The Hyssop Branch

September 30, 2016

The Hyssop Branch

A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said,

“It is finished!”

Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

John  19: 29-30

We are looking for details in John’s account of Jesus’ crucifixion that point us to deeper truths about God’s plan of redemption for humankind. John identifies by name three people at the foot of the cross; “Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene” (John 19:25). While the Gospel doesn’t specifically mention John by name, he is the fourth person identified in verses 26-27, the disciple who took Jesus’ mother into his own home. Decades after the crucifixion, groups opposing Jesus’ resurrection claimed that Jesus never died. John identifies six eyewitnesses to Jesus’ death, five by name and one by inference. (Joseph and Nicodemus, the other two named eyewitnesses will be mentioned in a following passage)

To see another detail in John’s account, it is helpful to first stand back to see the bigger picture. Fifteen times in this Gospel, John mentions Passover, three times in Chapter 19. With that in mind, we now can wonder why he tells us about the hyssop branch that the soldiers used to extend a sponge soaked in wine to Jesus. God commanded the Jews to use hyssop branches to brush the blood of the Passover lamb on their doorposts. (Exodus 22) Hyssop was also used by Moses to confirm the Covenant God made with Israel (Exodus 24): “For after Moses had read each of God’s commandments to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, and sprinkled both the book of God’s law and all the people, using hyssop branches and scarlet wool” Hebrews 9:19).  John wants us to know that Jesus is the Passover Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. He wants us to know Jesus confirmed the New Covenant by his own blood.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Important Details

September 29, 2016

Important Details

So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.” So that is what they did.

John  19:24

John doesn’t supply just incidental details about Jesus. John’s account of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial is full of specific details that point to the fulfillment of scripture that Jesus is God’s Messiah. As you read John 19, pay close attention to the details and ponder the significance John wants you to see. Here are two of the details that stand out to me.

First, when Jesus was crucified, Pilate placed a sign on the cross proclaiming Jesus as King of the Jews. John tells us the sign was in three languages: Hebrew, Latin and Greek. These languages covered a vast part of the known world, fulfilling the prophecy that Israel’s Messiah would be proclaimed to the entire world.

Secondly, the soldiers gambled for Jesus’ clothes. This was prophesied in Psalm 22:18. According to both Matthew’s and Mark’s Gospels, Jesus prayed from Psalm 22:1 when he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” It is not just Jesus’ cry of anguish or the soldiers gambling for his clothes that connects Psalm 22 to the crucifixion of Jesus. The psalmist also mentions the people gathered around Jesus, the crowd scorning Jesus, and his thirsting. 

By connecting the crucifixion to Psalm 22, John want us to know that Jesus, who was crucified, dead and buried, was the Messiah of God: the One the scriptures promised would come and save Israel, save the world. Psalm 22 also points to the coming again of Jesus in final victory. (Psalm 22:27-28) As followers of Jesus, it is important for us to always be mindful that Jesus isn’t finished with His work. He will complete the restoration of God’s Kingdom on earth, and we get to be co-laborers with him in that work.

We all experience times of trial, suffering and distress in our lives. Jesus is our model for responding to these difficult times. As we yield ourselves to him, he will empower us to follow his path. Like Jesus, we can turn to scriptures like Psalm 22 for guidance and comfort. We can openly acknowledge to God our sense of despair, to remember God’s past care for our lives, to embrace the reality of our circumstances, and to trust that as God comes to us, we can experience Him as “our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Through His Bruises We Get Healed

September 28, 2016

Through His Bruises We Get Healed

“Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him! Crucify him!”

“What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back.

Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified.

John 19:15-16

The irony of the conspiracy to murder Jesus increases yet again. Pilate, who had absolute authority over Israel, vacillated. He was indecisive and fearful. At first, he toyed with the priests; if they wanted to crucify Jesus, he would let Jesus go, just to spite them. Then Pilate sensed there was more being played out than he understood, and he wanted to distance himself from the proceedings. Enter the ultimate irony. The priests, who were completely under the authority of Pilate, manipulate Pilate to do their bidding. Pilate capitulates, but the cost to the priests and the crowd was expensive beyond measure. They had repudiated their God by claiming they had no king, but Caesar. They crucified the First Commandment: “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me” (Exodus 20: 2-3).

Thus the words of the Prophet Isaiah were fulfilled:

“. . . it was our pains he carried—

   our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.

We thought he brought it on himself,

   that God was punishing him for his own failures.

But it was our sins that did that to him,

   that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!

He took the punishment, and that made us whole.

   Through his bruises we get healed.

We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost.

   We've all done our own thing, gone our own way.

And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong,

   on him, on him.

 He was beaten, he was tortured,

   but he didn't say a word.

Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered

   and like a sheep being sheared,

   he took it all in silence.

Justice miscarried, and he was led off—

   and did anyone really know what was happening?

He died without a thought for his own welfare,

   beaten bloody for the sins of my people.

They buried him with the wicked,

   threw him in a grave of a rich man,

Even though he'd never hurt a soul

   or said one word that wasn't true.

 Isaiah 53: 4-9

(The Message)

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Pride Goes Before Destruction

September 27, 2016

Pride Goes Before Destruction

Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn’t go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover.

John  18: 28

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (Lord Acton, British historian, 1834-1902) Pilate, on behalf of Rome, and the priests of Jerusalem demonstrated the truth of this axiom. Although Rome boasted of having the most advanced legal and justice system in the world, justice was the last thing on Pilate’s mind. He had absolute power, and used his power at the whims of his own vanity. The priests had power, though not absolute, and used it with equal vanity. Both are affirming the wisdom of King Solomon: “Pride goes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). Can the irony be any thicker than the priests’ refusal to enter Pilate’s residence, lest they become ceremonially defiled and unable to participate in the Passover? Yes, it can.

The absurdity of the moment escaped the priests as they conspired to kill an innocent man, while expressing a need to remain faithful to their law by refusing to touch something unclean. However, the irony thickens as they shout for the release of a man lawfully convicted and sentenced to die, and substitute on his behalf the innocent blood of Jesus. They thought they were being clever. What they really did was make it clear that the innocent Jesus was dying for sinful people.

Of course, it was not just the sins of Pilate, the priests, the crowd, and the Roman soldiers that Jesus took to the cross. Mine were nailed there as well. As I celebrate Jesus’ sacrifice on behalf of all humanity, it will be worth my while to examine my life. Where does my basking in God’s grace collide with my legalistic attitudes toward others? Where are the places in my life where I shout for my interpretation of justice for others, while I’m praying for God’s mercy in my life?

It is not if, but where, are these ironies in my life? Maybe the place to begin is by calling a spade a spade. Isn’t hypocrisy a more appropriate word than irony?

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.