He Is Not Here, He Is Risen!

 “…and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, ‘Why are you seeking the living One among the dead?  He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise from the dead’” (Lk. 24:5-7 NASB).

Happy Resurrection Sunday! He is risen!

God Was In Christ: The Doctrine of the Incarnation Part VII

I want to continue with the next part of God was in Christ. We have walked through the Old Testament and where Christ, the preexistent Second Person of the Godhead, made many appearances. We also saw the Old Testament prophets their prophecies concerning the Incarnation of Christ. Let us look now to the New Testament to see what Jesus Himself and that He claimed to be God.  

Jesus presents Himself through the Gospels not only as a prophet but as the object of prophecy. Jesus acknowledged that He was the Messiah on oath at His trial.[1] His ministry, however, is meaningless unless He firmly believed that He was God’s chosen One to redeem His people. In fact, no sense can be made of Jesus Himself “unless we are prepared to acknowledge that Jesus saw in Himself the culmination of Israel’s law and for salvation and God.”[2]

Jesus claimed His divinity and looked to the Old Testament to substantiate this truth, “It was the Old Testament…the Hebrew Scriptures in which he found a rich tapestry of figures, historical persons, prophetic pictures and symbols of worship. And in this tapestry, where others saw only a fragmented collection of various figures and hopes, Jesus saw His own face.”[3] Christ repeatedly stated to the disciples, Pharisees, and others that He existed with and came from the Father.

The Word God (Theos)

The word Theos (God) refers to God the Father in the New Testament, “Nonetheless, there are several passages where it is also used to refer to Jesus Christ.”[4] One of the most well-known is, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1). Another is John 1:18, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” This is a direct reference to God and His essence as Spirit, “This first statement is to be connected with verse one, which also speaks of Jesus Christ in His self-existence is an eternal and infinite Spirit. Then, to show the very special relationship of the Son to the Father.”[5]

The Word Lord (Kyrios)

Grudem defines Kyrios in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) as the Hebrew word, Yahweh. Yahweh is translated “LORD,” or “Jehovah.” It is used to translate the name of the Lord 6, 814 times in the Greek Old Testament, “Therefore, any Greek-speaking reader at the time of the New Testament who had any knowledge at all of the Septuagint would have recognized that, in contexts where it was appropriate, the word “Lord” was the name of the one who was the Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth, the omnipotent God.”[6]

In the New Testament, there are many instances where ‘Lord’ is used of Christ, “In what can only be understood as…Yahweh or God himself.”[7] These names of God refer not only to the Father but also Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, attributing to Christ the nature and attributes of God.

The Son of Man

The Son of Man was one of the most prominent names that Jesus’ used in referring to Himself. The Gospels record seventy-eight times that Jesus used this title. The Son of Man is the name associated with the eschatological prophecy in Daniel 7:13. The title is connected to the earthly life of Jesus. He refers to Himself as the Son of Man in the healing of the paralytic, which we see in Mark 9:6. He also referred to Himself as the Son of Man as the Lord of the Sabbath (Mk. 2:28); with His suffering (Mk. 8:31); and concerning His future death and resurrection: “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (KJV). The Son of Man is a title that was used exclusively by Jesus—His disciples did not address Him as such. Jesus uses this title when referring to His humanity, but also as a designation of the Messiah and the Kingdom of God.

Son Of God

One important aspect of His nature that Scripture claims, and vital to His pre-existence, is that He is the Son of God. The term “Son of God” is used to refer to Israel; a man created by God; or a redeemed man in general. Some even assert that the Sons of God in Genesis chapter 6 and Job 1:6; 2:1 refer to angels. However, “There are nevertheless instances in which the phrase “Son of God” refers to Jesus as the heavenly, eternal Son who is equal to God Himself (see Matt. 11: 25-30; 17:5; 1 Cor. 15:28; Heb. 1:1-3, 5, 8).”[8] Christ is referred to as the “Son of God” in a more unique sense than the created, the redeemed, and the celestial creation.

When an individual comes to faith in Jesus Christ, they become a son of God, “But as many as received him, to them gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (Jn. 1:12 KJV). But only Jesus is the Only-begotten of the Father, “And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, and let all the angels of God worship him” (Heb. 1:6 KJV). The author of Hebrews is drawing from the only Old Testament reference to the “Only-begotten,” as Psalm 2:7 reads, “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’” This designation is only attributed to Christ by the Father.

In the next post, we will look at more of Jesus’ claims of how He is the Incarnate Christ and other witnesses who verified His claims.

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[1] Elwell, Dictionary of Theology, 1019. 

[2] Spiros Zodhiates, ed., The Complete Word Study New Testament (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 1992), 306. 

[3] Grudem, 544. 

[4] Ibid.

[5] Grudem, 546.

[6] George L. Carey, God Incarnate (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press., 1977), 11.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Christopher J.H. Wright, Knowing Jesus Through The Old Testament (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press., 1992), 108.

 

Sabbath Sanctuary: Crucible Hill; God Was In Christ

Lent is upon us. This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, and though my church does not follow the liturgy of the church, I love it and miss it; especially Ash Wednesday. 

The Lenten season has me reflecting on the death and resurrection and it has urged me to continue with my series on the Incarnation. How appropriate then that we examine the testimony of the prophets in the Old Testament who prophesied about His coming. Isaiah speaks about the coming Messiah more than any of the prophets.  

 Isaiah prophesies Jesus’ birth, but also foretells His Incarnation; “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14). Matthew quotes this prophecy in his gospel in 1:23 to recognize Jesus as the One Isaiah spoke of dwelling with His people. Isaiah prophesied Jesus birth and His name, and each name describes His attributes:

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this (Is. 9:6-7).

Again, this is fulfilled in Matthew that Jesus is the long-awaited King, the rightful heir to David’s throne, the Ruler of God’s people.[1] 

Isaiah also prophesied about the suffering and death of Christ, the Man of Sorrows in Isaiah 53:

Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth (Is. 53:1-7 NKJV).

We reflect on Jesus, who walked up Crucible Hill, the Man of Sorrows, the Suffering Servant, who died on our behalf. He carries those things that hurt, the pain we suffer—He bore it all. He took upon Himself our sickness, our stress, our heartbreak—our sin.

 
The prophet Micah also prophesied the Incarnation. He warns Bethlehem of their coming deliverer and speaks of His pre-incarnational existence, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity” (Mic. 5:2 NASB bold emphasis added). This is the strongest possible language concerning His pre-existence, “The plain antithesis…shows that the eternal generation of the Son is meant. The terms convey the strongest assertion of infinite duration of which the Hebrew language is capable.”[2] The prophets, through God’s Spirit, saw the coming of the Messiah. Matthew calls upon this prophetic verse to proclaim that Jesus is the fulfillment of this Messiah who existed with and came from the Father (Matt. 2:6).

Throughout the history of mankind, God has used numerous methods and mediums to communicate with His creation and to give them His message. The prophets gave us God’s words. But Jesus is the very Word of God. The book of Hebrews tells us that “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world” (Heb. 1: 1-2). This is just one more claim by Scripture to the deity of Jesus Christ.

I pray that you meditate on His Word during this season of Lent. Christ left the glory He shared with the Father, to suffer and die so that you are no longer captive to the power of sin. Meditate on what He sacrificed for and how much He loves you. His love is eternal.

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---

[1] Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum, and Charles L. Quarles, The Craddle, The Cross, And The Crown (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2009), 220.

[2] A.R. Fausset, David Brown, and Robert Jamieson, eds., Jamieson, Fausset & Brown’s Commentary On The Whole Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1961), 817.

 

Sabbath Sanctuary: Crucible Hill—Living Through A Crucible

I intended to write a Lenten devotion, Crucible Hill to study and reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus leading up to Resurrection Sunday, yet I find myself in a crucible quite unexpected; my attention focused elsewhere {I am still penning Crucible Hill, just for the Lent season next}.

Oxford Dictionary defines crucible as a situation of severe trial, or in which different elements interact, leading to the creation of something new. I find myself in such a trial. 

My view from my husband’s hospital room is the magnificent Rocky Mountains which serve as a reminder of the Majesty and Awesomeness of God.

“I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple” {Is. 6:1 NASB}.

I gaze out over the parking lot and the buildings toward the majestic peaks and it is peaceful, even though I know that the bustling world below continues to spin— unaware of the pain from behind the window.

We have found ourselves in a place we never anticipated. My husband had a seizure for the first time in his fifty-six years on this earth. He was found at church unconscious, laying on the floor {he is the building superintendent at the church we attend}. I was there that day as well and ran to where he lay unconscious. Though his eyes would open intermittently, he was not home; he was completely unresponsive. He was rushed to the emergency room and the CT revealed a brain tumor. A brain tumor. This is something one hears happens to other people; one never imagines that this happens in their own family.

While having the seizure he somehow broke his left ankle. Surgery was imminent—within twenty-four hours. The tumor too, immediate removal. Two surgeries in two days. His left ankle cannot sustain any weight-bearing pressure (he can not use or walk on it) and the right is numb caused by the seizure, tumor, and surgery. The whole tumor could not be removed surgically, now radiation is next every day for six weeks.

Life can change in a day. There were no symptoms, no red flags, nothing indicating this was coming. One day he is fine, the next he is seizing and bed-ridden. Life can change in a moment. He was in a meeting one moment and feeling fine, and ten minutes later, unconscious on the floor. Our whole world turned upside down.

I don’t know how this happened—how we got here to this place. I don’t know why we had no warning and why our world changed so drastically. What I do know is that God is good; true; just; faithful; righteous; gracious; lovingkindness; sovereign; holy; merciful; patient; love; omnipotent; omniscient; omnipresent; omnibenevolent; all-powerful; all-mighty; and immutable—the same yesterday, today and forever {Heb. 13:8}. I know that we are in His strong hand and nothing can snatch us from Him. I know that to know that you have faith in God means that faith is tested—forged in fire to bring forth gold.

“So that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” {1 Pet. 1:7 NASB}

How do you know you have faith if you never have to fight? How do you know God as your healer if you are never sick?

I know that we live in a fallen world where sometimes bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people.

“…for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” {Matt. 5:45 NASB}.

I may not understand everything this side of eternity but I can trust in His goodness and mercy which He poured out in abundance in all that transpired that day. The previous week he was on the roof fifty to sixty feet in the air in which he could have fallen from during the seizure or laid there for hours without anyone knowing where he was and without aid, and was also forty feet up in a lift changing light bulbs in the sanctuary. He made it to the top of the flight of stairs before having the seizure instead of half-way which would have incurred a brutal fall. Just an hour before, he drove both of us to church—thankfully it did not happen while driving. Numerous scenarios could have made this more tragic than it was. God is so good; we both felt His protection through and through—and now feel His grace more than ever.

I believe God is a healer. I pray for my husband’s healing every day. I prayed while awaiting the paramedics; I prayed in the car on the way to the ER; I prayed while waiting for the CT scan, MRI, X-rays, and blood tests. I prayed while waiting for surgeons to fix his broken body. I believed God that this was not a tumor but something small and that he would emerge from surgery with nothing on his brain baffling doctors. Though I did not receive the outcome I prayed for I know that whatever is ahead for us God will walk with us through this crucible of faith...The Lord is my Shepherd… God is good regardless of whether I receive the outcome I desire.

We await the pathology on the portion of the tumor the docs were able to remove, whether it is malignant or benign. I am believing that the tumor is not malignant and I stand on God’s healing power. I believe that though his healing is for our good, it is for His glory…to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Crucible; a severe trial…leading to the creation of something new.

Regardless of the path ahead and the news we receive, we are in the grip of His grace and He will strengthen us and do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. I know that my Redeemer lives.


“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him...” {Job. 15:15 KJV}

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See my series on the Jesus and fulfilled prophecy here
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Crucible Hill: A Lenten Devotion: That Stake of Wood

I have been writing as of late about Eve for a forthcoming publication and as I study and read Genesis 3: 15, the protoevangelium provokes me to reflect on the cross some thousands of years after Eden.

No theology is genuinely Christian which does not arise from and focus on the cross. – Martin Luther

Lent is now suddenly upon us and though I am not now of a denominational tradition that celebrates the liturgical calendar, I did as a child. I have a deep longing to study and keep many of the traditions for myself, so on today, Ash Wednesday, I am well aware of my shortcomings and even more so, my sin. I reduce to ashes my dried palm from Palm Sunday last as I pray for His forgiveness, thankful that He died for them—for me.  

The cross is beautiful to me. What Christ endured on the cross for my sake is unfathomable, His love is unfathomable; His love, body, and blood poured out for me.

When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride. Isaac Watts

Scripture—the blessed Holy Writ—makes clear that the death of Christ was necessary. It was part of God’s divine plan to redeem fallen, lost humanity. What a stiff-necked people we are in our fallenness. The Fall of creation was one of the most tragic occurrences the world has seen. It was a cosmic event of catastrophic proportions for which the remedy was beyond Adam and Eve’s power to repair. Though their sin was beyond their ability to mend God proved faithful in His promise to send the Messiah to restore what was broken.

“ Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification” {Rom. 4:22-25 NASB}.

The cross of Christ is beautiful to the sinner. That is why I have been troubled recently (I posted on social media) by the trend in some circles of Christians who assert that Jesus did not actually die and that the account of His crucifixion was only a metaphor. They further claim that the cross is repulsive and that only a mean and angry God would require the blood of His Son to satisfy His anger for sin. Further still, I can barely stand to write the accusation, they claim that this would be cosmic child abuse for Him to require such a gruesome sacrifice. 

 “So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified” {John 19:16 NASB}.

I wish there had been another way. I wish that Christ did not have to endure such suffering on my behalf. Jesus too, prayed that the cup would pass from Him {Matt. 26:29 NASB}. But He came to do the will of the Father, it was not cosmic child abuse, He was the perfect Lamb of God, taking on the sin of the world, to reconcile God’s beloved creation back to Himself. He did not choose some random person in which to impose the requirement of sin upon, rather He took the payment of such sin on Himself as well.

“Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (In the scroll of the book it is written of Me) To do Your will, O God.’” After saying above, ‘Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them’ (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will.’ He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” {Heb. 10:7-10}.

The crucifixion was Jesus’ voluntary act of laying down His life and taking it up again {Jn. 10:18}. No one takes it from Him. He came to do the will of the one who sent Him. He was not taken against His will; He was not martyred; He was not assassinated. He laid down His life. He did really die for our sins. I cannot imagine faithful followers of Jesus (who were martyred and died very brutal, gruesome deaths themselves) defending, suffering, and dying for a metaphorical cross. It is unimaginable. If He did not literally die, He did not literally rise from the dead. If He did not rise, our faith is in vain, and our message is useless, and then it would follow, so is our faith in Him{1 Cor. 15:14}.

“First, as the Lord shall help me (for who shall describe the cross without the help of Him that hung upon it) what did Paul mean by the cross? Did he not include under this term, first, the fact of the cross; secondly, the doctrine of the cross, and thirdly, the cross of the doctrine? I think he meant, first of all, the fact of the cross. Our Lord Jesus Christ did really die upon a gallows, the death of a felon. He was literally put to death upon a tree, accursed in the esteem of men.” Charles Spurgeon, The Cross Our Glory, Sermon No. 1859.

God is Holy. Sin required a sacrifice. Jesus was that perfect one-time sacrifice. These are biblical truths. Where would we all be if not for the cross? How can one look upon it with such contempt? Such venom? Would it have been better for Him to annihilate us that we be separated and suffer apart from Him for eternity? Would it better for Him to allow us to live depraved? God let it not be so! He would not let it be. That is not gruesome, it is beautiful. I pray for those who are veiled from the truth of the cross and are a stumbling block and deceiving others by their teaching. God have mercy on them. Paul spoke about those who claim Christ did not die in his letter to the Corinthians,

“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.’ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” {1 Cor. 1:22-25 NASB}.

“We could summarize all of this background to Bonhoeffer’s Christology in one sentence, albeit a complex one: The cross was a stumbling block to the Romans; the cross was a stumbling block to the Nazis; the cross was a stumbling block to moderns; and—unless we are humbled and brought low beneath the cross to see its power and beauty—the cross can be a stumbling block to us.” 

Stephen J. Nichols, Bonhoeffer on the Christian Life: From the Cross, for the World

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See my series on the Jesus and fulfilled prophecy here
See my series on A Protestant's View on Stations of the Cross for Lent here

The Wonder of God's Word Part V: Christ Revealed~ His Righteousness

The last time I wrote concerning Christ revealed in Scripture, was a few years ago; longer than I care to admit. The season of Lent has moved me to contemplate Christ and all that He has done for me. Not only in my life, but for my life, through His sacrificial death and resurrection. Placing pen to page, I attempt to show you the Beautiful and Glorious Christ. 

I wrote before concerning the prophecies in Scripture of His birth, and in the last post in that series, I penned what the Lord prophesied through His Word concerning Christ’s Character; how will a broken, unrighteous, sinful world know that the One who came, and made extravagant claims concerning Himself, is the Messiah. That is where I will pick up again.

I left off with the prophecies concerning the Messiah’s holiness. Jesus, the Messiah, is the second Person of the Godhead; He did not “begin” at Bethlehem’s manager. Jesus is the pre-existent second Person of the Godhead, and was with God in the beginning; “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am’” {see Jn. 8:58 NASB}.  He was with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the beginning, and was an active agent in creation. He brought with Him the attribute of pre-existent holiness. I turn now turn to His righteousness.

Righteousness. We all seek to live right before the Lord, but so often we fail. The only way that we can be righteous is through Christ’s shed blood. Righteousness means being ‘right’ or ‘just’ in all things. The pre-existent One is Righteous, because He is God. The act of making us righteous is justification. Scripture uses righteousness as judged by the standard of God’s holy law, by which God reveals to us His character, and is illustrated through the Decalogue {Ten Commandments} {see Ex. 20:1-17}. [1] 

God the Father is righteous (just); Jesus Christ the Son is the Righteous (Just) One; the Father through the Son and in the Spirit, gives the gift of righteousness (justice) to those sinners who repent. When we repent, He is faithful and just to forgive us of all unrighteousness {see 1 Jn. 1:9}. We are made righteous through the Holy Spirit working in us.

Prophecy:

As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the  Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities {Isaiah 53:11 NASB}. {Author’s Emphasis}

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord {Is. 54:17 KJV}. {Author’s Emphasis}

Fulfillment:

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your companions {Heb. 1:8-9 NASB}. {Author’s Emphasis}

Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus {Rom. 3: 25-26 NASB}. {Author’s Emphasis}

If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him {1 Jn. 2:29}. {Author’s Emphasis}

Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous {1 Jn. 3:7}. {Author’s Emphasis}

Jesus is just and righteous in all His ways. His life was a witness to His righteousness. He was obedient to the Father, He never deceived anyone, and His life and ministry was perfect before the Father. Because of His sinless life, He was qualified to be our righteousness. Therefore, He is the Righteous One. 

[1] Herbert Lockyer, All The Messianic Prophecies Of The Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1973), 87. 

To read all the posts in this series click here: Who Is This Jesus? 

A Liturgy: Experience Christ ( Stations of the Cross I and II)

Lent is a season to reflect on Jesus and to remember His trail to the cross. I feel like I have neglected this season; my inbox is filled with articles and posts about Lent and Easter, but I feel indifferent this year. I feel like something is missing.

I grew up in a tradition that celebrated the liturgy of the church; it’s a part of my spiritual DNA. The church that I attend now does not follow the ecclesiastical liturgy of my past. Of course we celebrate Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter. I love my church, but I long for liturgy, not as a religious ritual, but as a nudging to worship. I don’t want to view the life of Jesus as a monument of the past, but rather as a worshipful invitation to experience His fullness in my life now. I desire to see the richness of Christ in the mundane of my life and in the miraculous.

Now as we enter Holy Week, I am more purposeful to focus on Him and to deepen my fellowship with Him. If it were not for the grace of God, I don’t believe I would be inhaling or exhaling in this life; I am not sure I would be alive. But for His grace.

Because I feel a little distracted this week, a little indifferent, I searched for something to inspire me to really focus my attention on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We are all sinners in need of a Savior and it is good for us to reflect on what Jesus suffered in order to free us from the bondage of sin. I wrote this little devotional about ten years ago; I have revised it a few times, but it has sat idle for many years. I decided to dust it off this week and to share it with you, and hope it moves your heart to a place of worship. It is a journey through A Protestant’s View of the Stations of the Cross © 2006.  Though I am not Catholic, I believe they are a beautiful and thought provoking way of worshipping Jesus, and a way to remember what He suffered on our behalf.

In order to get through them all this Holy Week, I will include two-three stations in one post, and one on Easter Sunday; I pray you enjoy them.

Christ Jesus was the perfect sin offering

Christ is beautifully prophesied in the Old Testament; the Old Testament describes the story that Jesus completes in the New Testament.  We would not have the New Testament without the Old.

“This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering shall be killed before the Lord. It is most holy” {Leviticus 6:25 NASB}.

Leviticus chapter four, details the requirements for the sin offering, it is a holy offering.

Station # 1: Christ condemned to death.

Christ condemned to die is the first station. It is important for us to see why Jesus is the perfect sacrifice.

The sacrifice for the sin offering offered at the Tabernacle had to be a male, firstborn, without spot or blemish. The sacrifice was required to be inspected by the priests to assure the sacrifice satisfied God’s requirements. In the New Testament, Jesus fulfilled this requirement; He was inspected seven times and found to be without fault.

1. Pilate; John 19:4; Pilate came out again and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him” {NASB}.

2. Herod: Luke 23: 14-15; and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion, and behold, having examined Him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against Him. No, nor has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him {NASB}.

3. The High Priest; John 18 says after Annas sent Jesus to Caiphas; he could find no fault with Jesus.

4. Caiphas: Could not get the witnesses to agree on any wrong doing by Jesus.

5. Judas: Matt 27:4; I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood.

6. The Centurion: Matt 27: 54; Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” {NASB}.

7. The thief on the cross; Luke 23:40-41; But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong” {NASB}.

Seven times Jesus was examined, judged, and found to be without sin. God is a detail-oriented God. Everything in the law in Israel was observed, in Christ, they are fulfilled, in the church (believers) they are applied. Christ fulfilled every Old Testament Scripture concerning Him.

I want to make note that I believe the first station should have been the Garden of Gethsemane. This is where Jesus had a spiritual battle with the devil, and through His struggle remained obedient to God, and submitted Himself to the will of the Father. He agonized as He pondered what was to come and prayed for the cup to pass. Through His love for us, He remained obedient; He saw beyond the cross to those that He loved and desired to redeem. He chose to obey the will of the Father and to endure His impending suffering. Once Jesus chose the way of obedience, the Lord sent an angel to minister to Him.

And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. Jesus received His strength from the Lord. When the Lord sent the angel unto Him, the Father strengthened Him and enabled Him to remain obedient until death {Luke 22: 41-43 NASB}.

In station one, there is a beautiful prayer to Jesus our Redeemer, other prayers are there as well, however, Jesus is our only mediator and the only one in which we need to pray. Mary was a blessed woman who deserves to be highly honored. The Lord saw something spectacular in her to allow her the honor of giving birth to Jesus. However, she was a sinner in need of a Savior, just as we are. The only way to the Father is to believe that Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead for our sin; to attempt any other passageway is to negate the cross. In the Tabernacle there was only one door; 

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}.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it… And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth {John 1: 1-5, 14 NASB}.

Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?  This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.  For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement  {1 John 5:5-8 NASB}.

And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament. They which are called might receive the promises of eternal inheritance {Hebrews 9: 15 NASB}.


The book of Hebrews is a wondrous book for studying the work and person of Jesus Christ. Throughout this poetic book, is instruction concerning Jesus. He is better than Moses, Aaron, the Tabernacle, and is forever ordained after the order of Melchizedec (King James Spelling). Jesus is above Moses and Aaron therefore He is above everyone.

Dear Jesus, thank you for being the perfect sacrifice for sin. Thank you for loving the world so much that you died to redeem it. Father I thank you for the many that you used to bring forth the birth of your Son. I honor them today for obedience to you. I acknowledge Jesus Christ as my only mediator and propitiation for my sin and I give you all the glory, honor and praise. Amen!

Station # 2: Jesus carries His Cross:

In the Movie The Passion, Jesus takes a fall carrying the heavy burden of the cross; He is able, through the pain of the soldier’s beatings, and the mocking of the crowd to struggle to his feet. Jesus does something remarkable. The cross which He knows will be so painful, He will hang on for the sins of those mocking and beating him. He takes that cross in His hands, and draws it to His face, and places on it the very thing that betrayed our precious Lord; a kiss.

Though Mel Gibson may have indulged in creative license here, I believe it illustrates beautifully Christ’s heart and attitude as He took upon Him all of our sin. I believe Jesus was full with love for people, and though it was a painful journey, He was driven by the will of God and His love for humanity. Many times, we as mere earthen vessels, base our attitudes of servanthood on whether we feel good or whether people are treating us well. But here is Jesus, embracing His cross in the face of hatred, ridicule, and mockery. I know that as sinful creatures we would not be able to stand up under this torment. God’s grace would have to intervene.

This is a beautiful picture; one that should encourage each of us to reflect on the events of that first Good Friday. It is important for us to remember that as He was carrying His cross, Jesus endured a brutal, torturous beating; He was not recognizable.

Though Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, was hailed as too graphic and violent, it didn’t portray the depth of His torture:

Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops; they have laid siege against us; with a rod they will smite the judge of Israel on the cheek {Micah 5:1 NASB}.

I gave My back to those who strike Me, and My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting {Isaiah 50:6 NASB}.

Just as many were astonished at you, My people, so His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men {Isaiah 52:14 NASB}.

Jesus is beaten so badly that He cannot be recognized as a man. Can you imagine the grotesque figure that walked the streets of Jerusalem that day? I gave My back to those who strike Me, and My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting {Isaiah 50:6 NASB}.

Jesus’ scourging was a pivotal part of the work of the cross. We read in Isaiah:

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. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 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: 3-5 NASB}.

The scourging Christ endured prior to the crucifixion, provided our healing and deliverance. The whipping post must not be forgotten; it is vital to our redemption. Though this was the form of punishment for many criminals, He suffered a beating far more brutal than any criminal before or after Him. Why? Why did he suffer more than any other? Why was He marred to the point He could not be recognized? Sin is ugly. He took on Himself the physical manifestation of sin; it is cancer to the soul of man. Before we were saved, sin controlled us. His scourging paints a sobering picture of the effects sin has on the inside of man before Christ died. He bore that suffering as a part of the cross. But our sin was crucified with Him and buried forever! Amen! Let us not forget what He endured on our behalf.

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come {1 Corinthians 11:26 NASB}.

Piper's Pen and Prose: Ash Wednesday

On this Ash Wednesday;  
Awe-Full- Frederick Ohler

Great and holy God awe and reverence fear and trembling do not come easily to us for we are not Old Testament Jews or Moses or mystics or sensitive enough. Forgive us for slouching into Your presence
with little expectation and less awe than we would eagerly give a visiting dignitary.  We need neither Jehovah nor a buddy – neither “the Great and Powerful Oz” nor “the man upstairs.” Help us to want what we need… You.

God and may the altar of our hearts tremble with delight at Your visitation amen.


In His Grace,