Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

Is God SAFE?  CS Lewis said via Mr. Beaver in The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe, "NO. But He is GOOD." There is a curtain that in a sense protects us from Him, from His holiness.  It keeps us from His burning holiness and keeps Him from our ugly sinfulness. Where is God?  He's behind the curtain. God wanted to be uniquely in one place in the Old Testament in contrast to the pagan gods...

A Roman Centurion is a practiced, professional, accustomed killer.  Suffering is his actual business, particularly if he leads the crucifixion squad.  Remember, the idea is ultimate suffering.  Death is the byproduct. So that this man is touched by Jesus' process and death is remarkable.  He only gets maybe 8 hours of exposure to Jesus total.  Only a few sentences that we know about.  But it...

Ps 22 starts out with "why have you forsaken me?", but it doesn't end there.  It ends with a triumphal, "he has done it"!!!!! On the Cross Jesus  starts out with "why have you forsaken me?" but similarly doesn't end there.  He ends with the ultimate triumph.  A single greek word.  Tetelestai!  "it is finished" or "he has done it".!!!!  It...

Is Psalm 22 a song of abandonment? Is it one of distance or intimacy? Is it used ("...why have you forsaken me?") to conclude that God abandons Jesus on the Cross, or is it more of a question, a feeling, a Starting point? The best theological principle is to rely on the Scripture.  Let's be "abandon-ers" or not as much as the Word allows us to be .   Probably, you, like me...

The Persians invented crucifixion in about 300BC.  Yet, Psalm 22 refers to "they have pierced my hands and feet" in about 1000BC.  700 years before the technique was invented.  It is my favorite of the Psalm 22 prophesies about Jesus' crucifixion.   There are many other fulfilled prophesies in Psalm 22.  We want to get at the "forsaking", so we are finding out the context...

What if we thought about the psalm that the New Testament writers thought MOST about...What if we had some Old Testament reflection on the crucifixion...What if we heard from God Himself about what would happen that day at the place of the Skull? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?   It is in the Bible.  It is in the Bible, TWICE.  Jesus only spoke 7 recorded sentences on the Cross.  Why?  A...

The death of Jesus is well documented but brief.  In all four gospels it is about 14 verses in total.  Let's read them and sit with them today.  I've got throw-up in my mouth because of it.   The death is real, voluntary, excruciating ("of the cross"), suffocating, prophetic, sin-bearing, and for me, "triggering".   That is, the Holy Spirit reminded me of Martha when...

We are at the central event of human history.  It is at the central place of human history.  It is at the central time of human history.  (It literally splits time in half as we refer to it:  BC and AD) It is with the central figure of human history, Jesus.   I wonder who else is there.  Let's make a list! Jesus the four soldiers and the centurion in charge of the execution 2 robbers Chief Pr...

The Cross is the great Grand Central Station of history.  All Scripture intersects there from the Old and New Testament.  People intersect there. Today, I am struck with how LANGUAGES intersect at the cross. The troubled Mr. Pilate has one more jab available towards the Jewish leaders. He writes KING OF THE JEWS and has it put on the cross.  Of note today, it is in three languages.  Three! Latin:...

One of the Thieves on the (other) cross goes from: railing and reviling Jesus  Realizing a few things about God.  Probably that He's real, He's there, His judgments are true and just, I am deserving of all that is coming to me.  But too, He might offer grace. Repenting.  Oh the rarest of events in the human heart! Rebuking the other thief over the top of Jesus Requesting of God. It is al...

So Jesus has the most nasty actions done to Him by the most nasty people .  The big question is: How does He respond? The Good Book says that God is KIND To the UNGRATEFUL and EVIL.   It is in the context of Jesus delivering the LOVE YOUR ENEMIES concept of Luke 6.  God does this, therefore, so should you.  So here we are, in the most extreme of circumstances.  Jesus fulfills OT prophesy by INTERC...

All the tracks of Scripture run to the Cross.  All the tracks of Scripture run FROM the Cross. Stuff from the Old Testament is being fulfilled with almost every line of the story of the Cross. Stuff from the New Testament is being seeded here and will be explained later. The story isn't over for some of our main characters.  There is more to say about the Robbers and the Soldiers.  They, for...

The crucifixion process is gruesome.  Today there is spitting, stripping, fake homage, and hitting. But there is also a HERO of the crucifixion.  Besides Jesus, there is SIMON of Cyrene.  He's just in from N. Africa.  He's just in time for the Passover.  Probably had some trouble on the way.  Jesus is in real, physical, and practical need.  He's all blood-lossed and weary.  He start...

Paul Tripp writes that love is defined by an ACTION.  Specifically, THIS ACTION.  The Cross, and all that goes with it.  We should probably study and expose ourselves to it. Pilate is pulled in multiple directions. His Wife writes to have nothing to do with this righteous man.  She has suffered greatly in a dream. The Jews vehemently want Jesus crucified, and actions meant to appease them only ril...

Even before we get to the crucifixion, there are many nastinesses to sit with.  We must sit with "Good Friday" before we get to Easter.   First let's consider Barabbas.  Notorious. Robber. Murderer. Insurrectionist. Rebel.  Yes, he's the guy we want out amongst us.  Let's put him back into our community.  This is an insult of the highest order to Jesus that he doesn't...

Herod and Pilate become BFF (Best Friends Forever) at the end of this story.  It all involves the UNDERSTANDING and sympathy that is demonstrated by a JOKE.  The Joke is an expensive grand gesture, which makes the punchline even stronger.  The joke actually costs Herod something.   I'll bet he thought it was HILARIOUS.   Unfortunately, the Joke is on Jesus' head and on his back.  He is d...

Pilate gets the chance of a lifetime.  He gets to be literally near the kingdom, and the KING.  It rattles him a little bit, but probably not enough. Pilate inquires as to whether Jesus is KING.  Jesus asks the super-great question in follow-up. He asks, "Do you say this of your own accord, or did others s say it to you about me?"  I think that means, "Are you asking for others, or...

Today we explore the difference between REGRET and RESTORATION.  In Episode #38, Peter serves as a preliminary example of messing up, but then being RESTORED.  Judas, not so much. To Judas' credit, he does have some specificity and ownership of his sin.  He calls it a sin.  He starts well.  Certainly he wants to get out of pain but chooses suicide rather than the hard remedy of restoration.  ...

Peter Denies Jesus.  We should be more like him. Why?  Because the story does not end there.  Well, it DOES actually end there for now, but we know a few things for the future.    It was cold.  Jesus suffered in the cold.  I never thought about that little detail. The fire plays importantly into our story.  It is what lit his face that got him accused. The HOUR soak on the denials.  That hurts.  H...

We find Jesus DETERMINED, COMMITTED, AND STRONG as He encounters Caiaphas.  In fact, He let's him have it with the Old Testament in the best way. First He fulfills the great suffering Chapter 53 of Isaiah detail:  silent before his accusers. Then, Jesus claims a powerful prophesy from Daniel 7 for HIMSELF.  "This is about Me.  This identifies Me.  These are My roles.  This is My place. T...

The big black storm of Jesus' crucifixion is coming and we know it is going to be bad.  This is what's known as THE PASSION of Christ.  Today, we get the first three big raindrops. Jesus is ARRESTED:  He doesn't get to do what He wishes with His location and WILL      (Remember though, Jesus ALLOWS all of this and voluntarily endures all of this.  In yesterdays account, all these sa...

Jesus is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Here is just a taste of the treasure: Judas knows the place. This just makes the betrayal more betraying. The soldiers come well-armed, but find they are severely OUT-GUNNED by the Sovereign conquering Lord God of Hosts.  They fall down, which is a perfectly reasonable response to the revelation of God Jesus is resolved, volunteering, intent on His p...

What happens in this episod e powers the rest of the Passion story .  What happens in this episode empowers all the suffering to come.  Jesus decides, after prayer, to DRINK the CUP.  It is a cup of nastiness that doesn't taste very good.  It is taking the punishment of all the world's sin.  No wonder He didn't want to do it.  I am so glad that He did. It is a fall-on-the-ground mom...

"The disciples are a bunch of knuckleheads.  If I was there as Jesus' disciple, I would never have fallen away from Jesus during His tough time."  This is probably the exact wrong conclusion from exposing ourselves to this passage about Peter, his fellow knuckleheads, and Jesus. First about Jesus.  I am a big fan of the steadfast love of God.  It is called HESED in the Old Testament...

This is the last chance Jesus has to tell the disciples anything.  He is minutes or at most hours away from being swept up into an arrest, suffering and crucifixion. WHO does He address and WHAT does He say?  You won't be disappointed when you find out. First of all, He turns from the current disciples to those who will believe in the future.  Guess who?  That is you and me if you believe! Je...