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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Saturday, September 17, 2022
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :The Crucifixion Bible Verse:Matthew 27:32-44 (ESV) "As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. " Message:
It’s happenstance that we should reach the crucifixion scene from Matthew on a Friday! But it is nice to be able to study it, more intellectually, than we can on Good Friday, when we celebrate it.
1) Simon was a man from North Africa, almost surely having spent a huge sum to attend a Passover in Jerusalem once in his life. He was probably not at all pleased to be grabbed by a Roman soldier and forced to carry a heavy crossbeam a long distance uphill. But his reward was his own crucifixion in miniature, for he almost surely found salvation in the labor. Mark mentions Simon’s sons by name (Mark 15:21), and it is hard to conceive of Mark knowing their names unless they were followers of Christ.
INRI King of the Jews
2) No explanation is given for Christ refusing the anesthetic drink, given by rich Jewish women to ease the agony of crucified Jews. Two theories are popular. First, that He felt obligated to suffer the full pain of the ordeal ahead, resisting all temptation to compromise. Second, he had made a pledge to his apostles at the last supper, that he would “not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29)
3) The passers-by who mock him unwittingly play a part in realizing prophecy, for they paraphrase Psalm 22:8. The eerie way in which the crucifixion parallels Psalm 22, written 1,000 years earlier, destroys any doubt that God's plan is timeless and has been unfolding in a single continuous diagesis* since He first spoke to Abram in Genesis 12.
Everything becomes extreme in these few hours; the mocking crowd, a mix from every stratum of Jewish society from beggar to chief priests, become virtual devils with horns on their heads. Their deafness to God’s voice has led them to fill the role of Satan in Matthew 4: tempters of Christ. They insist that Christ prove he is God by abandoning his purpose, thus mimicking Satan’s taunt, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you.’ (Matthew 4:6)
Christ’s ministry begins and ends with temptation to abuse his great power to the benefit of his worldly existence, and the temptation is indeed great in both instances; but his life ends in the same perfection as it began; he must suffer to fulfill God’s great love for us.
4) The chief priests are lying. Christ will, in fact, “come down from the cross” by being resurrected, but they will not believe in him as they promise. Instead, they will compound their hypocrisy by murdering his disciples who point out to them that they murdered God.
5) The mocking becomes absurdly ironic when some of the common criminals, themselves in the agony of death, join in. (Luke recounts that one of the crucified men, a robber, refused to mock Jesus and was saved. Luke 23:39-43.) Like the crowd, they are blind to the supreme power of God, even hanging just next to them. The irony deepens when we remember that Jesus is dying with them precisely to save them, if they will only believe.
Meditation : Prayer : Finally, may I go forth filled with the joy and confidence of your Spirit; and may everything I do this day, in word or deed, be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father......Amen |
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