What does a pickup truck have to do with the
Gospel? Perhaps not much in and of
itself. But when I think of how I regard
my pickup truck and the Spirit brings to mind how I think of the Gospel I experience
an “ouch” moment. Allow me to explain...
Friday, July 3, 2015
Saturday, April 4, 2015
But This I Call To Mind...
What did it feel like on that Saturday?
They had walked with Him for three years and witnessed God move in ways they had only heard about whenever the Law and the Prophets were read. But yet here He was, Jesus, asserting that He was God and performing great and mighty works and acts that bore every fingerprint of validation that what He was saying was true. Could this be the Messiah that they had been waiting for? The one who would bring salvation to Israel? The disciples had believed that He was and had left everything else behind to follow Him. Sure, some aspects had not been easy, but no one had thought that they would be - Israel's subjugation had come through pain and strife and surely her redemption would require pain and strife as well. But following and witnessing Jesus, what could they say? He was confident, resolute, never seemed phased by any issue, and you should have seen the way He stood up to the Pharisees and spoke of the Roman king! With Him as their leader salvation was assured!
So what happened? One day they are entering Jerusalem with people welcoming them and shouting "Hosanna! Save us! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!" but less than a week later one of their own has turned traitor, the Jews have arrested Jesus, the crowds are crying out "Crucify him!" and the Romans have executed Him on a cross. What happened to the salvation of Israel? To the overthrow of all that oppressed them? Had they put their hope in a fake? Had they failed somehow? Where was God in all of this? What would they do now? Just go home as though nothing had happened? If this wasn't the fulfillment of their hope in a Messiah, in spite of all they had witnessed, was there really any hope at all that their salvation would come?
How dark that day must have been. No hope. That seemingly was crushed with every blow to Jesus' body and ultimately put down in the grave with Him.
Stop and think for a second. Imagine that you don't know the end of the story. You don't know that tomorrow is Sunday and it's going to be okay because Jesus is raised from the dead. You don't know that the very salvation that the disciples were looking for was achieved for them in the murder they thought had crushed their hope of salvation. Without Resurrection Sunday it's hard to make the case that Good Friday is truly good. These men certainly wouldn't buy it if you tried to tell them that Saturday.
I feel for the disciples, because there are times that I feel like life is perpetually stuck on Saturday. As I heard a prof put it, "The Lord Jesus Christ has gone away, and things are not okay." Turn to the news and I see nothing but brokenness and the ravages of sin in the world. Turn to the mirror and I see the person whose sin is foremost responsible for the pain I experience day by day. There are little losses day by day - frustrating circumstances, things that don't go the way I think they should, and sin seemingly always crouching at my door, ready to try to trip me up and inflict pain upon me and those with the misfortune of coming across my path. Then there are the big disappointments of life as well. Times where a real weight of the brokenness of our world, our relationships, and my heart is felt, and it is just crushing at times.
Now I do know more than the disciples did that Sunday - they were kind and honest enough to record what happened afterwards. I understand that the brokenness I experience from day to day is the exact reason that Jesus had to die. In accordance with God's will, salvation from the clutches of sin and redemption of mankind was Jesus' purpose and He did not fail that day. Proof came three days later when God the Father raised His Son from the dead. Good Friday was good and Easter Sunday means we ultimately celebrate that there is salvation found in Him; He is our Messiah.
But I can be like the disciples unfortunately. While Friday and Saturday may have felt pretty bleak for them, Jesus had actually told them He was going to die. He told them this was coming. After His resurrection He would explain it to them again, and only then would they get it. In the same way, I have the New Testament and particularly the Revelation of John to read. We know how it is going to end. The brokenness that remains today, Saturday, will be gone when Sunday comes. Jesus has accomplished salvation through the cross, I have been saved by His grace, and one day I will experience the fullness of that salvation when He comes again in glory and victory. He will make all things right and restore all things to the way God always intended them to be.
But that hasn't happened yet. So today is Saturday, Jesus hasn't come back, and life is hard.
"My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.'"
I don't know what your Saturday feels like, but I know that it is real and it hurts at times. We can't see what God is working out and nothing seems to be as it should be. But just as God was faithful to follow through and Saturday was followed by Sunday, so also we have hope that the day will come when He will "wipe away every tear and death will be no more." Call to mind His promises; find hope in His faithfulness. The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases.
They had walked with Him for three years and witnessed God move in ways they had only heard about whenever the Law and the Prophets were read. But yet here He was, Jesus, asserting that He was God and performing great and mighty works and acts that bore every fingerprint of validation that what He was saying was true. Could this be the Messiah that they had been waiting for? The one who would bring salvation to Israel? The disciples had believed that He was and had left everything else behind to follow Him. Sure, some aspects had not been easy, but no one had thought that they would be - Israel's subjugation had come through pain and strife and surely her redemption would require pain and strife as well. But following and witnessing Jesus, what could they say? He was confident, resolute, never seemed phased by any issue, and you should have seen the way He stood up to the Pharisees and spoke of the Roman king! With Him as their leader salvation was assured!
So what happened? One day they are entering Jerusalem with people welcoming them and shouting "Hosanna! Save us! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!" but less than a week later one of their own has turned traitor, the Jews have arrested Jesus, the crowds are crying out "Crucify him!" and the Romans have executed Him on a cross. What happened to the salvation of Israel? To the overthrow of all that oppressed them? Had they put their hope in a fake? Had they failed somehow? Where was God in all of this? What would they do now? Just go home as though nothing had happened? If this wasn't the fulfillment of their hope in a Messiah, in spite of all they had witnessed, was there really any hope at all that their salvation would come?
How dark that day must have been. No hope. That seemingly was crushed with every blow to Jesus' body and ultimately put down in the grave with Him.
Stop and think for a second. Imagine that you don't know the end of the story. You don't know that tomorrow is Sunday and it's going to be okay because Jesus is raised from the dead. You don't know that the very salvation that the disciples were looking for was achieved for them in the murder they thought had crushed their hope of salvation. Without Resurrection Sunday it's hard to make the case that Good Friday is truly good. These men certainly wouldn't buy it if you tried to tell them that Saturday.
I feel for the disciples, because there are times that I feel like life is perpetually stuck on Saturday. As I heard a prof put it, "The Lord Jesus Christ has gone away, and things are not okay." Turn to the news and I see nothing but brokenness and the ravages of sin in the world. Turn to the mirror and I see the person whose sin is foremost responsible for the pain I experience day by day. There are little losses day by day - frustrating circumstances, things that don't go the way I think they should, and sin seemingly always crouching at my door, ready to try to trip me up and inflict pain upon me and those with the misfortune of coming across my path. Then there are the big disappointments of life as well. Times where a real weight of the brokenness of our world, our relationships, and my heart is felt, and it is just crushing at times.
Now I do know more than the disciples did that Sunday - they were kind and honest enough to record what happened afterwards. I understand that the brokenness I experience from day to day is the exact reason that Jesus had to die. In accordance with God's will, salvation from the clutches of sin and redemption of mankind was Jesus' purpose and He did not fail that day. Proof came three days later when God the Father raised His Son from the dead. Good Friday was good and Easter Sunday means we ultimately celebrate that there is salvation found in Him; He is our Messiah.
But I can be like the disciples unfortunately. While Friday and Saturday may have felt pretty bleak for them, Jesus had actually told them He was going to die. He told them this was coming. After His resurrection He would explain it to them again, and only then would they get it. In the same way, I have the New Testament and particularly the Revelation of John to read. We know how it is going to end. The brokenness that remains today, Saturday, will be gone when Sunday comes. Jesus has accomplished salvation through the cross, I have been saved by His grace, and one day I will experience the fullness of that salvation when He comes again in glory and victory. He will make all things right and restore all things to the way God always intended them to be.
But that hasn't happened yet. So today is Saturday, Jesus hasn't come back, and life is hard.
"My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.'"
I don't know what your Saturday feels like, but I know that it is real and it hurts at times. We can't see what God is working out and nothing seems to be as it should be. But just as God was faithful to follow through and Saturday was followed by Sunday, so also we have hope that the day will come when He will "wipe away every tear and death will be no more." Call to mind His promises; find hope in His faithfulness. The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases.
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