Saturday, April 16, 2011

Jesus, our example to the very end! The day He wore my crown!

Jesus "walked in our shoes" so that He could empathize with us and show us an example of how we should walk. (I Peter 2:21)  The earthly ministry of Jesus did not end when He was nailed to the cross.  Even on the cross He was ministering and teaching.  I want us to look at the 7 last sayings of Jesus Christ.  It brings chills and tears when I listen to these sayings, keeping in mind that they were spoken while hanging on a cross in agony and pain.  O that I could grasp just a tiny bit of that day.  All I can say is that I am so thankful that as that blood poured out, it was a cleansing stream and remains one today.  Let's look at these afresh.  Don't just read the words, close your eyes and allow yourself to picture the image, the day, the crowd, the pain, the shame.  Thank Him that He loved you enough to go to the cross for YOU.  When He was on the cross, you were on His mind.

These sayings are in the order in which they were spoken by our Lord.

1.)  "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do"  (Luke 23:34)- The first thing Jesus does from the cross and pray to His Father for them, asking His Father to forgive them.  The executioners, while well aware of what they were doing, they did not know the magnitude, they did not understand they were nailing the KING OF KINGS to the cross.  As they spit upon Him, mocked Him, beat Him, and drove the nails through the flesh of our Savior and into the cross, Jesus chooses to forgive.

2.) "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43)- From the cross, Jesus offers salvation.  Two thieves were crucified that day, one on each side of our Savior.  One looked at Jesus at Jesus and cursed Him, the other one looked at Jesus and "got it" and cried out to Christ from the cross.  In the midst of His pain, Jesus offered hope.

3.)  "When Jesus therefore saw His mother,.and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!"  Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home."  (John 19:26-27)  Here we see the priority Jesus placed on relationships.  Jesus was close to breathing His last breath, yet He made sure that His mother was cared for by John..aka "The disciple whom He loved"

4.)  "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?"  that is "My God, My God why have You forsaken Me?"- (Matthew 27:46).  Here we see Jesus taking on the full weight of the sin of all humanity (past,present,and future).  Since sin can never be in the presence of  our Holy God, Jesus felt the absence of His Father.  Jesus felt the weight of abandonment and He chose to pray in the midst of it.

5.) "I thirst" (John 19:29)-  Only after Jesus has cared for the needs of others does He express His own need.  Imagine, the One who made the oceans, the lakes, the rivers.....the One who is called the Living Water cries out "I thirst".  Though earlier on Jesus was offered drink on a sponge, He refused.  The sponge was soaked in vinegar and gall- a sedative or pain reliever that we might think of as today's Morphine.  Jesus refused it, for He chose to feel all of the pain for us.  This drink He was offered here did not contain that sedative.

6.) "It is finished"  (John 19:30)- Jesus called the shots even from the cross!  It was not over until Jesus said it was over.  The cross and all the horrific pain that came along with death by crucifixion did not take the life of Jesus.  Jesus laid down His life.  His earthly ministry would not draw to a close until Jesus said "IT IS FINISHED!"- This was not a cry of defeat, rather a cry of victory!

7.)  "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit"- (Luke 23: 46)- This is the contentment Jesus had in His death.  He had completed what He came to earth to accomplish.  He had done the will of the Father and now He was about to return to His Father.  Though He felt the pain of His Father turning His back on Him as He carried the weight of the world on that cross, He knew the love His Father had for Him.

Lives would never be the same because of six hours one Friday.  The world would never be same.  Jesus' disciples didn't understand it then, but they were just handed the torch to carry on the ministry of Jesus. The crowd thought they witnessed the crucifixion of a criminal, but in reality they witnessed the crucifixion of a King, the King of Kings. The devil didn't get it....he was thinking he would get the trophy for the "Most Valuable Player" in this plot, but in reality he was about to have the keys of death and hell ripped from his filthy hands and he would be made a spectacle of though the victory of the resurrection.  Over 2000 years later the cross is still as powerful, the One who hung upon it is still causing controversy, Satan is still striving to silence the message of the cross, yet he does so in vain-for the blood is still cleansing those who immerse themselves in it!  Hallelujah!  It is impossible to silence our Savior!

How has the cross changed your life?  We can never underestimate the power of the cross or the importance of the cross.  We live in a day where, even in some churches, the cross has been downplayed.  It's not a pretty story, in fact, it's pretty gory.  But the cross, the blood.....this is what cleanses us!

The cries from the cross taught me so much.  I want to follow in the example of my Savior though forgiving those who hurt me, witnessing to the lost, caring for those relationships in my life and spending time with my Heavenly Father,running to Him when I feel lonely, crying out "I thirst" and allowing Him to satisfy that thirst.  And one day, when I have completed what the Lord placed me on the earth to accomplish, I want to be content, and at peace crying out "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."  I will fall asleep and awake to embrace the only One in heaven that will have scars......Jesus Christ, my precious Savior.
These are powerful songs- I hope you will listen to them and your heart will be blessed!  I will glory in the cross!