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  • Michael Summers 8:30 pm on May 16, 2013 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , crucifixion, , , Gordon's Calvary   

    Leaving the Tomb…It’s Time to Go 

    An empty tomb welcomes tourists and pilgrims in Jerusalem. Located at the foot of a rocky knoll that looks so much like a “place of the skull,” if it is not the place of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and subsequent resurrection, it certainly evokes thoughts of those events. While it inspires interest in the events around the death of Jesus, it does not preach the word by itself (One stills needs a preacher, or at least a friend, for that). It does not feed the poor or heal the hurting. It does not visit those in prison or give water to the thirsty. This place does not baptize or sing or pray. Only people who believe that God loved the world enough to send his Son to die for us can perform those acts. Sadly, sometimes we do as much as the empty tomb. We may do less, since the tomb does teach by symbolizing the place where world-changing events occurred. After the resurrection, Jesus instructed followers to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20 NIV84). We need to leave the empty tomb and direct a spiritually starving world to the Risen Messiah, Jesus. It is time to obey; it is time to go.

     

  • J. Randal Matheny 2:54 pm on July 7, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: crucifixion,   

    Someone killed God? 

    While attending a devotional at Hillbrook Christian Camp last night, the speaker made reference to Jesus being betrayed, arrested, hung, and ultimately dying on the cross. As he moved on from that point, he was interrupted by a little boy in the assembly. His sweet little voice had a worried tone to it as he asked the speaker, “Someone killed God?”

    I liked the story and Steve Higginbotham’s application. Steve says the story will be posted online this afternoon, so check it out here when it comes up.

     

    • J. Randal Matheny 3:43 pm on July 7, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      Steve tells me the story is now posted.

    • Mike Riley 4:16 pm on July 7, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      As Steve quoted in his article, “and a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6).

    • Richard Hill 4:16 pm on July 7, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      We’ve been receiving Steve’s MercEmail for a number of years now. He’s a very good writer and brings the point home. I especially enjoyed the one today.

      He’s right. Nothing else matters. Perhaps that explains a lot of the attitudes we find so troubling in atheists.

    • Laura 10:22 pm on July 7, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      That’s the camp I used to go to as a child. It was a great environment for teaching kids to seek in God’s word.

  • Richard Hill 4:00 am on May 5, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , crucifixion,   

    Something Out of the Ordinary 

    Work on an assembly line and you do the same thing day in and day out. Lots of jobs are that way. I filled bottles with herbicide at DuPont as a winter job for a number of years. It becomes rote once you get the hang of it.

    I suppose even something as gruesome as crucifixion could become routine. To a hardened soldier, desensitized by years of combat, it might come a little easier. Can you imagine the horrific injuries he witnessed? Consider the instruments of war used by the Romans. Consider what passed for medical treatment. I don’t like to think about it, but this was the centurion’s reality. Look it from his point of view. Carrying out a crucifixion was just another day at work. Let’s let him talk.

    Yes, I am a centurion. I have a job with the state. Crucifixion is simply a criminal getting what he deserves. You get used to it. You’ve seen one guy crucified you’ve seen them all–well, until today. I’ve been watching. This one’s different.

    After being tried, scourged, pummeled and mocked, this man they’re calling Jesus, on command, willingly picks up the cross beam. With his last ounce of strength he carries it until he collapses. At first I thought he was just resigned to death, but something’s not the same with this guy. He doesn’t resist. The nails are hammered in. He groans in agony. The cross is lifted up and dropped into place. The slow, torturous process of asphyxiation begins.

    We put the list of charges on a sign above his head. It says, “This is Jesus. The King of the Jews.” It seems like a strange way of listing charges, but I just do what I’m told.

    He’s so different from others I’ve put to death this way. There’s no cursing. There’s no blaming everyone but himself. There’s not even begging for mercy.

    Any number of things puzzle me. Like now, for example, in the middle of this torture, he’s telling someone to be sure and take care of his mother?? And why doesn’t he defend himself as the Jewish leaders drop by to make fun of him? Among other things they say he claimed to be God’s son. Even the ones crucified beside him jump in.

    But get this. After awhile one of the criminals changes his mind and asks to be remembered in the kingdom. I’m not sure what that means, but the response is very surprising. This one in the middle answers benevolently. What? After all that badmouthing he just forgives him as if it didn’t happen?

    Who is this guy? I’ve never seen anyone maintain his composure like this Jesus has through this kind of duress. This is certainly not your run-of-the-mill crucifixion.

    Another something strange to add to the growing list. It’s the middle of the day and the sky has turned black. It all seems so ominous. He’s saying something. He thinks God has forsaken him. I guess I can agree with him on that one.

    Well it’s been dark for a few hours and it looks like it won’t be long now. I’ll be glad when this crucifixion is over. I heard him say it’s finished and he’s stopped moving. I’m not quite sure what he meant by that either.

    Wow! It feels like…it is..an earthquake! How many strange things can happen in one day? Bravery brought me through the ranks to lead solders as a centurion, but now fear wildly surges through my body.

    My mind flashes back to events earlier in the day. Pilate tells the Jews, Jesus is innocent. His wife is beside herself, disturbed by some dream that brought her to the same conclusion. Under interrogation by Pilate, Jesus says he’s a king, but “not of this world.”

    How do I make sense of all these things?—this man Jesus, unlike any human I have ever encountered, middle of the day darkness, and now an earthquake. I woke up thinking this would be a day like any other. Now I stand here shaking, not knowing how to respond.

    Everything I have witnessed points to one conclusion. “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

     

    • Steve 8:02 am on May 5, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      What in some ways seems like a long time ago, but was probably less than two months back, you mentioned in one of your messages a desire to spend more time writing. After reading this post and many of your other writings, please DO take every opportunity possible to capture the thoughts in your mind and reduce them to the written word. Richard, you have such a special God-given talent: to take what has become banal and make it so impactful, as God originally intended it to be! I can recall only a handful of writers, or, actually, speakers, who have possessed this amazing talent. And it is from such individuals that I find myself growing by leaps and bounds, instead of merely trudging along. Thank you!

      On a seperate, yet related note. Sometimes learning takes place as a result of that which is not written. Recently, because of my use of sarcasm, I felt compelled to send an additional reply to you explaining the previous note’s sarcasm. While you could have spent time schooling me on the importance and value of “letting your word be your word,” you chose not to. And thus, from that brief exchange, I learned the importance of not using sarcasm, especially in the written word. Thank you!

    • Stephen R. Bradd 11:17 am on May 5, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      Very well expressed, Richard. Thanks for sharing! I do concur with Steve regarding your writing ability.

      Let me encourage you to reconsider Matt. 27:53, however, dear brother. Matthew mentions those resurrections at Jesus’ death but he does qualify it – “And coming out of the graves after His resurrection.”

    • Richard Hill 11:53 am on May 5, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      Thanks Steve and Stephen. Steve, your comment that used a little sarcasm didn’t bother me in the least. I use it often, but you are right. It is far more difficult to use when writing. No one can hear the inflection so it’s easier to have someone misunderstand you, but I had understood you just fine. No problem.

      Stephen, you are correct regarding the resurrection of saints. That’s part of the problem with this pledge to write more. My only way to do it at this time of year, is to write into the night. I end up breaking my “Don’t write after 10 rule.” There’s a reason I implemented this rule a few years back–mistakes like this one.

      I’ll edit that out. Thanks for the critique.

    • Barbara Ann Oliver 2:38 pm on May 5, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      Powerfully written, Richard. Thank you.

    • Mike Riley 2:45 pm on May 5, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      Great insight in your writing, Richard. Thank you for your good effort!

  • Laura 11:39 am on May 4, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , crucifixion,   

    It is Finished 

    Jesus’ statement, “it is finished” sticks with me. These three words are not a statement of merely the end of His earthly life. It is so deep and carries with it so much.

     

  • J. Randal Matheny 9:53 am on May 4, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , crucifixion,   

    Daily Nudge: the Cross 

    At the crucifixion of Christ, what most catches your eye or ear? One thing only, please. What moment, word, action most captures your attention? What happens during Jesus’ suffering that most marks your soul?

     

    • Gerald 12:49 pm on May 4, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      Wrote this a time back on my facebook page but the topic of the nudge is one that stirs me often.

      “I was glancing through the Bible as we were driving to see our great niece (my wonderful wife was driving) and just reading random chapters and verses.

      I came across Mark 15:34 which says “And at the 9th hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, E-lo’i, E-lo’i, la’ma sa-bach-tha’ni? which is, being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.

      That verse says so much. Our Lord came to this earth, lived a life like ours but with perfection, tried to spread his infinite love through teaching kindness and righteousness, and provided a perfect path to forgiveness of sins and so many other things. Then the very people he came to save and showed so much love to, hung him on a cross to die.
      But His words in that verse make me realize the pain and anguish in his physical body was so small compared to the heavy sins that you and I laid upon him. Sins that for a moment separated him from glory of God. But the thing that is so very important is that he freely chose to do this. All of the sins of the world, no matter how big or small we see them, are there hung on that cross or have a place for them to be hung.

      That verse and similar verses I avoid reading in public because I get a bit choked up. But the truth is, that moment when He took on those sins, is the single greatest most joyful moment in time. Ever!

      It’s something worth sharing ! It is available to everyone ! It’s the most important thing a person can become a part of ! All of what needs be done is in the bible.

      Love,
      Gerald

    • Tina 10:04 am on May 5, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them,for they know not what they do. To me this is the moment salvation begins; for me, for I am all too human.

  • jimnewy 1:29 pm on April 4, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , crucifixion,   

    A Holy Celebration 

    Today as on every first day of the week we celebrate in remembrance the death, burial and resurrection of Christ our Savior as in Act 20:7. We partake of the bread as the pure and righteous body that suffered and died for us; drink the blood shed for the remission of our sins. Praise His Holy name.

    I posted this on FB this morning. Some have copied and pasted on their home page. Feel free to do the same or simular to keep the truth moving forwards.

     

  • Richard Hill 12:17 pm on April 4, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , crucifixion,   

    Communion 

    He’s alive! Praise God! Today we will celebrate the events that occurred on Friday-Sunday about 2000 years ago. Of course we will celebrate it again next Sunday and the Sunday after that and the Sunday after that. Acts 20:7

     

    • jimnewy 1:31 pm on April 4, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      We are in communion with one another

    • B.Esudas 4:42 pm on April 4, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      Amen. We do the same for several years on every Sunday we continue the same on every Sunday.

  • J. Randal Matheny 12:36 pm on March 26, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: crucifixion, , ,   

    A favorite: Psalm 22 

    Many years ago I was studying with a new convert who quickly became a good friend. Every week we’d study together at his apartment, back when he was single. One week we read Psalm 22. He was amazed at the detail of the prophecy about Christ.

    Here are the words Jesus cited on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (v.1).

    The mocking of the crowd is first heard here. “Let the Lord rescue him!” (v. 8).

    He mentions the gambling over clothing. “The are dividing up my clothes among themselves; they are rolling dice for my garments” (v. 18).

    After his suffering there is praise. “You are the reason I offer praise in the great assembly” (v. 25).

    The invitation is given. “Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him!” (v. 26a).

    His sovereignty appears. “For the Lord is king and rules over the nations” (v. 28).

    The final notes sings of proclamation. “They will come and tell about his saving deeds; they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished” (v. 31).

    It might be said that we have Psalm 23 only because we have Psalm 22.

    The psalm is precious to me because it speak of Jesus, and because Jesus knew it and spoke from it on the cross.

    I’m glad to say that the brother I studied with is still faithful, after all these years. He’s since married, has four kids, is a successful businessman. And he knows that the suffering of Christ was foretold as a part of God’s great plan to save mankind.

     

  • TFRStaff 8:29 pm on January 11, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , crucifixion   

    A Cross with Wheels 

    A Cross With Wheels?
    by Steve Higginbotham
    January 11, 2010

    Just this past weekend, while I was driving in Bowling Green, I saw two men carrying crosses on the side of the road, followed by a crowd of about 30 or 40 people. As I passed these two men, I looked at the crosses they were carrying and I couldn’t help but notice that both crosses were accessorized with wheels!

    Now, I understand why they placed wheels on these crosses. The wheels make the crosses they are carrying easier to carry. The wheels make the crosses more convenient to bear. But that’s the impetus for this article. You see, there’s nothing convenient about a cross! In fact, it was designed to be an inconvenient, excruciating, and humiliating means to kill someone. Convenient crosses? They don’t exist…or at least shouldn’t. (More …)

     

  • philsanders 7:51 pm on December 22, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , crucifixion, ,   

    Barabbas. This man had to live everyday with the understanding he was guilty but freed, while the innocent Jesus was innocent but crucified. Barabbas knew the extreme penalty associated with scourging and crucifixion. Barabbas never felt the nails in his flesh, but he must of felt the weight of an innocent man taking his place. Do you?

    phil

     

  • J. Randal Matheny 9:41 am on December 18, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: crucifixion,   

    A Thought About Christ 

    The Daily Nudge stays on today from yesterday, because the topic ask about the Fellows’ best thought about Christ and because they were too much absent yesterday. And I really, really want to hear what they have to say on this one.

    This question belongs in much the same category as the one about choosing a favorite Bible book. Category of the hard, almost unfair questions. For who can single out one thing about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? So the question tends to serve more for a moment to register a recent thought that has been bouncing around in the brain, a recent verse or truth that appeared anew to brace the heart, a need that lately drove the soul to seek the Lord for specific resources or answers.

    So shall I mention how the Lord drives out my fears and inspires faith to trust and follow when the winds blow hard and the waves burst high upon the breakers? Or might I try to measure the heights from which he came to take upon the status of a man? Or would I pass along to you today that single word, the divine yes, “I Will,” to show he cares and cures and loves and saves?

    No, none of these. Today, at least. For, to single out a thought about the Lord, go I must to the Cross. To agony in its purest form, to pain borne not for one or two but for a race, to countless sins heaped up in hideous press upon an imploding heart. Yes, to Golgotha I go, that ugly place of death whose very name restricts the throat! To cries of terror at eternal loneliness compressed in a moment. To compassion in the midst of tears and tearing flesh, to whispered prayers for pardon for the hardened soldiers whose hammers nailed him to the tree and stiffnecked traditionalists who laughed at nakedness and called for proof by bursting free.

    I’d turn away from such a sight of horrors, but love that would not give me up makes the Hill of Skulls, that gruesome slope of public torture, a holy ground where feet lose their shoes and souls shake off their sins.

    That, today, is my best thought about Christ.

     

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