My father was a stern but loving father. I won’t kid you, I was sometimes afraid of him, afraid of his wrath. I tried to behave so that I would not experience his wrath, but sometimes I failed. And Mom’s promise of “just wait until your daddy gets home” would make me miserable for the rest of the day. In case you are wondering, I did get some spankings; however, they were always followed with a short lecture and then he would hug me and tell me he loved me. In this way, he served as a great example, as all fathers should be, of our heavenly Father. He demanded respect, he demonstrated righteous anger, and he never failed to love me.

It’s too bad that many fathers today don’t provide an earthly example, even if imperfect, of our heavenly Father so that children can experience here on earth a bit of what God is like. I know it’s difficult to show the right balance of wrath and love; a deficiency of either is very dangerous. It’s critically important to know that the righteous anger is there and to be feared because without that, love manifested by grace has no meaning.

Here’s an example. If I could have disrespected my mother knowing I would get away with it, then the “kindness” shown me by my father by overlooking my disrespect would have not seemed to be very special. In fact, I might have even thought my father to be weak and not worthy of respect. However, when I knew that disrespecting my mother would invite the wrath of my father making me deserving of a spanking, I would have greatly appreciated any reprieve or grace.

Why am I talking about spankings? What I want us to realize is that God is righteous and holy and therefore, he is greatly offended when we are disrespectful and disobedient. As a holy and just God, he cannot abide sin; he hates sin. The only just penalty for sin is death. That’s where the cross comes in. He sent his only son, Jesus, to take our sins—past, present, and future—to the cross.

It was, and is, no small thing. This past Sunday we celebrated Jesus’ Resurrection. The Resurrection could not have happened without the Crucifixion. When Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem the Sunday before, he knew that he was going to experience the wrath of his “followers,” of his enemies, and most horrifically, of his Father. In his obedience to his Father which meant humiliation, torture, and death on the cross, he would bear the full wrath of God for all our sins, past present and future, for which each and every one of us deserves the punishment of death. He knew that it would be horrific, and that as a human, he would bear all the pain and torment that each of us deserves. In fact, in Matthew 26:39, we learn that “Going a little farther, he (Jesus) fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup (of wrath) be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’”

Jesus trusted God, his Father, for the outcome, which we celebrated on Easter Sunday. Let us reflect on the love of God and the obedience of his Son, even to death on the cross, which allows us as believers to receive grace, celebrate Resurrection, and look forward to Eternal Life with our Heavenly Father. This song beautifully tells of God’s love for us:  How He Loves Us, by Crowder.

I loved my earthly father. He has now passed on, and my love continues to grow for him. But sometimes I don’t think that I love my heavenly Father enough, considering what all He has done for me. I’m working on it, though.

In Christ,

Judy

 ^“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: “He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.” Now I have told you.’ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. ‘Greetings,’ he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’” (Matthew 28:1-10)

Early in Jesus’ earthly ministry, he had been challenged by some Jews who were offended when he destroyed their money-making schemes right on the steps of the temple. They asked him on whose authority he overturned their tables (literally and figuratively). His response was recorded in John 2:19-22:

“Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’ They replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?’ But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.”

Apparently, it took Jesus death and resurrection for his disciples to really believe his divinity. We have all that evidence, plus the ongoing testimony of transformed lives, and the witness and counsel of the Holy Spirit.
He is who he says he is, and he will do what he says he will do. Don’t wait one more day to put your trust in Jesus.

God’s many blessings on you and your loved ones on this most holy of days.

In Christ,

Judy

I had a Chaplain’s Corner devotional already prepared for today, but my experience at church this past Sunday has led me to change what’s on my mind. I’ll save that one for another time. So, back to last Sunday — Palm Sunday. I’m sure you know that is the day that Jesus made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, marking the beginning of Holy Week.  Matthew, Mark, and John each record this event. John 12:12-13 reports:

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. ¹³ They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!’”

At my church, the little children paraded around waving their palm branches, and the expressions on their faces were full of excitement. As I watched these precious children while we sang “Hosanna”* (Hillsong), my thoughts turned from happy thoughts to sad thoughts as I realized how much these children resembled the people of that day, and indeed the people of today.

1. Most of these children likely were not thinking about what was about to happen in Jesus’ life. They were all caught up in the celebration of the moment. Even though they (the children as well as the people of that day), and we, should know teachings and prophecies from the Bible, including those about the crucifixion (Isaiah 53:7), most of them were just exulting in the current atmosphere of celebration. We do that sometimes, don’t we? We get caught up in the beauty of a worship service, or in the spectacle of nature, or in the miracle of a newborn child. We worship, and we recommit ourselves. And that’s not bad….

• But they quickly fall back into their old ways. Once the church service was over, the children went back home. Once Jesus passed on into Jerusalem and the celebration died down, John 12:37 reflects:  “Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.” It’s very interesting that this same John writes in the book of Revelation about the church at Laodicea (and about so many of us today) being lukewarm in the attitudes of our hearts (Rev. 3:14-21). Maybe we aren’t so bad, but if you are anything like me, you are also not consistently following through on your commitments and rededications as fully as would be pleasing to God.

Despite all this, Jesus fulfilled His promise to satisfy the terrible curse for our sins so that we could have the hope of salvation from the death that we deserve and to the promise of Eternal Life. We know that Jesus, following his Resurrection and Ascension, is now sitting at the right hand of God, on His throne as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And we know that He will come again one day to defeat Satan and usher in the new heavens and the new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

*I love this song, “Hosanna”, by Hillsong. You can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnMevXQutyE

These lyrics reference Jesus’ second coming. Of course his first coming was marked by being born in a humble manger; and for his triumphant entry into Jerusalem he fulfilled the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9 by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, which was the symbol for kings coming in peace. However, for his second coming He will arrive riding on a white stallion. The website Got Questions states it this way:

“What a vivid contrast we see in Jesus’ return with all His angels (Matthew 25:31), as compared to His entry to Jerusalem upon a donkey (Matthew 21:7-9)! He is no longer riding a humble donkey. Jesus will return on a fiery white charger, bringing judgment, just as He had promised (Matthew 25:31-33).”

My prayer for myself and for all of us today is taken from the last verse of “Hosanna”:

Heal my heart and make it clean.
Open up my eyes to the things unseen.
Show me how to love
Like You have loved me.
Break my heart for what breaks Yours.
Everything I am
For Your kingdom’s cause
As I walk from earth into eternity.

Amen.

In Christ,

Judy

“…you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse….” (Deuteronomy 21:23 NIV)

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:5-8 ESV)

In this day and time, we take the idea of blessings and curses too lightly. I might sign off on an email with the closing “Blessings.” We might say “bless you” when someone sneezes. We say, “Bless her heart” when, well, you can finish that thought…. And curses, well, we all surely know how prolific yet thoughtless we can be with our curses, from voodoo witch doctors to taking the name of God in vain.

But in the Bible, when God blesses us, this means life. And when He curses, this means death. Blessings and curses are serious business – Life and Death. Throughout the book of Deuteronomy, Moses speaks to the children of Israel reminding them of the blessings and curses that God has specified. For example, in Deuteronomy 30:15-20:

 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, …”

There are many examples in the Bible of God demonstrating the power of the curse. Sometimes it was against enemies of his chosen people. Sometimes it was for infractions that might seem insignificant. In Leviticus, for example, we read about God’s reaction to the sons of Aaron when they offered strange fire. After quite an investment in their training and their investiture as priests, God did not hesitate to punish them by death for not following his precise commands. “Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.” (Stop: Just try to imagine this!) “Moses then said to Aaron, ‘This is what the Lord spoke of when he said: ‘”Among those who approach me I will be proved holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored’” (Leviticus 10:1-3).

Make no mistake; God is serious when he pronounces a curse. We should definitely take seriously the teaching on blessings and curses; they continue to be God’s promise to us. In the Old Testament, in order to receive the blessing, one had to love God, walk in his ways, and keep his commandments. Even in the New Testament, Paul writes in Galatians 3:10 “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’”

The difference is that with coming of Jesus, God has provided us an alternative to relying on the works of the law. God fulfilled His promise made to us beginning in Genesis 3:15 that he would send a Savior. In Isaiah 53, God speaks through Isaiah to tell us more about how the Messiah would save us. “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).*

Paul writes in Galatians 3:13-14 (quoting from our opening passage in Deuteronomy 21:23):  “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”*

This is why God sent his son: to be the curse that God has promised from the beginning, to take on our sins and to die an unspeakably horrific death on the cross (tree). The curse that every single one of us deserves has been borne once and for all by Jesus, our Messiah.

We are approaching Easter in less than two weeks. As you prepare your hearts to celebrate the Resurrection (which could not have happened without the death of Jesus), let’s reflect on the meaning of the Crucifixion. If you haven’t already, I hope you will turn your life over to Jesus and ask Him for and receive forgiveness for your sins, thereby sparing you from the curse of eternal death. Let us all thank God for his many blessings, and most especially eternal life.

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26).

In Christ,

Judy

*Extra credit: notice the verb tenses in these two passages. This is important to really understanding the meaning of the Scriptures.