The Journey to the Cross (Day 6 - AMAZING GRACE)


The dictionary defines grace as "Unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification. A virtue coming from God.  Approval.  Favor."

And today, as I think about the crucifixion of Jesus - the word GRACE is certainly one that comes to mind.

Of course I think about God's grace for the human race - offering an innocent sacrifice, a Paschal lamb as it were - without stain of sin, to pay the ultimate price for the sake of humanity - but there is more.

Think about Peter, Jesus' friend and apostle, who - just as Jesus had predicted, denied knowing Jesus three times - out of fear for his own safety and life.  Peter, who then - after hearing the cock crow, remembered Jesus' prediction and then wept bitterly.  Peter, who - after Jesus was crucified, returned to Galilee. 

When he and is friend John were fishing - they saw a man on the shore who said, "'Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.' When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.." - John 21:6

As this was so reminiscent of when Peter and John had first met Jesus, John cried out, "It is the Lord!"  And Peter "wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water." - John 21:7  

Then, Jesus questioned Peter three times with the same question, "Do you love me?"  And three times Peter replied, "You know I do."  

The same question - THREE TIMES!  Isn't that marvelous?

Just like Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus gave him three opportunities to come back and profess his love.  Jesus knew Peter loved him.  He knew his heart repented.  And in that moment, He offered Peter grace.

Then consider the man who was being crucified just to the right hand side of Jesus.  Luke 23:39-43 tells us "One of the criminals who was hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying 'Are you not the Christ?  Save yourself and us'.  But the other responded, and rebuking him, said 'Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve of our crimes; but this man has done nothing wrong.' And he was saying, 'Jesus remember me when You come into Your kingdom!'  And He said to him, 'Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.'"  Jesus saw that while one thief had chosen the path of death - THIS one, had recognized his own sin, and had come to Jesus asking for grace.  He got it.

And finally what about what Jesus said after he'd been flogged - the barbed tips of the soldier's whip slicing flesh from his body, after he'd been beaten about the face and head again and again, after a crown of thorns had been shoved onto his head cutting holes into his scalp, after he'd been made to carry his cross on his torn and bleeding shoulders through the streets of Jerusalem, and after large spikes had been driven through his wrists and feet, then left hanging on a cross, in pain and agony, slowly suffocating.  After all of this, "Jesus said, 'Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." - Luke 23:34

Jesus, as part of our triune God - as God on Earth, showed us God's character...ever merciful, ever full of grace. "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace." - Ephesians 1:7

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Journey to the Cross (Day 4 - THE LADDER)

Image
In the city of Jerusalem stands a church called  The Church of the Holy Sepulcher.   It has been proposed as the place of both the death and resurrection of Jesus, and it has been a place for pilgrimages since the 4th century. Considered holy, the site is cared for by no less than six denominations including Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Roman Catholic, Coptic, Ethiopian and Syriac Orthodox.  As such, it has been carefully parsed out into sections.  And sadly, arguments and violent clashes are not uncommon. Jim visited the church once on a trip with Northridge and told me about "The Immovable Ladder".  Apparently the ladder is a " bizzare outcome of religious stubbornness pushed to extremes. " For " Sometime in the first half of the 18th century, someone placed a ladder up against the wall of the church. No one is sure who he was, or more importantly, to which sect he belonged.  The ladder remains there to this day.  No one dares touch it, l...
Read more

Petition for Prayers

Image
Hi there - today is my 400th post and I am wrestling a bit... so I'm asking for your prayers. I started this blog o ver a year ago, convinced it was something God wanted me to do.  It was way out of my comfort zone, and certainly not something I’d have done 10 years before, but  I had hoped that i n some way, it might help people get closer to Him. I knew that once I had finally given my life to God, EVERYTHING in my life changed, and  I desperately wanted people to experience the same JOY and PEACE I have felt since making that decision.   As they say, “I was like a poor beggar telling others where they could find food”. For months, the posts flowed easily and I would feel the Holy Spirit's inspiration…the words on the page practically writing themselves.  However, I'm not sure that is still the case.  Sometimes I feel as if I am struggling to hear His voice, and I honestly don't want to be writing MY thoughts - I want to be sharing HIS. So, I'm going to t...
Read more

The Journey to the Cross (Day 3 - ONLY JESUS)

Image
Today’s Holy Week post has me thinking about the 12 disciples. ONLY JESUS Can you name Jesus' 12 disciples?  If you've been watching The Chosen or reading your Bible regularly, you might be able to.  However - there are some, who - at least for me, are a bit in the shadows. Sure I know Simon/Peter, and his brother Andrew .  And then there was James and John, the sons of Thunder (or Zebedee to be exact).  There was Matthew, and Thomas, and Judas Iscariot.  And there was Simon the Zealot, and another James...but...but...a nd here is where my mind isn't as good at remembering.   So I Googled it. There was also Philip - a Jewish man from Bethsaida who apparently was the one to tell Nathaniel (another lesser known disciple) that "The One" Moses and the prophets had foretold in the Old Testament, was here.  Following Jesus' death Philip became a missionary in Greece and for his outspoken faith proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God - Philip was stoned and...
Read more