WHERE GLORY DWELLS
"See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of
Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they
will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be
mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third
day."
Matthew 20:18-19 ESV
¶The Son of God identifies
himself as Son of man. He is one of us. He shares our fate. By rendering
judgement upon Him, men of the earth condemn themselves. The priests
were the ones who were tasked with overseeing the temple sacrifice, who
certified the sacrificial lamb to be spotless, which lifted from the
people the burden of their sin. Ironically the chief priests turn
against their own great High Priest. The sacrificial system they
oversee grabs Him up, processes Him, spits Him out, and deposits Him in
the grave. Then what? Next sacrifice? Do we just go on looking for the
next victim to process for the sake of our besetting sins? No! No to
hell and no to guilt and shame. The food-processing line of the
sacrificial system has been broken by His indestructible life and
glorious resurrection. The road to hell has been shut off for all who
allow Him to identify with us, our sin, and our redemption. He goes up
to Jerusalem, and we go up with Him to glory.
THE POWER TO FORGIVE
But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord . Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, "May the Lord see and avenge!" 2 Chronicles 24:21-22 ESV ¶Contrast Joash's response to that of Jesus, who, when He was reviled and crucified, asked God not to hold their sins against them. Which of the two of them had more of a right to seek vengeance? Which of the the two had more power to forgive? We can forgive when we know God is in control.
Comments
Post a Comment