The Old Rugged Cross

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross. And on that cross, the only One who never sinned became our sin so that we might become right with God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Tens of thousands of lambs had given their lives so that sin’s penalty could be delayed, but it could not be dismissed.  “The wages of sin is death,” and the holiness of God demands absolute justice.  We all stood convicted and condemned.  The price of our rebellion?  Death.  Not merely the separation of the spirit from the body but the separation of the soul from God—forever.  We were hopeless and helpless with each sentenced to eternal doom for his own depravity.

Only one who deserved none of the punishment could pay it.  Only one who was perfect could say, “Put it all on me,” and, “at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly”(Romans 5:6).

Nails pierced his hands and feet, but love held Him to the cross.  In the ultimate act of surrender and sacrifice, Jesus died our death.  The sun stopped shining as the Light of the World was darkened with our sin. The Father ripped Himself away from the Son, and in the pain and horror of their separation the eternal price for our rebellion was paid. “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”(Hebrews 10:10).  Oh, what grace--shocking, astounding, amazing, and marvelous! 

“It is finished,” Jesus cried, but may our worship and wonder never cease.

The Scent of Sacrifice

“She broke the jar and poured the perfume.”  Mark 14:3

She gave all she had.  All she had gathered from the past.  All she had garnered for the future.  Bound in a box of stone, the pint of perfume was worth at least a year’s wages, but on that evening in Bethany, Mary surrendered her savings and her security when she opened the jar and anointed Jesus.

Some with Him were appalled.  “What a waste!” they accused.  “Such large treasure could have done much good.  She should have helped out the poor instead of pouring it out.” The rebuke from Jesus came quickly and sternly.  “Leave her alone.  She did something beautiful. She prepared my body for burial.  The needy aren’t going anywhere, but I am.  And for the record, from now on, her story will be shared everywhere my story is spread.”

The last drops fell from His feet to the floor.  The box lay broken, but the aroma lingered in the air.  Nothing smells sweeter than the scent of sacrifice. 

The gift was expensive and priceless.  It was extravagant and precious. And no present has ever been more appropriate.

We will never give more than He is worth.

Hanging On His Words

“All the people hung on his words.”  Luke 19:48

 

Ever picked up a book you found hard to put down?  What made pausing the pages so difficult?  An intriguing plot?  An enticing story?  Fascinating facts?  Appealing expressions?  Most often a mixture of many features.  Somehow the author arranges information in a way that seizes our imaginations, emotions, and interests, and we find ourselves hanging onto every word.  

The phrase itself paints a captivating picture.  We hang onto something out of either desire or desperation and sometimes a bunch of both.  Such was the case with those who heard Jesus during the last week of His earthly life.  When He spoke, they listened.  Some marveled.  Some were mad.  All were amazed.

Jesus claimed to own the Temple.  “My house will be called a house of prayer”(Lk 19:46).  He refused to answer the Pharisees. “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things”(Lk 20:8).  He silenced those who tried to trap Him. “He said to them, ‘Give to Caesar’s what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.’ And astonished by his answer, they became silent”(Lk 20:26). He challenged folks to think. “If David calls the Christ, ‘Lord,’ how can He be his son?”(Lk 20:44).  He set priorities straight. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’”(Matt 22:38-39).  He set rulers straight. “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God”(Matt 22:20).  He set the record straight. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”(Matt 24:35). 

Jesus spoke with authority and without fear, and His combination of truth and conviction captivated the crowd.  The religious leaders wanted to shut Him up permanently, “yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words”(Lk 19:48).  Bible translators employ various phrases to describe such an absorbed audience—fervently occupied, eager to hear, riveted, very attentive, awestruck, catching every word that dropped from His lips.

What Jesus said and how He said it were so compelling that those who heard couldn’t wait for next syllable. They were excited, delighted, and intrigued. They desired certainty and were desperate for substance, and Jesus’ words were both. 

He still speaks, so let your desire and desperation drive you to His Word.  The more you look and listen, the more you read and remember, and the more you memorize and meditate on what He has said from Genesis through Revelation, the more captivated, absorbed, intrigued, comforted, confident, motivated, excited, and delighted you will be.  

To hang on God’s words you have to hear them first.

Pick up His book and never put it down.

Spring Cleaning

No matter how tidy we try to be the other three seasons, every house needs a good spring cleaning.  So does every heart, and Holy Week is a great time to start. Jesus set the example with His cleansing of the Temple, and since His Spirit now dwells in our souls, we would do well to follow suit. 

The dirt and grime in need of scouring that Monday in Jerusalem were the merchants who had turned the Temple into a marketplace for goods instead of a meeting place with God. It wasn’t that selling doves and lambs was wrong.  Worshipers from far away couldn’t bring livestock in their luggage, so sacrifices were sold in the city for convenience. Foreign currency was exchanged for local cash, and visitors purchased the required offerings.  The transactions weren’t the issue.  Where and how they were taking place were the problems.  Instead of swapping money and selling wares outside the temple courts, the hawkers had set up shop inside the gates and were profiting from unjust prices and inflated rates.  They were taking up space reserved for focus on God, and they needed to go.  

Without hesitation or reservation, Jesus flipped their tables and flushed them out.  He drove them away from the temple area and “would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts”(Mk 13:16).  And the whole time, He was talking.  “As he taught them, he said, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.’ But you have made it a den of thieves”(Mk 11:17).

As we consider a housecleaning of the heart, that’s where we start—with a hard and honest look at the things we’ve allowed to creep inside God’s current temple.  All the space of our lives is reserved for focus on God.  “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.” “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”  There’s nothing about us—head to toe and every inch in between—that isn’t His. What we think, what we watch, what we listen to, what we say, what we feel, what we love, what we do, and where we go should all honor and glorify God. 

The daily grind can cause grunge and grime to build up little layers at a time, and we need to remember that the same grace that washed us clean will rinse us off. Again and again and again.  Because of confidence in that grace, we can pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Without hesitation or reservation, flip over and flush out anything and everything that isn’t from You and for You.  Forgive my faults and failures, and may I live this moment making much of You.”

No matter the season, don’t dread the deep clean.

God’s scrubbings are always for our good.

The Praise Parade

One week before Jesus rose, He rode—into town on a donkey. The trip may have been short in miles, but it was long in meaning because the parade was staged on purpose for a purpose. 

About five hundred years before, Zechariah had encouraged the worried hearts and weary hands of Jews struggling to rebuild a demolished temple and devastated homeland on their return from Babylonian exile.  “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!  Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!  See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of donkey”(Zech 9:9). Zechariah promised that a king would come, not to oppress but to rescue, and Jesus, knowing every jot and tiddle of His Word, made sure every detail of the prophesy was fulfilled—even the foal of the donkey.

On that special Sunday in the spring, He sent two guys into the village of Bethpage on an acquisition mission, and when they returned with the beast, the best came out in the disciples. No ornamented saddle fit for royalty was lying around, but they didn’t want their King riding bareback, so they laid their cloaks down the donkey’s spine.  A cloak was an important possession in their culture, used as an outer layer of clothing, as collateral for loans, and as covering for the chill of night, but the disciples eagerly and willingly surrendered their comfort and security to the One who was worthy.

So did the crowds that gathered quickly and lined the way.  Not wanting the donkey’s hooves to even touch the dirt, they laid their cloaks as a covering for the ground and made a regal carpet on which Jesus could ride.  They waved palm branches in praise, and they shouted for joy.  Most had seen His miracles.  Many had only heard of His wonders, but they all came to worship.  Yes, some of Sunday’s admiring crowd would become part of Friday’s accusing mob, but for those brief moments, heaven’s Finest was applauded as was fitting. The donkey’s clop was drowned by the crowd’s revering cries.  “Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

The accolades were more than the Pharisees could stand.  Afraid that Jesus’ fan club would have more members than their own, they demanded He silence the celebration.  Many times in His ministry, Jesus had commanded those He healed to hush, but not from now on.  “No way,” Jesus responded. “Even if they stopped praising, the rocks would start singing!”

We’re standing where those worshipers were.  No, we can’t spread our cloaks on His colt, but we can hand over what we hold onto for security and comfort.  No, we can’t wave a palm frond along His path, but we can lift our arms and hands to do His work for His glory.  And, no, our cries of praise won’t be during His parade, but every word we speak within and without the walls of the church can declare His majesty and grace—for He alone is worthy.

Blessed is He who came in the name of the Lord.

And blessed is He who will come again.

Hosanna!