Jesus

The Fairest of Ten Thousand

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My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. Song of Solomon 5:10 KJV

Singing “The Lily of the Valley” this Sunday, brought back memories from fifty years ago, of the occasional Sunday night when we would pile in the car with friends and head off to visit the Blue Bluck Pentecostal Church. Though it was a little church out in the middle of nowhere, we would find it packed to capacity every weekend. The “worship team” consisted of the pastor, playing bass fiddle, accompanied by three guitars as well as piano. When the people sang, “Lily of the Valley”, they would clap and stamp their feet. In that little church with its wooden floors the energy would cause the floorboards to roll beneath us in waves. But of all the memories, what stands out most was of one older gentleman, who would get so excited during the singing that between stanzas he would shout out, “O glory! Hallelujah!”. His voice practically shook the rafters and had me jumping out of my skin every time he did it. Now, we may be far too proper for such an outburst in our church today, but I don’t think Jesus minded a bit. In fact, if we have truly put all our faith in Jesus, then on the day that we sweep up to glory to see His blessed face, I will bet my bottom dollar that, “O glory! Hallelujah!” will be one of the most timid expressions of our worship! Try to imagine that we will see those Seraphim and Cherubim, that Isaiah told us about crying “Holy! Holy! Holy!” so powerfully that the threshold of God’s throne room will be shaken. Then Abraham, Issac, Jacob, along with Peter, John, James and Paul will fall on their faces and cast their crowns before the feet of Jesus in worship and God’s glory will fill the place. Then, for a certainty, we will know the depths of the truth behind the lavish words of praise in this old hymn. We will be reminded of how He never forsook us, that He fed us with His manna all along the way and that His presence remained a wall of fire protecting us and that His mighty hand led us safely all the way.

God’s Secret Place

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He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1 KJV

I love hiking up into the woods, and finding a quiet spot to just sit, and listen to the songs of the birds, the buzz of a stray bee or the rustle of small animals in the brush. For me that is my secret place, but on the day that Jesus died, the kind of secret place that needed to be found, was not a wooded glen, but rather place for Him to be buried. So, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took down the body of our Savior and wrapped Him in linen cloths. Then they carried Him to a tomb cut out of a rocky hillside and gently laid Him on a stone shelf. They hurried to finish before sunset, because by the Jewish law they must finish before the Sabbath began. Last of all they quickly rolled a stone over the entrance and headed home. But that was not the end of the story. Jesus wasn’t placed in His tomb because He had failed, Death had not defeated Him, neither had sin won. Instead, behind that stone, in the secret place, He rested in the shadow of the Almighty. He had given His life into the hands of His Father, and now He simply rested until the moment when the stone would be rolled away. Maybe, the shadow of death has fallen across your path today, and you feel forgotten, broken and defeated. But just as the darkness of the tomb was not the end of the story for Jesus, so it is also not the end for anyone who will put their trust in Him. He has chosen a Secret Place for us for a season, so that in its quietness we may hear HIs voice, inviting us to trust Him and to rest in His shadow.

Good Friday – The Kindness of Calvary

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Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment and cast lots. Luke 23:34 KJV

During the six long hours of the suffering of Jesus, He hung from nails driven through His hands and feet, and blood streamed down His face from the thorns that pierced His scalp. No one could have expected Him to do more than simply endure: But He did. Jesus was busy with an amazing number of things, and busy, not because He hoped to gain anything, but because His kindness and compassion was stirred up for those around Him. We can’t be sure of their exact order, but during those hours, Jesus promised the repentant thief, dying next to Him a place in paradise, He made sure that Mary would be cared for by His disciple John. In His agony, Jesus showed the world the love of God, so much so that as He died, one of the soldiers who had crucified Him, began to believe and confessed that He was the Son of God.

But of all the things Jesus did, none showed His kindness more than His final prayer “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do!” Though prayed when He was at HIs weakest, that prayer is still being powerfully answered today. And today, on this Good Friday, If the sight of children starving in war-torn villages while evil dictators plan their next attack angers you, remember that in God’s kindness, lies an even greater power than guns and bombs. There is a stronger force than fear and hatred. And on that afternoon, when Jesus breathed His last, friend and foe alike thought that He was finished. And they were right! Jesus was finished paying the penalty for you and I – finished with taking away the sins of the world – finished with His Father’s mission for Him on earth but just beginning by kindness and love to change the course of history, one lost sinner at a time!