Harmony #100: The Pursuing God: From Eden to Easter (Easter, Sunday, 2025)

Here is today’s text.

Now at the place where Jesus was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden was Joseph’s own new tomb that he had cut in the rock, where no one had yet been buried. And so, because it was the  Jewish day of preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath), and the tomb was nearby, they placed Jesus’ body there. Then they rolled a great stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away.  

The women who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee followed,  Mary Magdalene and the other Mary the mother of Joses. Sitting there, opposite the tomb, they saw where the body was placed. Then they returned and prepared aromatic spices and perfumes. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.  

When the Sabbath was over,  Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought aromatic spices so that they might go and anoint Jesus.  While it was still dark, very early on the first day of the week, at sunrise,[Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to look at the tomb, taking the aromatic spices they had prepared.  

They had been asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”  Suddenly there was a severe earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descending from heaven came and rolled away the stone and sat on it.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.  The guards were shaken and became like dead men because they were so afraid of him.  

The women came to the tomb, and looking up saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away from the entrance to the tomb. When they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  Mary Magdalene went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”  

Meanwhile, the women remaining in the tomb were perplexed about this. Suddenly two men stood beside them in dazzling attire. The women were terribly frightened and bowed their faces to the ground.  But one of the angels said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.  

But why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, for he has been raised, just as he said. Come and see the place where he was lying. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,  that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”  Then the women remembered Jesus’ words.  

* * * * *

On Easter Sunday, we could talk theology (what happened on the cross?) apologetics (why should we believe that Jesus rose from the dead?) or even simply testimony (this is how Jesus has changed my life). All those are good. I think we have probably done all of those at some point in this church’s history.

I would like to do something different today. We are going to do a dramatic reading called THE PURSUING GOD: From Eden to Easter. You will hear a Narrator (that’s me).  Voice 1 represents the Old Testament,, and Voice 2 represents the New Testament/Jesus .

* * * * * 

PROLOGUE: The God Who Comes Looking

*Narrator*: From the first dawn, Scripture tells not just of humanity grasping for God, but of God pursuing us. God arrived in the flesh in the person of Jesus not to write off a world full of sin and evil but to redeem it, drawing all people towards His heart’s embrace. 

*Voice 1*: In Eden’s shade, God walked, calling through the silence, “Where are you? Why are you hiding from me?”¹ When shame hid Adam and Eve, He sought them still, reminding them that they were meant to be with Him in spite of their failure. 

*Voice 2*: In Galilee, that same God walked into the shadow of a Sycamore tree, looked up at a despised tax collector hiding there and said, “Zacchaeus, come down. I’m coming to your house today. I am here to be with people just like you.”² 

*Narrator*: From Eden’s green to Jerusalem’s dust, from the Tree of Life in Eden to a Tree of Eternal Life that was an old rugged cross, we see that God is the Pursuing God, whose love flows towards every soul. “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink,” said Jesus.³ 

ACT I: The Lost Are Not Left Alone

*Narrator*: When His children of Israel wandered in the desert and languished in exile, God did not turn away. His love pursued, relentless, seeking every heart, even the hears of those who forgot His name. 

*Voice 1*: “My sheep were lost, with none to seek them,” says Yahweh to the Israelites. “So I Myself will search, as a shepherd seeks his flock.”⁴ 

*Voice 2*: Jesus said to his disciples “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.”⁵ “I am the Good Shepherd, laying down My life for the sheep.”⁶ 

*Voice 1*: He found Hagar weeping in the wilderness. He met Moses in the desert’s flame. He pursued Jonah through the sea’s dark depths. 

*Voice 2*: He found the Samaritan woman, alone and looking for hope. He restored Peter, broken by fear and guilt in the glow of a Roman fire. Even now, He seeks, His mercy a tide that lifts our souls toward a heavenly home.⁷ 

*Narrator*: He descends into our valleys, our brokenness and confusion, our pain and sin.  He is not waiting for us to clean ourselves up to be sufficiently presentable to be loved. No, He finds us where we are and, like the shepherd that searched for the lost sheep until he found it , he carries us further and higher into the Kingdom of God on shoulders scarred by love.

ACT II: The Voice That Calls Us Home

*Narrator*: God’s call echoes through ages—now a thunder, now a whisper,  now a lion, now a lamb, now a dove —always love without remainder, inviting all to return, with no one so far gone that they are beyond the reach of His redeeming love. 

*Voice 1*: He called Samuel in the night’s hush. He comforted Elijah, hiding in a cave, with a still, small voice. He spoke through prophets who both thundered (“Return to Me, and I will return to you!”8)  and then comforted (“Though your sins be scarlet, they shall be white as snow.”9) 

*Voice 2*: He summoned Levi from a Roman tax booth, and Judas from a Zealot fortress. He beckoned fishermen from tangled nets. He invited all: “Come to Me, you weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.”10 

*Voice 1*: He did not demand a standard of purity before He moved close —His merciful sacrifice washed us clean. 

*Voice 2*: He did not wait for us to be ready—He ran, like a father to his prodigal son, arms as wide as eternity, filled with love, mercy and joy.11 

*Narrator*: His voice is not a distant decree of an uncaring monarch. His posture is not crossed arms and a haughty brow. God offers the love of a perfect Father:“ Let my children come to me.” His voice is strong and kind: “Come home,” he says, as if to draw every soul into love’s unending and restorative embrace.12  

ACT III: The Cost of Pursuing Love

*Narrator*: Love is costly, and God paid that cost willingly—not with mere words, but with His very life incarnated in Jesus the Christ, his blood poured out to bridge every chasm, his body broken to gather all creation close, to heal all the sickness of the soul, to bring that which is dead to life, to drown evil in the flood of cruciform love. 

*Voice 1*: Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for friends.”13 And then he did it himself: “I lay down my life as the bread of life, broken for you,”14 so that we all will have provision, and we are all invited to live. 

*Voice 2*: We turned, yet He pursued, undaunted by our rebellion. He came fully down to us—to a garden’s agony, to a cross’s shame, where love bled to set all free. 

*Narrator*: The cost was His life, given to shatter every chain of sin’s bondage and overcome evil so that we could have salvation, healing and restoration. 

ACT IV: The Cross – Love Triumphant

*Narrator*: To know what God is like, look to Jesus. To see the way in which God’s love will be victorious, behold the Cross—where evil’s grip was broken, and death’s dominion fell before the King of Life, the God of Love. 

*Voice 1*: “He was despised, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, pierced for our transgressions. Yet by His wounds, we are healed.”16 

*Voice 2*: “This is love: Jesus laid down His life for us.”17 On the Cross, He disarmed the powers of darkness, triumphing over them,18 setting captives free from the power of sin.19  

*Voice 1*: He gave Himself to overthrow sin’s tyranny with love’s cruciform power and mercy’s cruciform might. 

*Voice 2*: He died to rescue all creation,20 His arms stretched wide to gather every heart into His kingdom,21 beginning the process of reconciling all things to himself as He makes all things new.

*Narrator*: This is a triumphal, transformational power of God’s love—a victory where the Cross reveals the beauty of an infinite love that overcomes evil, death, hell and the grave, flooding the world with grace. 

ACT V: The Empty Tomb – Love Victorious

*Narrator*: The grave was not the end. The Pursuing God stormed through death, rolling back its stone to raise Jesus, the firstfruits of those who slept, and then to raise us with Him.

*Voice 1*: “On the third day, He took captivity captive, and ransomed us from the grave’s power,”22  and showed the world that love’s victory is no mere story—it happened, and it changes everything.”23

*Voice 2*: The tomb lay empty, the stone cast aside. Angels declared, “Why seek the living among the dead? He is risen!”24  His victory is the first note of a new song, a world reborn in love’s unconquerable light.

*Voice 1*: Death could not bind the Living, Pursuing God, nor silence His glorious gospel. 

*Voice 2*: He is risen—risen indeed!! His victory is a light that beckons all to the healing power of God’s love.25 

*Narrator*: In resurrection, love triumphs, not just for the righteous but for prodigals, skeptics, and wanderers. Christ’s rising is our dawn into new life, the firstfruits of a new creation where every shadow of doubt flees before His boundless mercy.26

ACT VI: The Spirit’s Pursuit Through Time

*Narrator*: Resurrection kindled a flame that spread through ages. God weaves His love into the fabric of history, calling every heart to feast at the table filled with His truth and grace. 

*Voice 1*: At Pentecost, His Spirit swept like fire, crowning the faithful.27 “My Spirit I give you, and you shall live.28 “ With the help of God’s Spirit, God’s kingdom grew, from Jerusalem to earth’s farthest corners.

*Voice 2*: Jesus promised, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am with you.29 You will never be alone.” His Spirit was seen in the martyrs’ bold courage and the saints’ patient silence, with the heartbeat of Christlike living keeping the Kingdom alive as a light in the darkness: sometimes faltering, never failing, always inviting us to join the life in the Kingdom of God.

*Voice 1*: When the church strayed, God called them back: “Return to Me,” He said, “for I am compassionate.”30 Through triumphs and failures, in a monastery’s hush or a city’s roar, in times of plenty and times of famine, in war and in peace, to the faith-filled and the doubt-full, His Spirit just. Kept. Calling.

*Voice 2*: Today, He moves—wherever hearts gather,31 where the gospel is preached, where the hungry are fed, where the poor are given provision, where the broken are healed, where the lost are found, in cathedrals and in coffee shops, in boardrooms, and slums. He is the vine, we the branches,32growing toward His light and bearing the fruit that gives life in all of these places.

*Narrator*: Through history, His always Spirit has been reaching and moving, drawing us all to respond to a love that will not let us go.

FINALE: Love That Will Not Let Us Go

*Narrator*: From the first Adam to the Second Adam, from the tree in a garden to the tree on a hill, from Eden to Easter, from the empty tomb of a Risen Savior to the Eternal City into which God invites all to live in full communion with Jesus in the Resurrection Life of the New Heaven and Earth, Scripture insists that God is love, and that His pursuit knows no boundary, moving into every corner of creation. 

*Voice 1*: He promised, “I will gather My children from earth’s ends, radiant in My goodness,”33fulfilling Israel’s hope and launching a new world where every tear is wiped away.”

*Voice 2*: And Jesus commands us to “Go into all the world,”34 for He came to reconcile all things, making peace through His cross’s triumph,35  knitting us together as one family in His love. We are now his ambassadors, participating in that hope-filled and life-giving ministry of reconciliation.

*Narrator*: He is risen, indeed. Let all the earth rejoice. The greatest story ever told is unfolding.

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CITATIONS

PROLOGUE

• “Where are you?” → Genesis 3:9 ¹

• “Zacchaeus, come down…” → Luke 19:5 ²

• “Let anyone who is thirsty come…” → John 7:37–38 ³

ACT I: The Lost Are Not Left Alone

• “My sheep were lost...so I Myself will search” → Ezekiel 34:6, 11 ⁴

• “The Son of Man came to seek and save…” → Luke 19:10 ⁵

• “I am the Good Shepherd…” → John 10:11 ⁶

• “The ends of the earth will remember…” → Psalm 22:27 ⁷

ACT II: The Voice That Calls Us Home

• “Return to Me…” → Zechariah 1:3 ⁸

• “Though your sins be as scarlet…” → Isaiah 1:18 ⁹

• “Come to Me, you who are weary…” → Matthew 11:28 ¹⁰

• “He ran to the prodigal son…” → Luke 15:20 ¹¹

• “God our Savior…wants all to be saved” → 1 Timothy 2:4 ¹²

ACT III: The Cost of Pursuing Love

• “Greater love has no one…” → John 15:13 ¹³

• “I am the bread of life…” → John 6:35 ¹⁴

• “I will not offer to the Lord that which costs me nothing” → 2 Samuel 24:24 (or alternatively Psalm 51:17 for “sacrifice”) ¹⁵

ACT IV: The Cross – Love Triumphant

• “He was despised and rejected…” → Isaiah 53:3–5 ¹⁶

• “This is how we know what love is…” → 1 John 3:16 ¹⁷

• “Disarmed the powers and authorities…” → Colossians 2:15 ¹⁸

• “Set the captives free…” → Luke 4:18 ¹⁹

• “To reconcile all things to Himself…” → Colossians 1:20 ²⁰

• “When I am lifted up…I will draw all people…” → John 12:32 ²¹

ACT V: The Empty Tomb – Love Victorious

• “On the third day He will raise us up…” → Hosea 6:2 ²²

• “Where, O death, is your sting…” → Hosea 13:14 or 1 Corinthians 15:55 ²³

• “Why do you seek the living among the dead…” → Luke 24:5–6 ²⁴

• “Every knee shall bow…” → Philippians 2:10–11 ²⁵

• “If Christ is risen…we too shall be raised…” → Romans 6:5 or Romans 5:18 ²⁶

ACT VI: The Spirit’s Pursuit Through Time

• “A sound like a mighty rushing wind…” → Acts 2:2–4 ²⁷

• “I will put my Spirit within you…” → Ezekiel 37:14 ²⁸

• “I will not leave you as orphans…” → John 14:18 ²⁹

• “Return to me…for I am gracious” → Joel 2:13 ³⁰

• “Where two or three are gathered…” → Matthew 18:20 ³¹

• “I am the vine; you are the branches” → John 15:5 ³²

FINALE: Love That Will Not Let Us Go

• “I will gather them from the ends of the earth…” → Jeremiah 31:12 ³³

• “Go into all the world…” → Mark 16:15 ³⁴

• “To reconcile all things…” → Colossians 1:20 ³⁵

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*Hat Tip to AI for helping to create this. I fed biblical text, message points, and online resources to Chat GPT and asked it to generate a dramatic reading for an Easter service. It offered one, which I then modified. It also provided picture prompts, which I modified as needed and fed to Grok until I got original images to use this morning. I’ve never tried this before. I hope you enjoyed it 

Love Enough for the Last Days

(Message by Julie Elliott-Eickenroth)

Well, to jump right in … this has been a rather challenging message to work through and share with you. The title is: “Love Enough for the Last Days”. Some of you who know me, you are probably familiar with that phrase. :) I’ll share more about that in a minute.

The subtitle could be “Making it to the finish line together.” OR: “Fighting for our love”. This is actually a message I’ve carried a passion for, for over 30+ years. Now more than ever. I feel quite vulnerable about sharing this word. All I ask is that you pray for me that I’ll be able to reflect the heart of God as best I can and stick with me to the end on this one. 

You may remember a month or so ago when Anthony shared his distress that our church could fracture over the clash of political views in this volatile and polarizing season we are in. It was a sad and sobering moment, wasn’t it? Maybe a little scary even. I was pretty heartbroken, both at the thought of how Anthony as our shepherd was hurting, and also how many of you are hurting.

I was encouraged, however, when I walked into MessagePlus that morning and saw the room was packed to the walls. Clearly this is something that people are worried about and wanted to talk about it. And so we did.

I am so thankful for M+ and for Anthony and our elders and others in our church family who set the example for us of what healthy, authentic and honest faith community can look like. Even when it feels scary, hopefully we can get through it together, right?

Anyway, when Anthony gave that message, God awoke in me again an intense urgency to sound an alarm - to strongly admonish us as a faith family to be aware of the very real dangers in these increasingly perilous times — if we don’t make a concentrated effort to learn to deal with this well.

It seems like one of the most volatile issue right now centers around our politics and cultural issues. Social media in particular, while it can be a fantastic forum for connection and healthy debate, to give a voice to the voiceless and vulnerable, and raise the alarm about injustice and corruption … can also be a toxic soup, a snare for our souls, a bottomless pit into which we may fall and disappear into unpleasant conflict.

Personally it’s quite a challenging place for me to navigate, for a long list of reasons. A lot of our younger generations have grown up on social media, it’’s their native habitat, and they seem to navigate it with ease. I, on the other hand, often find it distressing, confusing, and overwhelming. I have been working on discerning and respecting my own limits with social media. Not an easy process, by any means.

Most of all, it can be a flash point for offense that can threaten to blow apart our relationships and communities. The intense stress of our times —-politics, culture wars, etc.) is an absolute pressure cooker for offense. So how do we love each other — really love each other — in times like these?

 Because the stakes are high and this matters.

Here’s some context first … the “love enough” story. Some of you have heard me tell this story as I said. I hope it doesn’t bore you that I bring this up for the umpteenth time, but be patient with me. I feel it bears urgent repeating as many times as I can get it out of my mouth. Now more than ever before.

Over 30 years ago, God gave me a phrase: “love enough for the last days”. Out of nowhere, He just dropped it in my spirit like a bombshell. I wondered what it meant. Was it a book title or something? Over the ensuing years, God has faithfully imparted insight and understanding, leading right up to now, when it seems we really need it.

When we hear the phrase “last days”, it probably conjures up a lot of feelings, images, beliefs, controversy. My kids could tell you the impact those words had on their growing up years. Alot of us grew up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, hearing lots of sermons about the “last days”, the “endtimes”, the rapture … differing interpretations, predictions, all delivered with a breathless “it could happen any moment” urgency … it was exciting, bewildering, joyful, and dreadfully scary, all at the same time.

Let me pause here and be very clear: I do not study or teach eschatology (study of the endtimes). I have neither the skill nor the interest in parsing endtimes doctrine. That is for better scholars than me. For what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure Jesus’ return is “soon”. It could be tomorrow, could be a 100 years from now. Whenever that is, the Word says repeatedly that we must be ‘sober and alert’ to the times and guard our hearts as the day of His coming approaches. 

So for me, it’s not about timelines, it’s about finish lines. Here’s why.

About that same time God dropped that “love enough” phrase in my heart, He also directed my attention to Matthew 24:10,12:

10 At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 Because lawlessness [Iniquity] is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

 The Amplified Bible says it this way:

(AMP) 10 At that time many will be offended and repelled [by their  association with Me] and will fall away [from the One whom they  should trust] and will betray one another [handing over believers to their persecutors] and will hate one another … 12 Because   lawlessness is increased, the love of most people will grow cold.”

 This passage is talking about Christians, not unbelievers. As the chaos and lawlessness and sin increase all around us, we see things that dishearten us, frighten us … death and destruction all around us — baffling, shocking things we can’t get our heads around. As these things happen, we will be tempted to become deeply offended. Offended with God. Offended with each other. And when we’re offended, we may betray one another.

So here comes the TRAP.

Offense, and the judgments the inevitably seem to result, are the enemy of our soul’s primary strategy for blowing up our relationships and tempting us to forsake one another. The word “judge” in the Greek - “krino” means to “try, condemn and punish”.

Think of a courtroom scene in your brain … the act of judging can be a lightning quick process in our mind … essentially, we put the person we’re offended with “on trial” in our mind. We create a narrative about them, most often finding them “guilty” (condemning them), then instead of responding to the person, we respond to the narrative in our mind. Over and over and over.

 Then we “punish” … what does punishment look like?

 Well, it can be aggressive, in-your-face punishment — talking smack about them to others, something overt like getting in their face, maybe more extreme like, God forbid, yelling, insulting, or physically assaulting them.

 More often than not, though, we simply move away … we ABANDON THE RELATIONSHIP. We leave a friendship. We leave a church. We may not even physically “leave” a church or friendship, but we let our hearts grow cold.

 I call it “cold love” — we Christians are good at “smiling and lying”. Love in name only, while inside our hearts, real warmth, respect, affection have grown cold and distant. Our hearts harden. Relationships fracture. Community crumbles. You know this is true. Most of us have seen this a thousand times in the church. We saw a LOT of it during the pandemic. Tons of people leaving each other.

We need a love strong enough — tender enough — to navigate the last days a loyal, non-negotiable love that refuses to give up, refuses to let go of relationships. The good news is, God doesn’t just warn us — He shows us in His Word how to fight for our love. The true Gospel is not weak - its message of love is the MOST bold, the most challenging, the most muscular, the most resilient … but rarely do we test the strength of love through biblical peacemaking.

 Stress from these intense times can make us brittle — less patient, less gracious. We can harden our hearts or keep them tender. Which will it be? Each one of us has a responsibility to pursue peace … not as a vague Christian notion, but in specific, biblically mandated ways.

 Romans 12:18: If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people.

 These are what I call the two “bookend” scriptures for peacemaking:

 Matthew 5:23-24: "If you’re at the altar and remember your brother has something against you, go reconcile first." 

Matthew 18:15: "If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back.”

 By the way, to “point out the offense”, or “show someone their fault”, as other translations say, is also known as a “godly rebuke”. That sounds harsh, but you may be surprised to find it actually means (in the original language) , “to set a value upon”. You reflect back to the person the impact of their actions on you.

So what is the common denominator between those two verses? The common denominator is GO.

 You either GO or you LET IT GO.

Jesus told us to GO - whether it is we who caused the offense, or to reflect back to our brother or sister their offense..The goal here is not to condemn or accuse or vilify — the goal is reconciliation and a deepening of love and understanding.

 Eph. 4:11-16 - “11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure (standard) of the fullness of Christ.

•  unity in our faith - not unity in our faith in politicians or policies

• unity in our knowledge of the Son of God - not in our knowledge of politics and current cultural issues

• the goal is mature love that will not yield. It doesn’t mean everything has to be sweetness and light … or that hard differences cannot be acknowledged.  

 It is steadfast love and hope that help us manage our own hearts in the midst of unresolved tension.    

1 Corinthians 13:7 -  “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Back to Ephesians:

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here                                   and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their                                                deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him Who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From Him the whole body, joined and held                 together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does                                   its work.”

My favorite phrase: “Speaking truth in love, we grow up …”

Most of us avoid confrontation because we think it’s painful or awkward or it’s going to be mean.    The word “confrontation” itself is scary, full of dread. You get a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach thinking about it. Don’t think of conflict resolution as “confrontation”. What if “conflict resolution” is the path to deeper love? What if courageous peacemaking is how we keep our hearts tender and deeply connected to one another?”

PRACTICAL STEPS.  As always, God’s ways aren’t just nice religious ideas. He wants us to put heart and feet to our faith. So here are some practical ideas for managing our hearts with regard to these intense times … thinking about the idea of managing ourselves with powerful and volatile social media:

•     If social media is your preferred method of engaging with the culture on topics you are passionate about, carefully craft the language that most honestly expresses your heart, while also considering personal relationships and possible impact on your faith community.

This is probably the toughest balancing act for the Christian… balancing expressions of personal conscience vs. wise restraint of our personal liberty. The Bible actually acknowledges and respects the grey areas of personal conscience. Many more nuances regarding liberty of conscience there than you may realize.  Romans 14 is a wonderful chapter for guidance on this matter.

•     If you find yourself becoming offended by people who differ from you sharing their views on social media - and in this case, especially if they are someone in your own church or local community -    I suggest you may need to take proactive steps to stop seeing their posts. Either mute or block them or take yourself off social media — but NOT to judge and dismiss them or withdraw your heart and abandon the relationship.

This is the critically important part. Simply determine to tightly hold love and respect for them without going down the road of judging their heart, their motives, etc. And when in doubt about having the conversation, ask for input from trusted wise friends/mentors, pastor/elders, etc.

Either way, whether your are expressing yourself on social media, or you are the person viewing others’ posts, do this for two outcomes: to guard your own heart and to protect the love you have for your fellow brother or sister.

•     3-for-3 Dinners: I really encourage us to dive into this 3-for3 dinner idea. This is a great chance to get to know people in the context of their real lives and for them to get to know you.

•     Intentionally invite people with whom you may have differences. 

•     BAN discussion of politics - at least at first - in favor of building real connection.

•     See them in context, not just as opinions. Ask about their growing up years,

•     where they went to school, their hobbies or favorite books or movies, why they

•     chose the career they did. Play with their kids, learn their names. Pet the dog.

•     Ask for Help: Again, if a peacemaking conversation feels too big or scary, lean on elders or other peacemakers in the church. You don’t have to do it alone!

    >> Caveat about conflict resolution: This does not necessarily apply to  relationships that may be unsafe. Again, seek wise counsel if you’re unsure.

•     This week, pick one relationship strained by differences. Be courageous … take one step — coffee, a dinner, a conversation — and fight for love.

Let’s make it to the finish line together.

Prayer: Ask God to soften our hearts, give us courage for peacemaking, and strengthen our love so we can all make it to the finish line together.

Harmony #99: The Crucifixion of Jesus (Luke 23:26-49; Mark 15:41; Matthew 27:32-56; John 19:16-37)

We are going to cover a lot of text today so that we are ready to talk about the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. The trial of Jesus is over: now, we enter the via dolarosa, the Way of Sorrow. I am going to work commentary into the text just to give us added context as we read. You will see my additions in bold print to distinguish it.

So they took Jesus, carrying his own cross. As they led him away, the soldiers forced a passerby to carry his cross, Simon of Cyrene, who was from a Jewish community in Northern Africa. (He was the father of Alexander and Rufus, who can confirm this account). They placed the cross on his back and made him carry it behind Jesus. [1] Two other criminals[2]were also led away to be executed with him.

A great number of the people followed him, among them women who were mourning and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem,[3] do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

For the coming destruction of the Temple and the decimation of the people is certain[4]: The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us! ’

For if such things are done when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”[5]If crucifixion is what Rome does to the innocent and righteous, how much greater destruction will Rome do against the guilty and unrighteous?

They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”) and offered Jesus wine mixed with gall (myrrh) to drink. But after tasting it, he would not drink it.[6]

At ‘the third hour,’ nine o’clock in the morning[7] the time of the morning sacrifice of the lamb in the Temple, they crucified him there, along with the two other criminals, one on his right and one on his left, with Jesus in the middle. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

Pilate also had a notice of the charge against him written and fastened to the cross above his head, which read: “Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews.” Thus many of the Jewish residents of Jerusalem read this notice, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the notice was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.

Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The king of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am king of the Jews.’ “Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” Now when the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and made four shares, one for each soldier, and the tunic remained.

 (Now the tunic was seamless like that of a High Priest, woven from top to bottom as a single piece.)[8] So the soldiers said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but throw dice to see who will get it.” And so the garment of the true High Priest remained untorn in accordance with the Law.

This took place to fulfill the scripture in Psalm 22 that says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they threw dice.” So the soldiers did these things and then sat down and kept guard over him there. The people also stood there watching.

Those who passed by defamed Jesus, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who claimed to be able to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,[9] save yourself! If you are God’s Son, come down from the cross!”  In the same way even the chief priests – together with the experts in the law and elders – were mocking him among themselves.

“He saved others, but he cannot save himself! If he is the Christ of God, his chosen one, the king of Israel, let him come down from the cross now, that we may see and believe in him! He trusts in God – let God, if he wants to, deliver him now because he said, ‘I am God’s Son’!”

The soldiers also mocked Jesus, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” The robbers who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him. One of the criminals who was hanging there railed at him, saying, “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

But the other rebuked him, saying, “Don’t you fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we rightly so, for we are getting what we deserve for what we did, but this man has done nothing wrong. ”Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.”  And Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” [10]

Now standing beside Jesus’ cross were his mother; his mother’s sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas; and Mary Magdalene. So when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, look, here is your son!” He then said to his disciple, “Look, here is your mother!” From that very time the disciple took Jesus’ mother into his own home.

Now when it was about noon, darkness came over the whole land[11] until three in the afternoon as the prophet Amos foretold, and the sun’s light failed.[12] Around three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which is the opening line from Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

When some of the bystanders heard it, they thought he had called for “Eli” and said, “Listen, he is calling for the return of Elijah!” [13]After this Jesus, realizing that by this time everything was completed, said (in order to fulfill the scripture)[14], “I am thirsty!” 

A jar full of sour wine was there, so someone immediately ran, soaked a sponge with sour wine, put it on a hyssop stick[15], and lifted it to his mouth to drink. But the rest said, “Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah will come to take him down and save him.”

When he had received the sour wine,[16] Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, “It is completed!” Then Jesus bowed his head, and calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And after he said this, he breathed his last and gave up his spirit.

Now when the centurion, who stood in front of him, saw how he died, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent!” Just then the temple curtain, which separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple and reserved an area exclusively for the High Priest, was split from top to bottom so that all could now enter into the holiest of holy places to worship God.[17] The earth shook and the rocks were split apart.[18]

Now when the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and what took place, they were extremely terrified and said, “Truly this one was God’s Son!”[19] And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home in sorrow and repentance.

All those who knew Jesus stood watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses (Joseph), and Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee. When Jesus was in Galilee, they had followed him and given him support. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were there too.

Then, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not stay on the crosses on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was an especially important one. It was the Sabbath beginning the Feast of Unleavened Bread, in which the Israelites celebrated their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Because of the need to act quickly, the Jewish leaders asked Pilate to have the victims’ legs broken and the bodies taken down.

So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men who had been crucified with Jesus, first the one and then the other. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out immediately.

The person who saw it has testified (and his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth), so that you also may believe. For these things happened so that the scripture in Psalm 22 would be fulfilled, “Not a bone of his will be broken.”[20] And again, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”[21]

* * * * *

There are a number of things we could focus on.

• Jesus’ deep care for other people even as he is going to the cross.

• His incredible forgiveness.

• The symbolism of the untorn robe (#truehighpriest) and the torn temple veil (no qualifications needed to be close to God)

• The timing of his death as a Passover Lamb kicking off the Jewish celebration of deliverance from slavery.

I would like to focus on what is happening with all the citations of Psalm 22. Jesus quotes the first line; the gospel writers keep referencing it. We are supposed to know this Psalm. So, here we go. This is David speaking about himself, so not everything will map perfectly with Jesus. But think about how Jesus and the gospel writers hyperlink to this passage as we read.

Psalm 22

 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me,
    so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
    by night, but I find no rest.

 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.  In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.  From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.  Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.

Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me.

My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

 But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me. Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

 I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! 2For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him, but has listened to his cry for help.

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows. The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him - may your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him -those who cannot keep themselves alive.

Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it! (“It is finished”?)

Growing up, I was taught that God had forsaken Jesus on the cross. We even sang the hymn: “The Father turned his face away.” Why? All the sin. After all,

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

No way could God look on all that sin, right? A key verse from which we get this idea is found in Habakkuk 1:13:

“Your eyes are too pure to even look at evil. You cannot turn Your face toward injustice.”

This is where we got the idea, that God the Father really had forsaken God the Son – He had turned His face away - as if the Trinity could be divided against itself. But the next line from Habakkuk 1:14 is often overlooked:

“So why do You watch those who act treacherously?”

It seems as if the first part reminds us of God’s holy and pure nature, and the second part assures us that God’s perfection does not mean he can’t be present and engaged with an imperfect world. Jesus is the fullest expression of that. If God couldn’t even look at evil and injustice, it would make no sense that God incarnated in Jesus into a world where he would be surrounded by evil and injustice. But God did that – and more. Paul reminded the church in Corinth that, on the cross,

“…God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them...” (2 Corinthians 5:19)

The Trinity was never divided. Yawheh was not the two-faced God Janus, with one face turned from us and another face turned toward us. Note where Psalm 22 leads us. After that opening cry about God forsaking him, David comes around.

“For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him, but has listened to his cry for help.”

What does God do when there is a world full of sin? He moves in closer. He makes himself more obvious. Jesus lovingly rubbed shoulders with sinful humanity on his way to saving them from the devastating wages of sin. He took our sin into himself and defeated it once and for all.

That’s not a Father who turns his face away and leaves in the presence of sin. That’s a Father whose love reaches through that mess of sin, grabs his children by the hand, cleans them up, heals them and sets them free from the bondage of sin and death, “so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:27)

This remains true today. The cross reminds us that nothing can turn the Father’s face away from us. On the cross, Jesus pulled us all closer to take care of the sin.

“And I, [Jesus] if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw (literally “drag”) all mankind unto Myself.” (John 12:32)

And he did this for us “while we were yet sinners.” (Romans 5:8) Our sin doesn’t make Jesus push us away. Our sin causes Jesus to reach for us to draw us to himself.

I don’t know what your past record of sin or current struggle with sin is.  I just know the Father has not turned His face away from you. Jesus is drawing you, me, everyone in the world, in whatever state of sin they are in, to gather at the level ground at the foot of the cross for salvation, healing, restoration, and communion with God and each other.

I don’t know what kind of evil is trying to or has seduced you and threatens to control you. I just know that Jesus is drawing you to himself, not pushing you away. God has not turned his face from you; God has always set his face toward you. (And if we want to be like Jesus, we will never turn our face away from those toward whom God has set his face.)

There may be shame (because sin is never something to be proud of), and hurt (because sin always leaves a mark), and hiding so that we are not exposed (#gardenofeden).

But God is the Perfect Father who runs with joy to embrace even his most prodigal children. God is the Good Shepherd who will search for that lost sheep until He finds it. God is the farmer who saw a treasure – you - in a field of the world, and He gave all that he had to get it. God is Jesus, who, while we yet sinners, finished the path of cruciform love: giving his life so that we could live, and so that all things could be reconciled to God, and so the Kingdom of God can be on earth as it is in heaven.

_________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Simon of Cyrene was likelys from a Jewish community in Libya. Church history says He became a disciple of Jesus and a missionary. Some speculate that the Rufus in Mark 15:21 is also in Paul's letter to the Romans.

[2] Likely Zealots, as crucifixion was the penalty for insurrection.

[3] Some women in Jerusalem “were in the habit of soothing the last hours of these condemned ones with narcotics and anodynes. These kindly offices were apparently not forbidden by the Roman authorities.” (Pulpit Commentary)

[4] Here comes a prophecy about the fall of the Temple and the death of a million Jews at Roman hands  in A.D. 70.

[5] “If Pilate could thus sentence to death One in whom he acknowledged that he could find no fault, what might be expected from his successors when they had to deal with a people rebellious and in arms. "If such sufferings alight upon the innocent One, the very Lamb of God, what must be in store for those who are provoking the flames?"

[6] Most commentators believe this was so that he did not avoid the full cup of pain and suffering.

[7] it aligns with the timing of the Jewish morning sacrifice in the Temple of a sacrificial lamb. 

[8] “Although the Old Testament does not tell us the high priest’s robe was seamless, Josephus does: “Now this vesture was not composed of two pieces, nor was it sewed together upon the shoulders and the sides, but it was one long vestment so woven as to have an aperture for the neck.”  John 19:24 tells us that the soldiers did not tear Jesus’ robe. Exodus 28:32 forbade the tearing of the high priest’s robe. John points out another quality of Jesus’ tunic in 19:23: it was woven from top to bottom, anōthen (ἄνωθεν)… Surely it is not by chance that John 19:23 tells us Jesus’ chitōn was woven from top to bottom (anōthen). It must mean something. This garment is not just any garment, but is drawing attention to some divine connection.  (“Jesus as High Priest: the Significance of the Seamless Robe.” Thomas Lane, stpaulcenter.com

[9] John 2:19

[10] There was no punctuation in the original manuscript. It could also read, “I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise. Church tradition, repeated by the likes of John Chrysostom and Augustine, claims that the two thieves were part of a band of robbers led by Gestas (the mocker) and Dismas (the believer) who held up Jesus’ family on their way to Egypt. The robbers were astonished to find expensive gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In the legend Dismas was deeply affected by the infant, and stopped the robbery by offering a bribe to Gestas. Upon departing, the young Dismas was reported to have said: “0 most blessed of children, if ever a time should come when I should crave thy mercy, remember me and forget not what has passed this day.” (https://beyondthesestonewalls.com/posts/dismas-crucified-to-the-right-paradise-lost-and-found)

[11] Most scholars connect this darkness with Amos 8:9-10: “And in that day, declares the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the daytime. I will turn your feasts into mourning (think the Passover festival) and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.”

[12] “An account of it is given by Phlegon of Tralles, a second century historian… who says that, in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was” a great and remarkable eclipse of the sun, above any that had happened before. At the sixth hour the day was turned into the darkness of night, so that stars were seen in the heaven; and there was a great earthquake in Bithynia, which overthrew many houses in the city of Nicaea.” Phlegon also mentions an earthquake…. Dionysius says that he saw this phenomenon at Heliopolis, in Egypt, and he is reported to have exclaimed, "Either the God of nature, the Creator, is suffering, or the universe dissolving." (Pulpit Commentary)

[13] There was a Jewish expectation that Elijah would return before the Messiah.

[14] Psalm 22 again.

[15] The hyssop may symbolize the cleansing and purification that Jesus' sacrifice provides. 

[16] Sour wine fulfills the prophecy in Psalm 69:21, which states, "They gave me vinegar to drink instead of wine." 

[17] No longer were only a few allowed into the ‘presence of God.’ Now everyone could access it.

[18] “And tombs were opened and, like Lazarus, many saints who had very recently died were raised out of their tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city, Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.” Since that happens after the Resurrection of Jesus, let’s save it.” It is probable that they were persons who had recently died, and they appear to have been known in Jerusalem.” (Barnes’ Notes On The Bible). In this sense, this was probably similar to Lazarus: they had recently died, but had not yet been properly interred.

[19] Tradition affirms that the centurion's name was Longinus, that he became a devoted follower of Christ, preached the faith, and died a martyr's death. (Pulpit Commentary)

[20] Psalm 34:20

[21] Zechariah 12:10

Harmony #98: Who Is Our King? (John 19, Mark 15, Luke 23)

When Pilate heard what they said, he was more afraid than ever, and he went back into the governor’s residence and said to Jesus, “Where do you come from?”[1] But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know I have the authority to release you, and to crucify you?”

Jesus replied, “You would have no authority over me at all, unless it was given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of greater sin.” From this point on, Pilate tried to release him. But the Jewish leaders shouted out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar![2] Everyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar!”

When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat in the place called “The Stone Pavement” (Gabbatha in Aramaic). (Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover, about noon [or nine o’clock]) Pilate said to the Jewish leaders, “Look, here is your king!”

Then they shouted out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked, “Shall I crucify your king?” The high priests replied, “We have no king except Caesar!”[3]Because he wanted to satisfy the crowd, Pilate decided that their demand should be granted.

He released, Barabbas, the man they asked for, who had been thrown in prison for insurrection and murder.  But he handed Jesus over to their will, to be crucified. [4]So they took Jesus, stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

In "Avinu Malkeinu" in the Talmud, a rabbi prays to God for rain (a metaphor for God’s provision) with these words:

“Avinu Malkeinu, our father, our king, we have sinned against you. Our father our king, we have no king other than You. Our father, our king, for your sake have mercy upon us.”[5]

Soooo….. we have a problem. The Jewish people knew that they had one King, God. They should have said, “We have no king but Yahweh.” Unfortunately, this misplaced allegiance is not new. It began with,

“Give us a king! Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” (1 Samuel 8:19-20)

God granted their request, with some guidelines:

“The king must not acquire great numbers of horses… for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” (military aggression) He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray (political alliances that introduce idolatry). He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold (greed and corruption). (Deuteronomy 17:16-17) 

But all of Israel’s kings, at least until Israel and Judah split, pursued at least some and sometimes all of those things. When the kingdom split, there was a wild rollercoaster of kings who followed God’s instructions and those who did not.

If you remember, the Sadducees asked Herod, the richest man in the world, to become the King of the Jews to act as a buffer from Rome. I suppose at that time they were acknowledging they had no king – or at least no trust in a king - but Herod. This led to a remarkable amount of corruption as the religious leaders got intertwined with Roman power and luxury.

When the Sanhedrin (the ruling body of the Jews) got concerned that Jesus was going to get them in trouble with Rome (John 11:48), they arrested him. Then they ask for the way of the Zealots when given a choice between a King of Peace and a King of War for protecting the children of God and advancing the Kingdom of God.  

“The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar! Our Messianic hope is dead, our national independence is at an end, our witness as a people to truth, our listening to the voice which would have gathered us together, are over. As before they had shouted, "Not this Man, but Barabbas!" so now, "Not the Lord of glory, but the demon lord of Rome; not this King of kings, but Tiberius Augustus." They elected Caesar to be their king; by Caesar they were destroyed. The kingdom of God, by the confession of its rulers, has become the kingdom of this world.” (Pulpit Commentary)

I have been thinking of different places in the Bible where we get a vision for what it looks like when Jesus - and only Jesus - is our King. Two passages came to mind: The Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. I’m going to try to combine the two of them. It’s not a perfect overlap, but as you might expect, the Bible has themes that are revisited a lot. Here is a sketch of 1 Corinthians 13 with some other biblical passages offered as support – most from the Sermon on the Mount. Also, this is a sermon not a book, so there a ton of nuance that is missing. Try not to get distracted by that. Soak in the main point before unpacking the complexities of life that are also relevant.

When we have no King but Jesus, we will have a love that is patient, especially while enduring difficulty or suffering (see also Matthew 5:38-42). We are going to need to define love. The agape love of the cruciform Christ has been defined this way:  

“[Agape love] devotes total commitment to seek your best no matter how anyone may respond. This form of love is totally selfless and does not change whether the love given is returned or not.” [6]

In other words, it’s about a posture of the heart that is for others, always. We never stop praying and desiring for the righteous flourishing of everyone, even those who bring us difficulty and suffering, and we participate in that as appropriate. When we can’t, we pray and hope that others will.

When Caesar is our king, we will be aggressive and hostile in the face of difficulty. We will be quick to give up and wish ill on others. When our King, Jesus, leads us, we are able to patiently endure through suffering as Jesus modeled for us, and we will never stop hoping and praying for the healing and righteous transformation of those who have brought us difficulty and suffering.

When we have not King but Jesus, we will have a love that is gentle and consistently kind in service to others (see also Matthew 5:7). Gentleness is not weakness; gentleness is using our strength and resources mercifully in service to others. It’s using our authority carefully.

When Caesar is our king, we will want to “lord it over others,” flex our authority and be served (Matthew 20:25). When our only King, Jesus, leads us, our love is determined to show a pattern in life that exhibits strength and authority under control such that those around us learn why it is the kindness of God that leads us to move closer to God. (Romans 2:4)

When we have no king but Jesus, we will have a love that is not envious or jealous when others are blessed. Someone is healthy when we are not? Someone has great vacations when we barely make it paycheck to paycheck? Someone eats anything they want and never exercises and looks like a model, and I can’t have tofu without it going right to my belly? When others are flourishing in true health and righteous blessing, we can rejoice for them no matter our own circumstances.

When Caesar is our king, our envy will want the good others have so much that their success will become our idol. We will do anything to get what they have, and if we don’t, we will hate them all the more. When our only King, Jesus, leads us, we can truly say, “Good for you. I’m happy for you,” because we trust that God can and does provide what we truly need from His glorious riches given to us through Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

When we have no king but Jesus, our love of God and others does not allow us to be proudly boastful about our own importance. (see also Matthew 6:1-8) Over and over, Jesus talks about those who pray and give alms in secret, who don’t let the left hand know what the right hand is doing (Matthew 6:3-4), and who are not like the Pharisees, who “loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” (John 12:43)

When Caesar is our king, it is all about us: our accomplishments, our success, our comfort, our self-importance, much to the frustration of those around us. (It’s exhausting to pat the arrogant on the back sufficiently.) When our only king, Jesus, leads us, we don’t need to position ourselves to get noticed or applauded to find our validation, because, Jesus has grounded our value, our identity, our worth, and that is enough. We are able to release people from the need to admire us with sufficient awe, because we are humble, consistently focusing on bringing honor to others rather than ourselves. (Philippians 2:3)

When we have no king but Jesus, our expression of love is not dishonorable or improper; it takes on a form that is compelling and attractive (see also Matthew 5:3-10).In other words, our lives will offer a compelling witness to the hope of Christ in us, transforming us into the image of cruciform love. Acts 2 tells us of how the first Jesus followers found a way to do this in their context:

The community continually committed themselves to learning what the apostles taught them, gathering for fellowship, breaking bread, and praying. Everyone felt a sense of awe because the apostles were doing many signs and wonders among them. 

There was an intense sense of togetherness among all who believed; they shared all their material possessions in trust. They sold any possessions and goods that did not benefit the community and used the money to help everyone in need. They were unified as they worshiped at the temple day after day. In homes, they broke bread and shared meals with glad and generous hearts. 

The new disciples praised God, and they enjoyed the goodwill of all the people of the city. Day after day the Lord added to their number everyone who was experiencing liberation. (Acts 2:42-47)

When Caesar is our king, we are radically independent rather than inter-dependent. My stuff is mine; your stuff is yours; tough luck if you’re struggling. You should have pulled yourself up by your own bootstraps and made better choices and worked harder and, well, been more like me (is what it really boils down to). When our only King, Jesus, leads us, we will display God’s generous heart by displaying glad and generous hearts as we use the provision God has given us for the benefit of those in need.

When we have no king but Jesus, our love does not allow us to dishonor others with shame or disrespect (see also Matthew 5:27-30) Truth-telling? Yes. Shaming? No. Honesty? Yes. Disrespect? No. Remember: it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance, not the meanness of God. There is a godly sorrow that is good, but a shame-filled sorrow is not from God, and is not the fruit of love. (2 Corinthians 7:10)

When Caesar is our king, bullying, gossip, insults and derision are the tools we use to get our way and promote ourselves. When our only King, Jesus, leads us, we will pray, ‘O Lord, keep watch over the door of my lips!’ (Psalm 141:3) so that the righteous treasure in our heart put there by Jesus is revealed in how we say what we say. (Luke 6:45)

When we have no king but Jesus, our love does not allow us to selfishly seek our own honor or attempt to “get what’s mine” (see also Matthew 6:19-25). This is not about guarding our reputation, which is a good thing to do as much as is in our control. This is about greed for honor, fame, and things. When Caesar is our king, we are interested in taking rather than giving; having rights for ourself over having responsibilities toward others; thinking more about building our own honor and prestige than building up others.

When we follow Jesus and walk in love, “What do I owe others as image bearers of God?” will always be more important than, “What do others owe me?” When our only King, Jesus, leads us, we will be consistently asking how we can serve and honor others rather than how we can be served and honored. Ideally, we will create a community in which everyone buys in, so there is plenty of affirmation and honor to go around as we are all consistently offering it to those around us.

When we have no king but Jesus, our desire to love like Jesus loves does not allow us fly off the handle with anger quickly or take offense easily (see also Matthew 5:21-26).We will be slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and mercy, just like Jesus. (Exodus 34:6) We will practice hospitality of the heart and head, thinking the best of and feeling the best about others unless we are forced to think otherwise.

When Caesar is our king, we will look for perceived offenses and go ballistic to get what we are now owed (in our minds): an apology; an assurance that they were wrong and we are right; maybe just the satisfaction of getting someone to fight or take flight. When our only King, Jesus, leads us, we will not take offense easily. We will be hospitable in our heads and our hearts; if we take offense, we will ask questions (maybe we misunderstood?), and press in conversationally and relationally (maybe this says more about me than it does about you?), with a goal of truth, peace and restoration made easier by navigating our way there with grace and love.

When we have no king but Jesus, our love for others does not allow us to keep a punch list of wrongs we have endured (Matthew 5:43-48. I don’t think this means we have to erase what happened from our memory as if it didn’t happen, because that would be dishonest. It did happen. Memory can be really important so we learn from history. I think this means we won’t keep playing the “wrongs card” over and over as bitterness grows within us. Bengal’s Gnomen translates this phrase as,

“…does not meditate upon evil inflicted by another, with a desire to avenge it.”

There is a secondary meaning that pops up a lot. This is from Barne’s Notes On The Bible: 

“Thinketh no evil - That is, puts the best possible construction on the motives and the conduct of others. It means that a person under the influence of love is not malicious, censorious, disposed to find fault, or to impute improper motives to others. It is not disposed to "think" that there was any evil intention even in cases which might tend to irritate or exasperate us.

It is not disposed to think that there was any evil in the case; or that what was done was with any improper intention or design; that is, it puts the best possible construction on the conduct of others, and supposes, as far as can be done, that it was in consistency with honesty, truth, friendship, and love. 

We desire to think well of [those] whom we love… until we are compelled to [not] do so by the most unbreakable evidence. True religion, therefore, will prompt to charitable judging; nor is there a more striking evidence of the destitution of true religion than a disposition to impute the worst motives and opinions to [others].

When Caesar is our king, the offenses of others are always in our back pocket. We assume the worst of intent right out of the gate, then refuse to back down when we might be wrong. We will keep track, and not let it go. When our only King, Jesus, leads us, we will put the ‘best possible construction’ on the conduct of others until we have unbreakable evidence otherwise; we will practice forgiveness when genuine hurt has been done to us; and we will pursue restoration and fellowship as a hopeful goal.

When we have no king but Jesus, our love does not allow us to delight in unrighteousness or injustice and does not cheer when others are harmed (doesn't revel when others grovel) (see also Matthew 5:3-10). When we see people being harmed by sin or just by life; when we see abuse of any kind - dehumanization, exploitation, cruelty, people using other people, people being denied the dignity they deserve as image bearers of God - we are not okay with it and we certainly never applaud it. Ideally, it breaks our hearts.

When our king is Caesar, we will not only do unrighteous things, we will approve of those who do unrighteous[7] things (Romans 1). When our only King, Jesus, leads us, we won’t want to excuse or applaud that which breaks relationship with God and others, because it will break our heart. When we have no king but Jesus, our love causes us to celebrates honesty, truth, justice and mercy. We will seek first and foremost the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33), and applaud the pursuit of righteousness wherever we see it.

When we have no king but Jesus, our love gives a safe place of shelter for those bearing burdens (see also Galatians 6:2) When we love with the love of Jesus, we want people to be free of their burdens, be they of sin, or sickness, or a hard life.  We do not want the to feel they have to just get used to them, and we certainly don’t want to add to them. While we help them on this journey, we are called to be a safe place of shelter in a world that too often shames, dismisses or even punishes burden carriers.  

The opening lyrics from a song called “Gimme Shelter” say: “A storm is threatening my very life today. If I don't get some shelter, I'm gonna fade away.” Those with Jesus’ love in them say, “No, that is not okay. You will not fade away. I will bring the kind, loving shelter that Jesus has provided for us all.”[8]

When Caesar is our king, not everybody deserves shelter. Some people matter more than others. In the time of Jesus, the Romans left deformed or unwanted babies out to die, and women and slaves just didn’t matter as much as free men. In Judaism, it was free vs. slave, male vs. female, Jews over Gentiles (Galatians 3:28). Caesar will always have hierarchies of who matters, who deserves our investment, who we must classify as “our neighbor” to determine if they get our love and provision (Luke 10:29)

When Jesus is our king, we say, “Hey, you matter,” to everybody, and we mean it. We will want to not only protect human life from the moment it begins until the moment it ends, but also to help people to flourish, with a Christ-like focus on “the least of these.”  And if they matter – they really matter – they are never just a statistic, or irrelevant, or unimportant. They should matter deeply to us because they matter deeply to Jesus.

When we have no king but Jesus, our love and trust remains hopeful and faithful during difficult times (see also Matthew 5:31-32).

Hopeful (full of hope): believing that God really is Love, and that God is at work in the world in all people and places, and that miracles are real, that history is not destiny, that the Lamb’s cruciform love has overcome death, evil, pain and suffering, and God will restore all things to himself in the end. (Colossians 1:20)

Faithful (full of faith): doesn’t stop believing that and demonstrating our belief through faithful practices.

If we remain hopeful and faithful, God’s love will enable us to bear incredible loads without them breaking our ability to love. In other words, our love will never stop. No matter how near or far away from someone I am, whether relationally or physically (because sometimes boundaries and distance are necessary and healthy things), a love that looks like the love of Jesus is devoted to seeking and praying for God’s best for others no matter how they respond, and no matter if that kind of love given in return. This kind of love is good for others, but it might be just as important for the one giving it. This kind of love kills the root of bitterness; it calms anger and unforgiveness.

When our king is Caesar, that kind of love will always seem strange. Caesar’s love will have an expiration date because it’s dependent on our ability to be lovable or desirable on Caesar’s terms. When someone makes Caesar unhappy, whatever ‘love’ they experienced easily turns to either not caring if they suffer, or wanting them to suffer. This leads to those around Caesar living in fear of falling out of favor, but that’s the point. The fear of Caesar drives them to beg for the fickle love of Caesar.

When we have no king but Jesus, we will love him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19) not because we were good enough to love, but because God is love. It’s what God does. “We will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” (Psalm 46:2) Perfect love casts out fear, which is why cruciform love is never going to have a place in Caesar ’s palace. Nothing will separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39), so nothing can stop our love, which sends us relentlessly to others for their good on behalf of Jesus.
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[1] Likely not a question about earthly geography, but a question of divine origin.

[2] “Friend of Caesar” was a political honorific title bestowed by the Roman Empire. Coins of the realm depicting Herod the Great bore the Greek insignia “Philokaisar” meaning “Friend of Caesar.” (“The Chief Priests Answered, ‘We Have No King but Caesar.’ Beyondthesestonewalls.com)

[3] “Sooner than acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah they proclaim that a heathen Emperor is their King.” (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges) “This utterance is "the formal abdication of the Messianic hope." (Vincent’s Word Studies)

[5] I believe I got this info from Adam Clarke.

[6] https://www.ezilon.com/articles/articles/7675/1/God-is-Agape-Love

[7] Righteous: doing right in the eyes of God, which will mean we do the right thing for others.

[8] I used to sing a hymn, “Under His Wings I Am Safely Abiding.” “Under His wings I am safely abiding; Though the night deepens and tempests are wild, Still I can trust Him, I know He will keep me; He has redeemed me, and I am His child. Under His wings—what a refuge in sorrow! How the heart yearningly turns to His rest! Often when earth has no balm for my healing, There I find comfort, and there I am blest. Under His wings, under His wings, Who from His love can sever? Under His wings my soul shall abide, Safely abide forever.

Harmony #97: His Blood Be On Us (Matthew 27:24-25)

When Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but that instead a riot was starting, he took some water, washed his hands before the crowd[1] and said, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. You take care of it yourselves! You take him and crucify him! Certainly I find no reason for an accusation against him!”

The Jewish leaders and all the people replied, “We have a law, and according to our law he ought to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God! Let his blood be on us and on our children!” [2]

This was not a new phrase to the Jewish people. Let’s go back to the book of Joshua. After Rahab helped the spies at Jericho, the spies promised she and her family would be spared the coming destruction if she brought them into her house. But…

“If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them.” (Joshua 2:19)

In other words, the consequences of their choices are on them. I think this is what the crowd is saying in today’s passage: “We accept the consequences for us – and not just us, but our kids also.” Sadly, that will happen within 40 years. Choosing the way of Barabbas will indeed rain blood on their heads when the Zealots poked the Roman bear one too many times, and Rome destroyed the temple and killed a million Jewish people. Josephus recorded:

Thousands died by famine; thousands by disease; thousands by the sword; and their blood ran down the streets like water, so that, Josephus says, it extinguished things that were burning in the city. Thousands were crucified suffering the same punishment that they had inflicted on the Messiah. So great was the number of those who were crucified, that, Josephus says, they were obliged to cease from it, "room being wanted for the crosses, and crosses for the men." (Barnes Notes On The Bible)

So, there was a very practical consequence of that choice against Jesus and for Barabbas that had real-world consequences for those alive at that time. The children of those in the crowd clearly had to suffer for what their parents chose.

But in a broader sense, does God condemn children for something parents did? Hmmm… Let’s start in the Old Testament. First, the Law:

“Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.” Deuteronomy 24:16

Next, the Prophets.

The word of the Lord came to me:  “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: “‘The parents eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel….

“Yet you ask, ‘Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?’ Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. The one who sins is the one who will die. 

The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.” (Ezekiel 18)

Alright, so in terms of who pays the consequences for sin, it’s a one and done. We are only responsible for what we do. So what do we do with passages like this?

“You shall not bow down to them or worship [idols]; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands of generations, to those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:5-6)

“[God] keeps lovingkindness for thousands of generations, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” (Exodus 34:7)

How to resolve this?

This requires linguistic context. The phrase “the third and the fourth” is a Hebrew idiom for “however many” or “whatever number it takes.” The legacy of the sins of the parents will go on until the children reverse course. Notice how Jeremiah works the idea of generational guilt in with individual responsibility in the same paragraph.

You show steadfast love to thousands [of generations], but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God… whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.” (Jeremiah 32:16-19)

Jeremiah isn’t going to contradict himself in the same paragraph. He’s referencing the principle of legacies as found in Deuteronomy while insisting individuals will get the fruit of their own deeds.

One thing is clear: The power of legacies is really strong. Israel broke their covenant so many times. The parents started a legacy, and the children carried it on. Think of the family dynamics in the Old Testament, such as sibling rivalry, favoritism, and deceit in the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their descendants, or how King David’s lust for women and power showed up again in his children and grandchildren. The Bible does not shy away from showing us the ripple effect of choices, particularly bad or sinful choices.

Here’s a practical and relatively minor example. I help out at the YMCA with little kids’ basketball league. A couple weeks ago I had to intervene with one of the coaches. He was getting really upset with the referee. He was tense, critical, and very vocal about it. Guess what started to happen to the players (they were 2nd and 3rd graders) who were just having fun playing basketball? They got tense, critical and vocal about it. So I pulled the coach aside and said, “Coach, when you are tense and angry, your players get tense and angry. When you are calm, they are calm.” He calmed down, and guess what? So did the kids.

The ‘blood’ of his anger was on him and his players.

Let’s try an example that might step on our toes if we have kids. Let’s say I get up tired and cranky back when my kids were younger. Rather than pray, take a deep breath, and remind myself of how Jesus has called me to be present in the world, I just run with it.

·  My kids are way too slow getting ready for school, and I shame them into hurrying up. (“You are so slow! What is your problem?”)

·  Sheila’s alarm didn’t go off so she is later getting ready than usual, and I snap at her for being in the bathroom when I needed to be in the bathroom (“If you would just set your alarm right this wouldn’t be a problem!” And she’s like, “I am going to be late if I don’t do this now.” And I’m like, “That’s on you. Maybe tonight you’ll set your alarm properly.”).

·  As I drive through the roundabout on the way to school, someone fails to yield. I yell and lay on the horn and have a lot to say about stupid drivers. Because we are late, I tailgate people on the way to school, as if that will help.

What will Sheila’s day look like now? Well, I’ve started her day by insulting her over a simple mistake and expressing zero empathy. Different personalities will respond different ways, but there’s no way she goes to work unaffected by me.

What will my boys be like at school? Well, that lovely start to that day will impact them. I was a teacher long enough to know the ride to school matters in how kids show up.  At some point in the year, I’m going to get a call. (“Your boys keep saying, “What is your problem? Are you stupid? When people bump into them in the hallway. Also, they really beat themselves up any time it takes them longer than others to finish an assignment. They keep saying, ‘I am so slow.’”)

How might that other driver’s day have been impacted? Well, I know how I feel when I make a driving mistake and get yelled out. I feel so stupid. I beat myself up. I show up differently in my next meeting or two because I feel like such an embarrassing failure. Depending on the other driver’s personality in my story, I don’t know what kind of response that would trigger. Anger? Shame? How will that impact the next thing they do?

The ’blood’ of my anger was not just on me, it was on my wife, my children, and a random driver.

God has baked the principle of cause and effect into his universe: the Bible calls it harvesting what we planted. Jesus had just warned his disciples that if they lived by the sword they would die by the sword. The crowd chose the sword of the Zealots; it was revisited on them and their children. Actions have consequences.

I’m thinking now of how many times in the course of history there have violent feuds between nations, families or individuals in which violence begat violence. The end is often known – think “established” - from the beginning. [3] The conclusion can be known by studying the start (and the middle, of course).[4] Think of how a small seed grows into a huge tree. That was always going to be the case, because the seed had a telos – a goal, an end goal, a completion – baked into it from the very beginning.

We are going to get to the good news of how Jesus provides salvation such that history is not destiny.First, let’s look at the serious implications of this idea.

The physical impact of intergenerational sin/trauma

There is increasingly good reason to believe that what we do and what is done to us leaves a genetic footprint that we pass on to our kids.[5] In some sense, the body keeps score not only of our own experiences but of the experiences of our lineage. Our biology reveals not only our history, but our family and community history in some sense. Look up “epigenetic trauma” for more info. This isn’t my main point today.

The spiritual/emotional impact of intergenerational sin/trauma

There is another sense in which our community of origin (family, church, school, etc.) forms us - for good or bad - in ways that linger. Since today’s passage focuses on the fallout from sinful or negative choices, that’s where we will focus. I am painting with a really large brush here, so please give me some grace if you think I’m not nuanced enough. This is like a proverb: it’s generally true.

I’ve been on a personal journey in this area for the past 2 years. I have been coming to grips with how the legacy given to me – the sins of the generation older than me, and the sins of my peers when I was a child – left a profound impact on me. It turns out that one is not bullied and molested without the body, soul and spirit keeping score. I say this only to note that while I will paint with a broad brush, I speak from first-hand experience that has been addressed by my faith and some good counselors. There were people who consciously or unconsciously said, “Let the blood of consequences be on us and on our children for what I am about to do,” and I was the child.

·    If you were raised with constant criticism, with a sense of never being good enough, that leaves a mark. There will likely be a tendency to keep seeing yourself that way, and either finding that you believe it’s true and beat yourself up all the time, or finding that you are overly determined to prove them wrong, and become relentlessly focused on being perfect. If you have children, maybe they hear you beat yourself up all the time, or you pass on the criticism you received to them, or they see that you demand perfection of yourself, and you treat them the same way. There is a variety of ways in which broken legacies can be passed on.

·    If you were raised around explosive and unsafe arguers, conflict will likely bring out fight or flight in you: engage 100% and win, or do anything to avoid it. It’s likely one of those responses will be passed on to your kids.

·    If you were raised in a materialist family that prioritized money and things, that’s likely going to stick. That’s going to feel like a marker for success, maybe even of worth. It can become a way to judge the worth of others.

·    If you were raised in a bitter, envious family where nobody else deserved what they had and your family was always the victim of others, that gets ingrained. Life never seems fair; anything that goes wrong for you is not your fault.

·    If you grew up in a moral ecosystem that devalues and insults the “other” – any group of people they really look down on -  that’s going to impact how you think about and act toward that group of people.

Unless there is intervention, sin and brokenness get passed on. They leave a mark. It might be replicating those sins (“Hurt people hurt people.”); it might be overreacting and doing the extreme opposite (a boy abused by a male might become hyper masculine to combat how he was treated.) Sin and its traumatic legacy tends to get passed on.

As one hurt by the deeply traumatic sinfulness of others, I have found for myself that for many years, even when I said “I’m fine!”  what I often meant was, “I am functioning in a way that feels normal to me,” and that is…not necessarily the same as being healthy and whole. And when that’s the case, there is always the danger that broken people will break people, even without knowing it’s happening.

Here’s the good news. Here’s the gospel. “His blood be on us and on our children” might just be the most wonderfully ironic proclamation of hope in the Bible.

Thank God that the blood of Jesus will be on those who killed Jesus, and on their children.

“What was seen by many as a curse is in fact a blessing invoked unwittingly, for the Lord's blood is the source of their redemption…St. John Chrysostom teaches that even though these Jews “acted with such madness, so far from confirming a sentence on them or their children, Christ instead received those who repented and counted them worthy of good things beyond number.” (Orthodox Study Bible)[6]

Unchecked, unaddressed, the consequences of our sin may affect future generations, but God offers refuge and redemption to each generation to each person. His mercies are new every morning. God himself refuses to make us bear the guilt of the sins of those who have gone before us, and God himself refuses to make those who come after us bear the guilt of our sin.  God relentlessly offers forgiveness, healing and restoration. He has shown himself to be really good at bringing about good from even the worst circumstances.[7]

Look at the math from the verses from Deuteronomy just to get an idea: it was loving kindness to thousands of generations, compared to four generations reaping the punishment or consequences from bad decisions.

Even if we were to read that strictly literally (which I don’t think we should), the point would be the contrast: 1,000 to 4, love and restoration over judgment and punishment. God loves to multiply the ripple effect of that which is done righteously and minimize the ripple effect of that which is done sinfully. Let’s read further in Ezekiel 18:

“But if a lawless person turns away from all the lawless deeds they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does righteous justice and loves mercy, that person will surely live; they will not die.

None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. In the righteousness they have done, they will live.  Do I ever will or take pleasure in the death of the lawless?” says the Sovereign Lord, “since my will is for him to turn from his evil way and live…?”

 “Therefore, house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your ungodliness; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the ungodliness you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit.

Why should you die, people of Israel? For I do not will and take no pleasure in the death of the one who dies,” declares the Sovereign Lord. “Repent and live!” (Ezekiel 18)

Why should you die? Repent and live. Get a new heart and a new spirit! And how do we do that? Well, it will be a gift from God. Ezekiel again.

And I will give you ia new heart, and ia new spirit I will put within you.iAnd I will remove the  heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.( Ezekiel 36:26)

God promises to make broken things whole, even dead things come to life. With Jesus, our history is not our destiny. Neither that which we have done or that which has been done to us is stronger than the redemptive power of Jesus.

·    If you were raised with constant criticism, Jesus can show you how God thinks of you: a beloved child He is pleased to call his own; not ashamed of you; not requiring perfection; simply calling you to love God and love others from the foundation of God’s view of you, which is love.

·    If you were raised around explosive and unsafe arguers, Jesus offers a new heart  and attitude unchained to that legacy as you learn how to disagree with truth and grace.

·    If you were raised in a materialist family that prioritized money and things and maybe learned to judge your value and the value of others based on their wealth, Jesus will teach you generosity and faith in God’s provision, as well as how to value people with the heart of Jesus.

·    If you were raised in a bitter, envious family where nobody else deserved what they had and your family was always the victim of others, Jesus will show you how to celebrate blessing and abundance wherever you see it.

·    If you were raised in moral ecosystem that devalues and insults the “other,” Jesus begins a good work in you that he will continue, teaching you how to bear the burdens of others, how to empathize, how to care, how to love.

When we get to the end of Ezekiel, we find out the end game. Though this is directed toward the nation of Israel, I remain convinced that the physical realities of the Old Covenant are meant to help us understand the spiritual realities of the New Covenant. .

24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 

27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.29 I will save you from all your uncleanness… I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine….

33 “‘On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt… all who pass through it… will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.” 

36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’ (Ezekiel 36)

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[1]  “It was a custom among the Hebrews, Greeks, and Latins, to wash the hands in token of innocence, and to show that they were pure from any imputed guilt. In case of an undiscovered murder, the elders of that city which was nearest to the place where the dead body was found, were required by the law, Deuteronomy 21:1-10, to wash their hands over the victim which was offered to expiate the crime, and thus make protestation of their own innocence.” (Adam Clarke)

[2] “His blood be on us was a common phrase accepting responsibility for someone’s death.” (ESV Study Bible)

[3] Isaiah 46:10

[4] Theologians explain that God knows what the telos - the end or end goal - of the universe is because he started it, like the seed determines the tree.

[5] See more on this idea at “Intergenerational transmission of trauma effects: putative role of epigenetic mechanisms.”https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6127768/

[6] Think of the thousands converted in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41).

[7] https://bibleproject.com/podcast/does-god-curse-generations/

When We Don’t Know What To Do

“...from the tribe of Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” – 1 Chronicles 12

“We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We don’t know what to do, so we are asking for Your help. Our eyes are on you.” – Jehoshaphat, 2 Chronicles 20

Acknowledging the Challenge

Our church is fracturing right now over current events, politics, and politicians. We feel it in our families, our friendships, our workplaces, and even here at church. If this church is a ship, we are taking on water at a pace that threatens to sink us.

For many years, I prided myself on being of the tribe of Issachar. As an adult, I have taught worldview classes, logic, and ethics. I pursued a Master’s degree in Christian Theology and Philosophy and studied Christian apologetics. In my sermon preparation, I have tried to translate the cultural context of the Bible into a practical way for us to follow Jesus today.

Yet over time, I have increasingly appreciated Jehoshaphat. I keep running into situations where I don’t know what to do. Two examples will suffice to represent more than two scenarios.

• When my son AJ was a teenager, we had a conversation that created tension and anger between us. Finally, I told him, “AJ, I don’t know what to do. I am having a conversation with you that my dad never had with me. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I love you, and I want us to figure this out.” And we did. It wasn’t easy. There were wounds along the way. But by God’s grace, we came out the other side better than we went in.

• COVID felt the same way. No matter how we navigated that season, people were upset. To some, responding by wearing masks and distancing looked like living in fear, not faith. To some, not responding that way looked like a failure to love the vulnerable. As we tried to walk that balance beam, there was no decision concerning our corporate church life that wasn’t met with frustration or anger from someone. More and more, my prayers sounded like, “God, I don’t know what to do, and I am desperately in need of Your help.” 2021 was the closest I ever came to resigning. I was genuinely concerned I would have another heart attack.

We got through that—not intact, not unwounded, but we got through it. Some of us still walk with a limp from wrestling with each other and with God.

And now, here we are again. I cried myself to sleep last week over this. I asked Jesus to sit with me, and He did. That was comforting, but I still cried myself to sleep. The political divide in our country is pressing in on our church, and I – we - feel it deeply on both sides of our divide.

• Some of you feel unheard or unseen (“Why can’t they just listen and try to understand why I am feeling so strongly about this issue?”)

• Some of you feel attacked (“Why can’t we just share opinions without the conversation devolving into insults and judgment?”)

• Some of you feel judged (“They don’t know my heart. Why are they assuming X about me?”)

• Some of you feel betrayed (“I thought Christians stood for X, but now it looks like we aren’t. What is going on?”)

• Some of you feel unsafe (“Now that I know what I do about you, I don’t know if I can trust you.”)

• And some of you feel frustrated with how people respond (“When people speak up, it’s divisive. When people don’t speak up, it feels like complicity.”)

As the pastor here, I am in the awkward position addressing this while being very aware that I am a flawed example. I try to be responsive to God’s nudging, but I don’t always know what to do (or not do) and say (or not say), so surely sometimes I do it well, and other times I don’t. You are in the same boat. None of us are navigating this blamelessly in our hearts and with our words and actions. People look at what all of us are saying (or not saying) and doing (or not doing), and some become discouraged while others become encouraged.

This is taking a sledgehammer to our fellowship and friendships. This is hard. It is where we are.

What Do We Know?

Despite all this uncertainty, I do know a few things that are essential for this moment:

• I know to pray.

• I know to focus on Jesus.

• I know to love God and love others like Jesus loves them.

• I know that the more my heart, mind, and hands align with Jesus, the better ambassador I will be.

• I know that the Sermon on the Mount is our blueprint, and that the fruit of the Spirit is evidence that we are walking in step with Him.

But the tension remains. So today, as a congregation, we are going to ask God for help, and we are going to listen.

* * * * *

The Importance of Listening to God

Throughout Scripture, we see that the people of God are called not just to speak, but to listen. Listening is one of the most profound ways we acknowledge God’s presence and authority in our lives.

• In 1 Samuel 3:10, when the Lord called to the boy Samuel, his response was simply: 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.' He didn’t come to God with his own agenda—he came ready to receive.

• Jesus often said, ‘Whoever has ears, let them hear’ (Matthew 11:15, Mark 4:9). He knew that hearing and truly listening are not the same thing. We can hear noise all day long, but listening requires humility and openness.

• James 1:19 reminds us: ‘Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.’ This applies to our relationships with one another—but even more, it applies to how we approach God.

So today, we set aside our opinions, our debates, and our distractions—and we take a posture of listening. Not listening to argue, not listening to justify, but listening to receive.

God is always speaking. The question is—are we making space to hear Him?

Listening Prayer

I invite you to take a moment in silence. Listen for God’s voice. Write down what you sense Him speaking to you.

Guiding Questions for Listening Prayer

1. What is God saying to CLG in this season?

1. What is God saying to me about my role in this church right now?

1. Where is God pleased with me in my walk with Him?

1. Where is God calling me to repentance?

When you are finished, I invite you to turn in your response about what God is saying to the church to one of the elders. We will pray over these together and discern what God is saying to our church body. I would encourage you to talk with others about what you experienced during this time of prayer. If you would like to share more with the elders, you are welcome. And if you would like to talk about this in a group, you are invited to Message+.

Whatever God has revealed to you today, hold onto it. But also—be open to the idea that He’s still working. Let’s commit together to be slow to speak, quick to listen, and eager to love each other well in the coming weeks. No matter our differences, we are called to be one body in Christ. That will take work. That will take humility. But that’s what we’re here to do.

May we walk forward unified in our attempt to follow Jesus well, not because we agree on everything, but because we are all listening to the same voice.

Harmony #96: Which Jesus Would We Choose? (Matthew 27:15-31; Mark 15:6-20; Luke 23:13-25; John 18:39-19:16)

Then Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, who came up and began to ask Pilate to release a prisoner for them, as was his custom.

(During the feast the governor was accustomed to release one prisoner to the crowd, whomever they requested. At that time they had in custody a notorious prisoner named Jesus Barabbas, who had been thrown into prison with other rebels for an insurrection started in the city, and for murder.)

Pilate said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. When I examined him before you, I did not find this man guilty of anything you accused him of doing. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, he has done nothing deserving death. It is your custom that I release one prisoner for you at the Passover.

I will therefore have him flogged and release him. ”But the chief priests and the elders stirred up the crowd and persuaded them to ask for Barabbas to be released instead and to have Jesus killed. So they all shouted out together, “Take this man away! Release Barabbas for us!”

 Pilate addressed them once again because he wanted to release Jesus, for as he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent a message to him: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man; I have suffered greatly as a result of a dream about him today.”[1]

Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Christ, the king of the Jews?” (For he knew that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy.) Which of the two do you want me to release for you?”

Then they shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” So Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you want me to do with the one you call king of the Jews?” They all shouted back, “Crucify him!” and kept on shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!”

A third time Pilate said to them, “Why? What wrong has he done wrong? I have found him guilty of no crime deserving death. I will therefore flog him and release him.” Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the palace (that is, the governor’s residence) and called together the whole cohort. They stripped him and flogged him severely.

Then they put a purple cloak on him, and after braiding a crown of thorns, they put it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand, and kneeling down before him they mocked him, paid homage to him, and saluted him: “Hail, king of the Jews!” They spat on him and took the staff and struck him repeatedly on the head and face.

Again Pilate went out and said to the Jewish leaders, “Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no reason for an accusation against him.” So Jesus came outside, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Look, here is the man!”

But when the chief priests and their officers saw him, they were insistent, demanding with loud shouts, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” And their shouts prevailed. [2]

* * * * *

PILATE AND HIS WIFE

This is a church history footnote which could be an interesting study if you feel like it.  The view of Pontius Pilate split into Western and Eastern traditions. The Western tradition sees Pilate as a villain, plain and simple. At minimum, he is complicit in evil by his lack of backbone.

In Eastern traditions, however, Pilate and his wife (Procula, or Claudia) will eventually become Christians themselves. Origen taught that Claudia became a Christian after the Resurrection because of that dream. Tertullian wrote that soon after the crucifixion, Pilate converted to Christianity and tried to convince Tiberius to follow suit. Irenaeus said there was even an icon of Jesus painted by Pontius Pilate.

Some traditions claim that Claudia died as a martyr. In the Ethiopian and Coptic church, Pilate and his wife are revered as saints. [3] The Ethiopian tradition even has a feast day for them on June 25.

One reason I like this tradition is because I like being hopeful. I don’t need a villain in Jesus’ story to die a villain. I don’t even want that to be true. I love that part of church history that takes one of the most widely condemned people in the story (Pilate) and closes the story with redemption. Even if it is just tradition, it reminds us of why Jesus died, and who Jesus died for, and what God offers to all of us: salvation, redemption, hope.

JESUS AND BARABBAS

Barabbas, a Zealot, was guilty of murder and insurrection (Mark 15:6; Matthew 27:15; John 18:39). I think we might be sympathetic to some degree if we had been Jewish at that time.

He grew up under the boot of Roman Empire. How much humiliation had he and his family gone through? How many Zealot friends did he see crucified (as that was the punishment for insurrection)? He was going to fight these oppressors.[4] The people probably saw him as a man who acted on his convictions. Turn the other cheek? No, thank you. [5] It was time to pick up a sword and fight.[6] That’s what a Savior would look like.

And we get it to some degree, don’t we? Braveheart? Rob Roy? The Patriot? There is an appeal to hero who rides in (on a horse, in those three movies) to free people from tyranny and oppression, to stop injustice, to make things right. Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ depicted Barabbas as a crude, almost beastly man. I doubt that’s what was happening. Barabbas was likely much like William Wallace to many of them.

So, standing in front of the crowd, on a stage filled with Roman oppressors who had already killed thousands of their Jewish family, are two people named Jesus.

The first is Jesus Barabbas, literally “son of the father.” (‘bar’= son and ‘abba’ = father). He is the alpha male; the fighter; the zealot, the embodiment of Jewish nationalism and patriotism, one who raged against the Roman machine.

The second is Jesus, the Christ, also a Son of the Father: advocate of turning the other cheek; promoter of the power of love over the power of the sword, insisting that in his kingdom, love was the weapon that defeated enemies. To many of them, Jesus Christ must have seemed weak, maybe even cowardly. “If the Roman soldier asks you to carry his load one mile, carry it two.” (Matthew 5:41) What? That’s not the way to promote the Jewish cause!

The differences between the two could not have been more glaring.

• Barabbas promised a victory for God’s people on the world’s terms and in the world’s way. We will look at where that goes.

• Barabbas was committed to waging war against Rome with the tools of Rome: the pax Romana, peace by the sword. They hated it when it was used against them and loved it when they could use it against others.

• Barabbas’ creed was likely something like this: “Hate your enemies and do anything it takes to defeat them.”

Meanwhile,

• Jesus promised an everlasting victory for a spiritual kingdom that would transform the world with the power of Heaven. The means – love -  might not feel comfortable or powerful in the moment, but it will bring Jesus’ vision of Kingdom life as we participate in God’s plan to reconcile all things to himself. (Colossians 1:20)

• Jesus would “overcome the world” (John 16:33) not by taking the lives of others, but giving his life for others. “This is my body, broken for you.” (Luke 22:19) The cross is not just the source of our salvation, it is the shape of our lives in and for the world. We followers of Jesus are a cruciformed people called to display cruciform love.

• Jesus, on the cross, asked God to forgive those who killed him rather than directing his followers to get their vengeance. He was fighting – and winning - the greatest fight of all on their behalf already.[7] And – get this – something far more important would happen to their enemies then vengeance. They would be transformed into brothers and sisters in Christ.

But…it’s so easy to default to the world’s terms and the worlds’ way. Consider God’s chosen people in the Old Testament.

They had the 10 Commandments. They had the tabernacle. They had the prophets, judges and kings. They were equipped to be a ‘holy’ (set apart) group that demonstrated what an ‘abundant life’ looked like when with God’s image bearers aligned their hearts and hands with His plan. This was God’s plan for revealing Himself to the world! Yet they kept failing to live as God’s holy people because they kept embracing the idolatrous ways of the cultures around them. Read the prophets. Not only did their witness crumble; the community of God’s people fell into ruin.

When Jesus showed us God’s plan for God’s community of people should be present in the world, he was showing us the path of life. The problem with the way of Barabbas is that it doesn’t lead to life.  

 Remember, we harvest what we plant. (Galatians 6:7) If the way of the world’s order is what we plant – if we follow Barabbas and follow a template established by the Empire - we shouldn’t expect a different harvest. The root determines the fruit. If wise choices are justified by “her children” (her legacy, Luke 7:35), surely foolish and destructive choices is revealed by its legacy as well.

This is what happened with the way of Barabbas/Rome. Rome wiped out the Zealots and the people around them and destroyed the Temple when the Zealots used the way of Barabbas one time too many.

“The Great Revolt of 66-70, followed some sixty years later by the Bar Kokhba revolt, were the greatest calamities in Jewish history prior to the Holocaust. In addition to the more than one million Jews killed, these failed rebellions led to the total loss of Jewish political authority in Israel until 1948.”[8]

That’s the fruit of the Barabbas root. I was reading an article called “Why We Still Choose Barabbas Today.” A phrase stuck with me.

“Every time we choose Barabbas, some innocent soul somewhere ends up on a cross.”[9]

The author was not suggesting that when innocent people die they are just like Jesus. The author’s point was that the way of Barabbas always leads to innocent people paying the price. This is often referred to as “collateral damage.” In times of actual warfare, the unfortunate reality is that innocent people get hurt. Even the best and most well-intentioned attempts to keep civilians safe often fall short. Those who fight guided by Just War Theory seek to avoid this at all costs.

But in spiritual warfare – when Kingdom and Empire clash with ideas, and ideologies, and politics, and culture wars -  if we are truly following the path of Jesus, there will be no collateral damage. If every gift that comes from God is good (James 1:17), and we pass on the gifts that are given to us, then everything we pass on will be good. That’s part of the beauty of Jesus’ way. Here’s an easy test to see if we are following Jesus Barabbas or Jesus the Christ.

If the way in which we engage with people on behalf of the Kingdom results in collateral damage, we have strayed from the way of Jesus and into the way of Barabbas.

But if what we are doing is helping people to get out of the suffering or harm they are experiencing and protecting them from new damage, both practically and spiritually, that’s going to be the way of Jesus.[10]

The transforming, overwhelmingly powerful truth that Jesus revealed was the way to and of God the Father. The revelation of God as Jesus showed us the way God desires His people to be present in the world. The lesson culminated when, on the Cross, Jesus revealed definitively what God’s love and identity looks like: cruciform (“cross”), kenotic (“emptying”) love.

“It means God, in Christ, humbled himself, emptied himself of all status, safe places and physical power to selflessly reach out to the lowest levels of human existence. In an act of downward mobility he never used physical force or power in bringing the gospel to all, even to slaves, and in doing so he was crucified.  

The gospel of mercy and love, of downward empowerment, caused havoc in the worldly empires simply because it contradicts the value system of this world. Leaders and crowds can't take it. They prefer to crucify it or send it away!”[11]

Jesus entered our world and showed us the way his power should be used: he served others, ate meals with outcast sinners, empathized with the poor and the powerless, sought for and saved the lost, refused to break a bruised reed, challenged hypocrites who burdened others and distorted people’s view of God, healed the broken in body and soul, forgave and restored repentant sinners, and searched for every lost sheep until he found it.

Jesus’ power is seen in things Barabbas dismissed. It is the power of love, the embrace of grace and mercy, the emptying of self, the working for the good of others. For followers of Jesus, being "in Christ" means that this cruciform shape takes shape in us.

The secret to being present like Jesus in the world is likely going to mean being the kind of people considered weak in the eyes of the world:

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 

Following Jesus means joyfully and relentlessly serving friends and enemies with sacrificial love in response to how Jesus served us.[12]

 * * * * *

We get the same question that the Jewish people got 2,000 years ago: who do we want? Jesus Barabbas or Jesus the Christ?[13] Charita Goshay has an interesting perspective on how embracing the way of Barabbas allows us to avoid the Kingdom of Truth in which Jesus is King.

They chose Barabbas because he demanded nothing from them; no self-examination, no repentance, no acts of mercy or forgiveness. Jesus, on the other hand, made folks uncomfortable. He was a radical who stood religion on its head by publicly exposing the religious hypocrisy while treating women, the poor and the powerless as people worth loving. He ate with crooks, talked to Samaritans and had the effrontery to heal on the Sabbath and forgive people of their sins. 

The crowd shouted for Barabbas that day because truth demands certain things from us. It calls us to grow up, to stretch and reexamine our innermost motives and to make sacrifices when we’d rather not…We might be required to change some things, and well, who needs that?

 We want a truth that doesn’t require anything of us. We prefer Barabbas because he doesn’t call us out. He lets us do what we want. Truth points out things that we’d rather not hear. It makes us defensive, angry and irrational until the next thing we know, we’re rooting for Barabbas with no idea how we lost our way.[14]

 We must love Gospel truth, because Christianity was designed to be the conscience of the culture, speaking truth to power, backed up by a witness in words and actions that is consistently faithful to the way of Jesus. Christians are meant to bring the salt of truthful, just and merciful love to keep the culture from decaying into deceit, injustice and mercilessness. Christians are meant to live in such a way that everything we do shines a gospel light of self-giving, cruciform love into the self-centered, unloving darkness of the broken empires in which we live.

When Satan tempted him with that power of earthly thrones, Jesus flatly rejected it. He had a better plan. He offered a vision in which power serves others out of cruciform love: the ‘haves’ (with finances, reputation, resources, etc.) take care of the ‘have nots’ (just like God gives us provision from His abundance); the healthy of all kinds take care of the sick of all kinds (just like God has done for us); the strong use their strength to take care of the weak (you see the pattern here), and the truth-tellers speak healing and hope-filled words that first illuminate and then dispel the darkness of deceit.[15]

So that we don’t get confused about which path we are on, let’s look at the truth of Jesus’ Kingdom so that we are clear about the difference between the way of Jesus Barabbas and the way of Jesus the Christ.

Barabbas was a violent revolutionary on behalf of God’s people; Jesus is the suffering servant so that all people may become God’s people (Isiah 52-53).

Barabbas hated his enemies enough to kill them to bring about God’s kingdom; Jesus loved his enemies enough to die for them to expand God’s kingdom. (John 3:16)

Barabbas wanted to destroy the lost (Romans); Jesus came to seek and save the lost. (Luke 19:10)

Barabbas wanted to condemn and punish the world around him; Jesus did not come to condemn the world (it stood condemned already): he came to solve that problem and save it. (John 3:17)

Barabbas chose a solution where power bullies and coerces; Jesus chose a solution where power invites and beckons. (John 1:39)[16]

Barabbas decided that the Kingdom ends justified using Roman means; Jesus showed that the means of bringing about the Kingdom of God are inseparable from the end result of the Kingdom of God. (#sermononthemount, Matthew 5-7)

When the disciples wanted to call down fire on Samaria, they were following the way of Barabbas. (Luke 9) When they were sent there to evangelize instead, that was the way of Jesus. (Luke 10)

When Peter pulled a sword to protect Jesus and fight for the kingdom of God, that was the way of Barabbas. (Luke 22) When Jesus died on the cross to further the kingdom of God, that was the way of Jesus. (Matthew 27)

When we demand honor and prestige, that’s the way of Barabbas. When we stop pursuing honor and prestige and instead eagerly ‘esteem others better than ourselves,’ that’s the way of Jesus. (Philippians 2:3, for example)

When our priorities are formed by the demands of the powerful, that’s the way of Barabbas. When our priorities are formed by the needs of the powerless, the “least of these” found in the highways and byways and from which Jesus invites them to feast at his table, that’s the way of Jesus. (Luke 14:23)[17]

Whenever we abandon cruciform love as the heartbeat of everything we do, that’s the way of Barabbas. Whenever we embrace cruciform love as the heartbeat of everything we do, that’s the way of Jesus.[18]

There is a price to doing this. It’s not for the faint of heart. We will have to take up a cross and know the fellowship of Jesus’ suffering to know the power of his resurrection (Philippians 3:10). The cross testifies to the price of following Jesus into a life of cruciform love.

But, the way of Jesus is the only way for followers of Jesus.

When God wanted to confront the powers and principalities of this world, He died as an act of love. It was the most powerful thing that has happened in the history of the world. Evil, death, hell, the grave: all of it defeated through the power of Jesus’ cruciform love.

And if the power of the cross is the greatest, most profound, most sweeping power in the world – well, then being like Jesus to present Jesus to the world is the most powerful thing we can do to in a world groaning under the weight of sin-filled brokeness as it awaits God’s redemption. (Romans 8)

And because the most powerful act in human history is a man laying down his life for his enemies in an act of cruciform love, every time I am led by the Holy Spirit to respond in worship with my cruciform presence in the world, that is the most powerful thing I can do as I join in Jesus’ mission.[19]

The all-powerful God in Christ has leveraged His power for us, by his love, so that our love for our enemies would be stronger than our desire to destroy them, and thus reveal the cruciform love of Jesus.

This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we proclaim. This is the way of Jesus.

 ________________________________________________________________________
[1] From Pulpit Commentary: “In the whole history of the Passion of Christ no one pleads for him but a woman, the wife of a heathen governor, the deputy of the emperor of the world."

[2] “The most that we can say for Pilate is, that he was disposed to justice, but was not inclined to hazard his comfort or safety in doing it. He was an easy, pliable man, who had no objection to do a right thing if it should cost him no trouble; but he felt no disposition to make any sacrifice, even in behalf of innocence, righteousness, and truth.” (Adam Clarke)

[3] An author wrote on The Byzantine Forum: “I attended an Orthodox icon blessing in a private home once where there was also an Ethiopian Orthodox priest. So I took that opportunity to ask him if he and his Church really venerated "St Pontius Pilate?" To which he answered enthusiastically, "Yes, of course - don't you?"

[4] This section is considerably influenced by “Jesus or Barabbas – which “son of the father” are we following?” from One Lord One Body Ministries.

  https://onelordonebody.com/2013/08/10/jesus-or-barabbas-which-son-of-the-father-are-we-following/

[5] I’m thinking of a recent hockey game where the Canadian fans booed our national anthem because of the tension between the U.S. and Canda, and the American hockey players promptly started a brawl with the Canadian hockey players. Social media loved it. “America is back!” That may be, but it’s not looking like the way of Jesus.

[6] In 2021, a prominent speaker at a Turning Point USA conference said, in reference to how Christians should be fighting the culture wars, “We’ve turned the other cheek, and I understand, sort of, the biblical reference — I understand the mentality — but it’s gotten us nothing. OK?” In his report for Relevant, Senior Editor Tyler Huckabee wrote that [the speaker] “is more correct than he probably knows here. Christianity is a poor device for gaining worldly influence.”

[7] I am passing on things I learned in “Who do you want: Barabbas or Jesus? Power and empowerment in theological education.” Stellenbosch Theological Journal

[8] https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-great-revolt-66-70-ce

[9] Thanks to thoughtful insight found “Why We Still Choose Barabbas Today” at https://goodfaithmedia.org/why-we-still-choose-barabbas-today-cms-15823/

[10] I am borrowing thoughts articulated well “Jesus Barabbas or Jesus Christ?” at  https://www.thebanner.org/departments/2015/12/jesus-barabbas-or-jesus-christ

[11] “Who do you want: Barabbas or Jesus? Power and empowerment in theological education.” Jurgens Hendriks.

[12] A theologian and author named Marva Dawn says that the "tabernacling" (dwelling) of God that takes place in our weakness creates the openness for the power of the Holy Spirit to operate through us. "Dying to ourselves, dying to our attempts to use our own power to accomplish God's purposes are all part of the gospel of grace - the end of ourselves and therefore the possibilities of new life with Christ, in vital union to him."

[13] HT to “Why We Still Choose Barabbas Today.”  https://goodfaithmedia.org/why-we-still-choose-barabbas-today-cms-15823/

[14] HT to “Even Today, We Are Still Choosing Barabbas.”  https://www.tmnews.com/story/news/2021/04/04/commentary-even-today-were-still-choosing-barabbas/44030405/

[15] History reveals over and over that whenever Christianity seeks to join the gatekeepers exercising power in Empire culture, it stops being salt and light. (The Sanhedrin were a prime example of this in Judaism in Jesus’ day). Why does this happen? It stops speaking truth to power because it is the power, and self-reflection is uncomfortable.  It doesn’t see the decay embedded in the world order because it is using the tools of the world order, and it’s so easy to let the ends justify the means. It doesn’t effectively shine gospel light into the darkness because its compromised gospel light grows increasingly dim, and it gets harder to separate what’s dark from what’s light.

[16] Google “the invitations of Jesus”

[17] Think of the classic “quarter of the vulnerable” in the Old Testament around which Jewish society banded together to care for: widows, orphans, immigrants, and the poor. 

[18] Jesus told two of His disciples who wanted to take action like Barabbas (Luke 9:55, 56) that they didn’t know what “spirit” they are of. Jesus doesn’t want us becoming like the world while challenging the world order.  Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister deeply formed by biblical ethics. He once said, “But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”

[19] I am paraphrasing some comments found at https://restorationlex.com/blog/choosing-barabbas-a-response-to-the-capitol-insurrection/. One money quote from the article: “The response to this moment is to remember who we are: the people of Jesus. Together, we are the politics of God in this world. As Stanley Hauerwas has said: “The church…stands as a political alternative to every nation, witnessing to the kind of social life possible for those that have been formed by the story of Christ.”

Harmony #95: A Kingdom Of Truth (Matthew 27:11-14; Mark 15:2-5; Luke 23:2-7; John 18:28-38)

When they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the Roman governor’s residence, it was very early morning. They did not go into the governor’s residence so they would not be ceremonially defiled, but could eat the Passover meal. So Pilate came outside to them, where Jesus stood before the governor.

He said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” They replied, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” Pilate told them, “Take him yourselves and pass judgment on him according to your own law!” The Jewish leaders replied, “We cannot legally put anyone to death.”

Then the chief priests and the elders began to accuse Jesus repeatedly, saying, “We found this man subverting our nation, forbidding us to pay the tribute tax to Caesar and claiming that he himself is Christ, a king.” But Jesus did not respond.

Then Pilate said to Jesus, “Don’t you hear how many charges they are bringing against you?  Have you nothing to say?” But Jesus made no further reply, not answering even one accusation, so that Pilate the governor was quite amazed.

So Pilate went back into the governor’s residence, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”  Jesus replied, “You say so. Are you saying this on your own initiative, or have others told you about me?”  Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own people and your chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”

 Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Then Pilate said, “So you are a king!”

Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world—to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked, “What is truth?”

When he had said this he went back outside to the Jewish leaders, the chief priests and the crowds, and announced, “I find no basis for an accusation against this man.”

* * * * *

“For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world—to testify to the truth..”

This stood out to me as I was reading the text this week. If the language experts in the commentaries are correct, Pilate’s answer appears to be dismissive and derogatory: “A Kingdom of Truth? Seriously? Not a kingdom of money, sex and power?” No wonder Pilate didn’t feel the need to push for Jesus’ death. Truth is not part of the furniture of Empires. Truth is usually one of the first things sacrificed in a world order run by the “father of lies.” (John 8:44)

What Pilate didn’t realize was that this Kingdom of Truth, with a King Who Is True, was about to transform the world.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4)

So, let’s talk about what kind of truth Jesus testified to as revealed in his teaching and life.

1. The Truth About Jesus: Jesus is God revealed. If you have ever wondered what God is like, there are fascinating ways to study that theologically and philosophically. There is, however, a simpler and more accurate way to find out what God is like. Jesus answered that for us definitively. God is just like Jesus.

“If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” John 14:9

 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory, the exact representation of His being.” Hebrews 1:3

“He is the image of the invisible God…” Colossians 1:15

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” Colossians 2:9

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. The Word was with God in the beginning. All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. “ (John 1: 1-4)

 “Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory—the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father… No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known. (John 1:14-15, 18)

“‘The one who believes in me does not believe in me, but in the one who sent me, and the one who sees me sees the one who sent me.’” (John 12:44-45)

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you have known me, you will know my Father too. And from now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7)

There is a rule in logic: if A=B, then B=A. If in seeing Jesus we have seen the Father – if Jesus is the fullness of the deity in bodily form - than not only is Jesus just like God, but God is just like Jesus. This has always been true.[1] As I heard one preacher say, “Jesus is perfect theology.” Thinking about Jesus is the foundational starting point for thinking about God. 

Any image or concept, or conviction about God that does not map on to the character and person of Jesus Christ is partial at best. The New Testament does not primarily tell us that Jesus is God-like; it primarily tells us that God is Christ-like. We can know what God is like, because God is just like Jesus.

2. The truth about Jesus’ mission/God’s plan: to bring salvation to the world.

““Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

“Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.  And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw/drag all people to myself.” (John 12:31-32)

“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For this is the way  God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish,  but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.” (John 3:14-17)

 “I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in darkness. If anyonehears my words and does not obey them, I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not accept  my words already has a judge: (the truth in) the word I have spoken will judge him at the last day.” (John 12: 46-50)[2]

3. The truth about the scope of the mission of Jesus/the plan of God: it reaches out to everything and everybody.

“The Father loves the Son and has placed all things under his authority.” (John 3:35)

“Consequently, just as condemnation for all people came through one transgression, so too through the one righteous act came righteousness leading to life for all people.”(Romans 5:18)

“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you - just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.  Now this is eternal life - that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.” (John 17:1-3)

“This is good and acceptable in the sight of our God our savior; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus: Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” (1 Timothy 2:3-6)

“Jesus, was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.” (Hebrews 2:9)

 “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should gladly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10:11)

“God was pleased to have all fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things on earth or in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.”  (Colossians. 1:19)

4. The truth about the impact of the mission of Jesus/the plan of God: it’s transformative and life-changing.[3]

“ I am the door (for the sheep to enter the fold). If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” (John 10:9-10)

 “And although you were dead in your offenses and sins,  in which you formerly lived according to this world’s present path, according to the ruler of the domain of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience, among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath…

But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved! — and he raised us up together with him and seated us together with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 

For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his creative work, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we can do them.” (Ephesians 2:1-9)

5. The Truth About What God Is Like. God is love. (1 John 4:8; 1 John 4:16) When Jesus reveals God’s love in words and actions, we see what the love of God is like, because God is just like Jesus.

“Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain in my love. If you obey my commandments, you will remain in my love… My commandment is this—to love one another just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this—that one lays down his life for his friends.” (John 15: 11-13) 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:43-45) 

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us". (Romans 5:8) 

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him… he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10)

Jesus reveals God’s compassionate love, because Jesus is compassionately loving, and God is just like Jesus.

“Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” (Mark 1:41)

“And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’” (Luke 7:12)

“[The younger son] arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20) 

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

As Jesus was having a meal in Levi’s home, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.  When the experts in the law and the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples,

“Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this he said to them, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’” (Mark 2; Matthew 9)

Jesus reveals God’s gentle love, because Jesus is patiently loving, and God is just like Jesus.

“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I take great delight. I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed or extinguish a smoldering wick, until he brings justice to victory.” (Matthew 12:18-21)

Jesus reveals God’s serving/helping love, because Jesus modeled a serving, helpful love, and God is just like Jesus. If it sounds odd to think of God as our helper, David was confident that he was, so we will start in the Old Testament.

“Surely God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my soul" (Psalm 54:4)

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example - you should do just as I have done for you.” (John 13:14-15)

“Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28)

Jesus reveals God’s protective love, because Jesus displayed a protective love, and God is just like Jesus.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)

“If anyone causes one of these little ones – those who believe in me - to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.'” (Matthew 18:3-6)

Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” (John 8:10-11)

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’” (Matthew 25: 34-36)

Jesus reveals God’s confrontational love concerning wrongdoing and hypocrisy, because Jesus confronted wrongdoing and hypocrisy, and God is just like Jesus.

All the ‘woes’ of the Pharisees. words Jesus uses to describe hypocrites are blind guides, blind fools, and a brood of vipers (Matthew 22).  

 “Take these things away from here! Do not make my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will devour me.” (John 2:16-18)

“Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” (John 8:10-11) 

“When the disciples James and John saw (how the Samaritans responded to Jesus), they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?’ But Jesus turned and rebuked them.” (Luke 9:54-55)

“Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water?  Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.” (Luke 13: 14-17)[4] 

Jesus reveals God’s persistent, faithful love, because Jesus described and embodied his own persistent, faithful love, and God is just like Jesus.

“If someone owns a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go look for the one that went astray until he finds it? I tell you the truth, he will rejoice more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that one of these little ones be lost.” (Matthew 18; Luke 15)

“My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from my Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” (John 10: 27-30)

“Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.” (John 13:1)

 Jesus reveals God’s relational love, because Jesus entered into personal relationships with humanity, and God is just like Jesus.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 14:1)

  “If anyone loves me, he will obey my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him.” (John 14:23)

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever… (John 14:16)

This list could go on and on.

• We know God is not grossed out or pushed away by our sin, because Jesus came to earth and made salvation possible while people were “dead in our trespasses and sins,” and God is just like Jesus.

• We know God cares deeply about all who are suffering both spiritually and physically, because Jesus cared about those suffering spiritually and physically, and God is just like Jesus.

• We know that God forgives even our worst sins, because Jesus forgave even those who betrayed and killed him, and God is just like Jesus.

• We know God understands our grief, because Jesus wept when Lazarus died, and God is just like Jesus.

Maybe this can be a good devotional exercise this week or topic for potluck lunch: add to the list. If Jesus perfectly reveals God, what do we learn about God when we study Jesus?

______________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Keep in mind what else the Bible tells us about God. "I the Lord do not change."(Malachi 3:6) "…The Father of lights with whom there is no change or variation"(James 1:17) Because Jesus is God, God has always been just like Jesus.

[2] Another place Jesus said, “Do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set.” (John 5:45)

[3]  “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24)

[4] Jesus warned his disciples against using their status to dominate others. Rather, they were to be servants to all (Matthew 20:25-28).

In Luke 20:45-47, Jesus warned his listeners to beware of the teachers of the law who prided themselves in their religiosity, yet failed to show hospitality to those in need.

The parable of the Pharisee and tax collector illustrates how God sees spiritual pride (Luke 18:9-14).

Harmony #94: Do You Know Jesus? (John 18:13-24; Matthew 26-27; Mark 14-15; Luke 22)

Head’s up: the ‘harmony of the gospel’ approach is going to make it look like there are 6 times Peter denied Jesus. Some thinks that’s what happened (3 before the rooster crowed, 3 times after); others think that the listing of individuals in one account and crowds in a different account just meant the individual asked the question for the groups. I just don’t want you to be confused when we read six denials of Jesus.

They brought Jesus first to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. (Now it was Caiaphas who had advised the Jewish leaders that it was to their advantage that one man die for the people.) Simon Peter and another disciple followed.

(Now the other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, and he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard.)[1]But Simon Peter was left standing outside by the door. So the other disciple who was acquainted with the high priest came out and spoke to the slave girl who watched the door, and brought Peter inside.

The girl who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You’re not one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” He replied, “I am not.” (Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire they had made in the middle of the courtyard, warming themselves because it was cold.) JnThe high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.

 Jesus replied, “I have spoken publicly to the world. I always taught in the synagogues and in the temple courts, where all the Jewish people assemble together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said. They know what I said.”

When Jesus had said this, one of the high priest’s officers who stood nearby struck him on the face and said, “Is that the way you answer the high priest?”  Jesus replied, “If I have said something wrong, confirm what is wrong. But if I spoke correctly, why strike me?” Then Annas sent Jesus, still tied up, to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now the ones who had arrested Jesus led him to Caiaphas, in whose house all the chief priests and elders and experts in the law had come together. And Peter had followed him from a distance, all the way to the high priest’s courtyard. After going in, Peter sat down with the guards warming himself by the fire, waiting to see the outcome.

The guards said to Peter, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” Peter denied it: “I am not!” [Meanwhile] the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find anything. Many gave false testimony against him, but their testimony did not agree.

Finally two came forward, stood up and gave this false testimony against Jesus: “We heard this man say, ‘I will destroy this temple of God made with hands and in three days build another not made with hands.’ ”Yet even on this point their testimony did not agree.

Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is this that they are testifying against you?” But Jesus was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest questioned Jesus and said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God, the Blessed One.” [2]

But Jesus said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer.” So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then? Jesus said, “You have said it yourself, I am. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power of God and coming on the clouds of heaven.”[3]

Then the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need further witnesses? Now you have heard the blasphemy. What is your verdict?” They all condemned him, and answered, “He is guilty and deserves death.”

Now the men who were holding Jesus under guard began to mock him and beat him. Some began to spit on him, and to blindfold him, and to strike him with their fists. And some slapped him, saying repeatedly, “Prophesy for us, you Christ! Who hit you?” They also said many other things against him, reviling him.

While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the high priest’s slave girls came by. Seeing Peter as he sat in the firelight warming himself, she stared at him and said, “This man was with him too! You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus of Galilee.”

But Peter denied it in front of them all: ”Woman I don’t know him!” Then he went out to the gateway, and a rooster crowed. When Peter went out to the gateway, another slave girl saw him and said to the bystandersc there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene. He is one of them too.” But Peter denied it again with an oath, “I do not know the man!”

Then a little later, one of the high priest’s slaves, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the orchard with him? You are one of them too.” Then Peter denied it again and said, “Man, I am not!”

After about an hour, the bystanders again came up to Peter and said, “You must be one of them, because you are also a Galilean—even your accent gives you away!” Then Peter began to curse, and he swore with an oath, “I do not know this man you are talking about!”

At that moment, while Peter was still speaking, a rooster crowed a second time. Then the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before a rooster crows twice today, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down, went outside and wept bitterly.

When day came, the council of the elders of the people gathered together, both the chief priests and the experts in the law. Then they led Jesus away to their council, the whole Sanhedrin, [where] they plotted against Jesus to execute him. After forming a plan, the whole group of them rose up, tied Jesus up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

* * * * * 

I’m going to do a shapshot approach today. Four snapshots in this story that I hope coalesce into a unified picture. We will start with the Sanhedrin, and end with Jesus.

SNAPSHOT 1: THE SANHEDRIN

Though they were the ruling body for the Jewish people, they did not seem to care about following the law. They didn’t like Jesus. They wanted him gone. They would do what it took to get what they wanted. 

• Trials were supposed to be conducted during daylight, not at night.

• ·Unless they met in the Hall of Hewn Stone, in the temple area, their verdicts were not binding.

• ·They allowed of false/contradictory witnesses. By their own law, the case should have been thrown out.

• ·A death verdict was not to be carried out until a night had ended.

Multiple sources from the period (the gospels, Josephus, the Dead Sea Scrolls, writings from the Pharisees) agree that a corrupt priesthood controlled Jerusalem in collusion with Rome and abused its power against others. Their treatment of Jesus fits their usual behavior toward those who challenged their authority.[4]

A commentator named Poole noted,

“Nothing is more common than for persons overzealous about rituals to be remiss about morals.”[5]

I have a less fancy way of saying it: the Sanhedrin had a very human problem: it’s too easy to let the ends justify the means. It’s too easy to think that if our cause is righteous, we can baptize anything in the service of that cause and call it righteous as well. And that’s just not the way it works.

Even if Jesus had been an imposter and blasphemer, they would not have been justified in the approach they took. Why not? Because not only does the means impact what we achieve in the end, the means determines who we are in the end. Both the means and the ends reveal us for who we really are.

The Sanhedrin can’t be taken seriously as the lawkeeping body of leaders and break the law themselves, because they automatically become a law-breaking body of law-keeping leaders. The Sanhedrin can’t claim a righteous ruling after using unrighteous means like false witnesses and improper means. That kind of leaven spoils the whole loaf.

If the Sanhedrin wanted to truly lead God’s people in God’s ways to fulfill God’s plans, they needed to lead by example in words and actions. If they didn’t commit to that, they would get confused about God’s ways and God’s plan, and just like that they would be leading God’s people somewhere that God did not intend, following a God that is increasingly created in their image.

Our reminder: we must live with integrity. We must stay in the path of Jesus; aligned with the heart, mind, and footsteps of Jesus; so that we can be God’s people leading others in God’s way to fulfill God’s plans.

SNAPSHOT 2: THE SERVANT GIRLS

In Matthew, the first servant girl said, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.” The second girl said to other people who were standing around, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.” John writes that one asked a question to Peter: “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” The Gospel writers did not give unimportant detail. There is something we are supposed to learn about that fact that it was servant girls identifying the followers of Jesus.

The text isn’t clear if they were curious, or accusatory, or even hopeful. Maybe they wanted more information about Jesus and saw somebody who could answer their questions. Maybe they were Sanhedrin spies, looking out for people who might fight for Jesus (like Peter did). Maybe they though Jesus was going to fight, and were wondering where the army was. We don’t know. We just know they asked, and Peter was not about to give away his relationship with Jesus.

But the servant girls are important. So, here’s what I wonder. How would they know who had been with Jesus? They didn’t have Instagram posts or wanted posters or polaroids. How would they have found out?

I’m going to suggest that they had spent time around Jesus. Maybe they were part of the 5,000. Maybe they heard the Sermon on the Mount. Maybe they were occasionally part of the large crowed of disciples that consistently followed him. I don’t know, and the text doesn’t say.

I just suspect they had seen Jesus before, because they recognized His disciples. And this leads me to an interesting thing about the life of Jesus as recorded by the Gospel writers.

Virtually every time the writers record Jesus encountering women, Jesus validates and values women. In a time when both Jewish and Greco-Roman culture did not generally value women, Jesus did. For example, in Jewish culture, women could not testify in religious court because they were considered unreliable narrators, untrustworthy in their perspective.

But here are several servant girls who a) had apparently spent time with Jesus, b) who might not have been as embarrassed as Peter about having been around Jesus, and c) whom readers would have to seek out to ask if this story was true, thus treating them as reliable narrators of the truth. 

Our reminder: over and over, Jesus elevated those in the culture around him that were often overlooked, dismissed, or even despised: tax collectors, Samaritans, the sick and crippled, servants, women and children, those caught in sin, the list goes on. 

Isaiah pointed toward Jesus when he wrote, “A bruised reed he will not break" (Isaiah 42:3). This just means that God will not crush those who are weak or vulnerable; rather, he will gently care for them. Jesus was full of compassion for the weak, the outcast, the powerless, and the hurting. 

May we follow in that path of Jesus on our way to fulfilling the plan of Jesus.

SNAPSHOT 3: PETER

Since we focused on Judas last week to talk about Jesus’ love remaining steadfast throughout the worst things we can do even against Jesus himself, let’s look instead on what it looks like for followers of Jesus to deny that they know Jesus.

How can we communicate that we don’t know Jesus? Through our words and actions. Peter obviously used words. We often say that actions speak louder than words. Peter’s words were plenty loud; Peter’s action in the Garden might have been louder. Using a sword to defend Jesus, thinking His kingdom was an earthly kingdom that wanted us to kill others as a way to usher it in? Yeah, Peter really didn’t know Jesus.

If we use our words to deny our relationship with Jesus, we have betrayed Jesus. But we do this with our actions as well.

• If we refuse to help the needy – the hungry, thirsty, sick, naked, imprisoned, to quote Jesus - we communicate with our actions that we really don’t know Jesus.

• If we use our words to gossip, slander and wound instead of speak life and truth, we communicate with our actions that we really don’t know Jesus.

• If we take advantage of our employees, we communicate with every paycheck and belittling experience that we really don’t know Jesus.

• If we use people sexually, financially, relationally, we communicate with our actions that we really don’t know Jesus.

• If we refuse to love our neighbors as Christ loved us, we communicate with our actions that we really don’t know Jesus.

• If we refuse to commit to honoring, serving and loving our spouse, we communicate with our actions that we really don’t know Jesus.

Our reminder: being truthful and faithful to Jesus – showing people that we know him – includes our words and our lives. We want it to be obvious to those around us that we are following the path of Jesus to fulfill the plan of Jesus.

JESUS

When Jesus ‘turned and looked’ at Peter, the words the writers chose are so great.

“It implies more than a casual glance, suggesting a deeper level of observation or contemplation. In the New Testament, it is often used to describe moments of significant insight or recognition, where the observer perceives something profound or meaningful. The act of looking intently was not merely a physical action but was also linked to mental and spiritual insight.” (Strong’s Lexicon)

Oof. Jesus looked deep into Peter’s soul in the moment of Peter’s greatest betrayal. What will Jesus do? He will forgive and restore Peter, of course. And Peter will love Jesus because Jesus first loved him.

A year or two later, John and Peter healed a lame beggar outside the temple in the name of Jesus. They were arrested and brought before Annas and Caiaphas. By this time Peter was a changed man. He had been teaching and preaching, and bringing in followers of the "Way" of Jesus. Here’s what happens in Acts 4 following the healing of the lame man.

“The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day….[6]

The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people!  If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel:

It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.  Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.

So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it… They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.

Jesus loved Peter until the end. Jesus did not give up on the one who betrayed him so deeply. When Jesus rose from the dead, the angel said to make sure Peter knew. Jesus gave his life so that greatest moments of failure in people like Peter can become their greatest platform for ministry. Don’t ever believe that Jesus has given up for you. He is here to make broken things whole and dead things come to life.

He loves you until the end.

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[1] This un-named disciple is likely John. James and John were Jesus' cousins, related to Zacharias, one of the priests who served in the temple, and possibly had been introduced to Caiaphas…John had to intercede with the servant girl and vouch for him. (“Did the High Priest know John the Apostle?” http://rolinbrunoauthor.blogspot.com)

[2] According to Old Testament law, a Jew must testify when put under oath by the high priest (Lev. 5:1).

[3] Jesus likely alluded to a Messianic prophecy from Daniel: “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him.” 

[4] HT NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

[5] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[6] Hey! They are following their own law!

Harmony #93 What Jesus Provided For Judas (Matthew 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:2-11)

Before we read this passage, let’s set the scene. It’s Holy Week. Jerusalem is packed with hundreds of thousands of Jewish worshippers. A ”crowd” is going to appear to arrest Jesus, because there has been a history of violent uprising during this week. Considering the way Jesus was greeted when he entered Jerusalem, this has the potential to be explosive. We will see that the crowd has swords and clubs. The weapons suggest Romans (swords) and the Sanhedrin’s guard (clubs). They do NOT want this to get out of hand.

While Jesus was still speaking, suddenly a crowd appeared, and the man named Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. (Now Judas, the one who handed him over[1], knew the place too, because Jesus had met there many times with his disciples.)

So Judas obtained a squad of soldiers and some officers sent by the chief priests, Pharisees and experts in the law, along with elders of the people. They came to the orchard with lanterns and torches, and armed with swords and clubs.

(Now the one who was handing him over had given them a sign, saying, “The one I kiss is the man. Arrest him and lead him away under guard.”) When Judas arrived, Jesus said to Judas, “Friend,[2] do what you are here to do.” Judas went up to Jesus immediately and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. But Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you hand over the Son of Man with a kiss?”

There is a lot of conversation about, “Why a kiss?” Judas could have put his arm around Jesus’ shoulder. He could have stood in front and pointed. He could have led Jesus to the arresting crowd. Instead, he kissed him.

Among all the reasons I studied this week, I am leaning most heavily toward the idea that the answer is found in Psalms 2, a coronation hymn that was sung at the inauguration of each new king in the line of David. Based on Jesus’ reception in Jerusalem, the masses of the people clearly thought that’s who he was. If you remember, it’s why Jesus wept. The crowds thought a king like David – A Zealot Messiah and King – was about to defeat Rome and usher in an earthly kingdom that would bring peace through the sword, and Jesus knew they were so tragically wrong. So, how is this coronation psalm related to Judas kissing Jesus? Here is the psalm.

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.”

The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”  I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.

Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, or his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

I suspect Judas may have been sending more than one signal with that kiss. I wonder if this was a coronation kiss, a signal to Jesus that he believed Jesus was about to be the earthly king in the line of David who was about to break Rome with a rod of iron. It’s a Zealot’s dream. We’ll come back to this in a bit.

Then Jesus, because he knew everything that was going to happen to him, came and asked them, “Who are you looking for?” They replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He told them, “I AM.” [3](Now Judas, the one who handed him over, was standing there with them.) So when Jesus said to them, “I AM,” they retreated and fell to the ground.

Then Jesus asked them again, “Who are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus replied, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, let these men go.” He said this to fulfill the word he had spoken, “I have not lost a single one of those whom you gave me.” Then they came and took hold of Jesus and arrested him.

 When those who were around him saw what was about to happen, they said, “Lord, should we use our swords?” Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, pulled it out and struck the high priest’s slave, cutting off his right ear. (Now the slave’s name was Malchus.[4]) But Jesus said, “Enough of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.

Then Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back in its sheath! For all who take hold of the sword will die by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and that he would send me more than twelve legions of angels right now? How then would the scriptures that say it must happen this way be fulfilled? Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

Then, at that moment, Jesus said to the crowd, the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders who had come out to get him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me like you would an outlaw? Day after day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, yet you did not arrest me.

But this has happened so that the scriptures of the prophets would be fulfilled. This is your hour, and that of the rule of darkness!” Then the squad of soldiers with their commanding officer and the officers of the Jewish leaders arrested Jesus and tied him up. Then all the disciples left him and fled.

 I need to add something from an upcoming text to round out where we are going this morning.

When Judas, who had handed him over, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.  “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have handed over innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. (Matthew 27:3-5)

Let’s talk about Judas so that we can talk about Jesus.

Judas has an interesting history in church lore. There have been sharply different opinions about him in terms of his motivation in both Jewish and Christian history. Let’s start with the question of whether or not he was ever truly a follower of Jesus. 

• Judas left all to follow Jesus (Luke 14:33).

• He picked up his cross (Luke 14:27)

• He loved Jesus more than his own family (Luke 14:26)

• Judas cast out devils, healed, and preached (Matthew 10:1-27).

• John 3:22 notes "After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing." Surely, Jesus would have baptized his disciples if they are baptizing others.

• Jesus said that Judas’ name was written in the Lamb’s book of life (Luke 10:20).

• Jesus said that Judas was one of His sheep who’s Father was God  and whose Spirit would speak through him (Matthew 10).

• Judas would have a throne in Heaven upon which he would judge Israel (Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:30).[5]

• When Peter said, “WE believe and are sure that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” (Matthew 16:16) that “we” included Judas.

 Judas checks all the boxes for someone who genuinely followed Jesus, at least in the terms that we discuss when we talk about what it looks like to become and be a follower of Jesus.

• A firm belief that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God sent to save humanity by conquering evil and forgiving sins.

• A declaration of this belief (in this case, through Peter’s words of what “we” said about Jesus)

• A baptism in the name of Jesus

• A choice of Jesus over all others

• An evangelistic fervor

• A demonstration of the power of God through the Spirit of God

• An identification of sheep, with his name in the Book of Life.

I feel pretty good saying Judas was a genuine follower of Jesus. Here’s a trickier question: What was the spiritual fate of Judas after he handed Jesus over to death?

PERSPECTIVE ONE

Judas betrayed Jesus because he did not believe or trust that Jesus really was the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the long -awaited Messiah. His betrayal showed his rejection of Jesus. In this scenario, Judas wanted Jesus arrested and killed because Jesus was now a blasphemer, claiming to be God when he was not. Judas’ kiss, then, was mockery of Jesus. Maybe even calling him Rabbi was a pointed message: “That’s all you are.”

 Judas is the super villain in this perspective, one “Satan entered” to make Judas an adversary and accuser to commit murderous sin. His later anguish happens when he is overwhelmed with guilt for the sin he committed when he realized he was wrong. The follow-up question would almost always be, “Could Judas be in heaven?” Or even, “Would it even have been possible for Judas to have been forgiven and saved?”

PERSPECTIVE TWO

Judas believed in Jesus, just the wrong way. He was a Zealot; he believed Jesus really was the Messiah meant to usher in a Zealot Kingdom of God. He is getting the ball rolling by handing Jesus over. It’s holy week; Jerusalem is packed with hundreds of thousands of Jewish worshippers. This was the time. In this scenario, his kiss was sincere, perhaps even loving. Satan entered into him, but Satan’s work was deception about Jesus’ mission and the urging to do a thing that would end up getting Jesus killed, which Satan was all for.

Judas’ remorse is a result of realizing Jesus waas going to let himself be killed rather than ascend to a throne. (“When he saw that he was condemned, he was seized with remorse”). That wasn’t what he envisioned happening at all. When he realized his terrible mistake, he could not live with himself. In this view, when Jesus on the cross said, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they do,” this may well have included Judas.

So, two very different views of Judas. Both have been present in the history of Judaism and Christianity. If nothing else, wrestling with this opens up opportunity for discussion about true discipleship, the nature of forgiveness and redemption, the reality of what kind of Messiah Jesus actually is, etc.

 But there’s more that has been part of this discussion.  

The Apostles' Creed states that Jesus "descended into hell" (a reference to Ephesians 4:9). The very Peter who betrayed Jesus in a different later wrote that the "gospel was preached even to those who are now dead." (1 Peter 4:6). Huh. That would mean Judas saw Christus Victor in the flesh. Meanwhile, there are other verses that reference what Jesus did on Silent Saturday.

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.”  (1 Peter 3:18-20

"How can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house." (Matthew 12:29) 

“When Jesus ascended up on high, He led captive all that had captured us!” (Ephesians 4:8)

Depending on how you read these passages – and there’s room to rearrange the details – you encounter the question that people have disagreed about for a couple centuries: did Jesus preach to just the righteous dead or everybody? Did Jesus free just the righteous who responded or did he free everybody? Just how thorough was the plundering when he bound the strong man?

This event is referred to in church history as the Harrowing as Hell (technically, the Harrowing of Hades). In life, Jesus plundered Satan’s kingdom (think exorcisms); in his death, Jesus plundered the very heart of Satan’s realm. Like Samson, he did more damage in his death than he did in his life. [6]Colossians 2:15 notes,

“He disarmed the rulers and authorities. He made a public example of them[7], by conquering them in his cross.” (Colossians 2:15)

Eastern teachers such as Clement, Origen, Cyril and John of Damascus said that Christ in Hades preached the gospel to evangelize all the unbelieving dead. Weser, theologians such as Augustine and Tertullian spoke of Christ descending to the lower regions to unite specifically faithful patriarchs and prophets to himself.[8]

The early Christian Church understood that the power of the death of Christ worked backwards in time as well as forwards in time, offering Salvation to all who had ever lived and all who were yet to be born.[9]

The Eastern teachers proposed that Jesus emptied Hades; the Western teachers taught that those already inclined toward righteousness responded. Either way, all heard Jesus proclaim who he was and had a choice to respond to this revelation denied them because they were born too soon.

Next question: Was Judas, who was already there – rescued?  Or put another way, did Jesus’ death make possible a life eternal for even Judas? Was Judas inclined toward righteousness (Scenario B above) or not (Scenario A)?

Depending on how you understand the Harrowing of Hell, you will have different conclusions. I want to point out something that remains relevant no matter where you land. Jesus was on mission to offer a salvation that could save even Judas. Jesus had already told his disciples what God was like as expressed through Jesus.

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders  and goes home.  

Jesus had insisted throughout his ministry that this was true.

“And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:39)

“ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)

“I have not lost a single one of those whom you gave me.” (John 18:9)[10]

Judas forgot that Jesus will search for the one lost sheep until he finds them. Jesus does not give up on his sheep, and he already declared Judas a sheep of his. After Judas handed him over, that rescue mission started almost immediately on the cross, an act of cruciform love in which Jesus took the weight of either Judas’ betraying sin or terrible misunderstanding of Jesus, or both.  Whatever evil that was in Judas and whatever evil he did or caused to happen, Jesus took all of that upon himself - and overcame it. Here’s Paul explaining this in 2 Corinthians 5: 

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

This sounds like trouble for Judas. Let’s keep reading. I’m going to skip to verse 17, but I encourage you to read the whole chapter later.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.  The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.  

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 

Judas had a mission field awaiting him in which he could have told of the unbelievable, grace-filled love of Jesus. That was Peter’s testimony, and he publicly denied that he was a follower of Jesus. That was Paul’s testimony, and he killed followers of Jesus. That could have been the testimony of Judas

Rember, the apostle John establish.ed that “Jesus loved them until the end” (John 13:1). Jesus never stopped loving Judas. Jesus was always the father in the story of the Prodigal Son, eager to run and embrace his lost and wandering child. He never stopped being the Great Physician, there to heal all the sick. He established himself as the true Passover Lamb, showing that neither physical or spiritual death would have the last word. The transformative power of cruciform love never stops being offered to those who would have the love of Jesus write their story. 

Within days after Judas handed over Jesus, Jesus made a way for him to be reconciled to God and to become the righteousness of God. Then, Jesus would rise and go to the disciples, calling back into his service all of them hid, who denied that they knew him, who were convinced he was a failed Messiah. He called them all back and restored them, because nothing can separate us from the cruciform love of God. Then, he sent the promised Holy Spirit, because nothing will separate us from the cruciform presence of God. Then, his church will permeate the world, because the cruciform mission of God will salt and light the world. In His death and resurrection, Jesus broke the back of evil. Nothing from Satan’s realm can have dominion over us.

This does not mean I am right, but I admit that I want to believe that Jesus revealed himself in all his cruciform power and love to Judas in Hades and triumphantly marched him out of the devil’s domain and into the Kingdom. It’s hard to imagine a more thorough conquering of the rulers and authorities. The Bible does not clarify what happened, of course. I hope it’s okay that I want to believe that is true.

I’d like us to learn something from Judas. Judas not only misunderstood who Jesus was in terms of his physical impact as the Messiah, Judas did not understand just how loving Jesus was. He seems to have despaired of recovering from what he did. Friends, never despair at the love of Jesus. Don’t underestimate the power of cruciform love. Paul unpacks it in Romans 8. 

If the Spirit of God is leading you, then take comfort in knowing you are His children… The Spirit you have received adopts you and welcomes you into God’s own family. That’s why we call out to Him, “Abba! Father!” as we would address a loving daddy…If we are God’s children, that means we are His heirs along with the Anointed, set to inherit everything that is His. 

If we share His sufferings, we know that we will ultimately share in His glory. Now I’m sure of this: the sufferings we endure now are not even worth comparing to the glory that is coming and will be revealed in us.  For all of creation is waiting, yearning for the time when the children of God will be revealed… 

And there is more; it’s not just creation—all of us are groaning together too. Though we have already tasted the firstfruits of the Spirit, we are longing for the total redemption of our bodies that comes when our adoption as children of God is complete— for we have been saved in this hope and for this future…

We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan… So what should we say about all of this? If God is on our side, then tell me: whom should we fear? 

If He did not spare His own Son, but handed Him over on our account, then don’t you think that He will graciously give us all things with Him… Jesus the Anointed died, but more importantly, conquered death when He was raised to sit at the right hand of God, where He pleads on our behalf. 

So who can separate us? What can come between us and the love of God’s Anointed? Can troubles, hardships, persecution, hunger, poverty, danger, or even death? The answer is, absolutely nothing… But no matter what comes, we will always taste victory through Him who loved us. 

For I have every confidence that nothing—not death, life, heavenly messengers, dark spirits, the present, the future, spiritual powers, height, depth, nor any created thing—can come between us and the love of God revealed in the Anointed, Jesus our Lord.

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[1] I am choosing translations that use “handed him over” instead of betrayed. As best I can tell, it’s a better translation. It does not imply intent; it simply addresses actions. The only time the original word is used outside of the Gethsemene accounts is in Acts 22:4, which is translated overwhelmingly this way: “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering (betraying) into prisons both men and women.” Here, it is clearly a handing over.

[2] Commentaries are really mixed concerning whether or not this is to be read at face value  (Judas is a “friend, a companion or acquaintance”) or if it’s an ironic title highlighting the Judas is not what he claimed to be. This word occurs only three times in the New Testament. The other two places are Matthew 22:12 and Matthew 20:13. You can read how ‘friend’ is used there and see what you think. 

[3] “The use of "εἰμί" in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) often translates the Hebrew verb "הָיָה" (hayah), which is used in God's self-revelation to Moses as "I AM" (Exodus 3:14). This connection underscores the theological depth of "εἰμί" in expressing divine existence and presence.” (Strong’s Lexicon) “he "I am formula (Gk egō eimi)" harks back to God's only name, "Yahweh" (OT/3068, "the lord") – meaning "He who always was, is, and will be." (HELPS Word Studies)

[4] John recorded this detail. Most people assume this was John’s way of letting people know how they could double-check this account. Ask Malchus what happened.

[5] Did he mean Judas, or would that 12th throne be for Matthias (who takes Judas’ place as recorded in the book of Acts). Opinions vary.

[6] https://prodigalprof.com/creed-or-chaos/19-he-descended-into-hell/

[7] That public example seems to reference what Roman conquerors would do when they returned from battle, parading their captives down the middle of the town.

[8] https://billmuehlenberg.com/2018/03/27/he-descended-into-hell/

[9] https://prodigalprof.com/creed-or-chaos/19-he-descended-into-hell/

[10] Then there is this: “I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.” (John 17:12) I suspect this refers to Judas “disqualifying himself from the race” (as Paul warned about) and then literally ending his life. In the reading of Judas as terribly misguided Zealot who actually did believe Jesus was the Messiah who needed a push to ascend to his throne, no one snatched him out of Jesus’ hand. God gave Jesus that sheep. Jesus never let go.