Rev. Alex Kolath
MTC of Baltimore, MD
31 Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, “See, we are
going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man
by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be
mocked and insulted and spat upon. 33 After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the
third day he will rise again.” 34 But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact,
what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
I remember a very angry song in the 90s where the
songwriter expressed his grief against God. He would basically say we
Christians follow a God that failed. That failure is marked by this
powerful God in Jesus Christ being crucified. The healing hand
of Jesus was held back by the nails on the cross. Jesus
failed. God failed.
The disciples, at the time of
Jesus’ death, did feel like there was failure. That’s because
they didn't quite grasp what Jesus told them:
everything the prophets said about the Son of Man will be
accomplished. He will be delivered to the Gentiles, be mocked,
treated shamefully, spat upon, flogged, and eventually killed.
For the disciples, Jesus was
the Messiah, the prophesied Son of Man, he was the Son of God. But
his death didn't make sense to them. It was a tragic
mistake. That wasn't supposed to happen. The
plan for Jesus to reign as king has failed.
But Jesus accomplished
exactly what he set out to do. His death wasn't an
accident. His death wasn't a change in plans. His
death was the plan. His death was his success – not
failure. So much so that the plan was that death would not even be
the end , because on the third day he will rise from the dead.
This accomplishment has been
spelled out in so many words in what we call the New Testament, some of
which was written by the very people that didn't quite understand
Jesus’ accomplishment at first. This accomplishment, this
suffering and death, was an act of love to save you from your sins that you
may not pay the price for your own sin, i.e. spiritual death, but have this
gift from God which is eternal life (Romans 6:23).
Jesus didn't fail. He succeeded in giving us
victory over our own sinful failures.
This accomplishment that Christ
achieved was for our sake. But some of us don’t yet grasp it,
just like the disciples once didn't. We understand the
words, but we don’t understand the meaning. We don’t see Jesus’ death
as an accomplishment for us, but just a sad thing that happened 2000 years
ago. To you, remember this wasn't just a sad event in
the history of humanity, it wasn't an accident,
it wasn't a failure. It was an expression of love
for you, to save you, to bring you back to your King. May the
Spirit of God reveal this to you as He did to the disciples.
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PRAYER
Jesus, let me see your
death and resurrection as an accomplishment of love for my sake.
Thank you for the gift of eternal life that I may not die in my own sins,
but have life in you. Amen.
THOUGHT
FOR THE DAY:
Jesus Christ’s success is found in his suffering, death and resurrection,
so that He may be with the people He loves – including you.