Newsletter April 2024
God’s way of salvation
So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39)
Jesus had been brought to the governor Pilate with the accusation that he claimed to be a king, thus challenging the authority of the Roman emperor. The Roman authorities cared little about religious disputes, but any challenge of their rule was punished with the utmost cruelty to humiliate anyone deemed to be a rebel. For the Roman officer in charge of Jesus’ crucifixion this was most probably not the first time he had overseen this form of execution and heard the desperate cries of pain, but this time something was different. Rather than receiving pity, this supposed king of the Jews was being mocked even in his suffering by his countrymen, who challenged Him to demonstrate His claim to be Israel’s Saviour by saving Himself. Yet He remained silent, except when, just before His final breath, He cried out with a loud voice, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Who was this Man who seemed so surrendered to His fate and, unlike others, showed no resentment towards those who were causing Him such suffering? Why was His focus solely on His God, as if He knew that, through His death, He was fulfilling a greater purpose? Truly this Man was the Son of God!” (v.34)
The cross of Jesus is a mystery. Why would the One who had come to save the world and had performed many miracles, even raising the dead, end His life in such a way. Why did He not simply end all injustice and establish His rule of peace and justice on earth as the scriptures foretold? (Isaiah 2:1-4 & 9:6-7; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Daniel 7:13-14) Had it all just been a dream? Was all hope of justice and peace yet again being disappointed? Would this world never change for good, the powerful continue exploiting the weak, the evil prospering while the righteous suffer? No wonder the cross is foolishness to the wise of this world who maintain that change for good can only be effected through strength and force.
God’s ways, however, are higher than our ways. (Isaiah 55:9) His power is manifest in our weakness. Those who follow the example of His Son who came to earth to show us the way and put their trust entirely in God will be vindicated by Him. On the cross, Jesus seemed utterly forsaken, but He knew that He would rise again and ascend to the Father, to be seated at His right hand in the place of ultimate authority. From there He would send His Spirit to live in those who put their trust in God alone, those who take up their cross and follow after Him. Those who are willing to deny self and lay down their lives will receive true life – eternal life in the world to come. (Mark 8:34-38)
As we live our lives on earth trusting in Him and depending on the power of His Spirit alone, God gives us a foretaste of His blessings. We are able to experience miracles as He worked them while He was on earth in the flesh, but, at the same time, we share in His rejection by a world that does not understand His ways nor submit to His rule.
What about you and me? Have we fully surrendered to God? Is our hope in Him alone? Do we love as He loves and forgive as He forgives? Or do we continue to live in rebellion while professing His lordship over our lives? In the Roman Empire, rebels were crucified, exposed to shame so that others would submit. In God’s purpose, the only One who ever lived in complete obedience, the Son of God, laid down His life for our forgiveness. Therefore … let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-3)