Jesus' Death

I know the anniversary of Jesus' Death, "Good Friday" as we call it, was,.. well,.. Friday.  And yes, I know it is Easter and I am supposed to be focused on the resurrection, so please forgive me for the old topic switch-a-roo I'm pulling.

I've been writing about how much of the suffering and pain we experience in life comes from mankind's rebellion against God.  It comes from evil, from sin, from disobedience.  There is no clearer example of this than the suffering Jesus' experienced in his torture and subsequent death. 

In fact it is because of this that I often wonder why we call it "Good Friday"?  In my mind "Man's Most Evil Deed Friday" or "Man's Darkest Hour Friday" seems much more apropos.  Seriously, we took the sinless, sick-healing, deaf-and-dumb-curing, demon-casting, dead-raising, poor-teaching, people-loving Son Of God, and poured out deed after deed of hatred upon Him until He died.  If mankind is capable of this wickedness, there is no evil that we are not capable of.

Here is a summary of the suffering Jesus went through:
* Jesus was put under tremendous stress simply knowing what was about to happen as evidenced by His prayers in the garden of Gethsemane. (Matthew 25:36-36, Mark 14:32-42, Luke 22:39-46)

* He was taken first to the high priest where He was lied about, mocked, spat on, beaten, and slapped.  In fact they made fun of Jesus by blind-folding Him, striking Him, then saying "Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?”  To top it all of Peter, one of Jesus' best friends who had come to see what would happen, denied that he knew Jesus three times, to the point of cursing and swearing that he didn't even know Jesus.  (Matthew 26:57-75, Mark 14:53-72, Luke 22:54-71, John 18:12-27)

* They took Jesus to Pilate the governor where they falsely accused him of whatever they thought might get Jesus crucified.  Meanwhile Jesus said nothing in His own defense.

* Pilate learns that Jesus really falls under Herod's jurisdiction, so he sends Jesus to Herod.  There they again falsely accuse Jesus of all kinds of things (and for those of us who think that's no big deal, how do you normally feel when someone lies about you just to get in your trouble, let alone get you executed?)  The soldiers make fun of Jesus even to the point of dressing him up in a royal robe to mock the idea that Jesus is a king.  (Luke 23:6-12)

* Jesus gets sent back to Pilate where he is whipped, mocked, given a crown of thorns, hit on the head while wearing the crown of thorns, beaten some more and spat on some more.  (Matthew 27:15-31, Mark 15:6-20, Luke 23:13-25 and John 19:1-16)

* Of course then He is crucified with nails like railroad spikes driven through his hands and feet.  Not to be content with that, the religous leaders who plotted all of this continued to insult and make fun of Jesus.  They even tempted Jesus to give up and save Himself instead of dying for us without even realizing it. (See the rest of Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23 and John 19).

But even as I write this I know it doesn't do the suffering that Jesus went through justice.  There is no way for us to really know how bad the mental, physical, and spiritual torture that Jesus endured was.

So what do I say in response to this?  1)  Thank you, Jesus.  I know and understand that you took the punishment for me, both for the evil I've done and the good I've failed to do.  2)  May I live a life that daily shows my appreciation by all I do, say, and even think.

Last thought for this blog:  More than ever, the story of Jesus' death leads me to despise Satan's ways and to embrace God's.  All of these things that were done to Jesus fall on Satan's side of the fence.  Yet all of what Jesus did - forgive, endure, maintain self-control, be unselfish, and most of all - love us to the point of dying for us, are God's ways. 

Please understand when I say this that I am still tempted to do evil and unfortunately always will be this side of the grave.  But in my heart more than ever I want to embrace God 110%, and to reject Satan with the same fervor.  I hope you feel the same way.

Till next time!

Why is there so much suffering in the world? Why God Allows Evil

In my last blog we started talking about suffering, and how the presence of tremendous suffering in this world contributes to disbelief in the God of the Bible.  The great irony of this is that a huge, incredible amount of suffering in this world is caused by our own disobedience to God!   


For example, I heard a story that really hacked me off the other day.  A boy and his "friend" were having trouble getting along.  The boy was at home alone when his friend came knocking.  The boy wouldn't let him in because he wasn't supposed to have anyone in the house without a parent there.  But the friend kept on ringing the doorbell until finally the boy opened the door.  Well, his friend had others with him.  They beat the boy up, video-taped the beating, then posted it on "You Tube" for all their friends to see.  That is suffering caused by PURE EVIL, by absolute rebellion against God's ways!

Now could God have stopped their actions?  Yes.  So why didn't He?  Why did God allow them to do such an evil thing to the boy?  Why does God allow evil in this world, period?

Believe it or not, the Bible addresses this very question.  In fact, it’s Jesus Himself who answers it.  He does so in the what is normally called “The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares.” 

Now a parable is basically a story about everyday life that teaches spiritual truths.  As far as a tare goes, Merriam Webster’s online dictionary defines it as “a weed of grain fields especially of Biblical times that is usually held to be the darnel”.  And no, I have no idea what darnel looks like.  Note that many modern translations don’t even use the word “tare” but use something like “weed” instead.  

One of the greatest things about this parable is that, now only do we have the parable, we also have Jesus’ explanation of it.  Here are both from the latest edition of the New International Version:

Matthew 13:24-30

²⁴ Jesus told them another parable:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

²⁷ “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field?

Where then did the weeds come from?’

                ²⁸ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

                “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

                ²⁹ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

Matthew 13:36-43 (the explanation)

                        ³⁶ Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

                ³⁷ He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, ³⁹ and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

                 ⁴⁰ “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. ⁴² They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

One note about Jesus’ explanation before we get to the heart and soul of why we read this:  Jesus said “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man.”  “The Son of Man” is a phrase that Jesus often used to refer to Himself.  For example, when Jesus prophesied about His death in Matthew 17:22, He said “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” (NIV, emphasis added)

Look.  Satan is the source of evil and evil people in this world.  Now God and Jesus had a huge decision to make once Satan planted his people in the world. "Do we get rid of Satan's people now, or do we wait?"  Their decision was to wait. 

But why?  Because that is what's best for the wheat.  Because God did want any of His people getting thrown out with Satan's. 

Think of the "friend" and his companions who committed such evil against the boy.  If God had made the decision to uproot the weeds of the world immediately, they would all be dead by now.  But what if one or more of them is actually God's person?  What if some day, they are going to come to faith in Jesus, repent of evil such as this, put on Christ in baptism and follow Him the rest of their days?  They at least have that chance because God and Jesus have decided to allow Their people to grow alongside the devil's for now.

I think of my own life.  There was a time that I looked a whole lot more like a weed then wheat.  In fact, there are points in my life that if God had decided to "uproot" me then and there, I would have been burned in the fire with Satan's people.  But because God in His mercy spared my life and allowed me to grow, I love and follow Him now.

Still, this decision has serious implications.  Since God is allowing us to grow up among evil, we will experience the suffering that comes from that evil in this life.  There is no way around it. 

The great news though is that the situation is TEMPORARY!  God will not always allow it to be this way!  The harvest, the great separation is coming.  Once that moment comes, we will never again have to suffer like this boy suffered at the hands of his so-called friends.