The Confession of a Murderous Mob Rescued Me

If you have ever read one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) then I'm sure you have been dismayed and saddened by the hatred Jesus faced the day of His death. The rabid, sanguine mob shouted, "Let him be crucified!," when asked by Pilate what is to be done with him.

 After Pilate cleansed his hand in the bowl of water, he said, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it." Then the hate-filled crowd shouted in unison something about Jesus, the Christ, that made my skin crawl. "And all the people answered and said, 'His blood be on us and on our children." I cannot think of the words to write to explain my feelings about this. For one, what did he do to receive such hate, and secondly, how scary of a thing to say (or so I thought).

The Holy Spirit said to me something about it clearly though, He said, "The hateful intent of the people in that message was and will continue to be your salvation. It's man's salvation."

Mocked, scorned, and despised, Jesus passed from life to death as he hung from a wooden cross. His body's strength suddenly expired as he gave up his spirit. The spectators watched as immediately the earth quaked and rocks split following the brutal execution, of one who even the imperialistic Pilate, could find no wrong.

For thirty three years Jesus spread the good news to a dying and broken world. Everyone who accepted Him and His teachings were healed and forever changed. Not one sin could be attributed to the man who claimed divinity. He loved His enemies and prayed all night so he could be full of power to fulfill His mission to the world. His mission reeked of compassion. The weight of this mission--unfathomable.  Everything rode on the Christ. If one mar, one outburst of rage, or slip in judgment had occurred then our fates would be sealed. Our Bridge would have been broken and our futures determined to live separately from a Holy, Holy, Holy God.

See, Jesus was different than even the prophets who proclaimed His coming. Joshua sought to destroy the Canaanites, but the Christ healed the Canaanite woman. Moses stoned adulterers, the Christ lifted her chin high and said, "sin no more". Elisha called a bear to devour the mob that threatened him, Jesus was led as a sheep the slaughter. His eyes, His eyes shone with mercy.

That mercy didn't come cheaply. It cost him His life; but why the torture, scourging, beating, and humiliation? In the Old Testament, the doves and bulls were killed as mercifully as possible. So ask yourself, why did He, the God man suffer so terribly? All Jesus had to do to fulfill the punishment of eternal separation that we deserved was to live sinless and His blood be shed. A death that could have came quickly with the cutting of His throat.

Why the mockery and humiliation? He knew what was coming before He died, or else He would not have bled in the garden as he prayed. Still, love defeated fear as he endured the cross for the joy before him. You are that joy.

Why the scourging? He resisted His divinity. The legions of angels waited to rescue their King. The one whom they loved so dearly being mercilessly killed probably escaped their understanding.

He did nothing to lessen the pain. When offered wine from the soldier's he spat it out. He needed to feel the weight of every sin on him. Jesus was not a masochist, but the High Priest, tempted in all ways. He felt the pain of the whip and the nails, but even more, he felt the pain of sin and isolation from Jehovah. 

The loving, glorious King, Jesus Christ, went all the way. He allowed himself to become low and hated so that the same death that eventually came for His executioners would now have to check to see if there was a blood line. Because let me tell you my friend, if their a blood line surrounding you then death and hell must pass over. They scorn the blood because it defeated them. 

HIS blood is not common. In fact, HIS blood stands to be most precious. His blood set us free from bondage and rescued all who receive Him!

"I never knew death could be so sweet,

I never knew surrender could feel so free,

I've never seen such meekness and majesty,

That the blood of Jesus was bled for me." 

In ending, I must admit that I never knew my prayer would be that of a blood-thirsty mob; but here I am praying it - Hallelujah!

Father, let "His blood be on us and on our children" Amen. 

Choose Your Death

We, us, the human race all share one planet where we pursue one individual goal - to live. People want to live a life full of purpose and pleasure, yet we fall prey to a pattern that constantly pressures and pulls from the very things we want to do, the person we want to be.

The image you have for you begins optimistic and hopeful, but our dreams become dull from a nagging pull and the senses erode to a perpetual malaise. We begin talking more about the past and less about our future while every second on the clock ticks we accept that we are one more second closer to death. The aforementioned pattern emulates frostbite by first numbing the extremities, but death creeps its way to the core, like an entangling ivy never satiated with where it is now, rather fueled by what more can it grip.

Then the day comes that your heart beats its last and your story has been written. Let me ask you, were you who you wanted to be as a child, or did the pattern lull you into a stagnancy interrupted by death, a euthanized end (some may say mercy killing)?

What, if anything, can be done to avoid the pattern? First the pattern must be identified. Many would say the pattern is being the progeny of bad parents, possessing too much money, possessing too little, the haunting of a harrowing past, not educated enough, too educated, or ruined by indoctrination of some sort. It is clear. It cannot be those because for each classification given there have been successes and busts.

What if I told you it was a condition everyone is born with, a condition that no person can be cured by any doctor, medicine, philosophy, or way of life. The name of the condition commonly goes by "death". Death, the end of every living thing on this earth.

Do you feel that? The weight of inevitability brought on your soul when you really begin to meditate on your mortality. The fact that all who have ever breathed a first breath have too gasped a last. The binding, inexorable reality that there will be a day you and I will wake up for the last morning - the eve of our eternity. What comes next: nothingness, an ethereal existence as a wandering spirit, heaven, or hell? The true scope of this question is much too broad for this particular writing, but instead an awareness of necrosis (end of life).

It seems fair to say that we've established some grim certainties - the ubiquity of lives lived numbly, all lives end in death, and there exists a mass uncertainty of our forever thereafter.

[Enter stage left "change of course"]

I will not apologize, beg, or even attempt to persuade, despite my natural inclination to explain everything written, but there is no need. Self-denial is such an obstinate state of mind that no matter the power or passion infused in the plea it is only met with justification and cynicism  from the accused, and for this very reason I will state the disease and the cure with no peripheral musings.

1. We have all sinned against a Holy God and are sentenced to death. (Romans 3:23)
2. Nothing that you can do can save yourself from this death sentence. (Romans 6:23)
3. There was a pardon from the Judge over 2000 years ago when One innocent man went to die in our stead. (Matthew 27:46)
4. His name is Jesus  (Luke 1:31)
5. If you want to know Him then you can, but you must repent and die to self. (Matthew 3:2)
6. Many are deceived and believe they are good, but Jesus could not be farther from them. (Matthew 7:21-23)
7. If you believe you know Him, but fail to obey his Word, seek Him, speak with Him daily then you really do not know Him at all. (John 14:23)
8. Jesus destroyed the pattern that affects humanity by defeating death and taking captivity captive. (Ephesians 4:8)
9. You will die because death is certain, thus one question remains. (Hebrews 9:27)
10. Will you die to sin, or to Life?  (Matthew 25:44 or 1 Corinthians 15:31)