Dear Explorer,
Jesus is hanging on the cross. The position of His arms with the weight of His body makes it impossible to breathe comfortably. To get air, he had to pull His body up (like a chin-up) except that when He did, it made His arms bleed and hurt more. The more blood He lost, the lower His oxygen level went and the more frequently He needed to push up. It was a terrible, terrible way to die.
Read Matthew 27:38-44
And
Read Mark 15:29-32
And
Read Luke 23:35-37
But instead of respect or awe or even pity at what He was going through. What was happening all around Him?
Read Luke 23:34
Do you think Jesus' statement was concerning the people who were hurling the insults – or to the soldiers who had nailed Him to the cross and why?
I believe both.
I was in an Easter production one time where I had to hurl insults at Jesus while He was being crucified. It broke my heart to do so even though it was just a “play”. I spent quite a bit of time in prayer and what I learned is that even though we think of those people as terribly bad – we still hurt Jesus today.
Can you think of ways that we insult Him and hurt Him today?
I believe that the way we treat the people around us is one way that we hurt Jesus. If you remember our study in Matthew 25:31-46 (Day 255 – Day 257), Jesus told the people that what they did to the “least of these” (the poor, the lonely, the imprisoned, the sick, the unlovely, the sinners) you have done it unto Me
I believe we hurt Jesus when we fail to consult Him about our plans or goals or direction for how to handle things.
I believe we hurt Jesus when we fail to trust Him when life surprises us.
I believe we hurt Jesus when we disobey Him or any of His commands.
That's why we need to be in constant prayer, constantly tuning ourselves to Him. When we get off track, we are hurling insults at Jesus. I don't want to do that.
When I slip off track – it's my job to confess it and ask Him to forgive me, to repent (change my direction, make a U-turn), and to get back on track as quickly as possible. 1 John 1:9 promises that Jesus will forgive me and cleanse me and help me get back on track. He knows that even though I've invited Him into my core, I still need foot washings!
In His service, dale
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