Lent - Day Thirty - Making A Big Splash

John  Chapter 7 Verses 40 to 52 

The Law does not allow us to pass judgment on a man without hearing him

Several people, who had been listening to Jesus said, ‘Surely he must be the prophet’, and some said, ‘He is the Christ’, but others said, ‘Would the Christ be from Galilee? Does not scripture say that the Christ must be descended from David and come from the town of Bethlehem?’ So the people could not agree about him. Some would have liked to arrest him, but no one actually laid hands on him.

  The police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, ‘Why haven’t you brought him?’ The police replied, ‘There has never been anybody who has spoken like him.’ ‘So’ the Pharisees answered ‘you have been led astray as well? Have any of the authorities believed in him? Any of the Pharisees? This rabble knows nothing about the Law – they are damned.’ One of them, Nicodemus – the same man who had come to Jesus earlier – said to them, ‘But surely the Law does not allow us to pass judgment on a man without giving him a hearing and discovering what he is about?’ To this, they answered, ‘Are you a Galilean too? Go into the matter, and see for yourself: prophets do not come out of Galilee.’

As I walked along today, the heat was just as hot as always but I did not seem to mind it so much.  Uriah says we are getting closer to our destination and the mountains are finally in what appears to be in walking distance.  He says before we can get to the mountains we have to go through territory that once was a large salt lake.  He says if you like sand, you will love salt.  He also cautions us to stay away from plants that appear to be succulent and ripe with water as they will lay you low if not kill you outright.  He says once we get through this purgatory the way will become easier and cooler.  There will be streams of cold water flowing and the heat of the desert will become a distant memory.  So, I spent the day thinking about my childhood.  I lived in the country and worked on the family farm.  But my Dad wanted me to have free time as well so he did not make me a slave of the land.  I helped out, of course, but he let me be a boy and I was able to hang out with my friends.  As the sun was poaching my noodle and the prospect of spending several days walking through salt, my mind wandered to the old swimming hole at St. Francis' Creek.  It was more than a creek, it was almost as wide and deep to be called a river.  We used to fish there and there were times when I was the one that provided the dinner for the household by bringing in a bunch of catfish.  Mom took care of all of the cleaning and cooking and I swear that when it was put before us along with cornbread and greens, it was a little bit of heaven!  But we guys used the creek for swimming.  You can imagine that our swimming attire was lacking but our birthday suits never went out of style during those carefree summer days so we didn't care.  I felt the breeze hit me as I swung out on the rope trying to get as close to the center of the creek as possible and then I let go of the rope and felt weightless for a second and then relished the feeling the of icy cold water pulling me down as I splashed down like a space capsule sending water high into the sky!  It was time that I will always remember with great fondness.   

When the Master spoke today He spoke on how Jesus made a big splash Himself when He was on earth.  He brought attention to Himself and the Pharisees and the Temple management was running scared.  Considering the procurator, Pilate, was not very fond of the Jews and in fact had killed some of them on the Temple grounds, well, they just did not need a messiah coming on the scene to stir things up.  So they sent temple militia to arrest him and haul him before the Sanhedrin.  Off they went, but then they heard Him speak and they were amazed as was the large crowd.  The prudence of a soldier was woven into the temple guards and they returned to the high priest and his cronies without the so-called messiah.  But it was not just the presence of all of the people that would have protested his arrest and have caused a riot which Pilate would be only too glad to quell.  No, it was what was said, the words were powerful and unlike other messiahs that cropped up from time to time, this Jesus did not advocate violence.  How they would get rid of the cursed Romans without bloodshed was beyond their way of thinking.  But He did not even advocate war against Rome of the emperor. So, the guards came back empty-handed.  In the council, Jesus had few friends.  But He had Nicodemus, the man who had visited Him in the night, you know when it was safe.  It was he who said that before a man could be condemned there had to be an opportunity for the man to state what his teachings and there must be witnesses to an infraction.  This annoyed the powers in the Temple who just wanted to rid themselves of this Jesus.  He was making a splash with the people and large gatherings were hearing His message.  He was making a big splash but the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes all wondered if the splash would come at the cost of Jewish blood.  They made note the sentiments and loyalties of Nicodemus, he would not be summoned when the time came for the Sanhedrin to deal with this charlatan.  They began to plot in earnest against Jesus and a gaggle of Pharisees followed Him wherever He went.  The sun began to set for the man called Jesus.  Once the temple management wanted you gone, it was only a matter of time before you were stoned (mercifully) or crucified (unmercifully).  The followers of Jesus would take note that the Pharisees had sent a team of their best goaders who would do their utmost to trip Jesus up.  They never failed, never.  But this Jesus would be the one to spoil their record and even when they were rejoicing at the sight of Jesus dying in public view on the cross, they would later come to understand that in spite of their wishes that the mission of Jesus, the Messiah foretold of old, had been accomplished in spite and not because of them.  One interesting thing, one of the Apostles, Judas Iscariot by name was more worldly than the others and he could see the writing on the wall.  Far be it from him to be on a losing team.  He began to ponder ways to profit from betraying The Christ. 

Lent - Palm Sunday - Irony

When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, 

but that a riot was breaking out instead, 

he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd,

saying,

"I am innocent of this man's blood.

Look to it yourselves."

And the whole people said in reply, 

"His blood be upon us and upon our children."

There was a lot of innocence being proclaimed here.  Both of the parties doing the proclaiming were far from being innocent.  Pilate, what a wimp he was. Earlier, he had found Jesus innocent.  Pilate at that moment should have simply ordered Jesus to be freed and he should have given a hard glaring look at the crowd and with all of the dignity of a Roman Procurator he simply should have walked away.  Instead, he reopens the case.  The Temple gang keeps insisting that Jesus is a criminal and deserves to die.  Pilate keeps trying to release him, especially once his wife sends word that she had a dream about Jesus and advised Pilate not to have anything to do with Jesus as he was an innocent man.  Eventually, Pilate is backed into a corner and he, the Roman Procurator, employs a Greek procedure and while washing his hands proclaims that he is innocent of shedding this man's innocent blood.  The rabble from the temple yells back that his blood is on them and their children.  This was simply saying that they felt no guilt about condemning this man because they knew he was guilty.

I say that this last saying, about the blood being on them and upon their children, is just what Jesus had in mind for the events of this day.  In history, these words said by the Jews on this fateful Friday were used to begin persecutions of the Jews by making it seem that they, and they alone, were responsible for putting Jesus on the cross. Nothing could be further from the truth.  Jesus came into the world to die on that cross, for our sins, and so that we might live forever in heaven.  The blood of Jesus flowed that day on every man, woman, and child that was there. His blood flows down to every generation, cleaning them and making them fit for heaven. To God, there is no Jew or Gentile any longer.  We all are washed by the blood of the lamb.  

We like to think of ourselves as being different from the delegation from the temple there in Pilates courtyard that day.  We like to think that we would have yelled for Jesus to be freed.  Is that really an honest assessment?  The truth is that most likely we would not have known what was going on and would not have been there at all.  If in fact, we were with the crowd, which side would we have been on?  

I propose that what the Jews said that day turned into a prophecy that came true.  The blood of Jesus was poured on them and it has flowed to each generation since that first one. That was what the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ was all about. 

 

Holy Saturday - He Descended Into Hell...What's That All About?

The Chief Priest and his cronies were now satisfied. This latest messiah, one in a long line of pious fakers, a fraud from Nazareth that had been stirring up the crowds was now dead. They had seen to that. They watched him die a bare three hours after the Romans had nailed him to the cross. His death was faster than some whom the Romans crucified, some of them lasted several days. But he was gone now and the only two things were left to do. First they had to make sure that rumors of his rising from the dead did not occur. To do this Caiaphas, the chief priest, was very clever indeed. Instead of sending temple guards, he enlisted the hated Romans and Pilate assigned a Roman guard detail to watch the tomb and to let no one in or strangely, no one out. The Romans now had an interest in what was surely under normal circumstances an issue for the Jews. They would see to it that there would be no theft of the body and proclamations of Jesus raising from the dead!

The second thing that needed to be done was to scatter the disciples of this faker to the four winds. A couple of threats and maybe a scourging or two would send the men back to their boats and the business of fishing. Yes, everything was under control now, or so they thought. 

It has to be emphasized that Jesus truly died on the cross. He did not go into some state of suspended animation, he was truly dead. The Apostles Creed uses the curious words, "He descended into hell..." What on earth can that mean?  This is another example of why we should be careful in interpreting ancient words using our modern minds. We think of hell as the place of the damned, a place of fire, demons, sulfur, and pain. That is truly a good picture of what hell is. But that is not the hell of the Apostles creed. The hell that Jesus went to after his death was not the hell of the damned, Gehenna. It was instead a place where the just waited for their redemption. Recall the story of Lazarus and rich man. The Bible points out that the destination of the two men were different. Lazarus died and was carried to the bosom of Abraham while the rich man was carried to a place of torment.  The story Jesus told shows that there is an immense gulf between the place were Lazarus was and the place were the rich man was. The place where Lazarus was bears the name of Sheol and is the place where Jesus went to. There he preached the good news to all of the just and opened the gates of heaven for them which had been closed since the time of Adam because of the sin of our late and great ancestor. 

So the redemption that Jesus brought to mankind was for all of mankind, those that came before us, those that were alive during the time he was alive, and those that came after him. 

So on this Holy Saturday we can commemorate the visit of Jesus to the souls waiting in Sheol. The redemption that Jesus brought was for all and we can be happy that he did "descend into hell."  

God bless you this day as you and your family busy yourselves with the preparations the coming of Easter brings. Thank you Jesus for going to the Cross for me.  Thank you for destroying sin and death.  May I live the rest of my life worthy of your great sacrifice.    

I believe in God the Father almighty creator of heaven and earth
I believe in Jesus Christ His only Son...