I'm Barabbas? Really!?

TODAY'S BIBLE READING:

Numbers 15:17-16:40
Mark 15:1-47
Psalm 54:1-7
Proverbs 11:5-6

BIBLE VERSE(S) FOR TODAY:

Mark 15:12 "Pilate asked them, 'Then what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?'"

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

In our verse for the day, Pilate asked the crowd what they wanted him to do with Jesus. Certain things caused this question to be asked:

- Jesus had been brought to Pilate by the envious, Jewish, religious leaders. They wanted Him killed once and for all.
- The Jewish people reminded Pilate that it was the time of year when he had traditionally released a prisoner to them.
- Pilate, believing Jesus to be innocent of any wrong-doing, offered the crowd a choice: Jesus or the murdering Barabbas (a convicted murderer and insurrectionist).
- To Pilate's shock, the crowd chose Barabbas and demanded that Jesus be crucified.

Now, friend, if we were in that crowd and watched these events play out, our hearts would have been broken at such injustice. We would have wept as these words were welling up in our hearts: "It's not fair! It's not fair!"

Yet, in this ugly scene, there is a beautiful picture. It is simply this: An obviously guilty man went free as Jesus took his place on the cross.

Friend, you and I are Barabbas in this story! We've been angry so we are just as guilty of murder as he is (Matthew 5:21-22). We've also lied, stolen, looked to lust, refused to forgive, failed to love sacrificially, been filled with jealousy, and so much more! In God's eyes, we are all lawbreakers.

But, when we place our trust in Jesus, relying upon Him to make us right in God's eyes, then He takes our place on the cross. We get to go free because He forgives us and declares us righteous.

While we look down on Barabbas and cry "injustice," his role is actually a beautiful picture of our guilt, God's love and justice, and our freedom.

Are you a good person?

TODAY'S BIBLE READING:

Numbers 14:1-15:16
Mark 14:53-72
Psalm 53:1-6
Proverbs 11:4

BIBLE VERSE(S) FOR TODAY:

Psalm 53:2-3 "God looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God. But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!"

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

It's been my observation that most of us think we're a pretty good person. In fact, if I was walking down the street and someone asked me, "Do you think you're a good person?", I'd probably say "Yes."

Why is it so natural for us to think of ourselves as good and to proclaim that goodness to others?

Because we have watered down the definition of that word. The way we define "goodness" is not the way that God defines "goodness."

When we define goodness, we are saying that we haven't killed anyone. We haven't committed adultery. We aren't a liar. We aren't a thief.

... at least we think those statements are true of us.

So, can I ask you a few questions to see if you are a good person? Thank you.

Have you ever been angry with someone? Of course you have. We all have. Well, in Matthew 5:21-22, Jesus equates anger with murder. So, you, my friend, are a murderer. You have broken the 6th Commandment (Exodus 20:13).

Have you ever looked at someone to lust after them (arouse sexual passions in your mind/heart)? Jesus said that whoever looks to lust has committed adultery in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28). So, you, my friend, are an adulterer. You have broken the 7th Commandment (Exodus 20:14).

Have you ever told a lie? Even once? Of course you have. We all have. And what do you call someone who has told a lie? A liar, right? So, you, my friend, are a liar. You have broken the 9th Commandment (Exodus 20:16).

Have you ever taken anything (no matter how small) that didn't belong to you? Of course you have. Well, what do you call someone who steals? A thief! So, you, my friend, are a thief. You have broken the 8th Commandment (Exodus 20:15).

So, by your own admonition, you are a murderer, an adulterer, a liar, and a thief. And we've only look at 4 of the 10 Commandments.

Do you see how misinformed we are when we proclaim our own goodness? Do you see how our verse for today is true when it says that God looks down from Heaven and can't find anyone who is doing good?

You may say, "Well, I'm mostly good. I'm a liar but most of the time I tell the truth."

Well, imagine with me that you are sitting in a court of law. The defendant is accused of murder. But, he speaks up and says, "I killed someone in cold blood. But, most of the time, I just leave people alone. I'm good most of the time. It's only every now and then that I kill someone."

You get the point, don't you?

So, what does a truth like the one found in today's Bible verses cause us to do? It should cause us to run, not walk, to the foot of the cross and fall down in repentance. It should cause us to trust in Jesus for our source of righteousness and stop trusting in ourselves to make us right in God's eyes.

Because we aren't morally good. Only Jesus is morally upright and fully pleasing to God. It is only as we are trusting in Jesus to make us right in God's eyes that we get forgiven and declared righteous. He takes our sin and He credits us with His righteousness.

So, if you are trusting in yourself to be good enough to make you right in God's eyes, stop it. You will never, ever be able to be good enough. Instead, trust in Jesus to make you good enough. That's precisely why He died on the cross, my friend.

Enjoying God

TODAY'S BIBLE READING:

Exodus 35:10-36:38 

Matthew 27:32-66 

Psalm 34:1-10 

Proverbs 9:7-8

BIBLE VERSE(S) FOR TODAY:

Psalm 34:3 "Come, let us tell of the LORD's greatness; let us exalt his name together."


REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

In this morning's reading, we observed Jesus as He hung on the cross and died. This is the climax of redemption history. Everything hinged on the cross and the empty tomb. If it were not for Jesus' sacrificial death on our behalf, we would be forever doomed to spend eternity in Hell apart from God.

But, the cross remedied that problem. It revealed how much our God loves us by showing us the lengths to which He would go to bring us to Himself. It also revealed how serious sin is by showing us the price He had to pay to redeem us.

Throughout this narrative, there are snippets that are worthy of much reflection. But, this morning, I simply want to point out one...

Matthew 27:50-51a "Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom..."

When Jesus died, we are told that the "curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two." This is referring to the veil that separated the front part of the Temple from the back 1/3 where God resided (the Holy of Holies).

This curtain might as well have been a massive concrete wall. God had made it clear in the Old Testament that anyone who stepped behind the curtain would die.

Leviticus 16 tells us that there was only one man on one day who could step behind that curtain. It was the High Priest and only on the Day of Atonement. And even then, he had better be sure to do it the way God had prescribed or he would die.

Stepping behind the curtain to be in God's presence in any other way would be a death sentence.

Yet, when Jesus died on the cross paying the sin debt of all who would believe, the curtain was pulled wide open. God was saying: "Because of Jesus' sacrificial death on your behalf, the worshiper may now enter My presence. As you rely upon Jesus' forgiveness and righteousness, you are now pleasing in My sight."

Notice which direction the curtain was ripped. It was not ripped from man to God. We could never force our way into God's presence uninvited. It was ripped from Heaven to earth. It was God who offered the invitation.

Now, the question remains whether we will take advantage of this unspeakable opportunity. The curtain has been ripped open - will you step behind it into God's presence this day and enjoy Him?

The Seriousness of Failing to Forgive

TODAY'S BIBLE READING:

Exodus 5:22-7:25
Matthew 18:21-19:12
Psalm 23:1-6
Proverbs 5:22-23


BIBLE VERSE(S) FOR TODAY:

Matthew 18:21-22 "Then Peter came to him and asked, 'Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?' 'No, not seven times,' Jesus replied, 'but seventy times seven!'"


REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

On Sunday mornings at Westside Baptist Church, I am preaching through the book of Hebrews. This past week, our text was Hebrews 12:14-17. It begins with "Strive for peace with everyone..." I noted that a refusal to forgive is a huge problem in our churches and, in my estimation, one of the two primary heart issues that results in the emotional problems that so many Christians are plagued with today.

In this morning's verse for the day, we see God's Word telling us once again that we must let offenses go. (We are reminded that God commands what is for our good: do what God says - no emotional problems.) We can't hold onto hurts. We must forgive even when the perpetrator remains unrepentant. In the rare case that someone actually comes to us and asks for forgiveness, we are obligated to do that even if they come back 490 times (70 x 7). But, if we are counting, we aren't forgiving.

The seriousness of forgiveness is found in the story Jesus told (Matthew 18:23-35) after these comments. He talked about a man who owed his king millions of dollars. As he begged his king for mercy, his massive debt was forgiven. Then this forgiven man went to someone who owed him thousands of dollars, a paltry sum when compared to the debt forgiven by the king. The debtor pleaded for mercy but was thrown into jail for the offense.

In this story, the point is obvious. Since the original slave was forgiven millions of dollars of debt, shouldn't he have forgiven someone who owed him only a few thousand dollars? When he had been forgiven so much, how could he refuse to forgive someone else of a much smaller debt? The injustice of this scenario is clear.

Only a moment's reflection is needed to show the even deeper truth: Since God has forgiven us of our massive sin debt against Him that required the crucifixion of His Son, shouldn't we forgive those who sin against us? After all, their offenses against us pale in comparison to how much we offended a holy God before He forgave us and saved us.

But, the story doesn't end here. Jesus said something else that grabs our attention as he brings his point to it's climax. When the king found out that the slave he had forgiven had refused to forgive someone of a much smaller debt, he responded...

Matthew 18:34-35 "Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. 'That's what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.'"

The king would not have reinstated the original debt. It was impossible to repay before the slave was put in prison - being confined to prison would only guarantee that nothing would be paid back.

So, this "entire debt" and "to be tortured" must simply refer to the king's punishing his unforgiving slave until he learned his lesson. He had been forgiven all so he must learn to forgive others. Refusing to forgive only means that he will be sorely disciplined until he does.

If God's discipline took no other form, we know that those who refuse to forgive may end up with things like ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, anxiety disorders, and so much more. God has called us to live with an attitude of forgiveness - and it is good for us.

Jesus tells us that this is what our "heavenly Father will do to (us) if we refuse to forgive ... from our hearts." Since we have been forgiven of our massive sin debt against a holy God, it is completely unjust and evil if we do not forgive those around us who have wronged us.

Is it easy to forgive? Nope. In some cases, it would seem impossible. We've been hurt so badly that forgiveness seems wrong on every level, especially if we think that forgiving the offender will release them from consequences we believe that they deserve.

But, this is not our call. God is the Judge. He will make things right in His time and in His way. But, as we wait, we are commanded to live in perpetual forgiveness.

We will learn that as we do the difficult thing that God has called us to do, we will not be imprisoned and tortured by the emotional problems so characteristic of those who grow bitter as they refuse to forgive. God's commands really are for our good.

What was nailed to the cross? It's more than you may have realized...

As I read through Colossians 2 this morning, I came across a very amazing word picture. It's in regard to our sins and how God forgave them.

God is infinitely holy and demands moral perfection from us. When we sin, we become ever more indebted to Him. That sin cannot simply be forgotten. His holiness has been violated and someone must 'pay.'

We understand this in our American culture. We often say, "Do the crime? Do the time!"

We understand that when someone violates society's laws, they are indebted to society and must either pay a fine or go to jail.

This is the way it works in our relationship with God. When we sin (and we all sin every single day), we are indebted to a holy God who demands that payment be made.

Well, folks can be shipped off to an eternity in a Christ-less hell to experience the consequences of not paying their debt to a holy God in this life. Yet, we realize that this is not God's heart (2 Peter 3:9).

So, in eternity past, God determined to glorify Himself by paying our debt for us. That word picture is provided in Colossians 2:14 where it says:

"by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross."

So, God cancelled our debt by "nailing it to the cross."

We know from the narrative of the Gospels that Jesus had something nailed to His cross. In John 19:19, it says: "Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, 'Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.'"

This appears to have been common procedure at crucifixions. The crime that someone had committed was put in writing and nailed to the cross. So, as folks walked by, they could see the offense and see the person who had committed it.

As far as the Romans were concerned, Jesus was accused of insurrection. He was accused of trying to set up a kingdom in opposition to Caesar. That was His offense.

Yet, in Colossians 2:14, we're told that as far as God is concerned, there was something much different nailed to the cross. It was our sins!

Friend, that's how God paid our sin debt. He couldn't simply forget it. Someone had to pay the debt. So, when Jesus hung on the cross, God placed our sin debt on His cross so that as the Jesus-follower walks by, they can see their sin debt being paid for by their infinitely loving Heavenly Master.

We serve an awesome God!!!

The Day of Atonement

At sundown this evening, the holiest day of the Jewish year begins. It's called Yom Kippur. In Bible times, it was called "The Day of Atonement" and is explained in Leviticus 16.

In a nutshell, this day was the only day of the year in which the High Priest was able to enter the Holy of Holies (where God's glory was visibly present) in the tabernacle/temple. On this day, he would enter with the blood of an animal that had been killed and sprinkle that blood upon the Mercy Seat (the lid over the Ark of the Covenant). This act did not forgive the sins of the people so much as it pushed the sins forward one more year until these sins were forever atoned for by Jesus on the cross as our ultimate Passover Lamb.

Why blood and why on the Mercy Seat?...

In my Bible reading this morning, I read how Solomon brought the Ark of the Covenant into the newly constructed temple in Jerusalem. It was noted that one item still remained in the Ark of the Covenant hidden by the Mercy Seat...

"There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt." (2 Chronicles 5:10).

On those "two tablets" were written the Ten Commandments. Those ten laws condemned everyone of us!

Don't think so?

Have you ever told a lie? Then you've broken the 9th commandment.
Have you ever been angry at someone? Then you've broken the 6th commandment (Jesus equated anger with murder in Matthew 5:21-22).
Have you ever lusted? Then you've broken the 7th commandment (Jesus equated lust with adultery in Matthew 5:28).

We could keep going but you get the point.

As God's presence rested over the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies and He looked into the Ark, He saw the Ten Commandments. Those were a reminder that all of humanity had violated His most holy laws. The offense was so great that it demanded a death sentence. Someone/something had to die for our grievous offenses against a holy God!

So, resting between God's presence and the laws that condemned us was the Mercy Seat. And on that Mercy Seat was sprinkled the blood of an innocent animal once each year. The blood of that animal was shed as a substitute. The animal's life was taken in place of the guilty people.

The ultimate Lamb that was slain that did away with all other sacrifices was Jesus. It was in

this way that we could come into right relationship with God. He couldn't do away with His holy laws. But, He found a way to uphold His laws while making us right with Him.

That is the beauty of the Day of Atonement and of the Cross. In these two, God maintained His holy standard and upheld His laws while at the same time made it possible for us to be completely forgiven and brought into relationship with Him because a substitute took our death sentence.

The incredible history of Mt. Moriah

OK! This is just too cool! I don’t have enough time to really flesh this thought out but here’s my best attempt…

I was reading in 1 Chronicles 21 this morning picking up where I left off from yesterday’s reading. Because of David’s sin of numbering the men who could fight in his army (probably it was the sin of trusting in his own military might rather than the might of the Lord), God sent a plague upon the Israelites and 70,000 men died.

We are told where the angel of death stopped as the Lord relented of the calamity He had brought upon the people. Listen to 1 Chronicles 21:15 – “And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the LORD saw, and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, ‘It is enough; now stay your hand.’ And the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.”

King David rushed to that very sight and spoke with Ornan. Listen to what he said: “And David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the LORD - give it to me at its full price - that the plague may be averted from the people.” So, it was at that site that David built and altar so that the plague that led to death was stopped because of the slaughter of an innocent animal upon the altar.

Hold that thought.

Fast forward to 2 Chronicles 3. In this chapter, we read that Solomon was about the work of building the temple of God. But, 2 Chronicles 3:1 gives us the exact street address of the temple. Listen: “Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.” Did you get that?! The temple was built at the very place that David had offered up the sacrifice to stop the plague that led to death. How incredible is that?

But, we’re not finished.

It is in that last verse that we get another piece of information regarding the location of the temple. It was in Jerusalem, of course. But it also mentions that it was on Mount Moriah. Does that ring a bell? Think Genesis 22. Remember the story of how God told Abraham to take his son to a predetermined location and offer him as a sacrifice (Also remember that Isaac never died. That was never God’s intent. God wanted to kill Abraham’s self-life, not Isaac.). Remember how instead of Isaac, God provided a lamb to be sacrificed in Isaac’s place? Where did this happen? Read Genesis 22:1-2 – “After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.’” One of the “mountains” in “the land of Moriah.” It doesn’t take any stretch of the imagination to believe that this was the same sight that David offered a sacrifice to avert death and Solomon built a temple where sacrifices were offered to push back sin and death.

But fast forward to the Gospels. Where was Jesus condemned to death as our substitute? Where was he pronounced "guilty" before he made His way to Golgotha? It was in the temple ... on the sight where throughout history, God had provided a sacrificial animal/Lamb to take the place of the guilty.

Is it, therefore, any wonder why the temple mountain in Jerusalem is so precious? It was Ground Zero where the death of a substitute was offered so that the guilty could go free!