Tag: persecution

The King of the Jews

Posted on by Dorci

“Above His head they placed the written charge against Him: “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS” Matthew 27:37

This was the charge.  They had pointedly asked Him “Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

He couldn’t deny it.

They immediately surrounded Him and spit on Him.  They punched Him with their fists and slapped Him. They mocked Him saying “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”

It had begun.

Meanwhile, Peter had fallen fast and hard.  After he denied ever knowing Jesus for the third time, a rooster crowed, just like Christ predicted.  Jesus was close enough to look into Peter’s eyes, “And he (Peter) went outside and wept bitterly.” Matthew 26:75

Judas, too, was seized with remorse, and went back to the chief priests and the elders who had paid him money to betray his Friend saying, “I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood.” Matthew 27:4

But they didn’t care, and they didn’t forgive his sin.

The crowd was asking for Barabbas, a notorious insurrectionist and murderer — charges worthy of crucifixion — to be released and for Jesus to take his place.

Why would they want a known murderer back out on the streets, and a man who just a week prior they had celebrated calling Him “Son of David!”?

The murderer hadn’t personally betrayed them, but Jesus had.

Jesus had come into Jerusalem — their beloved city, the city of God — riding on a donkey, a sign of peace.  They thought He was their messiah, their savior, their king…and now He was arrested and at the mercy of the leaders.

He didn’t look at all like a savior or a king.  He had lied to them, and they were angry.

They shouted “Crucify Him!”

But when Pilate pressed them, they answered “His blood is on us and on our children!” Matthew 27:25

Cat-O’-Nine-Tails

And so it would be.  But in His mercy, that was God’s plan all along.

By now Jesus’s face and head would be swollen and dripping with blood, teeth knocked to the ground.

They ordered Him to be scourged.

Prior to crucifixion, Romans routinely used a cat-o’-nine-tails — a whip fixed with small pieces of metal or bone at the end.  He would be whipped up to forty times.  

His flesh was torn from the bone, exposing organs, tendons, nerves.  Blood flowed profusely.  His body began to shake with shock, and then it started to shut down.

Then soldiers dragged Him back inside the court room.  They took off His clothes and put a scarlet robe on Him and gave Him a staff.  Someone ripped a branch off a thorny bush and twisted it into a crown and shoved it on his head, spikes stabbing His flesh.  They spit on Him again, grabbed the staff and hit Him in the head over and over.  They took the robe and put His clothes back on.The pain was excruciating, but there was still the road to Golgotha.

A crossbeam weighing a hundred pounds was heaved onto his mangled, screaming back.  He struggled and stumbled under the weight of it, and Simon from Cyrene was pulled from the crowd to carry His cross.

Some prisoners were only tied to their crosses.  Nailing was left for those who were seen as especially heinous.

His clothes were taken and He was laid on the ground while large nails were driven through flesh and bone, sending burning pain up through His arms and legs.  He was heaved up onto the main beam, and a sign naming His charge was nailed to the top:

THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Through all of it every word He spoke was full of grace and mercy and compassion and forgiveness.  

Even through the magnitude of His torture, none of it matched the pain of the sin — from the garden where sin began to the end of time – that was heaped upon Him.  Every vile murder, every sickening rape, every twisted abuse, every act of adultery… Peter’s and Judas’s betrayal.  Yours and mine. Every sin was laid on Him.

And He bore it all with love.

Once our sin was paid for, it was up to us to choose whether or not to accept that payment.

Judas chose to confess his sin to the wrong men.  No one has authority to forgive sin but God though the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Confession to anyone else is futile. In his overwhelming guilt, he hung himself. 

Peter would face Christ and his sin would be forgiven, his guilt and shame forever taken away.

Jesus once asked His friends, “Who do you say I am?” Matthew 16:15

He asks every one of us that same question.  People who lived near Jesus believed all kinds of things about Him, but only one thing was true: He really was the King of the Jews, and of anyone who would call on His Name.  But His kingdom wasn’t an earthly one.  They wanted to make Him king, but He wasn’t just king, savior, messiah, He was King, Savior, Messiah! His kingdom was a spiritual one.  He was King of all kings, with all power and authority, for all time and eternity.  He was and is more than they could have ever imagined.

My friend, if you don’t already know it, Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, and that includes you. He died for your sins so you don’t have to.  So you can be free of the weight and the guilt and shame.  So you can live in peace and know you have a home waiting in heaven.

God loves you. It’s why He sent His Son to the cross.  Confess your sin to Him today, and He promises to forgive you, for “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

Perhaps you’re angry at God.  Maybe you’ve accused Him of some wrongdoing, like the crowd had.  Their expectations drove them into sin, but they would have a chance to confess and be forgiven, too.  Soon they would see that everything Jesus claimed to be was true, because the story was just beginning…

 

Never Say Never

Posted on by Dorci

Jesus and His friends had just finished eating Passover supper, where Jesus revealed to them that Judas would betray Him.  I wonder at the thoughts that ran through the minds of the eleven, perhaps looking at Judas in horror and judgment, saying to themselves they would never do that.

Jesus then used the bread and the cup to remind them again that He was about to give up His body and His blood as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins.  He looked into their eyes and urged them “…do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

“When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Mount of Olives

Then Jesus told them, ‘This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:

‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.’ (Zechariah 13:7)

Peter replied, ‘Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.’

‘Truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.’

But Peter declared, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’ And all the other disciples said the same.

Matthew 26:31-35

They stood at the Mount of Olives – a mountain ridge that held not only olive groves, but cemeteries, as well.  Surely there the gravity of the circumstances would sink into their hearts.  And suddenly He was telling them that not only would Judas betray them, but the rest of them would, too.

The disciples’ response to Him showed they still trusted in themselves over Jesus and over the prophecy laid out in God’s Word.  It was this thinking – their pride, their self-sufficiency, their leaning on their own understanding – that led them to fall away.

They had allowed the seeds of pride sin to be planted in their minds and they were budding.  Soon they would see how watering those seeds with pride and fear would quickly grow them into weeds that were out of control.

Never say, “I would never do that…” Never judge another person’s actions and say “I would never…”

The Lord knows what we are capable of.  He warns us today the way He warned his friends that night. He tells us to “Be alert. Be watchful. Be prayerful. Be humble.  Be sober in your thinking of yourselves.”

If we haven’t done or said something that shocked us then we haven’t yet faced the kind of overwhelming fear that could lead us to betraying Christ.

But times are changing fast. It should come as no surprise to anyone that conditions are becoming more and more hostile toward Believers.  What are we willing to give up to follow Christ?  Our friends? Our family? Our reputations? Our livelihood?  Our freedom?

We have yet to face anywhere near the kind of pressure the disciples faced on the night they ran and hid and denied ever knowing Christ.

They all meant what they said that night as they stood among the olive trees, burial caves and tombstones, but in just 24 hours they would come to find out just how shallow and immature their faith still was.

But faith grows in the face of trouble.

Of course Jesus knew who and what they were, that they were still spiritual babes.  He would give them another chance to heed His warning, as God’s mercy often does.  He would lead them to the garden, taking Peter, James and John even closer.

Grow closer, my friends.  Don’t wait until the enemy makes it personal…makes you choose.  Choose Him now.  Be resolute to walk with Him all the way to the cross.

Tomorrow: The Garden

Is He god or God?

Posted on by Dorci

He had performed miracles, taught in the Synagogues, cast out demons, healed the sick, raised the dead, forgave sin. And if that weren’t enough…

He claimed to be King.

“Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”  Matthew 21:5

He claimed to be the fulfillment of prophecy.

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. Matthew 5:17

He claimed to be the long-awaited Messiah.

“The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When He comes, He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’” John 4:25-26

He claimed to be the Son of God.

“He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.’” Matthew 16:15-17

He claimed to be the Son of Man.

For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Matthew 12:8

He claimed to be the only way to heaven.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  John 14:6

He claimed to be the King of the Jews.

“Now Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus said to him, ‘It is as you say.’” Matthew 27:11

Jesus was all that and so much more.  And the Israelites were thrilled, for a while. But they had expectations of their Messiah that were simply not true.

They expected Him to set up an earthly kingdom, to end their suffering, to take over rule and provide for them, to sit on a throne and be their king.

And it’s in those wrong expectations where things went awry.

Things can go awry for us, too, when we conjure up in our minds a god who simply does not exist.  When life happens and what we expect this god of our imaginations – the god we’ve set inside our parameters, in our little box – to be and to do for us does not happen.  When we want God to conform to our image of Him, and we set up this false god as an idol and worship him, and then tragedy strikes, prayers aren’t answered, what we hear is silence, we can begin to shout “crucify Him!”

Oh, we may not use those words.  We may just stop praying, or reading the Bible, or going to church. We may stop trusting, or witnessing, or believing.  We may just stop walking with Him.

Throughout the week we’ll see that the disciples did that very thing.  Instead of listening and learning and believing the truth, even in the face of overwhelming fear, instead of allowing their expectations of a limitless, righteous, holy God Who can never put in a box to be changed, instead of throwing away their pride, they turned back.  They scattered.  They hid themselves in the darkness of the world.

But, there is redemption…

Badge of Honor

Posted on by Dorci

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’” John 15:18-25

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 10:21-22

More and more I’m seeing headlines about someone in America being sued or fired because of their faith in Christ. This is of course just a small taste of the persecution Christians and Jews are facing around the world.

And every time I see one of those headlines I’m as surprised and disgusted as anybody. But we can’t be; we must expect it. Persecution is increasing, and we need to prepare ourselves that we may one day see it knock on our own door. Jesus warned the apostles and He warns us now: we will be hated.

The word for hated in these verses means to detest, especially to persecute. This is not your run of the mill kind of hatred. It’s not just a feeling. This is hatred that is so vile and deep that it moves the person to act on their hatred, to systematically and methodically harm a person or group.

What I find interesting is that this is the complete opposite of compassion, which is to be so deeply filled with sympathy that it moves a person to action. Regardless of how much Christ was hated, He consistently demonstrated compassion His whole life. He’s our example of how to live a holy life in the face of persecution.

The Spirit enables us, we just need to decide if we’re willing. Let God take care of the persecutors, we must be faithful to Christ, to pray and to live holy and upright lives, not giving the enemy a foothold.

Jesus makes a point to remind us though, that all this is not without the hope of our promised salvation and reward.

In the meantime, we can pray to have the same attitude as the apostles who were arrested and jailed by the high priest and the Sanhedrin – people who claimed to know God and should have believed in His Son alongside the apostles – for teaching and healing in the name of Christ.

The apostles were flogged, ordered not to speak in the name of Jesus (which they promptly disobeyed) and let go. And Acts 5:41-42 says “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.”

Rejoicing because they had been counted to worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. From our own perspective it’s an awful thing to suffer persecution, but from a spiritual standpoint, the apostles saw it as a badge of honor. It meant they were living their lives for Christ in such a way that they suffered as their Lord had said they would. It meant the Spirit was moving, lives were being changed, souls were being convicted…and the enemy was not happy.

But I’d give anything to see the smile on Jesus’s face as He watched them fulfill what He called them to do.

In His great grace,

The Power of the Spoken Word

Posted on by Dorci

 “And God said, ‘Let there be light…'” Genesis 1:3

Not one other person existed when God created the world so there was no one else to hear Him, and yet He spoke it into existence.  He didn’t just think it, He said it.  Why?  Because there is power in the spoken word.

And there are no other words more powerful than those written in scripture, no other author more sovereign than the one who spoke the world into existence.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”    2 Timothy 3:16-17

Today is World Read Aloud Day (which I personally think is fantastic).  And what better words to read out loud than God’s Word?  Can you imagine if believers all around the world today opened their Bibles and breathed aloud God’s eternal truth? If we drowned out the hateful words that fill the air with God’s exceedingly more powerful word of love? If we spoke the light within us into the darkness; if we stormed the gates of hell with the pillars of life, if we filled the heavens with the ancient way of the Almighty God in the face of the enemy who seeks to threaten the very lives of believers in some parts of the world and increasingly hardens hearts and minds toward believers everywhere?

Ask the Lord to put on your heart a portion of scripture to read aloud today and then make it a prayer. It might not feel effective (and I’m sure the enemy will tell you that very thing), but remember, God began the universe with four words.