I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
When Moses finished telling the people what God required for building the Tabernacle, God moved many of them to donate what was needed for the construction. They donated gold, silver and bronze objects to be melted down to be used in the construction. They donated thread, yarn and fabric. They brought so much that when the craftsmen began work they had to come to Moses and ask him to tell the people to stop bringing such goods as they had all they needed. Do I respond to the needs of the Church with as much enthusiasm?
As they took Jesus out to be crucified, they forced Simon the Cyrene to carry His cross. This suggests that Jesus has been so weakened by His flogging that He was unable to carry the cross Himself. When they got to the place of crucifixion, Jesus was offered wine mixed with “gall”, which Jesus refused to drink once He had tasted it. I did a bit of internet searching to learn something about this drink Jesus was offered. According to several sources, the drink Jesus was offered here was either an analgesic (something to reduce the pain and suffering of the crucifixion experience) or poison (in order to end His life sooner and thus reduce the pain and suffering). In either case, the drink was designed to ease the suffering He would experience on the cross, Jesus refused to drink it. He refused to take the easy way out.
As Jesus hung on the cross, many people mocked Him. They expressed that if He was truly the Son of God, He should demonstrate it by coming down off of the cross. Even the religious leaders of the day gathered around to mock Him. They proclaimed that if He came down off of the cross, they would believe in Him. Even those crucified alongside Him insulted Him. When I write this, it reminds me of today’s passage from Proverbs (you can go ahead and skip down and read that now if you like), which talks about how if you rebuke a mocker they will insult you. The other thing I thought of when I read this was the people I have met who reject Christianity. Many of them will say, “If such and such would happen, I would believe.” However, if what they asked for happens, they always have an excuse for why it doesn’t really show that God exists.
Matthew tells us that from noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over the land. At three, Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This is a direct quote from the beginning of Psalm 22. According to several sources I have read, it was first century rabbinical tradition that quoting the first phrase of a passage was equivalent to quoting the entire passage. That would mean that when Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He was referencing the entirety of Psalm 22. Psalm 22 is a psalm both of despair at abandonment and of confidence that God will save. The next line of the psalm is “Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?” Which sounds as absolutely forlorn as this cry from Jesus is traditionally interpreted. However, further down the psalmist says,
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.”
Which expresses a confidence that God will be with Him, even in this time of trial when God seems so far away. It is my belief that even when He felt completely abandoned by the Father, Jesus was proclaiming His faith that He was following God’s will and that God would not abandon Him. No matter how alone and abandoned we may feel, is it possible that we are feeling more alone and abandoned than Jesus did at that moment? Yet Jesus knew, even at that moment, at the lowest moment of His life, that God would not abandon Him. We can know the same thing. God will listen to our cry for help and will deliver us.
At the moment of Jesus’ death there was a massive earthquake, such that the Roman soldiers guarding the crucifixion were terrified. They recognized that such signs suggested that Jesus was someone special and were frightened as the repercussions from being complicit in His death. After His death, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for permission to bury Jesus’ body. Pilate granted that permission.
The final part of today’s passage shows that the religious leaders had been listening to Jesus (perhaps in some ways more closely than His disciples). They knew He had said that He would rise again after three days. So they went to Pilate and requested a guard be placed upon Jesus’ tomb to ensure that Jesus’ disciples could not steal the body and falsely claim that He had risen. Yet we discover later that Jesus’ disciples did not remember, or perhaps it was just a lack of belief, that Jesus had said that He would die and rise after three days until after His Resurrection. How often do we encounter non-believers who understand what Jesus taught better than we do?
I will strive to praise the Lord all of the time, not just when I am around those I think agree with my faith. I will boast of no skill and no success. I will boast only of what the Lord has done. I can take no credit for my good fortune, all belongs to God who could readily choose to take that good fortune from me and give it to another. However, I know that if I continue to place my trust in the Lord, He will care for me. I encourage everyone to “test drive” faith in God. They will see that it makes their life better. If you live as if the Bible is true, you will quickly learn that it is.
Mockers and the wicked react with scorn and hostility to those who rebuke their misbehavior and/or attempt to correct their poor choices. The wise on the other hand appreciate being corrected when they make poor choices or hurt other’s feelings.