Luke 23:45-52
The Word of Perfection
• It's no use just protesting Christ's innocence because even the centurion at the cross knew that.
• It's no use beating ourselves up emotionally over how terrible a thing it is that he had to die for even the crowd that crucified felt that.
• It's of no use just going through the motions of gathering round the cross with Jesus himself not present, though admittedly it was for Jesus' sake that the disciples did gather.
Here is God's perfect sacrifice, dead for you to believe in while you live. Confess with your mouth that he is Lord, just as Jesus himself heralded his victory over sin vocally, indeed, in a loud voice. Just as Jesus committed himself into God's hands in sure and certain hope of the resurrection so, if you believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, your faith will be of ultimate use to you. You shall be saved.
Showing posts with label Perfection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Perfection. Show all posts
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?
Luke 23:45-52
The Word of Perfection
We might be tempted to take comfort
• in only following orders
• in having just been temporarily caught up in what everybody else was doing
• in regrouping after having been scattered
thinking that our restored mercifulness, human feeling or solidarity is our default mode and that what we did at the cross of Jesus was somehow an aberration.
But what if that flit, looking out for oneself, that show of cruelty or that mob violence were to prove to be the default? What if it isn't about what the centurion said ("Certainly this man was innocent!") but about what the centurion did? Conversely, what if it isn't about what the crowd did (beating their breasts) but about what they said? Deep-in-the-heart darkness was on display at Calvary; that depravity of which the totality is never seen. What if it is the default for disciples not to gather but to run away?
If we would truly put to death the sin that remains and at the same time bring immortality to light, we must come back, continually, to the cross of Christ and, daily and always, repent of the sin for which Christ, once and forever, was the perfect sacrifice.
The Word of Perfection
We might be tempted to take comfort
• in only following orders
• in having just been temporarily caught up in what everybody else was doing
• in regrouping after having been scattered
thinking that our restored mercifulness, human feeling or solidarity is our default mode and that what we did at the cross of Jesus was somehow an aberration.
But what if that flit, looking out for oneself, that show of cruelty or that mob violence were to prove to be the default? What if it isn't about what the centurion said ("Certainly this man was innocent!") but about what the centurion did? Conversely, what if it isn't about what the crowd did (beating their breasts) but about what they said? Deep-in-the-heart darkness was on display at Calvary; that depravity of which the totality is never seen. What if it is the default for disciples not to gather but to run away?
If we would truly put to death the sin that remains and at the same time bring immortality to light, we must come back, continually, to the cross of Christ and, daily and always, repent of the sin for which Christ, once and forever, was the perfect sacrifice.
Unexpected Things Required for the Coming of the Kingdom
Luke 23:45-52
The Word of Perfection
Just as the colt, upon which no person had ever ridden, was surrendered to the disciples because Jesus needed it, so Joseph surrendered up to Jesus his new tomb, in which no human remains had yet lain. What unexpected thing might the coming of the kingdom require of me?
The Word of Perfection
Just as the colt, upon which no person had ever ridden, was surrendered to the disciples because Jesus needed it, so Joseph surrendered up to Jesus his new tomb, in which no human remains had yet lain. What unexpected thing might the coming of the kingdom require of me?
Friday, April 06, 2007
The Word of Perfection
Luke 23:45-52
Surrender of the Spirit
Tumult of the Soul.
Habeas Corpus: Having the Body
Christ's sacrifice of himself was perfect in every way; When the time came he was to be found, 'about his Father's business', so to speak, deprived of all help, he remained himself entirely and truly and when the work of sacrifice was over, he was prepared to rest his weight on it himself, surrendering his broken body to human hands and his triumphant spirit to God in submissive prayer to the Father.
Surrender of the Spirit
Tumult of the Soul.
Habeas Corpus: Having the Body
Christ's sacrifice of himself was perfect in every way; When the time came he was to be found, 'about his Father's business', so to speak, deprived of all help, he remained himself entirely and truly and when the work of sacrifice was over, he was prepared to rest his weight on it himself, surrendering his broken body to human hands and his triumphant spirit to God in submissive prayer to the Father.
Habeas Corpus: Having the Body
Luke 23:50-52
50 • Now there was a man named Joseph,
from the Jewish town of Arimathea.
• He was a member of the council,
a good and righteous man,
51 who had not consented to their decision and action;
and he was looking for the kingdom of God.
52 • This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
Just while the desire to have the killing of Jesus drawn out was ebbing out of the crowd and the centurion (too late) was protesting his innocence, a new determination entered into an erstwhile 'secret' disciple of Jesus to ask Pilate for his body to be released to him.
The Romans left nothing to chance on such occasions so as surely as they would have provided the right number of crosses, nails and soldiers to execute the three men they had led out to die, they certainly had three graves ready dug at the site, with the bags of quicklime ready to speed up the dissolution of the bodies. No doubt the bodies of the two thieves were thrown into their permanent graves but the body of Jesus was taken to rest in his temporary tomb.
It was not in God's plan for the body of Jesus to be reduced to dust and ashes so, although Joseph appears here somewhat like a suddenly convenient but not previously mentioned crucial character in a cheap detective novel, Luke wasn't concocting fiction; this man or his memory was to be found in the village of Arimathea. It was a matter of record that this Joseph had integrity as a person, that as a council member he had not consented to the death of Jesus and, crucially, that he had been looking for the kingdom of God before he went to Pilate.
Further evidence that this character was not conjured up by God at the last minute as a contingency to save the body from dissolution is to be found in the prophecy of Isaiah. The Roman preparations for disposing of the body of Jesus are found predicted in Isaiah 53:9
but so is the intervention of Joseph
Jesus committing his spirit into God's keeping was justified when we see the preparations made from eternity for the keeping of his body.
50 • Now there was a man named Joseph,
from the Jewish town of Arimathea.
• He was a member of the council,
a good and righteous man,
51 who had not consented to their decision and action;
and he was looking for the kingdom of God.
52 • This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
Just while the desire to have the killing of Jesus drawn out was ebbing out of the crowd and the centurion (too late) was protesting his innocence, a new determination entered into an erstwhile 'secret' disciple of Jesus to ask Pilate for his body to be released to him.
The Romans left nothing to chance on such occasions so as surely as they would have provided the right number of crosses, nails and soldiers to execute the three men they had led out to die, they certainly had three graves ready dug at the site, with the bags of quicklime ready to speed up the dissolution of the bodies. No doubt the bodies of the two thieves were thrown into their permanent graves but the body of Jesus was taken to rest in his temporary tomb.
It was not in God's plan for the body of Jesus to be reduced to dust and ashes so, although Joseph appears here somewhat like a suddenly convenient but not previously mentioned crucial character in a cheap detective novel, Luke wasn't concocting fiction; this man or his memory was to be found in the village of Arimathea. It was a matter of record that this Joseph had integrity as a person, that as a council member he had not consented to the death of Jesus and, crucially, that he had been looking for the kingdom of God before he went to Pilate.
Further evidence that this character was not conjured up by God at the last minute as a contingency to save the body from dissolution is to be found in the prophecy of Isaiah. The Roman preparations for disposing of the body of Jesus are found predicted in Isaiah 53:9
And they made his grave with the wicked
but so is the intervention of Joseph
and with a rich man in his death …
Jesus committing his spirit into God's keeping was justified when we see the preparations made from eternity for the keeping of his body.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Tumult of the Soul.
Luke 23:47-49
47 • Now when the centurion saw what had taken place,
he praised God,
saying, "Certainly this man was innocent!"
48 • And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle,
when they saw what had taken place,
returned home beating their breasts.
49 • And all his acquaintances
and the women who had followed him from Galilee
stood at a distance watching these things.
It is much more likely that it was the sun's darkening that provoked the confession of Christ's innocence from the watching centurion than either that this centurion was the 'say-but-the-word' centurion whose servant Jesus had healed without even coming to his house (the Hollywood version) or that he had been able from where he stood to see the temple curtain tear (the new-site-for-Golgotha on the Mount of Olives version.)
Even a normal eclipse of the sun has extraordinary effects on people who witness it, so, given the heightened emotions that this crowd were displaying earlier, their powerful reaction and display of more than normal grief is not entirely unexplainable. This had, though, been more than just a rent-a-mob gathering so we must see more significance in their breast beating than mere recreational grief.
It was surely an extraordinary turnaround for the man in charge of an execution to declare the innocence of the victim as soon as that victim was dead. No less amazing was the action of the crowd, beating themselves up over a man they'd just been taunting as he died. It was as though the cruel skills of the soldiers and the antagonism of the people had just been necessary tools to get the job done so that as soon as Christ had made atonement on the cross the anger disappeared and the very coalition that crucified him were at a loss as to why they had done it.
It is consistent with these changed attitudes being down to the restoration of normality that the sheep, which had been scattered at the beginning of Christ's trial, were gathered together as one flock, admittedly standing at a distance, by the time his suffering was ended.
47 • Now when the centurion saw what had taken place,
he praised God,
saying, "Certainly this man was innocent!"
48 • And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle,
when they saw what had taken place,
returned home beating their breasts.
49 • And all his acquaintances
and the women who had followed him from Galilee
stood at a distance watching these things.
It is much more likely that it was the sun's darkening that provoked the confession of Christ's innocence from the watching centurion than either that this centurion was the 'say-but-the-word' centurion whose servant Jesus had healed without even coming to his house (the Hollywood version) or that he had been able from where he stood to see the temple curtain tear (the new-site-for-Golgotha on the Mount of Olives version.)
Even a normal eclipse of the sun has extraordinary effects on people who witness it, so, given the heightened emotions that this crowd were displaying earlier, their powerful reaction and display of more than normal grief is not entirely unexplainable. This had, though, been more than just a rent-a-mob gathering so we must see more significance in their breast beating than mere recreational grief.
It was surely an extraordinary turnaround for the man in charge of an execution to declare the innocence of the victim as soon as that victim was dead. No less amazing was the action of the crowd, beating themselves up over a man they'd just been taunting as he died. It was as though the cruel skills of the soldiers and the antagonism of the people had just been necessary tools to get the job done so that as soon as Christ had made atonement on the cross the anger disappeared and the very coalition that crucified him were at a loss as to why they had done it.
It is consistent with these changed attitudes being down to the restoration of normality that the sheep, which had been scattered at the beginning of Christ's trial, were gathered together as one flock, admittedly standing at a distance, by the time his suffering was ended.
Surrender of the Spirit
Luke 23:45-46
45 • while the sun's light failed.
• And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
46 • Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said,
"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!"
And having said this he breathed his last.
Of the three things that happened virtually at the same time that Friday afternoon, the least spectacular was the prayer uttered by the crucified man on the centre tree. If the three events are taken to have significance (and they are mentioned together because Luke considered them to be significant) then the prayer might still be thought to be the least of the three but when it comes to understanding all three it is the prayer that puts a seal on the things that happened and explains them.
It is the prayer of committal that explains the sun's darkening and the rending of the temple curtain. Come another day and the sun shone again. No doubt, when the temple custodians got over the shock of the curtain being torn and it was possible to do so, the curtain was sewn up again. But never again would Christ be on the cross so, as he gave his life into the Father's hands, we can see the sun's eclipse as mirroring the departure of the Light of the world from the world and also that access through the temple curtain opened up into the Most Holy Place just as the Great High Priest was entering into heaven itself.
This prayer puts a seal to the sequence of words from the cross which began with a prayer also. ( The Word of Pardon )
45 • while the sun's light failed.
• And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
46 • Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said,
"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!"
And having said this he breathed his last.
Of the three things that happened virtually at the same time that Friday afternoon, the least spectacular was the prayer uttered by the crucified man on the centre tree. If the three events are taken to have significance (and they are mentioned together because Luke considered them to be significant) then the prayer might still be thought to be the least of the three but when it comes to understanding all three it is the prayer that puts a seal on the things that happened and explains them.
It is the prayer of committal that explains the sun's darkening and the rending of the temple curtain. Come another day and the sun shone again. No doubt, when the temple custodians got over the shock of the curtain being torn and it was possible to do so, the curtain was sewn up again. But never again would Christ be on the cross so, as he gave his life into the Father's hands, we can see the sun's eclipse as mirroring the departure of the Light of the world from the world and also that access through the temple curtain opened up into the Most Holy Place just as the Great High Priest was entering into heaven itself.
This prayer puts a seal to the sequence of words from the cross which began with a prayer also. ( The Word of Pardon )
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)