Happy Star Wars Day! I am a nerd. Wore my Star Wars socks today. Fun times!
And, since I can’t think of a good segue into my post, here we go!
A long time ago, in Galilee, far far away…
There lived a man. His name was Jesus. And he came to save the world. He was the only person that could even bring the possibility of passing the sin test.
You and I could not even have any chance at passing this test. It was completely out of our reach. And there was nothing we could do about it.
Recalling back to last week, I spoke on the subject of tests, specifically the COVID test and the sin test.
Here is the last line of that post:
“Over the next two or three weeks, I will explore this idea of ‘testing negative for sin”.
Ideas like righteousness, salvation, grace, and hope.”
Remember taking tests in school? Did you have a favorite type?
Multiple choice or fill-in-the blank?
True/False or Essay?
Short answer or Matching?
How about the bubble tests?
The sin test is different than all of those. It is a pass or fail test. You don’t fill in blanks or circles or write an essay. There is no matching word banks or T/F questions.
You either have it in you to pass…or you don’t.
What is it, referring to that last sentence? In a word, righteousness.
There are multiple verses in both the New and Old Testament scriptures that explain the righteousness of God and how we obtain it.
I am only going to share 2 today.
In the Old Testament, Isaiah 53:6 and from the New Testament, II Corinthians 5:21
Is 53:6, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.” NIV
II Corinthians 5:21, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
If we look at these verses, there is a similarity. Isaiah says that our iniquity was “laid on him”. Its as if our sin, guilt, and punishment of sin were a great cloak. It was heavy and cumbersome so we shrugged it off and turned away from God. So, God being loving and holy, picked up the discarded cloak and laid it on His son, Jesus, while he was on that cross.
Now compare that to the N.T passage.
Jesus became sin so we could become righteous. We emerged or transitioned out of a sinful state into something that now, God would approve of. Again, we sloughed off that old, sinful cloak for a new, righteous one. Jesus took the old one to the cross with him.
In both examples, we see an exchange.
We start with the sin and end with righteousness.
Jesus is the opposite. He starts pure and free from sin but ends up taking our sin.
God is holy and just. He cannot abide sin. He hates it. He can’t even look at it.
But He also loves us!
So making Jesus take our sin was the only way he could be holy and just and loving at the same time!
So, in light of the sin test, do you see how we would fail 100% of the time?
But Jesus makes it all possible for us to pass!
For our part, we need to accept his gift and live for him.
Our salvation motivates us to love others and do good works.
Roman crucifixion was common during Jesus’ day. Thousands of people were killed in this way. It was one of the worst ways a person could die. The Romans perfected it.
In fact, the word excruciating literally means ‘out of the cross’. So next time you step on a Lego, you begin to understand how excruciating pain can be.
It seems, though, that only three men were crucified on, what we now call, Good Friday.
Two common criminals. Thieves, malefactors, deserters, traders; really, the worst of the human race. One hanging on each side of Jesus.
An inspection of the words spoken by these two men can reveal many things. Here is Luke’s version:
From Luke 23:
39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?
41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. d ”
43Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
The first one insulted Jesus. Matthew and Mark both record more of the conversation while John does not have any recorded words about these two rebels. But whatever gospel you read, the words are negative and hurtful. For what ever reason, this criminal was yelling at Jesus.
He was looking for the acceptance of the crowd.
And he was not alone. There were comments made by others. It would easy to imagine a small crowd gathering to watch the events unfold. Hecklers are always present in a crowd.
This first criminal was just one of the crowd. He probably got some nods of agreement with his words. But eternity tells a different story.
Enter the second criminal. This accused man was mark by an attitude far different from the first one.
He looks past Jesus and rebukes the first criminal. He realized that they were doomed. Yes, physically, but even more importantly, spiritually.
He then turns to the Savior and asks to be remembered into the Kingdom of heaven.
Jesus replies, as only a Savior could, that it will happen.
The second malefactor was looking for the acceptance of the Christ.
You and I are hanging on a cross today. We have lived our lives and now we are condemned. But we have a choice.
Regardless of what we have done or where we have done it, we can make the right choice.
Even if we don’t really know or understand all the specifics about faith, we can call on the name of Jesus.
Today can be the day of our salvation.
But it will never happen if we are looking for the acceptance of the crowd.
You can rest assured, however, that it will happen if we are looking for the acceptance of the Christ.
If you recall, the first post in Chronicles of Calvary, is about Simon.
Simon was ordered to carry the cross of Jesus. You can read about him here.
Let’s move on to the second person in these Chronicles.
The centurion at the cross would have been the soldier in charge of the executions. It was his duty to make sure that all was in order and finally, that the prisoners would perish.
In Mark 15, the centurion at the crucifixion plays a prominent roll. Here are a few verses:
38The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
39And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, c he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
40Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, d and Salome.
41In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.
42It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached,
43Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.
44Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died.
45When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.
I bolded (is that the right word?) the verses that reference the centurion.
In 39, he made a proclamation. He was fortunate enough to be present at the most important moment in the history of the world. I think that he knew who that man was, hanging there on the cross.
Verse 45 tells us that he made a pronouncement. Pilate, the Roman ruler, wanted to know for sure, that Jesus had died. The centurion was responsible for that knowledge.
Isn’t it cool that we can learn from the centurion?
We can proclaim that Jesus is God’s son. He was divine and human while he lived on earth. That is information that we can confidently shout from the tallest mountain. Proclaim it today!
We can also pronounce that Jesus died…and is risen! Our faith is for nothing if Jesus never died. Because only in death, can he be risen. And that, is what Easter is all about.
Tomorrow’s post will compare the two thieves that were crucified with Jesus. God bless!
Springtime is upon us! Along with spring, the Easter seasoned has arrived.
What does Easter mean to you? Eggs? Ham? Going to church? Victory over sin?
Maybe all of these things. Easter, in general, is the celebration of Jesus being crucified and his resurrection from the dead.
As a bible-believing christian, Easter marks the central focus of my faith.
The Bible talks about the crucifixion of Jesus. There are some details but the entire picture is left for us to fill in.
This series will highlight various aspects surrounding the cross.
Chronicles of Calvary.
This is probably the hill where Jesus was crucified. It lies just outside of Jerusalem.
The hill is called Calvary.
The death of Jesus is the culmination of a series of events.
Think of a tapestry woven together with multiple threads. On there own, they may not be significant.
But when seeing all of these paths come together in sweet harmony, you can now begin to appreciate the importance of Calvary.
Here is an example. Enter Simon, the man who carried the cross.
Matthew 27:32, “As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.” NIV
Mark 15:21, “A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.” NIV
Luke 23:26, “As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.” NIV
Who was this Simon? He was the man who helped carry the cross of Jesus.
And that is our first Chronicle of Calvary.
My guess is that Simon did not know who Jesus was. Perhaps he had heard of him. We will probably never know.
But Simon was in the right pace at the right time. God needed Simon to carry that cross.
I think that Simon and his very short biblical appearance points to us.
God has a plan
We are part of this plan
God sees the whole plan
We only see a tiny portion of the plan
God has our part designed for us in this plan
We can do our part
And that is enough.
God will take care of the rest.
I hope you enjoyed this first Chronicles of Calvary post.
Two Minutes With Tim 