Christ suffered for me, and even wants to suffer with me.

I'm sure most people have heard the term, wallowing-as in wallowing in pain or wallowing in sorrow. Today, I have been convicted of wallowing in comfort. It's not just laziness or procrastination but a sense of having peace and comfort in the midst of trials but instead of continuing on to climb higher, I found myself wanting to bask in God's comfort a little longer. The last time I got off my knees, I felt comforted, encouraged and refreshed. I know I should return daily to that place of seeking God and seeking His guidance but I found myself taking my new found strength and applying it else where. Though I felt some nagging in the back of my head, I told myself, "I'm OK, I'm walking with the Lord and He is in control. God loves me ta la la la la. As if I shouldn't have to keep bothering myself and Him with my issues. Then it hit me. Oops I forgot it's my turn to do the blog! As I read today's reading on Christ's suffering, I was reminded that while Christians are called to suffer for many reasons, I can relate to suffering on how it keeps me depending on God. It keeps me looking to Jesus as my shepherd. I am thankful to Jesus for leading me closer to Him. However, I am also convicted from wanting to remain in the place of comfort and peace. I am reluctant to bring up all the things within me that are uncertain, burdensome, or painful and lay them down at His feet on a daily basis. I feel great that God has answered some of my prayers but instead of being satisfied, I feel Christ giving me a nudge to say "let's keep working".

I am humbled to realize that Christ suffered so much to accomplish God's will on earth. Not only that, He is willing to suffer with me until God's will is finished in me. He has patience I don't even have for myself. He is willing to accept the burdens that I am reluctant to lift up to Him. For this I am less afraid of being in a place of suffering because I know Christ is with me.

The New Temple

How does it feel to be the Lord of all the Universe who came in love to redeem the world, suffered the pain of betrayal, saw all His friends desert him, undergo the injustice of a sham trial, endure the agony of the most torturous death devised by the Romans, and then see those who orchestrated it all to insult you as you died?

No one but God could shoulder such a burden and offer the opportunity of redemption to mankind- even those that plotted against his death.

When I read today's reading, I was really encouraged. Jesus is the new temple who exists as a way for all of us to become closer to God. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the whole redemptive process is one that really leaves me in awe.

Who could have figured that Jesus would be the "focus of the new messianic community." If He was the new temple, then the claim would also be that He is also God Himself. Imagine the outrage and shock from the established socio-religious community at the time.

Yet Jesus did not come to merely shake things up for the sake of being a radical. His actions and words are often referred to as radical only because He actually showed how humans were meant to live without sin, love others, and glorify God. He showed us our creation purpose before the great fall.

Jesus came because he loved us and to save us. He came to become the new temple so that we could draw nearer to him. Even though we may have heard it a thousand times, it should never get old whenever we do. Instead, the opposite should happen. It should renew us every time and help us draw closer in communion to Jesus.

The Crucifixion

I remembered the sermon that pastor Redford preached last month. He described us how the people surrounded the Cross where Jesus was hang looked to him in different ways. He mentioned about soldiers gambling on Jesus' garment, the priests and lawyers mocking and ridiculing, and the angry criminal cursing Jesus as he was slowly dying.
However, there were family and disciples of Jesus watching Jesus dying helplessly and perheps wishing God would release Jesus from such inconceivable pain,suffering, and death. If I were there at Glgotha as a spectator, I probably wish the same thing.
Nevertheless another criminal next to Jesus truly saw him as his Messiah and Savior and asked Jesus to remmember him when He enters into His kingdom (Luke 23:42).
"In order to save them he must remain on the cross and die." (Stott)
In order for Jesus to promise the criminal,"...today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43, Jesus had to die in our place.
Do people know such a sacrifice that Jesus made for them?
For some,cross around their necks means nothing but the fashion statement.
But for those who were agonizing over Christ's broken body and suffering in replace of mine but filled with gratitude of his deliverance and redemption, we can join with Paul saying," May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord," (Gal 6:14)

Simon of Cyrene

We always hear about the analogy of a guilty felon standing before a judge and Jesus coming in to pay our debt. I don't claim to understand the meaning behind the atonement, but for me, the scene from the movie Jesus of Nazareth where a grungy Barabbas stands opposite a tortured Jesus facing a violent crowd screaming for blood rings closer to the truth in conveying the gravity of the sacrifice that was made.

Whether Stott's observation or something that I just totally missed before, I really admire the comparison of our experience with these three individuals, i.e. Judas, Barabbas, and Simon. I never appreciated till now how the account of Simon is more than an interesting story but a direct invitation for us to live in the reality of what was done on our behalf.

doing the wrong thing when you know it's wrong

wanting to satisfy the crowd, pilate released barabbas to them. he had Jesus flogged and handed Him over to be crucified. mark 15:15

mr. stott makes clear in today's reading the dilemma that pontius pilate faced--"he wanted to release Jesus", being fully convinced of Jesus's innocence; yet pilate also "wanted to satisfy the crowd", being equally determined to preserve his own reputation.

pontius pilate is one of those unfortunate characters in the bible who gets blamed for doing the exact same thing that we are all guilty of.

christians are "fully convinced" of Jesus's identity--His deity, His authority, His lordship--and we know everything we owe Him in terms of our obedience, our allegiance, our loyalty.

yet we also "want to satisfy the crowd", "being fully determined on perserving our own reputations."

we try, just like pilate did, to "have it both ways", by "avoiding a clear decision". but as mr. stott points out, it all comes down to "choosing between 2 kings".

we don't stand for our faith which we know to be true; by our silence, we express our allegiance to the "other" king.

as despicable as pilate is, i feel more affinity with him than i like to admit.

I thought it was my turn...

I'm sorry I posted out of turn. I should have looked at the dates more closely. Helen, I hope i didn't ge tin your way. Please feel free to post or perhaps we can switch.
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The trail before Pilate

The Jews brought Jesus to Pilate as a criminal facing a guilty charge and the punishment for their crimes. I don't know the exact circumstance a criminal would be brought to Pilate and not to any other government official but it seems that once a criminal is brought before him, he or she would proved to be guilty by the result of Pilate's interrogations and by his own sense of judgment. In the case for Jesus, Pilate's interrogations proved Jesus to be innocent. Stott points out that "on five distinct occasions Pilate is recorded as having declared Jesus innocent." I feel that the trial by Pilate was God's way of declaring to the world that Jesus was indeed innocent. He was sinless in God's eyes and for those who do not fear God-Pilate's testimony states "I find no basis for a charge against him."(John 18:38) There was nothing in Jesus that deserved punishment-let alone the punishment by death. However, He was indeed put to death and put to death by crucifixion. It's very puzzling to me that as I follow the story unfold, I find layers of irony and unexpected outcomes that turns out as it should have turned out-according to God's will.
The Jews brought Jesus to Pilate so that Pilate- a person of power in the world would declare Jesus as guilty and worthy of punishment by death. But, they got exactly the opposite. Pilate declared Jesus to be innocent. This should have foiled the plans of the Jews to have Jesus killed. Jesus should have been set free. Pilate's interrogations found no basis for Jesus' guilt and Pilate's heart was not with the Jews to put Jesus to death. Nevertheless, Pilate's final judgment fell in the favor of the Jews. At this one might think that Jesus became a victim in the hands of evil men but verse 31 of John 18 says that "This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death He was going to die would be fulfilled." "This" meaning the trail by Pilate.
For the Jews, a trail by Pilate would fulfill their desires to have Jesus killed and whatever their insidious motives may have been, they were given what they desired. However, it was ultimately God's will that was fulfilled. Jesus knew what would happen to Him despite His innocence and He did not fight against it because He knew the will of God and chose to obey.

This story makes me want to declare that Jesus was not a victim. He suffered in the hands of evil men and He died for my sins but He was not a victim of these evil men and He is not a victim of my sins. He is God and God's precious gift to the world. It is too amazing for me to fathom the full implications of the true outcome of this trial by Pilate. This trail declared Jesus to be innocent yet He was punished by death and it is His death on the cross that declares us to be innocent though we have been guilty since birth. Surely this is not the work of men but the work of God.