Passion Points – Easter Weekend

In Luke 23:39-43, one of the thieves on the cross joins the soldiers and rulers in mocking Jesus. But the other thief rebukes him. He acknowledges his sin, and expresses faith in Jesus. And Jesus makes him an incredible compassionate promise: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Truly. No doubts, no questions – it is certain. And today. The moment the thief dies, he will be in Paradise with Jesus.

And when we acknowledge our sin and believe in Jesus, he makes that compassionate promise to us. We need not fear death. Yes, death is horrible – just ask Jesus. Yes, death is a result of the Fall. But on the other side of death is Paradise. That word has the idea of a garden, which brings our minds back to Eden, and forward to the new earth which is a new Eden. It speaks of a perfect place of peace and harmony and love. It speaks of a place with no more pain or sickness or death or sin. And we will one day be there with Jesus forever.

And he calls us to share this compassionate promise with others. Others need to hear it. They need to know that judgment is coming for their sins. They need to know that Jesus died to pay for their sins and take them to paradise if they will simply trust in him. How can we keep this to ourselves?

Consider His Compassionate Forgiveness

On April 4, 2012March 26, 2016 By BrianIn Book of Luke

They have beaten him. Whipped him. Falsely condemned him. Now in Luke 23:32-38, they hang him on the cross. The rulers scoff at him. The soldiers mock him. And Jesus responds with…forgiveness. Forgiveness! That he would ask the Father to forgive them speaks of his own heart of forgiveness. No bitterness. No wrath. No anger. No reviling. No malice. No hate. Just kindness. Compassion. Forgiveness.

And he shows that compassionate forgiveness to us. He hung on that cross for my sin and your sin. He hung there for our rebellion, our rejection. He hung there for all the times we fail to love and serve our Creator. He hung there for all the times we become so self-absorbed and fail to love those around us. He hung on that cross so we might be forgiven of all of our sins.

And he calls us to show compassionate forgiveness to others. When someone hurts us, our tendency is lash out or run away. But Jesus calls us to forgive. To forgive as we have been forgiven. To put away all bitterness, wrath, anger, reviling, malice, and hate. To rather show kindness, compassion, forgiveness (Ephesians 4:31-32). Jesus told us to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who hurt us (Luke 6:27-28). And in this most extreme situation on the cross, Jesus lives out these instructions, and calls us to follow in doing so too. What a challenge! We can’t do this on our own. We need to stay so close to Jesus. And how convicting! How easily we fail, and need to run back to the cross to find his compassionate forgiveness again.

Consider His Compassionate Care

On April 3, 2012March 26, 2016 By BrianIn Book of Luke2 Comments

In Luke 23:26-31, Jesus is on the road to the cross. He is bleeding from the lashes and the thorns. He is bruised from the beatings. He is exhausted from the torture and lack of sleep. Every step is utter pain. And he is too weak to carry his own cross, so the soldiers grap Simon from the crowd to do it for him.

Here then we see the depths of his compassion, as he looks not to his own great needs but to the needs of others. He stops to show compassionate care to a group of weeping women. He cares enough to warn them of the coming judgment.

And does he not show this compassionate care to us? Does he not comfort us in our weeping? Did he not warn us of coming judgment and call us to himself? And as we came, did he not forgive us, embrace us, and celebrate over us? Did he not endure the cross for us?

And he calls us to follow in his steps. He calls us to show compassionate care to others. To comfort the weeping. To warn the sinner. Even in the midst of our own suffering. In our trials, we can become so self-focused that we see only our needs. We disolve into self-pity. We expect others to minister to us. And certainly we need care in our suffering. But Jesus shows us that we can care for others even in the midst of our own suffering. What a challenge! And how convicting. How often we fail in this and must run back to the one whose compassionate care provided a way to be saved at such great expense to himself.

Passion Week

On March 31, 2012 By BrianIn Holidays

Interestingly (at least to me), my most popular post right now was written a year ago that features links to a timeline and map of the last week of Christ. If you haven’t seen it, you can find it here.

As we prepare for Passion Week, perhaps it would be worth noting some other past posts:

Passion Week Reflections – Daily reflections I wrote a few years back for Palm Sunday through Easter.

Passion Week with Children – A link to daily crafts and activities to help children stay focused on what this time of year is all about.

And then some quotes:

His Love For You – C.J. Mahaney

For Us – J. C. Ryle

Our Sins Drove The Nails – J. C. Ryle

Passion Points

On March 31, 2012 By BrianIn PASSION Points

Let’s do numbers this weekend:

7 Motives in Our Work – We spend a lot of our lives working, but too many people live for the weekends when they can escape work. Here are seven motives to spur us on in our work.

36 Purposes of God in Our Suffering – Your suffering has a purpose! Read through this list, and be encouraged at what God is doing in you.

10 Marks of the Holy Spirit in a Believer – Do you see the Holy Spirit working in your life?

7 Questions to Ask As You Prepare for the Lord’s Supper – These are great questions to use to examine your life. I suspect the answers will not only spur you forward, but also make you incredibly grateful for the forgiveness that is ours in Christ. I just made a copy for my own personal use.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshipping the Lord with your local church!

Seven Marks of Humility

On March 30, 2012 By BrianIn Virtue of Humility

In case you haven’t noticed, the focus around here lately has been humility. I read two books on humility and spent three weeks recently preaching on the topic, so the idea is in my head (and I hope working into my life). It is an area I want to grow in. Next week we will be taking a break to refocus on the Christ’s death and resurrection. But before we do, I want to point you to a post by Paul Tautges who shares seven marks of humility from Philippians 2:1-11. Actually this passage might be a good way to start thinking about Christ’s death and resurrection too. His seven marks are:

Humility begins in the mind.
Humility is a conscious choice of the will.
Humility is an attitude of the heart.
Humility lowers oneself, while at the same time entrusts the possibility of any future exaltation to God.
Humility’s earthly end is death.
Humility accepts the likelihood of earthly shame.
Humility’s heavenly end is exaltation.

The first three remind us that humility is directly related to what we believe, desire, and do. Head, heart, and hand. The final four bring us back to the idea of humbling ourselves and leaving it to God to exalt us.

For a further description of each point, I encourage you to check out his post.

Are We Humble?

On March 29, 2012March 21, 2015 By BrianIn Humility Quotes

Is our heart overwhelmed by the truth of our
natural insignificance before the Almighty God?
Are we painfully aware of our sinfulness
and unworthiness before a Holy God?
Is God the constant center around which our
thoughts, desires, words, and actions revolve?
Do we give Him alone our worship, praise,
devotion, and obedience?
– Wayne A. Mack (with Joshua Mack)
in Humility: The Forgotten Virtue

Humility and Absolute Truth

On March 28, 2012 By BrianIn Virtue of Humility1 Comment

Today when Christians hold to the absolute truth of the Bible, they are often accused of pride. How arrogant for us to hold that our views based on the Bible are better than others! And if the Bible was merely a human book, it may in fact be pride for us to hold that our views based on the Bible are better than others.

But what if the Bible is in fact God’s Word? And what if God is our Creator and the King over the whole world? Then everything changes. When we hold to the truth of the Bible, we are submitting to God’s view. We are holding that God’s view is better than all others, including views we might otherwise hold. We are humbly acknowledging that God is greater than us. Suddenly it is no longer those who hold to the Bible who are proud. Rather it is those who hold to their own view as opposed to God’s view. If the Bible is God’s Word, then humility is to hold to the Bible as absolute truth, while preferring our own views is the height of arrogant pride.