Heb. 6:19-20; 12:1-2, Our Forerunner!

There is another thing to note about Joseph of Arimathea.  He was a man of courage.  “Coming and taking courage” he went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.  Joseph had a bravery like that of the heroes of Israel like David, Hezekiah, Daniel and so on.  Think about it.  In doing what he did Joseph risked the ire of the Jewish leaders.  They knew he disagreed with their decision to turn Jesus over to Pilate (Lk. 23:51).  But for him to honor Christ in His death was a real slap in the face of the Jews.  They could have persecuted Joseph as they had Jesus.  At the same time, he risked the ire of Rome.  Crucified individuals did not get a burial with honor.  The bodies were burned or tossed into a hole.  They certainly did not end up in a rich man’s tomb as did Jesus.  And again, to honor Jesus was a slap in the face of Pilate who had condemned Him to death.  But Joseph “took courage.”

Why did he do this?  Because he had two things: honor for Jesus and a new tomb near the place of crucifixion.  He didn’t wait to be asked.  He took courage and asked himself.  Thus, prophecy was fulfilled (Isa. 53:9).  And the exaltation of Jesus began.  What mighty things God has done with people who were submitted to Him and who were willing to let God have what little they had.  David and a slingshot.  Gideon, clay pitchers and 300 men.  A boy with five loaves and two fish. 

Before we walk away from the tomb, let’s note one other detail in the story.  Pilate was surprised that Jesus was “already dead.”  The record says He died before the two on either side of Him.  We know that He refused the wine mixed with myrrh because He wanted to be fully cognizant as He bore the sins of the world.  But after the hours of darkness, His words are “it is finished,” “I thirst,” and “into Thy hands I commit My spirit.”  He did not do something “suicidal” to end His life.  But He clearly quit fighting to keep going when He knew it was time.  Think about this.

·       People generally fear and fight against death.  That is normal because we are in Satan’s realm where death rules.

·       Second, we know that Jesus did not die until He had finished His race (Heb. 12:1-2).  He did not die until He had “endured the cross, despising the shame.”  For that reason He “has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  He is the author and finished of our faith.  Thus, we are to look to Him from the moment we enter the race by putting our faith in Christ until we come to the end of the race.  He is our “forerunner” (Heb. 6:19-20).  He has completed the race and been victorious.  Our gaze upon Him is essential to the development of our faith, from start to finish.

·       So one thing is clear: Jesus did not fear death!  He didn’t want to die too soon.  But as soon as the race was finished, He had no need to engage in a hopeless fight to live long in hope that someone would deliver Him from death.  He put it all in His Father’s hands.  Jesus knew what we should know: it was not possible that He should be held by it (death; Acts 2:24). Hallelujah!

Psalm 102

The title captures the essence of this prayer.  The writer is sorely afflicted, overwhelmed by his trial, and pours out his heart to the Lord.  It may be the writing of a king as the writer speaks of a national affliction as well as his personal pain.  In the end this Hymn is profitable for today.

·         He cries to the Lord to hear his plea and to hurry with His answer, v1-2.

·         He describes his pain and the depth of his pain, v3-7.  His pain is physical.  He forgets to eat.  He is losing weight.  And feels very alone (the picture of the various birds that live alone in the wilderness).

·         He describes his immediate problem (his enemies who reproach him all day long) and the his real problem (he is experiencing God’s wrath), v8-11.  This is a familiar situation among God’s people who were prone to wander from the Lord.  God’s chastening involved some enemy nation that would afflict His people until they cried out for His mercy.  This happened in the time of the Judges, in varying degrees in the days of the Kings, through the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities, and into today’s results of the Roman destruction.  This problem is personal to the Psalmist and is yet national.  And the result is that both the man and the nation feel very temporal (v10).

·         He describes his Hope (i.e. the object of hope, the One in whom he hopes), v12-17.  It is not simply the Lord; it is the eternal Lord.  While he feels temporary his trust is in the Lord who endures forever.

·         He describes his hope (i.e. the promise the Lord has made), v18-22.  It is not enough just to have an eternal Lord; there must also be a promise from that eternal Lord that applies to the situation.  The writer has such a promise, pictured as a time when the peoples are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord (v22).  At that time not just God’s people but the nations will declare His name and praise in Zion!  This is ultimately a Messianic promise, a reference to the Kingdom of Messiah promised in Psalm 2.

·         He concludes with a clear statement: because God is eternal His people will be established, v23-28.  This is a call for personal endurance.

This Psalm is full of encouragement for saints today when they are overwhelmed.  If we have a promise from the Lord for our time of trial, then God will keep His promise.  There will never come a time when His promise will fail.  The eternal God keeps His word eternally.  For example, consider Paul’s words in his hour of trial: I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day (2 Tim. 1:12).

The flesh responds to overwhelming trial with anger, bitterness, crankiness, hopelessness and the lifestyles of addiction, loneliness and depression.  Let us heed the call to trust God.  Cry out to Him.  Wait on Him.  He is faithful!

Luke 19:50-56, Joseph of Arimathea

What about Joseph of Arimathea?  The only time we hear his name is in the burial of Christ.  No one is sure where Arimathea was located.  Somehow, Joseph was part of the Sanhedrin based in Jerusalem.  Perhaps it was his money.  Having a tomb hewn out of the rock was a sure sign of his wealth.  Maybe it was his love for his God.  We also know this to be true.

Mark tells us two things about this Joseph.  First, he was waiting for the kingdom of God.  This was the kind of “waiting” that characterizes Old Testament believers in the Messiah.  The waiting is not docile; it is filled with expectancy, as when someone waits for the anticipated fulfillment of a promise.

The same word was used for other OT believers in Jesus’ day.  Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel (Lk. 2:25).  He even said the Lord told him that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah, the Lord’s Christ.  Anna was part of a group that was waiting for the redemption of Israel (Lk. 2:38).  Think about these people, waiting for the kingdom of God, the consolation of Israel, and the redemption of Israel.  They were all waiting for the Lord’s Christ.  He was/is all those things!

·       He was Israel’s King.  Being the Son of David, anointed by God to rule the nations from Zion (Psalm 2), Jesus was “the King of the Jews” whose initial message was to declare, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk. 1:15).

·       He was Israel’s consolation.  When Isaiah announced “comfort” for the people of Israel and to Jerusalem (Isa. 40:1-2) he immediately assured them by prophesying the coming of the Messiah.  “Behold your God” (40:9). “His arm shall rule for Him … He will feed His flock like a shepherd” (40:10-11).  This prophecy continues through the end of Isaiah in Ch. 66!

·       He was Israel’s redeemer.  He was the first-born who would redeem God’s people (Ex. 12).  And He was the Kinsman-Redeemer who would become one of us so that He might give His life as the ransom for our liberty (Ruth 1-4; Heb. 2).

We have said that this characterized OT believers, this “waiting” expectantly for God’s promised Savior, the Seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15).  But what about NT believers?  Are we characterized by this waiting?  Yes!  The same word is used in Titus 2:11-14: … teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ .”  And again in Jude 1:20-21: But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.  As in the OT, so in the NT, we cannot live a victorious life without hope, without an eye on the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!

John 19:38-42, The Day of Preparation/Crucifixion (2)

The second “therefore,” which is that Christ was on the cross during the Day of Preparation.  If the place of crucifixion is where I think it is, on the north outside Jerusalem in the “land of Moriah,” (not east where the temple was, not west where the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is, but north of the temple), then there were many people taking their lambs on the road that took people to the sheep gate, that brought them to the Pool of Bethesda for washing the lamb, and then onto the temple mount for killing the lamb.  What we know is that the “many people” who passed by the cross were busy about Passover.  That is what was happening in Jerusalem at the time.  And there was Jesus, our Paschal Lamb, being sacrificed on the altar of the cross!  It is an awesome picture.

The “Day of Preparation” was quite a full day.  It takes months, for me at least, to preach and teach through the chapters involved in that 24-hour day.  Every event is full of significance.  You might wonder if it was possible for all those events to be limited to one day; from the preparation of the Passover meal until the body of Christ was laid in the tomb, a lot happened.  John records 4 chapters of Jesus’ teaching (Jn. 13-16) as taking place at the meal.  The prayer of Ch. 17 might have been prayed at Gethsemane.  In between the Upper Room and the Garden they crossed the Kidron, although that would have been less than half an hour.  He prayed at the Garden, then returned under arrest to Caiaphas house.  There were trials before the Jews, and then before Rome, including both Pilate and Herod.  Again, the movements from Fortress Antonia to Herod’s location near Jaffa Gate and then back was not as far as you might think in the compact city of Jerusalem.  Getting to Golgotha would take a little longer than normal since Jesus was not moving fast.  Then 6 hours on the cross, with Joseph going back into town to get permission to take the body.  At least the tomb was “nearby” we are told.  It is not the most important question, but here is a chart with some possible times that show it is not unreasonable.  What a day! But it was the day we have longed for.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it!  For your consideration.

Mark 15:42-47, The Day of Preparation/Crucifixion (1)

In terms of our verse-by-verse study in the Gospel of Mark it is time to move on from the cross.  It is, of course, never time to move on from the cross in our hearts, other than to get the full message of the gospel.  We need to visit the “full” tomb, so we are not deceived by those who would deny the death of Christ.  And then we need to visit the “empty” tomb, so we are not hopeless in this world of woe where we serve our God.  And of course, we will want to meet Christ in Galilee, that we might glory in our ascended Lord who has given us the ministry of reconciliation until He returns to judge all men according to their works.  So let us move on!

Mark tells us that the "day of crucifixion” was the “Day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath.”  I would like to speak of this “day,” first because all four Gospels mention it (Mt. 27:62; Lk. 23:54; Jn. 19:14,31,42), and because it is “the day the LORD has made” in which we rejoice (Ps. 118:22-24).  It is important.  But I also want to say that what we will discuss is not an issue of heresy.  I believe Jesus, the Lamb of God, was on the cross for many people to see who were busy preparing for the Passover meal they would eat that evening.  It is an awesome picture. 

John (19:14) says it was “the Preparation Day of the Passover.”  I take that to mean it was not the weekly preparation day before the Saturday sabbath.  John (19:41) also says the sabbath was a “high day,” meaning not the normal Saturday but another day.  The preparing the people were involved in was for Passover, the killing of the lamb at the temple.  This all makes sense in Ex. 12 where the instructions for Passover were given.  On the 10^th of the first month you chose a lamb and brought it into your house (12:3).  On the 14^th you killed the lamb at twilight (i.e. at the end of the day) and put the blood on the doorposts (12:6).  Then Passover moved into the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread (12:15).  The first and last days of that feast were sabbaths, days of rest, holy or high days (12:16).  If that is the case we are not tied to a Friday (day before Saturday sabbath) for crucifixion but it could be Thursday or even Wednesday, as some hold.  Some of us are a bit dubious about the arguments that Friday evening to Sunday morning is adequate to fulfill Jesus’ prophecy of three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Mt. 12:40). 

There are a couple of “therefores” that result from this.  First is that, in my understanding, Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples on the Preparation Day, at the very beginning.  I can live with that “difficulty” rather than some of the difficulties resulting from the thought that He had that meal after the day of preparing for it.  Mark 14:12 might be taken by some to mean they ate the meal on the right day.  I take Mark’s “first day of Unleavened Bread” to refer to the Day of Preparation.  Ex. 12:18 speaks of the feast being 8 days, meaning the Passover plus seven days.  As I have said, all views have to work to understand Scripture.  Given page limitations I will save the second “therefore” for the next post.

Heb. 9:1-15, A Temple Not Made with Hands!

We said that the success of any “religion” depends on appealing to the pride of the worshiper.  If I use the word “religion” to speak of a means by which a person can be at peace with his or her Creator, then what the Bible presents is a religion.  The NT tells us that any religion must have a priest, a mediator, one from among the people of the religion who can make it possible for those people to come to God (Hb. 8:1-3).  Hebrews speaks of the religion of Israel in the Old Testament (Heb. 9:1-10).  It was a religion designed by the Creator Himself.  It was as good as religion can get, better than the religions of the nations around Israel and everywhere in the world.  It was better because God designed it, God chose the priests, and God accepted the worship of that religion when it was pure from the heart. 

But, of course, the whole point of Hebrews is to say that the religion of Israel was no longer effective, no longer acceptable to God.  That religion had pointed to a perfect “religion” that would once and for all open the way for people to come to God.  In this religion Christ would be the High Priest, and He would lead worship at a perfect temple not made with hands, and would offer one sacrifice, Himself, that would secure ETERNAL redemption (Heb. 9:11-15).  Eternal!  In other words, a redemption that needs nothing more to be added.  Why would I need a new religion and temples made with hands and priests?  The only purpose all of that would be to pad my ego, so I could be seen as very religious, a picture of the “false humility” of which Paul spoke in Colossians. 

If the religion of the OT, which God ordained as the world awaited the provision of the promised Savior, is now useless after the Savior has come, then there is no reason for me to seek another religion with earthly worship.  God does not dwell in temples made with hands (Ac. 17:24), words Paul said to the Greeks in Athens who built amazing temples and whose temples have been matched by the visible church ever since the days of Constantine who mother was sent to the Holy Land to find the places important to the NT and to build temples over them. 

I am reminded of one of our trips to Ukraine, and on a day off from school we went to see an Orthodox Cathedral.  As we got out of the car, one of the drivers stayed at the car.  When we asked him why, his answer was, “why should I go; God is not there.”  That was a great answer.  But it also revealed something we saw over the years, that sometimes our Ukrainian evangelical friends also had a high view of their “buildings,” that the beauty was important to honor God.  Christians anywhere, including in my community, can easily fall into the old way of worship. 

After Jesus fulfilled all that the Law anticipated, the Christian’s body is God’s temple (1 Cor. 6:19-20).  A group of believers anywhere in the world is God’s temple (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 2 Cor. 6:16).  Through the cross of Christ, I have a circumcision made without hands (Col. 2:11), and my hope is “a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1; Heb. 11:16).