Tag Archives: break

Out In The Cold

Christian life, , ,

OUT IN THE COLD

“Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.” Romans 2:25-29.

Paul took great pains to ensure that his Jewish readers understood the place of the law in their lives. Being a Jew was much more than having the outward and physical sign of the covenant in their bodies. It was an issue of the heart. Like his Master Jesus, he needed them to understand that they were all lawbreakers, no matter how much they viewed themselves as the privileged covenant people of God.

Like the Pharisees who were Jesus’ persistent opponents, defending their natural birth into the nation of Israel was of no use if they did not back it up with obedience to the terms of God’s covenant. It would be the same as thinking that natural birth in a country would be enough to keep me out of prison even if I committed a crime.

The thinking of the Jews whom Paul addressed then is, unfortunately, the same false teaching that deceives millions of people today. False religions teach people that the way to please their god, or the way to get rid of sin is to subscribe to a certain religion and to do certain things, rituals or rules that relate to the body but cannot change the heart. Eat or do not eat certain foods; wash here or wash this way; offer sacrifices of food or blood; bow so many times, or bow this way etc. What can any of these things do to alter the state of the heart, or remove the guilt of the soul?

The prophet Micah, in the Old Testament, struggled with the same issue.

“With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He had shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:6-8.

What value is there in washing the body, putting the right kinds of food in the mouth or offering sacrifices to an inanimate block of wood or stone? What evidence it there to prove that these rituals have any effect on the guilty conscience? Of what value is circumcision, as a mark of membership if it does not issue in obedience to God, or offering sacrifices if they are an excuse to keep on sinning? All the adherence to religious practices in the world cannot and will not change the heart.

Paul was slowly building his case for the hopelessness of all human beings. Not even the Jews, who had thousands of years of history – God actively involved in their lives, revealing Himself to them, cutting covenant with them, intervening in their lives with many miracles,  protecting and providing for them, governing and guiding them – were any better than the Gentiles because they were just as guilty of ungodly behaviour as their uncircumcised neighbours.

Worst of all, although the Jews probably did not even give it a thought, was their arrogant attitude towards the Gentiles whom they despised. It was their very pride in their privileged birth that cut them off from God. “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5b. So, instead of living in God’s favour, they had cut themselves off from Him because of their arrogance.

Acknowledgement

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Nothing More To Give

Bible Study, , ,

NOTHING MORE TO GIVE

“Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.

“The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you may also believe. These things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of His bones was broken,” and, as another Scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.” John 19:31-37 NIV.

What an impression this scene must have made on John! Had he ever watched a crucifixion before? Probably not. He was from Galilee. No doubt Jesus would not have lingered to gaze at so cruel and gruesome a way of execution with His disciples, just for entertainment or out of curiosity, especially knowing that He was to suffer the same fate.

But John was drawn to remain because it was his beloved Master who hung there. He could not tear his eyes away, although he was horrified at what he saw. Three men dangling from wooden stakes, suspended on vicious iron nails, blood dripping from multiple wounds! The one in the centre was hanging limply, head resting on His chest. He was obviously already dead. The other two were in the final minutes of their lives.

To add the final touch to their suffering, at the request of the Jewish leaders, Pilate ordered that their legs be broken to hasten suffocation. With well-aimed blows on their shins, the soldiers did as they had been instructed. First one thief, then the other; but when they looked at the centre figure and saw that He was dead, they didn’t bother. Instead, just to make sure, an unnamed soldier callously dug his spear into Jesus’ side. Out flowed a river of bloody liquid – was it the last of the Saviour’s blood, shed for the sin of the world.

He had given everything. There was nothing more to give. Even the final drops of His blood were sacrificed for us. He was bled out — exsanguinated — just a lifeless shell still hanging there.

This scene was forever etched on John’s memory, so much so that he recorded everything in detail and vouched for his trustworthiness so that his readers would believe his report and put their faith in Jesus as the Son of God. After all, what other character in human history had ever had his story told in such detail hundreds of years before it happened?

Like giant jigsaw puzzle, piece by piece, prophets and poets had written and sung His story, and now it was being put together and lived out in front of John and those who stood by. Anyone who chose to, could put the pieces together and finally look with wonder on the Son of God.

But the picture was not yet complete. A few more pieces remained. As John stood gazing at the spectacle, how did he feel?  He could only look on helplessly, knowing that he had no grave in which to bury Him.  In any case, the body of his Master belonged to the Roman government, and he had no power to rescue Him from the fate of criminals — the Jerusalem rubbish dump in the Valley of Hinnom — where the bodies slowly roasted in the ever-burning fire.

But wait…God had taken care of everything and there was yet another prophecy to be fulfilled. “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will also rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.” Psalm 16:10.

God had His men waiting in the wings…