Death of the Servant PT-1 (Mark 15:21-32)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/7/2013 11:17 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Death of the Servant PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Mark 15:21-32

            Message of the verses:  Today we will begin to look at the “Death of the Servant” by looking at Mark 15:21-32 and Dr. Wiersbe has entitled this section of Scripture “The third hour.”

            The third hour (15:21-32):  “21 They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross.  22 Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23 They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. 24 And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man should take. 25 It was the third hour when they crucified Him. 26 The inscription of the charge against Him read, "THE KING OF THE JEWS." 27 They crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. 28 [[And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with transgressors."]] 29 Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, "Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!" 31 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, "He saved others; He cannot save Himself. 32 “Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!" Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.”

            We actually looked at verse twenty-one in yesterday’s SD so we will begin by looking at verse twenty-two.

            Dr. Wiersbe entitles this twelfth chapter of his commentary on the Gospel of Mark “The Servant Finishes His Work.”  In his introduction to this chapter he writes some very convicting words, as least they are to me. “I have glorified Thee on the earth, ‘Jesus said to His Father; ‘I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do’ (John 17:4).  It would be wonderful if all of us could give that same kind of report when we get to the end of life’s journey.  To know that we have accomplished His work and glorified His name would certainly make us look back with thanksgiving and ahead with excitement and anticipation.

            “The four events described in this final section of Mark give us the climax of the Gospel story and the historical basis for the message of the Gospel (1Cor. 15:1-8).”

            As we look at verse 22 we know that by looking at the other gospel accounts that there are some things that Mark does not write about.  We have to remember that Mark’s account of the life of Jesus Christ is what we would call a “Readers Digest” account of the life of Jesus Christ, and we also have to take into account that he was writing to the Romans and therefore he leaves out some things that would be more familiar to the Jews.

            The way that Warren Wiersbe breaks up his first main point which he entitles “The Servant’s Death,” is by dividing it up by the hours that Mark provides in this section of Scripture from Mark 15:21-41.  We are looking at just what happened surrounding the third hour in today’s SD.  To explain about the hours that are recorded in the different gospels Dr. Wiersbe writes “The Jews reckoned time from 6:00 A. M. to 6:00 P. M., so this means that the third hour was 9:00 A. M., the sixth hour noon, and the ninth hour 3:00 P.M.  Mark followed the Jewish system, whereas the Apostle John used Roman time in his Gospel.  This means that ‘the sixth hour’ in John 19:14 is 6:00 A. M.”

            We know that Jesus was on the cross for six hours and the last three hours was when the earth was dark and the thing that was so disturbing to our Lord happened during that time period.  Paul writes of the results of those three hours with these words, “2Co 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  But we cannot get ahead of the story too much. 

            We left of in yesterday’s SD with Simon carrying the cross of Jesus, and the reason Simon would have been carrying the cross of Christ was because of the condition Jesus was in, but it may have been that because it was the law that a guilty man had to carry his cross, however Jesus was not guilty.  We are the ones who are guilty and perhaps Simon carried it for all of us.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes of Simon in this way:  “In one of his folksy letter to his mother Harry Truman wrote, ‘I went to the White House to see the President and discovered I was the President.’  Simon had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover (Acts 2:10; 6:9), and he ended up meeting the Passover Lamb!”  We mentioned the impact that this probably had on Simon in yesterday’s SD.

Now in verse twenty-two we see that they arrive at the place where Jesus is to be crucified, “the place of the skull.”  It may have been named that because it looked like a cross, or perhaps because many people died there.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “We do not know the exact place where our Lord was crucified, nor is it important that we know.  He was crucified outside the city walls the place of rejection (Heb. 13:12-13); and He died for the sins of the world.”

Verse twenty-three tells of Jesus being offered some kind of a narcotic in order to help subside some of the pain, but He refused it.  He wanted to be in complete control when He did the will of the Father, that is to accomplish the work of redemption.  While Jesus was in the garden He prayed that this cup might pass from Him and that was the cup of wrath that the Father would give Him to drink for us.

While listening to sermons from John MacArthur and reading the commentary from Dr. Wiersbe I have been reminded that none of the Gospel writers describe the details of the crucifixion for this was not necessary.  It was not their aim to arouse pity, but it was their aim to assure our faith.  Crucifixion was common in the days that these accounts were written that there was no need to describe it, their readers knew all about it.

Psalm 22 foretells what was going on during this time and it was written many years before crucifixion was every used.  “14 I am poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It is melted within me. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And my tongue cleaves to my jaws; And You lay me in the dust of death. 16 For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me; 18 They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots.”

Mark writes of the sign that was put up on the cross of Christ, but he does leave out part of it.  “Mt 27:37 And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS."  The Jews had a problem with this as seen in “Joh 19:21  So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, "Do not write, ’The King of the Jews’; but that He said, ’I am King of the Jews.’"  22. Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written.’”

As far as the two people who were crucified alongside Jesus we know that they too joined into the harassment that was being given to Jesus, but Luke tells us this about them:  “39  One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!" 40  But the other answered, and rebuking him said, "Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41  "And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." 42  And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!" 43  And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise’ (Luke 23:39-43).”

There was many things from the OT that were being fulfilled during this part of the Life of Jesus Christ as He went through the different trials, and no is hanging on the cross.  I have read that the probability of having all the things written about Jesus in the OT coming true were like piling silver dollars in the entire state of Texas six feet high and asking a person to find one particular silver dollar.  And yet we serve a God who is all knowing and all wise, and all powerful, who is sovereign, who is holy, who is immeasurable, who is love and also just, so this was not a difficult thing for Him to write these things beforehand and then having them fulfilled.  John MacArthur states in one of his sermons on Mark that the miracles that Jesus did while on earth were not as impressive as the providence that God works out everyday throughout this entire world.  All of the things that were written about Jesus in the OT were fulfilled by the providence of God during that time.  Think of Judas going to the Jews to put these events into motion.  The trials of Jesus when they were all illegal, but in the plan of God, and the Jews not wanting to crucify Jesus until after the Passover, but Jesus dying exactly when the Passover Lamb was slain.  The type of death that He died and all the other things that happened to Him while on the cross were all in the providence of God, showing that God is all powerful, and all wise, along with being just and love, for we see all of the attributes of God at the cross of Christ.

We mentioned in yesterday’s SD that many of the people that watched and also participated in the crucifixion of Christ though that Jesus was crazy and therefore were making fun of Him.  We also know and have seen and will see later that not all thought this of Him and there were some who would be saved through witnessing this event.  Think about the thief on the cross, and also Simon, and we will see the centurion later on who will recognize that Jesus was surely not crazy, but was indeed the Son of God.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The question that Pilate asked the Jews “What will I do with Jesus?” is the most important question that anyone can ask, and if the right answer is given then one will live with Him for all eternity.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  The more that I study about the events that happened to Jesus during this period of His life and death should give me more of a desire to serve Him, so that I too can fulfill all the things that God planned for me to fulfill in eternity past.  (Eph. 2:10)

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 32:1

            1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!

Turing Points Wisdom for Today:  “No one ever falls into sin as the result of being too watchful.”  (Author Unknown)  “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.”  (1Cornithians 16:13)

2/7/2013 12:57 PM

             

Jesus being Flogged (Mark 15:15-21)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR2/6/2013 11:13 AM

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  Pre-Crucifixion of Jesus

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Mark 15:15-21

            Message of the verses:  “15 ¶  Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified. 16  The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. 17  They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; 18  and they began to acclaim Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 19  They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. 20  After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him. 21  They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross.”

            I got to thinking a bit more about Barabbas and it came to my mind what happened on the Day of Atonement.  It seems to me that I had heard at some time in my past a sermon that talked about what happened to Barabbas, how he was let go and Jesus was crucified that it is like what happened on the Day of Atonement when two lambs are chosen and one is killed for the sins of the nation of Israel and one is let go into the wilderness.  All I can say at this time is that I do remember the sermon and perhaps it is correct.

            Charles H. Spurgeon gave a sermon on “The Day of Atonement” on the morning of August 10, 1856 at the New Park Street Chapel, Southwark, London, England.  In that sermon he made the following points “The person who made the atonement; secondly the sacrifice whereby the atonement was typically made; thirdly, the effects of the atonement; and fourthly, our behavior on the recollection of the atonement, as well set forth by the conduct prescribed to the Israelites on that day.”  The sermon is eleven pages long, which makes it too long to put into this Spiritual Diary, but for those who are interested in reading it, it can be found at www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0095.jtm.

            Yesterday we looked at verse fifteen but I want to go over something else found in that verse in this SD.  The verse speaks of the cowardliness of Pilate for Mark states that the reason that Pilate sentenced Jesus to be crucified was he wanted to satisfy the crowd.  It also says that Pilate handed Jesus over to be scourged.  What Jesus went through was a horrible thing for Him to go through and I certainly am not making light of it.  However what He went through physically was not was caused Him to sweat great drops of blood.  What He went through was not totally unlike what all 30,000 people that the Romans crucified in Israel during this time.  Jesus foretold that this would happen:  “32 ¶  They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, 33  saying, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. 34  "They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.’”  (Mark 10:32-34)  Isaiah said this about the coming Messiah:  “Isa 50:6  I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.”  He also said this:  “13 ¶  Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. 14  Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men. 15  Thus He will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand (Isaiah 52:13-15).” I believe that Isaiah is saying that the Messiah will not even look like a man when all of the cruel things are finally done to Him that was done to Him.

              What went on with Jesus in verses 16-20 were the things that were really prophesied by both Jesus and the OT prophets as we have seen.  What went on by those cruel Roman soldiers was a game to them, for they thought that Jesus was crazy, for after all He said that He was the King of the Jews so they would taunt Him and make fun of Him and beat Him, and spit on Him, and put a crown of thorns on Him, and make more fun of Him by putting a robe on Him and putting a staff in His hand to make Him out to be a king.  We read in John’s Gospel that after all these horrible things were done to Jesus that they brought Him out and Pilate said “Behold the man.”  I believe that Pilate thought that if the Jews saw the shape that Jesus was now in that they would feel sorry for Him, that they would believe that He was now no longer a threat to them and would consent to let Him go.  Pilate and the Jews did not realize that it was God who was causing all these things to come about because they were in His plan and nothing they could do would stop the plans of God. 

            I want to look at the 21^st verse:  “They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross”  First of all we know that all those who were being crucified had to carry their cross, at least the cross piece of the cross.  We also know that Jesus would be very weak at this point.  The Romans must have been in a hurry to get Jesus to the place where they would crucify Him so they called Simon to come and carry the cross of Jesus.  Now Simon, a very common name, was from Cyrene, and that is Tripoli which is in Libya, a place that has been in the news recently.  Mark writes that Simon had two sons in order to help his readers, who are Romans, to understand who this man is.  Now let us look at what Paul writes in “Ro 16:13 Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine.”  John MacArthur states that there was a church in this city that Simon and his sons came from and believes that it was started by Simon sometime after he had carried the cross of Jesus and then became a believer in Him.  Sometime later his son would go to Rome and perhaps all his family and thus Mark writes about him and so does Paul.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have mentioned in various SD’s that I am reading a book by A. W. Tozer entitled “The Attributes of God,” and I want to quote a portion of this book in this portion of my Spiritual Diary that seems to go well with what we are discussing in this SD.  The chapter from where this quote comes from is on the grace of God and the section is “Some Things We Do Not Know”  “In secret, there is in the dark, He did a once-done act never done before and never done again.  And because He did that, the grace of God flows to all men.  Let’s remember that angels and prophets and even Paul said, ‘Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:  God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory’ (I Timothy 3:16).  Many serious-minded, worthy scholars are ready to say that Paul’s mind was the greatest that ever was known in the human race, except of course for the perfect mind of Christ.  But this mighty mind never tried to understand it.  He said, ‘Great is the mystery of godliness’ (3:16), and that’s all.

            “We’re saved by His blood, but how are we saved by His blood?  We’re alive by His death, but why are we alive by His death?  Atonement was made in His death, but how was atonement made in His death?  Let’s not vulgarize (debase something) it by trying to understand it.  But let’s stand and gaze at the cross and say ‘Oh Lord God, Thou knowest! Worthy is the Lamb that was slain!’

            “And if angels can be  envious, they look upon us ransomed sinners and desire to look into it.  But God says to the angels, the spirits there before the throne who can bear the burning bliss but who have never known a sinful world like this, ‘God help my people.’  He sends them out to be ministering spirits to them who shall be heirs of salvation.  But He never explains it to them.  And I doubt whether there’s an angel or archangel anywhere in heaven who understands what happened there on that cross.

            “We know He died; we know that because He died we don’t have to.  We know that He rose from the dead and because He rose from the dead, we who believe on Him will rise from the dead.  We know He went to the right hand of God and sat down in perfect approval amidst the acclamations of the heavenly multitude.  And we know that because He did we’ll go there with Him.  But why?  God has shut up this secret in His own great heart forever.  And we can only say, ‘Worthy is the Lamb.’”   

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Praise the Lord by saying “Worth is the Lamb who was slain,” and then stating “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!”

Memory verse for the week:  Psalm 32:1

            1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!

Turning Points Wisdom for the Day:  “I do not know how much you ought to give.  I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.”  (C. S. Lewis) “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful give.”  (2Cor. 9:7)  2/6/2013 12:37 PM

Pilate before Jesus (Mark 15:1-15)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/5/2013 12:19 PM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Pilate Before Jesus

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Mark 15:1-15

            Message of the verses:  I think it best to share with all the plans that I have for my Spiritual Diaries in the near future.  It is my desire to finish up with the book of Mark this month and so I will continue to work on that until it is finished.  At that time we will go back to the book of Proverbs and continue to work through it.  Starting in the month of March we will continue to look at Proverbs but will also begin to look at the book of Daniel, but working through one chapter of Mark a month until it is finished.  I first looked at the book of Mark while the Holy Spirit of God was giving me His effectual call for salvation in January of 1974 as I was listening to messages by Hal Lindsey while visiting a friend in Florida.  I have studied it before, but never studied it all the way through and I am looking forward to doing that.  The book of Daniel is like the Old Testament account of the New Testament book of Revelations and since I am putting my study of Revelations on the second blog it seems good to me to have Daniel on the first blog.  They can both be found at the same web address www.2twokens.blogspot.com. 

            As we begin to look at the 15^th chapter of Mark we need to do a little bit of a review before jumping into it.  We remember that the 14^th chapter of Mark was a very long chapter, some 72 verses and in that chapter we saw Jesus come into Jerusalem, teach at the temple, then begin to continually teach just His disciples which is actually seen in the gospel of John, chapters 13-17.  The last Passover mean was celebrated with His disciples, and then Judas leaves to betray Jesus.  After he leaves Jesus shares the first Communion with His remaining disciples.  John tells us that at this time Jesus would wash His disciples feet and then they would all leave for the Garden of Gethsemane.  We have had the bold disciple, Peter tell Jesus that he would never forsake Him and Jesus telling him that he would.  We see that the disciples all slept while Jesus was praying three times in great agony.  Judas comes with possibly as many as 1000 men to arrest Jesus and then the disciples run away.  We see Jesus on trial, but Mark does not tell about all of the trials that He has before the Jews, which were three in number.  We also see Peter betray the Lord Jesus as He said he would do. 

            The three trials before the Jews were one before Annas who was the High Priest before Roman put a stop to him having that position any longer.  Next to Caiaphas, and then after daylight another trial with Caiaphas.  Here is what John writes:  “John 18:13 And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.”

            Now that the three trials are over with the Jews Jesus is taken to Pilate which would be the first of the three trials that Jesus would have before the Gentiles.  Jesus would see Pilate two times and Herod once.  Herod was the one who had John the Baptist beheaded. 

            Now we are ready to begin to look at the first fifteen verses in Mark chapter fifteen.

            “1 ¶  Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole Council, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate. 2  Pilate questioned Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" And He answered him, "It is as you say." 3  The chief priests began to accuse Him harshly. 4  Then Pilate questioned Him again, saying, "Do You not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!" 5  But Jesus made no further answer; so Pilate was amazed. 6  Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. 7  The man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. 8  The crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. 9  Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" 10  For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. 11  But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. 12  Answering again, Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?" 13  They shouted back, "Crucify Him!" 14  But Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify Him!"  15 Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.”

            We see it was early in the morning that Jesus was take to Pilate, for they had just finished their last trial before Caiaphas trying to make it somewhat legal, but failing to do so.  We know that according to the OT prophet Isaiah that Jesus did not open His mouth: Isa 53:7 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.”  Jesus would only answer legitimate questions and the question that Pilate asked him was legitimate and so He answered that He was indeed the King of the Jews as seen in verse two. 

            As we think a bit about Pilate we know that he was hated by the Jews, and also hated the Jews in return, but it seems that Pilate was a bit afraid of the Jews.  I suppose that Pilate was not too much in the good graces of Rome or he would not have to come to this part of the world.  When he first arrived in Jerusalem he had a great parade and in the parade he displayed things on shields that were greatly offence to the Jews for they thought that they were idols.  Some of the Jews brought this to the attention of the officials in Rome and they made Pilate put these “idols” in his palace in Caesarea.  Another time Pilate began to build an aqueduct to get a better supply of water in Jerusalem and took the money out of the temple treasury to do this.  This also upset the Jews for this money was used for the purposes of the Lord, it was called “Corbin.”  All of this put Pilate in a position that I am sure that he did not want to be in so he tried hard not to have Jesus crucified because he did have some appearance of justice in him.  In between verses five and six we see that when Pilate found out that Jesus was from Galilee that he immediately sent him to Herod.  As mentioned earlier Herod was the one who was responsible for the death of John the Baptist.  Herod had married his brother’s wife who was actually the niece of both he and the brother she was first married to, so this not only made him an adultery, but also committing incest.  Jesus did not speak a word to Herod and probably Herod thought that Jesus was now no threat to him, for Herod thought that Jesus was John the Baptist raised from the dead.

            As we look at the remaining verses in this section from Mark we see that Pilate did desire to release Jesus, but in the end as Dr. Wiersbe explains, “Pilate did not ask, ‘Is it right?’ Instead, he asked ‘Is it safe?  Is it popular?’” 

            We have seen in this great injustice different people who we can blame for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  We first saw Judas, then Annas and Chiapas, and of course all of the Jews who had Him on trail.  Now we see Pilate and Herod as they too are responsible for the death of Jesus.  We see all of these things happening at a very fast paste and when we think about it long and hard we have to believe that God was the One behind the scenes to make all of this happen.  “Isa 53:10  But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.”  Pleased means the following “to delight in, take pleasure in, desire, be pleased with.”  Now we could ask if it pleased the Lord to kill His Son why are those who are participating in all of this be blamed?  I think that the answer is that it was their desire to do all that they did.  There is one more person that we can look at as to why Jesus was crucified and that person is me.  Paul writes that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and so we can all blame ourselves, but the good news is that it did please God to kill His Son in order to provide a way of salvation for all those who accept His pardon.

            In John MacArthur’s sermon on these fifteen verses he brings up something about Pilate that is a legend that I want to share for in some ways it is funny, but in some ways it is sad.

            “Some legends grew up about the end of his life. Really interesting ones. A little research reveals them. We know he committed suicide, that’s history. But legend says that after he committed suicide, his body was taken and thrown into the Tiber River, the main river that runs through Rome. At which moment when the body hit the water, the water became so disturbed by evil spirits, that the body was removed, taken to Vienna and thrown into the Rhone River where there is a monument there today titled “Pilate’s Tomb.” It’s a legend, but it’s not the end of the legend. The Rhone apparently, according to another legend, rejected Pilate’s corpse so it was again removed and it was thrown in the Lake in Luzon Switzerland. It was taken out of that place because they didn’t want it and it was removed to a mountain near Lucerne Switzerland. Some say it is in another lake called Lagodepilato in the Sibylline mountains in Italy. You could guess from the name of the lake, Lagodepilato that somebody believes it was put there in that little lake, and legend says that every Good Friday, Pilate’ body emerges from the waters and he washes his hands.”

            On more thing that is surely worth mentioning and that is the story within the story of Jesus that has to do with Barabbas, for Barabbas was the one who was let go in order for Christ to be crucified.  One has to wonder what thoughts went through his head and what ever happened to him.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  When I think about all of the cruelty that went on to Jesus, the beatings, the flogging, the crucifixion itself, and I think that it was me who should have been there taking His place because I am the one who deserves it and not Him I can only fall on my face and thank the Lord for taking my place.  Paul writes “2Co 5:21  He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  This is one of the most amazing verses in all of the Bible.  Think on it!

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Think on 2Cor. 5:21.

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 32:1

           

            1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!

Turning Points Wisdom for Today:  “All God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His being with them.”  (J. Hudson Taylor) “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  (Matthew 19:26)

2/5/2013 2:01 PM