His Life Given

Matthew 27:45-50
45Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
46And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
47And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.”
48And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink.
49But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”
50And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 

 The Christian faith is filled with mysteries and concepts that are difficult to grab onto mentally. How Jesus and the Father could be separated such that Jesus would feel utterly forsaken is beyond my ability to grasp. They are two parts of the Trinity, One God in three parts. How could they be separated? I don't know, so like many aspects of the faith this even must be taken at face value and we know that somehow, during those hours Jesus hung on the cross He was "forsaken" by the Father. And then when the time was perfect and the full payment for our sins had been made He surrendered His life and died. It was over. The sacrifice was complete and our salvation had been purchased.

 It is important that we keep the proper perspective. Jesus' life wasn't taken from Him, it was given by Him. He  paid this tragic price because He loves us. He willingly surrendered Himself into the sorrow because the Trinity is Love. God is Love and Jesus is God. These are "no-brainer" observations. But we must make them on a regular basis for it is there that our salvation lies and we need to be reminded often of His sacrifice.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more