Tag: Easter

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The gift of God’s liberator.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will take you by the hand and guard you, and I will give you to my people, Israel, as a symbol of my covenant with them. And you will be a light to guide the nations. You will open the eyes of the blind. You will free the captives from prison, releasing those who sit in dark dungeons. ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭42‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Story of God has always been about making promises and His ability to keep them. From the very beginning, God promised that He would personally repair and restore the breach that humans made and He has consistently done that ever since creation began.

Isaiah is filled with future-casting the Messiah, the savior, the liberator for humankind. These particular prophetic-promises come into view at two very popular holiday seasons: Christmas and Easter, winter and spring. This spring, 2024, our world is experiencing enormous chaos. We have a two global conflicts or wars simultaneously happening. One in the Ukraine, the other in Israel. Russia, wanting to reclaim Ukraine, invaded the country in February, 2022 and it continues on today. Hamas, a terrorist organization, invaded Israel in October 2023 and it also continues on today. Plus, the always struggling nation of Haiti has recently been taken over by Haitian Gangs, who closed the entire country! On top of all that, the U.S. is heading towards yet another highly divided presidential election in just a few months and we are still trying to climb out of the effects of the 2020 pandemic. Nothing is the same and no one has any idea what the future holds for our world in crisis.

Celebrating Resurrection Sunday this year in the United States, means doing so with a massive exodus of those who have left the Church because of “church hurts,” or “deconstruction” of their faith. God knew there would be cycles of darkness and deep disturbances in human affairs. When the promise of the Messiah arrived at the turn of the calendar from B.C. (Before Christ) to A.D. (Anno Domini), it was very tumultuous. And, by the time Jesus became of age to officially become a Rabbi in the Jewish faith, Rome had bullied their way into what the citizens considered to be peace (Pax Romana).

The cost for peace was enormous and the social, religious experiment of a pan-theistic belief system was constantly on the brink of revolt. The Jews were itching for a champion, a warrior like King David to reclaim their country and God-given right to their own land and way of life. Even the early church, completely believed in Jesus’ resurrection, but persecution and mayhem was so horrific they also believed He was returning soon!

Our world has gone through many cycles of desperate despair to the exhilaration of hope that the end has come! We are in another cycle right now! Yet, with each plunge into apparent chaos, there is simultaneously a search for God, for meaning, even for eternity. That time is now! The story of God’s liberation and promise-keeping ability gives us hope. We may all be in a perpetual, even cyclical Good Friday, but God always has a glorious resurrection Sunday coming. Behold God comes… always… to make all things new!

Prayer

Dad.
Our lives may be filled with trauma-troughs, ruts and pits of pain, sin and suffering, but even then You are with us. And, in each and every dark moment, or sunless season, you bring peace and comfort to our hearts. Thou art with me! Even in those down-cycles of fear and the unknown, you can lift me out of the depressions of what is seen all around me to the vistas of your view, your perspective and your plans. Thank you God, for you are my refuge and my hope.

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Delayed judgment gratification.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Please, God, rescue me! Come quickly, Lord, and help me. May those who try to kill me be humiliated and put to shame. May those who take delight in my trouble be turned back in disgrace. Let them be horrified by their shame, for they said, “Aha! We’ve got him now!” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭70‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

David wrote this Psalm while running from his own son, Absalom, who wanted to take the throne by force. Yet, in David’s fear and desperation, he writes a prophetic/messianic Psalm projecting the future moments leading up to Jesus, on trial for blasphemy, and eventual judgment of death on a cross like a common criminal.

The prayer of Jesus, in the garden, asking that this “cup” may pass. Maybe not the cup of suffering alone, but the cup of wrath, the moment God, the Father, would turn away, not able to look at His only son. The one and only time, EVER, the intimate presence of the Father, His full and complete love, would not be felt on the cross. Yes, this Psalm was most likely on the lips of Jesus in the garden and in his thoughts while hanging on the cross. “Please God, rescue me!” The rest of David’s Psalm though, would not be uttered by Jesus on the cross. All the judgment, shame and disgrace that you and I deserve would be stored up and poured upon Jesus that one very dark afternoon around 3:00 pm. The cursing of shame and disgrace would not be wished upon the crowd that jeered. All the hatred of humanity being shouted at Jesus, masking their own culpability of lies and murder, would be quietly confronted by a different prayer, a whole different ending to David’s desire for justice and revenge.

Jesus’ prayer was, “Father forgive them,” they just don’t know any better. Jesus’ rewriting Psalm 70 asked that all the retribution of judgment be redirected on him and He asked that they (all of humanity) be forgiven. Are you mad at God? He’s forgiven you. Do you hate God for something that happened to you, something you blame Him for? He’s forgiven you. Why? Because the perfection and blamelessness of Jesus, took your gripes and grief and paid the price for you to even hold those feelings of ill-will towards God and others. This Easter, drop your charges against God! He’s not who you think He is. He loves and forgives you.

Prayer

Dad,
Even with all the crummy things that happened in my life as a child and through youth, I never held you responsible for it. I didn’t carry a grudge, thinking you had cursed my family and that I was just stuck with it. I knew my moms and dads were broken. I knew the way they chose to live out their lives was not healthy nor helpful to me. But I also knew that without some kind of massive miracle and change in my own ways, I would end up just like them! You were that miracle. You reaching out to me and offering life would be my one chance to get out of generational cycles of pain, addictions and dysfunction. Yet still, I knew that I needed forgiveness for my own decisions that could never be blamed on my origin story. Thank you for permanently not just delaying judgment that I deserved, but removing it completely through Jesus death on the cross.