Monthly Archives: March 2014

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The Lord’s Lament

The Lord’s Lament

Heavenly Father, we bless You and we praise You for the Passion of your Son, Jesus Christ. In it You have given salvation to us, You have made the Way of the Cross the way of eternal life. Help us to pick up our cross and follow in the footsteps of Jesus, that we too might share in His resurrected life, through Jesus Christ Who with You and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns now and forever, Amen.

At noon until about the ninth hour, darkness came over the land. At about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, which is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me”?

In the Gospel of Matthew we only have this one sentence recorded of what Jesus uttered from the cross. Jesus was quoting Psalm 22 which begins with: “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?” Did Jesus recite the entire Psalm from the Cross or just this first line? There is no way to know. Interestingly, the last saying from the Cross “It is finished” sounds like the last line of Psalm 22: “He has done it.” Whether Jesus uttered the whole psalm or not, the first line says enough to convey the depth of spiritual lament of the Lord: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”?

The first phrase, My God, reflects again the intimate relationship that God, the Father, has with God, the Son. Earlier on in the Gospel of Matthew 11:25, Jesus offered praise to His Heavenly Father.

“I thank you Father, Lord of Heaven and earth because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father and no one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”

Jesus and the Father are One, as John’s Gospel tells us in John 10:30. “No one comes to the Father except through the Son” (John 14:6) No one knows the Father, as Jesus says, unless He reveals the Father to them.

There’s a very intimate love that is between the Father and the Son and yet, here on the Cross, Jesus cries out to his Heavenly Father,

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

The cry reveals the abandonment of the Son from the Father. We are on the precipice of a Trinitarian mystery so we must be careful not to over-speak. How can the Father and the Son be one and yet there be this moment of abandonment of the Son by the Father? Can there possibly be a tear in the fabric of the relationship of the three divine Persons of the Trinity?

The words of Scripture often strain the limits of our ability to understand and comprehend. In a real and mysterious way, the Father forsook the Son. The spiritual agony of that moment is verbalized in Jesus’ prayer of lament from the Cross.

If Jesus prayed such honest prayers, then surely we are faithful in following His example. God knows our struggles. The incarnation shows us that Jesus became like us in every way, even to the point of death.

Some struggle with the thought of uttering honest prayers to God as if it is inappropriate or a sign of lack of faith. On the contrary, the Scriptures are filled with prayers of complaint, lament, and even anger voiced in prayer to God.

God wants your heart, not a façade. He knows when you are struggling. Through the indwelling Spirit He has placed in your heart, He hears the groans which words cannot express. (Romans 8:26-27) God already knows what you are feeling and how you are hurting. Go to Him with your most difficult questions, sorrows and struggles. Engage Him with your secret pain and your heart’s cry. Jesus did. He shows us the way to pray even in the midst of our darkest hours.

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ABANDONMENT: My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” –Matthew 27:45-47

The Problem of Evil

The most vexing question humans have ever asked is related to the origin of evil. It is often phrased as a logical conundrum:

If God is Loving and Good, all Powerful, and all Knowing, how is it possible that Evil exists. Why would God allow, or worse, create it in the first place?

Many solve this logical seeming contradiction by denying the sovereignty of God over His creation. Others deny God’s intervention in the created world, preferring instead to embrace a God whose creation is out of His ultimate control or some impersonal forces of light and darkness. Many secular-minded people have just given up on belief in God, period.

The problem of evil is a problem because there really is no good answer to the question of the origin of evil. We will forever be both intellectually and emotionally dissatisfied with answers when we contemplate human suffering, disease, natural disasters, tyrannical rulers, human holocausts and the like.

So when Jesus asks,

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

He is asking the universal unanswered question of human suffering: “Why?”

Whenever you or I ask that question the answers never seem to satisfy.

As a Chaplain at the St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, I ministered to a man sitting by the bedside of his wife who lay in a coma. He was grieving deeply. He shared that as he sat there he often had people who would come in and tell him what he called Platitudes. The examples he gave were: “Perhaps God is teaching you something.” or “This experience will help you grow.” “Maybe a greater good will come from this tragedy.” or “God must have needed her more.”

This man then said something I will never forget. He said, “Platitudes never make the person hearing them feel better, only the people uttering them.” That is so true. Much of the human suffering that we experience in life makes absolutely no sense. We are really uncomfortable with that! So we make up reasons to solve the emotional and intellectual gap in our minds and hearts caused by evil.

The cry of Jesus from the Cross teaches us that the problem of suffering does not make sense at all! It leaves us with a huge hole of an unanswered question: “Why?!?” There is no good answer. Jesus affirms our human limitations in that from the Cross.

Do you know someone in your life who is struggling? How do you minister to them in the midst of their pain? One thing you can do is be an intercessor with their heart’s questions. Rather than giving them pious platitudes to make you feel more comfortable, sit with them in the mystery of their problems.

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Thirsty for Living Water

Thirsty for Living Water

In the Gospel of John, we see the idea of thirsting way before Jesus utters those words –that word– “I thirst.”

When Jesus went to a well that is called Jacob’s well, a Samaritan woman was there. The text tells us that He sat down by the well and that He was tired as one would imagine. He was also thirsty because He asked a woman for a cup of water. When the Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”

The disciples had gone into town to buy food; that is not what he wanted. He wanted something to drink. When they came with the food, He told them: “I don’t need that, because I have food to eat that you don’t know about.” They wondered: who brought Him the food?

No, what Jesus wanted was something to drink. He asked the Samaritan woman for this drink and she was surprised by it. She said, “You’re a Jew and I’m a Samaritan woman? How can you ask me for a drink?” For she knew that Jews did not associate with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and Who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.”

The woman said: “Sir, you have to nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us the well and drank from it himself as did his sons and flocks and herds?”

And Jesus answered:

“Look, I’m not talking about the water that’s in this well. I’m talking about another kind of water. Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.”

The question that I want to ask you is whether you thirst? What are you thirsty for? Do you thirst for more out of life than what this world has to offer? Do you thirst in the midst of its struggles?

Jesus shared our earthly thirsts for the water from the wells of this world. The One who got tired and needed a drink of water from the Samaritan woman has a drink to offer us that is not a cup of wrath, but a cup of mercy and grace and eternal life.

It is a cup which, if we will thirst for it and long for it, Jesus promises that we will never thirst again It is Living Water. A little bit further on in John 6:35, we find Jesus picking up the theme of Living Water again. He says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” Never be thirsty! Do you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins on the Cross? Have you put your faith in Him as your Lord? Have you confessed with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that He raised you from the dead?

Jesus promises that whoever believes in Him will never thirst. A little bit further on, He picks up the theme one more time. In John 7:37, on the last and greatest day of the Feast of Preparation He announces with a loud voice: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” Whoever believes in Him as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within Him. Jesus clarifies His words: by this He meant the Spirit Whom those who believed in Him were to receive. “Whoever is thirsty, let him come to me.”

“I thirst.” Do you know what? I thirst. I thirst for what God is promising here. I thirst for it for our church, I thirst for it for my family. I want it personally. I want eternal life. I want to be filled up, so full that it overflows from my life out to other people’s lives. Do you thirst like that? Do you say “I thirst?” Say it out loud to the Lord in a prayer from distress, or longing:

I thirst. I thirst. I thirst for you Jesus. The Sacred Scriptures speak about thirsting for righteousness, thirsting for His holiness, thirsting to know Him, thirsting and desiring with all of our being to be like Him, to be faithful to Him, to somehow obtain eternal life. “I thirst.”

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Take this Cup

Take this Cup

On the night before Jesus passion, Jesus entered into the Garden of Gethsemane located on the Mount of Olives overlooking the city of Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord. A “gethsemane” was a massive stone press used to crush the olives harvested on the hillside in order to extract olive oil. So, the Garden of Gethsemane was a place of crushing, only that night it would be the Son of God who would be crushed under the pressure. Jesus entered into a time of deep prayer and interaction with God the Father. Here is how the scene is described in Luke’s gospel:

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”  And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. –Luke 22:39-44

“Father, if you are willing remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” What is the cup of which Jesus is praying? It is none other than the cup of divine judgment.

He thirsted not for it; and yet from this point He surrendered to fulfilling the Father’s will.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; 
he has put him to grief
–Isaiah 53:10

In distress and grief, Jesus cries:

I thirst.

From the Cross, Jesus thirsts for a cup to drink. The cup that completes the Father’s will. He thirsted for His own death, for only in His death would the sins of the world be forgiven. The Lord’s will for His Son was to bear the judgment for the sins of the world on His body and in His flesh.

…when his soul makes an offering for guilt –Isaiah 53:11

In drinking the cup of judgment, Jesus’ soul makes an offering for guilt, redemption accomplished. In drinking the cup of God’s wrath, He drank it to its dregs. He drank it till it was dry. In this moment, He thirsted for God’s wrath and His judgment to be borne on His body, so that we would not have to drink the cup of God’s judgment and wrath. Think about that. He drained the cup–empty–on the Cross so that we would not have to drink it.

More than that, though, Jesus thirsted not only for His death and to finish the work of the Cross, but He thirsted for the life that God had in front of Him. God the Father promised that though His soul was to suffer death in a crushing judgment for the sin of humanity, that though He must die, He would be raised from the dead; He would see the light of life:




…he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; 
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong… –Isaiah 53:10-12

The prophet Isaiah revealed over four hundred years before the coming of the Messiah that even though the Messiah would suffer death, on the other side of that “crushing” would be life, victory and divided spoils. The writer of Hebrews again says it was for the joy that was set before Him that He endured the Cross. Jesus thirsted for the three days that would come after this, the empty tomb, the resurrected life. He longed to see it.

He yearned and thirsted for resurrected life as He was agonizing in death on the Cross.

It was for the joy and abundance of life that was set before Him that He endured the scorn of the Cross all the way to its bitter end. That’s why the writer of Hebrews encourages us to thirst for the resurrection so that we too might endure suffering and temptation – no matter what.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
—Hebrews 12:1-4

Whatever suffering is brought before us, whatever trials, whatever tribulations, we must thirst for the joy that is set before us in the resurrected and eternal life so that we can persevere in faith and in faithfulness all the way to the end.

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Can you drink this Cup?

Can you drink this Cup?

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” –Matthew 20:20-22

Jesus said to them “You don’t know what you’re asking. Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”

Now, what cup do James and John have in mind? Why, the cup of victory, the cup of reward, the cup of prestige, power and position; basically, the cup that says: vindication in this life. Our enemies will be vanquished! The Messiah will triumph over them. We will put Him up on top. Yes, Jesus, we can drink that cup of victory! Absolutely, we can drink that cup!

Jesus said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” –Matthew 20:23

Who in fact drank the cup alongside Jesus on His right and left? Two bandits were crucified with Him on His right and His left. As Jesus indicated later on in their lives James and John would also suffer for the Gospel. Indeed, they would share in the cup of Jesus Christ through their death as martyrs for the faith, but that is not the way that they first envisioned.

The Apostles originally believed that they would be drinking the cup of victory, but the significance of Jesus’ death means that there will be no earthly vindication and no victory in this life. This age has been judged by God, the Father.

Those who would set themselves up as conquering kings in this age will be brought low and humbled in the Kingdom of God. Faithful Christians have been continually surprised when the powers and governments of this world let them down by corruption. Even the institutions of the Church become corrupted as people seek position, power and prestige as methods for propagating their own worldly agendas.

No, this age and all its governances and institutions must incur the judgment and wrath of God. That is the cup which Jesus is asking God the Father “…if it be possible for it to be passed from me, not my will, but Yours.” – the cup of judgment. Jesus would go on to teach James and John:

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” –Matthew 20:25-28

The people of this world look to authority, law and power to solve the problems of the day. They fight for prominence and position. Even those who claim the name of Christ can often be no different than James and John. The world says, “It’s push come to shove!”, “It’s who you know!” and “Claw your way to the top!” Jesus taught the Way of the Kingdom; God’s Kingdom subversively transforms society through humility, love and self-sacrificial service.

Jesus’ way to greatness is paradoxical and true: the first will be last, and the last will be first. Consider that the greatest leaders our world has ever known have more often than not been the most humble. Humble does not mean wishy-washy, it is true to the character of Christ. The most powerful people to shape the world for good are the tireless and selfless servants of others.

Who are the people in your life that inspire you the most? Have you been seeking the world’s path to greatness or the kingdom of God’s path? How can you emulate the humility of Jesus in your daily life today by serving rather than seeking to be served?

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The Reality of Human Suffering

The Reality of Human Suffering

The saying “I thirst” reveals the physical suffering that Jesus underwent as a human being. Isaiah chapter 53:3 describes the Messiah as a suffering servant. In Isaiah 53:3 it says “He was despised and rejected by men. He was a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.” In suffering death by crucifixion, Jesus underwent the most intense suffering that human beings have ever conjured up to inflict upon another person. Nothing is more painful, or more agonizing or more prolonged, than the suffering of a death by crucifixion.

Some have speculated that the wine mixed with myrrh that was offered to him by the Roman soldier was the kindness of a sedative to dull the pain. Other interpreters see it as a bitter and mocking response to compound his thirst with sour wine. Regardless, the saying and what followed with the offer of gall reveal that Jesus underwent deep distress and suffering.

Jesus was fully a human being, a man, who understands what it feels like to be in pain, to be hungry, to have your friends betray you, to have your friends deny you, to have yourself carried away by a perversion of justice. He understands what it feels like to be tortured, to be mocked, to be spit on.

I thirst

Jesus understands what it feels like to be sick and to suffer and experience pain. He was a man of sorrows and familiar with sufferings. In this life on earth, there are certainly sufferings. People sin against us, do they not? Confidantes say things that hurt us. Intimate and close friends betray us.

Sometimes others hurt us intentionally out of spite and out of a sinful and evil heart. At other times our loved ones wound us without intending us harm but merely because they too are wounded and finite human beings. Sometimes we suffer and we hurt, and we grieve the loss of our friends. We grieve the loss of control of our bodies. We suffer to the point of even death at times. All of us at one point in our life will suffer to the point of death. Jesus bore our sufferings. Isaiah says: “Surely he took our infirmities and carried our sorrows.” (53:4)

There’s nothing that you can go through in this life that Jesus has not gone through and will not go through with you. If you are in the midst of a challenging time in your life, in the midst of a time of suffering, of pain, of hurt, maybe it’s at the hands of another person or maybe it’s because your body is falling apart. Perhaps it is for some other reason, injustice; whatever your pain, Jesus understands—He has been there before and is with you now.

The writer of Hebrews describes Jesus as a high priest, but not like the other high priests. He is a high priest who is able to sympathize with us in our weakness, as the writer of Hebrew says. In Hebrews 2:14, the writer says:

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity that by in his death he might destroy he who holds power over death—that is the devil. For this reason, (verse 17) he had to be made like his brothers in every way.”

Jesus had to be made fully human, completely and fully human even in pain and weakness. He shared with us in all of the pains and all of the weakensses with which human beings struggle.

He was made like His brothers in every way. Why? In order that He might become a merciful and a faithful high priest in the service of God, that He might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself suffered, He is able to help those who also are tempted and are suffering. The writer of Hebrews would go on to say in Chapter four, verse 15, “…but we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are and yet was without sin” and because of that, we can do something that is quite incredible—approach the Throne of Grace for help!

Let us then approach the Throne of Grace with confidence so that we too can receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Are you going through a time of need right now? Do you need Jesus to help you? He sympathizes with you in your sufferings. He is your great high priest who has shares in your sufferings and will abundantly and lovingly help you through the sharing in this trial time. Boldly approach the Throne of Grace, today!

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Fulfillment of Scriptures

Fulfillment of Scriptures

There are two scripture passages specifically that relate to Jesus’ cry, “I thirst.” Psalm 22 begins with one of the other seven last words from the Cross: “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”

These words are the lament written by King David 1,000 years before the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Somewhat further on in Psalm 22 is an incredibly specific description of Crucifixion when it says: “they have pierced my hands and feet.” The Psalm describes the dividing up and casting lots for His clothing, and then for our focus verse 14 & 15 prophetically:

I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.

Another Psalm that also relates to this (and perhaps Jesus had this one in mind as well), is Psalm 69, verse 21: “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.”

Jesus knew that every single thing that He was doing all along the way was for fulfillment of one Scripture passage after another. Every moment, every word spoken would happen as an intentional submission to the Word of God. Nothing was out of His control.

Some would try to claim responsibility and therefore power over Jesus – Judas for example – but Jesus said: “Let Scripture be fulfilled!” (Mark 14:49)

In the Gospel of John, Pilate says: “Don’t you know I have the power to free you?” Jesus replies: “You don’t have any power over me. I will complete the work that the Father has given Me to do.”

Jesus perfectly fulfilled the Scriptures in His life. He completely and faithfully fulfilled all the Old Testament laws in life, and in His death so that He might establish the promise in His covenant. Everything about him was prophesized and proclaimed in the Scriptures before He was ever born.

All of our lives are to be ordered in accordance with the prophetic teaching of the Scriptures. If we are to be a people who follow the Son of God Who gave up his life for us, if we are to be His disciples, we must fulfill the Scriptures. We do this not only in our lives, but in the things which we give up for the sake of His Way found in the Scriptures.

Not all of the things that are written in the Scriptures are easy to apply to our lives. Some of the Scriptures challenge us in ways of which our culture embraces and permits, but the Scriptures say, “All things are lawful for me…but not all things are helpful.” (1 Cor. 6:12)

The Scriptures call us to higher ethics than we would ever call ourselves. Jesus addressed the cultural standards of His day when He said “You have heard that it is said…but I say….” The laws and standards of society would never call us to the character of Christ. Our righteousness must exceed that of the lawyers and Pharisees. With the Fruits of the Spirit there is no law!

Personal sacrifice is required to fulfill and obey the teaching of the Scripture, and Jesus shows us the way with:

I thirst.

He would “drink the cup that the Father had given him.” (John 18:11) His purpose was to fully live the Father’s will—no matter what it entailed; Jesus hungered and thirsted for righteousness. He learned and yearned to submit His life obediently to the upward call of God the Father as it was revealed in the Sacred Word.

Is your singular desire to yield your life to the call of God the Father as that is revealed to you in the Holy Scriptures? Or are you holding back? What is preventing you from truly giving in to the Spiritual thirst for God’s will?

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The Choice to Suffer

The Choice to Suffer

“I thirst” is the shortest of the seven last words. In fact, it is only one word in Greek, the word διψω which is pronounced dip-sō.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” –John 19:28

See that Jesus is purposeful in his work. Jesus was fully in control and knew exactly what He was doing in the distress of the Cross. His purpose was to complete, to persevere to the very end, to finish the work that the Lord, His God and Father had given Him to do. It was a work that is found in the pages of Holy Scripture itself: the call to be the suffering servant.

One of the questions that arises in this is: why would anyone purpose to suffer distress? Indeed, the very idea sounds foreign to the ears of the people of our culture and day. We work so incredibly hard to avoid and minimize distress in our lives. Indeed, this has become an all-consuming dream of Americans. Pat Morley in his book The Man in the Mirror sums up that dream in what he describes as the “wrinkle free life.”

The “wrinkle-free life” is a dream of a life on earth where we minimize pain, we avoid suffering, we age without stress and we retire in comfort. Unfortunately, the more focused our culture has become on pursuing the self-serving wrinkle free life, the more surprised we are by the stress-filled lives we have created for ourselves. The Lord has a word to our cultural pursuit:

Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” –Haggai 1:5-6

The more we pursue the “wrinkle-free life” the more it seems to elude us. Perhaps the goal is wrong. Indeed it is dead wrong. Paul writes of those who pursue the mindset of the world:

For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. –Phil. 3:10

Jesus calls us to pick up our cross and follow Him. That does not sound like the easy, stress free, pain-less path. On the contrary, the Lord is inviting us to join Him in “sharing in His sufferings.” (Phil. 3:10) Indeed, the followers of Christ must intentionally purpose to suffer and endure. This is a sinful and fallen world. In order to be on the side of righteousness and truth, grace and love, there will be opposition from evil forces and people. The world will marshal its force against us. If it persecuted Christ, it will persecute His followers.

One of the ways to steady ourselves for these unexpected moments of opposition and distress is to intentionally enter periods of distress as a way of steeling ourselves for the inevitable. The spiritual disciplines of self-denial have long been recognized by faithful Christians as useful for strengthening the character of the Cross in our hearts.

Examples of disciplines of self denial may be intentionally fasting from something that we enjoy, giving away money to the poor, keeping Sabbath worship, sacrificing our time in service to others or to the Church. Through actions of self-denial, the self-centered focus is brought into check. The fleshly nature is naturally lazy; it tries to avoid pain; it runs away from hard work.

The call of Christ encourages us to overcome the natural self-serving desires of the flesh. By engaging in the disciplines of self-denial in times of blessing and plenty, we are preparing our character for the necessary fortitude needed when the inevitable time of trial comes. Pastor John Piper called fasting, “The Hungry Handmaiden of Faith”. Fasting, almsgiving, service and other forms of self-sacrifice show us both our weakness in the flesh and give confidence of the character that God is working in us.

During this season of Lent, how are you engaging in the disciplines of self-denial? Where do you see God addressing the powerful forces of self-centeredness in your own life? In what ways have you been shaped by the world’s pursuit of the “wrinkle-free life?” In what ways is Christ shaping you into the character of the Cross?

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DISTRESS: I Thirst

DISTRESS: I Thirst

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”
A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. – John 19:28-29

Water in the Wilderness

“I will not be mastered by anything.” –The Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 6:12

The archetypical representation of worldly power, protection and provision in the Old Testament is Egypt. As we read in the book of Genesis, on more than one occasion the people of God fled famine and foreign enemies into the provident hands of the Egyptian pharaohs and the Egyptian people. The first to do this was the great patriarch Abraham.

We read in Genesis: “Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.” (12:10) Several generations later twelve of Abraham’s great-grand children would follow in his footsteps as they also look to Egypt for provision during a time of famine.

The problem with seeking refuge in Egypt was the cost. You may enter as God’s free people, the gateways into the land of Egypt were massive and intimidating to those who sought entrance, but at a price. Egypt demanded the self-sacrifice of your freedom, and the sacrifice of your wife and children. For four hundred years, many generations of the people of God toiled under the tyrannical burden of bondage to their Egyptian protectors and providers. Worldly powers are like that, they promise protection and provision, but always at the cost of human freedom and dignity.

God would have his people be free and dependent on him alone. Following the great salvation of Israel from Egypt, God led the people into a season of wilderness wandering. While in their minds they all desired to be free from the bondage of Egypt, their hearts had been formed by a slave-like dependency on Egyptian provision. The Lord used the distress of forty years of wilderness wandering to purge Egypt out of Israel.

Again and again the people grumbled against the leadership of Moses as he led them through the deprivation of the desert wilderness:

They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”

But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” – Exodus 17:1-3

Yet, in their thirst they were learning a very important lesson. God would teach the Israelites that He is to be their provider. Again and again, the Lord provided food, water and protection for the people as they cried out for His provision. When their slave-formed hearts would look nostalgically back to the provision of Egypt, God would discipline them until they cried out to Him alone for salvation and sustenance.

The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

The Hebrew name Massah means “Testing”. The Israelites “tested” the Lord by their mistrust and doubt of His provision and nostalgic longing for Egyptian worldly provision. The Lord would have them simply trust Him. The Hebrew name, Meribah, means “quarreling”. They had argued, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

The history of humanity demonstrates that humanity continually tests and quarrels with God. We so often find it extremely difficult to trust and submit to His provision. We grow impatient with His timing and methods of provision. Sadly, testing and quarreling with the Lord can thrust us straight into the promising arms of worldly refuge and provision.

Have you ever asked “Is the Lord with me or not?” The question is exactly backwards. Rather you should ask yourself, “Am I with the Lord or not?”

So often when we are moving through seasons of distress, we are testing God and quarreling with him for not joining us in fulfilling our agenda and will for our lives. God does desire to provide water for His people, but the goal of our journey is to trust and look to Him for his leading and guidance.

When Jesus cried, “I thirst” from the Cross, it was not the first time He had experienced human distress. At the beginning of his ministry, He too was led into the wilderness for forty days. In that place of desperation, He showed us the way where we so often fail. In response to the temptations that come through times of desperation, He demonstrates total faith:

‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ – Matthew 4:4

Are you in a wilderness time? How can the struggles of Israel and the leadership of Jesus help you? In what ways are you looking to the world rather than the Lord to provide? Allow the distress of these present trials to lead you into a thirst for God.

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The Gift of One Another

The Gift of One Another

Jesus gives John to Mary and Mary to John, and it is the gift of the new. It is the gift of one another. Do you know that in the New Testament there are no fewer than 54 ‘one another’ statements? We are told in the book of Hebrews:

“Let us consider how we may spur – spur one another on towards love and good deeds. And do not give up meeting with one another and – as some are in the habit of doing.”

And then we are also told that we should encourage one another all the more as we see the day of God approaching.

Think about how those words might apply to John and Mary, that they should not give up meeting together. They should not get isolated in this dreadful moment of Jesus’ death; but rather they should spur one another on towards love and good deeds, and they should mutually encourage one another, to breathe – literally breathe courage into one another as they face very fearful days ahead. Mary and John were Jesus’ gift to one another just as this new family is the gift that has been given to you, the gift of one another.

I am simply going to give you a rapid fire list of all of the “one another” statements from the New Testament. Allow these encouragements to bring you deeper fellowship in the family of God; to become a type of blueprint for relationship.

Be at peace with each other. Wash one another’s feet. “Love one another as I have loved you.” Love each other. Be devoted to one another. Honor one another. Live in harmony with one another. Accept one another. Greet one another with a holy kiss. Agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you. Wait for one another. Have equal concern for each other. Serve one another in love.

Carry one another’s burdens. Bear with one another in love. Be kind and compassionate to one another. Forgive each other. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Bear with one another. Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Teach and admonish one another. Encourage, build up each other. Live in peace with one another.

Be kind to each other. Encourage one another. Spur one another on to love and good deeds. Confess your sins to one another. Pray for each other.

We should love another. Love one another. Love one another. Love one another. That is the message of John’s first letter. Where do you think he got that message? Jesus taught him love from the Cross:

“Woman, behold your son.” And then to John, “Behold your Mother.”

Love one another.

Live in harmony with one another. Love each other deeply. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Clothe yourselves with humility towards one another. Greet one another with the kiss of love.

And then we have the five “do not do” to one another’s. Do not pass judgment on one another. Do not become conceited, provoking, or envying one another. Do not lie to one another. Do not slander one another and do not grumble against one another.

Jesus has given us to one another as a gift to be treasured, stewarded, guarded and loved. Which of the 54 “one anothers” from the Scriptures spoke to your heart today? How can you apply that encouragement to your relationships today?

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