As I have joined the rest of you in reading through the four Gospels, I
have sometimes felt, "Ho hum, I've read this before." However, I've
become convinced that God chose specific people to give us His Word,
each with his or her particular knowledge and unique personality.
People who would be open to what the Holy Spirit of God wanted them to
convey.
For example, it is only by reading all four Gospels that we discover
what has come to be known as the Seven Last Words of Christ from the
cross. As I receive what I am offered by four different viewpoints, I
can feel more fully what Jesus endured.
All four Gospel writers show us how the life and death of Jesus are
fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. It's John who shows us the
connection to Psalm 35 - "[The Lord] protects all his bones, not one of
them will be broken." And from the prophet Zechariah (12:10 NIV) -
"They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn
for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as
one grieves for a firstborn son."
I have become firmly convinced that Jesus, always obedient to the
Father, was in control of events from first to last, events
orchestrated from before the foundation of the world.
John gives us details that the other writers omit. We see the soldiers
dividing up Jesus' clothes (mentioned by Matthew and Mark). Here we
learn that the soldiers gambled for the seamless undergarment -
described in Psalm 22:18.
It's John who shows Jesus entrusting his mother to "the disciple whom
he loved," no doubt John himself.
All four gospels tell us about Joseph of Arimathea asking Pilate for
Jesus' body and preparing it for burial in his own tomb. Each writer
gives different details. Only John tells us that Joseph was accompanied
by Nicodemus. Remember him? See John 3:1ff and 7:50.
Now, watch with me along the Via Dolorosa - the winding road of
suffering. Jesus has been flogged so ruthlessly that he has no strength
left to carry the crossbeam to the Place of the Skull. See him stumble
and fall. We read before how Simon from Syrene was conscripted to carry
the cross for Jesus. But here in John's gospel, the emphasis is placed
on Jesus "carrying his own cross" (John 19:17).
Two pictures come to my mind. The first is this - the prefigurement of
Jesus found in the Genesis 22 account of God's testing of Abraham. This
takes place, some scholars believe, on the mountain that later became
known as Mount Zion, or Jerusalem. God tells Abraham to sacrifice his
son, Isaac. As father and son make the final climb alone, Isaac carries
the wood for the burnt offering on his back. Likewise, I see Jesus, the
only Son of the Father, carrying on his back the means of the one
perfect and sufficient sacrifice for our sins.
The other picture in my mind comes from the movie, "The Passion of the
Christ." Jesus' body is torn to shreds. Crushed with pain, he crumbles
to the ground. The soldiers grab Simon from the crowd. But look at
Jesus! It's as though he can't stand to see someone else carry the
cross for him. Indeed, Jesus "embraces" the cross. He takes it from
Simon and continues his struggle to Golgotha.
Jesus calls me to embrace the cross. His cross of salvation. My cross
of suffering.
Ponder with me the words of this song (I wish I knew who wrote it) -
Embrace the cross where Jesus suffered,
Though it will cost all you claim as yours.
Your sacrifice will seem small beside the treasure.
Eternity can't measure what Jesus holds in store.
Embrace the love the cross requires;
Cling to the one whose heart knew every pain.
Receive from Jesus fountains of compassion --
Only He can fashion your heart to move as His.
Oh wondrous cross, our desires rest in you.
Lord Jesus, make us bolder
To face with courage the shame and disgrace
You bore upon Your shoulder.
Embrace the life that comes from dying.
Come, trace the steps the Savior walked for you.
An empty tomb concludes Golgotha's sorrow --
Endure, then, till tomorrow
Your cross of suffering.
Embrace the cross; embrace the cross of Jesus.
Deetje Wildes
2 comments:
Excellent stuff Deetje. Indeed, we have read all of this before. Of all the Gospels, I love John the best I suppose because it is so much like a great piece of literature. It shines like the light it was meant to be. Johns' words are not a report which for me is the way Mark comes off. There is beauty and care in Johns' writings that lay it out as a story to be savoured. It opens up such deep and powerful meaning to the events and the words of our Lord.
But let us be wary. We are living in times in which all of this is being tampered with. There are those who are poking at everything Jesus said. The Jesus Seminar and its friends are influencing churches, ministers, church leaders, denominations, the faithful and our culture. Did anyone notice the statistic from the Barnum Inst. that says that more & more Americans are moving away from traditional Biblical thinking? In essence, God is becoming a generality with no reference to the Bible, no frame to who He is, and Jesus is just a nice metaphor for tolerance of all things, including what we used to think of as sin.
Should we care? Should we be alarmed? What are your thoughts? Is anyone out there....?
YES!
When I read in Josh McDowell's literature that most teens didn't think that there was such a thing as Biblical truth, I had to check with my loved ones and was relieved that they knew there was. I think we should all be alarmed enough to inform and influence those that we can and then watch the Holy Spirit work. ChriS
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