Oh, you should check out
Jonathan if you have a minute. He’s a great writer.
*
So,
in the spirit of the season, we re-watched The Passion, and a few things stood
out for me. Normally when I watch movies about the death of Jesus, I only
notice the suffering (and try not to pay too much attention to it, lest I turn
on the water works), but this time I paid attention to some of those involved
in the journey between Gethsemane and Golgotha.
I’ll
talk about three of them.
1 Malchus
‘And one of them struck
the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered,
“No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.’ – Luke
22:50-51.
Malchus
was part of the crowd that went to grab Jesus. John’s gospel is the only one
that mentions his name (18:10). It shouldn’t be so noteworthy that Jesus heals
him, right? Throughout the gospels there are countless stories of Jesus healing
people. Except, consider the circumstance. Malchus was part of the crowd that came to arrest Jesus. He may have been a
bandwagoner, following along because many were people moving in that direction
and he was bloodthirsty by nature. Or maybe his master sent him, and he was
eager to prove himself deserving of his wages. Whichever the case, Jesus at
that moment was not his best friend, and certainly not a person he’d think
would help him if his back was to the ground.
But
what did Jesus do? Heal him. Straight up. After rebuking Peter, whose knife had
struck the blow to the servant, Jesus healed Malchus. It was the reverse of
justice. Peter did what he thought he could to protect his friend and master
Jesus. The servant got what was coming to him. But Jesus healed him. What is
the sense in that? Imagine the effect this had on Malchus. Imagine you were
going to throw boiling water at someone, you tripped, fell and cut your arm,
and that someone, well aware of what you were about to do to him, came to you
and helped dress your wound. Imagine the shame that would course through you, and
fear, and then shame again, and then guilt, then awe. Because, why would anyone
show mercy to a man who came to get him so he would be killed?
2
Barabbas
‘But the whole crowd
shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” (Barabbas had been
thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)’ – Luke
23:18.
That’s
all we know about Barabbas, but it’s enough to tell that he’s a bona fide bad
guy. Here was a man who caused a riot and took another person’s life. But he
was the guy the Israelites decided should be released, so Jesus would take his
place. Jesus took his place. See,
this was it. The religious leaders thought they were punishing Jesus for only
they knew what. They didn’t know that by calling for Barabbas, God could work
His purpose out, and Jesus would take the sinner’s place. Because, that’s what
Barabbas was, a sinner deserving death. But who took it in his stead? Jesus.
Jesus wasn’t even dead yet, but he’d already given his life for one sinner. And
Barabbas was free to walk away, no cloud of punishment hanging over his head.
3 The
Thief on the Cross
‘But the other criminal
rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same
sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.
But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when
you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you
will be with me in paradise.”’ – Luke 23:40-43
This
guy is one of two who were crucified on either side of Jesus. He was a thief,
so, yeah, punishment for him was fully deserved, as he himself acknowledged.
But look. He acknowledged that Jesus had
done no wrong. Now, I don’t know how he knew. Had he seen Jesus around? Was
this something he inferred by observing Jesus’s demeanour? Or this was
something flesh and blood did not reveal to him? Whatever it was, he asked to
be remembered, and acknowledged Jesus’s
lordship when he spoke about his kingdom. And look what he got. A free pass
into heaven.
Yeah.
Even up on the cross, the life filtering out of him, Jesus handed someone a
one-way ticket into Paradise, to enjoy everlasting life with the Father. Why?
Because the thief believed that Jesus is Lord. And that’s what Jesus came to
do, give eternal life to those who believe in him.
Then Jesus died, and
rose, and atonement for our sin was complete, and perfect.
These
individuals had maybe a combined fifty-three seconds in the limelight, but that
was enough time to point to the work Jesus Christ came to earth to do. He came
to heal and repair our brokenness, and show us mercy when we didn’t deserve it.
He came to take our punishment. The wages of sin is death, guys. But Jesus
exchanged his life for ours. He took the death penalty, and we can walk free.
He came to offer us eternal life, to give us a pass to our heavenly Father, and
mend the rift caused by sin. And all we’ve got to do to have eternal life is
believe. Like the thief, we need only acknowledge our sin, believe Jesus is the
son of God, and ask Him to be our Lord.
It’s
easy to be swayed by our guilt. Many have believed their sins are too many for
Jesus to turn their lives around, but He came for us! He died for us, and rose
for us. I can’t say why He loves us so much, but He does! And His hand is
extended to you. If you haven’t already, will you believe and let him into your
life?
It starts with a simple prayer. (You can always use your own words, but this is as basic as it gets.)
“Dear Lord, I am a sinner. Forgive me and
cleanse me. I invite Jesus into my heart to be my Lord and Saviour. Help me to
serve You, for as long as I live. In Jesus’s name I pray, amen.”
Welcome to God’s family!
Mwaaaaaahistically on point. Grt!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonathan!
ReplyDeletePreeeaaaccchhhhh!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete