Choose to Receive What We Could Never Purchase for Ourselves
A sacrifice means something must be given, something must DIE in order for others to receive.
Given—freely & freely—Received.
A Cost to the Giver—But—Free to the Receiver.
Truly, it is a “miracle” that anyone would sacrifice anything for another, especially His own life, but Jesus Did!
On THAT FRIDAY, several miracles occurred during the work-day. Darkness covered the earth at an unnatural time of day, dead bodies raised from their graves, and the extra-thick temple veil separating the people from the Holy Place was ripped top-to-bottom when Jesus cried out for the final time as He gave up His final breath and His life.
It was a typical Friday for the centurion, and there was a job to do, but there was nothing “typical” about this particular crucifixion. It was horribly unpleasant work, the crucifying of a person, and there were times when the Roman road was lined with crosses as multitudes of people were crucified for their crimes. However, on this particular Friday, this crucifixion was different!
On THAT FRIDAY of the Passover Week, the King of Kings was crucified; Jesus the Savior of the world was crucified; the Son of God—Himself—freely gave His life upon the cross for us. People today still ask WHY. There is only one answer—So all of humanity could choose to receive something we could never purchase for ourselves.
Mom said the other day, “We should probably watch Mel Gibson’s The Passion, a video-retelling of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Truthfully, I did not want to view this video—ever again because one viewing was enough for an entire lifetime. Then on Monday, I attended a Holy Week service in town and the speaker (a godly-man clearly educated in the Scriptures) spoke of this film and the producer Mel Gibson. He spoke of the “work” Gibson did to depict the crucifixion accurately so the viewer would be “taken over the edge” and then brought back by the “love of God,” for you see, Gibson produced the movie AFTER he became a believer, AFTER Jesus became his Savior, AFTER Gibson became a changed man.
I read this week that—
- Once a person believes in Jesus, &
- Once a person receives the love of God & his heart belongs to Jesus, &
- Once a person seeks the forgiveness of God for sins committed against God, &
- Once a person becomes a Christ-follower—THEN
“The Christian is a holy rebel loose in the world with access to the throne of God” (A. W. Tozer).
- On THAT DAY, Jesus created a permanent way of access to God.
- On THAT DAY, the centurion doing his “normal” ghastly work, stood at the foot of the cross and watched the LOVE of GOD displayed there upon the cross of Calvary.
- On THAT DAY, God caused the temple veil to be torn from top to bottom, creating an immediate access to God.
- On THAT DAY, the Bible records how the man (the centurion) heard the way Jesus cried aloud these words, how the man (the centurion) BELIEVED the TRUTH.
SEE WITH ME THE FACTS, THE TRUTH of GOD’S WORD.
“When the sixth hour came, [12 p.m.] darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour [3 p.m.].
At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice,
‘ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?’ which is translated,
‘MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?’
When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, ‘Behold, He is calling for Elijah.’
Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, ‘Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.’
And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last.
And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God!’
(Mark 15: 33-39)
We Choose to Receive What We Could Never Purchase for Ourselves.
We Choose to Believe What We Could Never Believe With Our Earthly Eyes.
We Choose to Accept What Is Truly—THE TRUTH—JESUS CHRIST IS THE SON of GOD!
Jesus entered Jerusalem, days earlier, at the beginning of Passover, and several were present to worship at the feast. Jerusalem was a throng of people. Realize, that Jesus was there, in the city, days before the centurion realized the TRUTH about the SON of GOD, days before the centurion spoke his words of TRUTH about JESUS CHRIST, the SAVIOR of the WORLD!
At that time, (a few days before THAT FRIDAY) some men from Greece sought to see this man called Jesus. They told Philip who told Andrew who told Jesus. It is in that place, in that setting, in that time when Jesus Christ spoke these words:
“And Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.
If anyone serves Me, he must follow me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.’”
(John 12: 23-26)