. Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people…

55 At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.”

Then all the disciples left him and fled.

57 Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered…

59 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’”

62 And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”

63 But Jesus remained silent.

And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”

Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?”

They answered, “He deserves death.”

67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”

The Damn Shall Hang on a Cross, Yet this Passover Sacrifice is Pure

Isaiah 42:

Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law…

9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.”

… he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him… – Hebrews 5:8b-9

Only two mortal choices: judgement or grace.

Are you a damn sinner? Or are you a forgiven sinner In Christ?

March 30, 2018