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LOVE SO GREAT
Apr 08, 2020
I write this Blog in Holy Week – the week where we see Jesus go from Hero to Zero to Conqueror in the space of 7 days.
Palm Sunday was a day of great celebration, celebrating the King who had come to save the world. Good Friday was a day of sadness and disappointment, because the Hero King had become just another thief on the Cross, or had He? And then there was Resurrection Sunday – a day where something happened that still confounded the masses, even though it had happened a couple of times in history already. Someone rose from the dead. The King had come and accomplished what He had come to do – save the world. Just not in the way that the masses had expected. But in a way that the Father had planned.
The cross, the grave, the resurrection, all part of the Father’s divine salvation plan. Because of the cross our sins are forgiven. Because of the resurrection our relationship with Father and with Jesus is back to the way God intended. Jesus did what no other sacrifice has been able to achieve. But Jesus did this not out of duty, but out of great and amazing love. Love that took Him to the cross. Love that held Him in the grave. Love that took Him to the gates of hell and took the keys away from the devil. Love that caused the stone to be rolled away on the third day. Love that showed the world that Jesus is King and Jesus is Lord, and Jesus is the only way to the Father.
Love – a word that can be used with such flippancy at times that we have lost the true meaning of it. Love – a word that describes what Jesus feels for us. Love – a demonstration of the Kingdom in the person of Jesus.
As I reflect on the journey to the cross, I reflect on Jesus and His emotions, feelings, desires. I believe that He demonstrated both His deity and His humanness in the days leading up to the Cross. The human side of Jesus asked Father to take the cup from Him. Why would He ask this if He knew that the outcome was going to be good? Why would He voice such a request to the Father? Because I believe that in human form, He could only but perceive the extent of the trauma He would experience. But yet in His deity – not My will but Yours be done – He knew there was only one way. A sacrifice that would cause an exchange to happen. Because “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” (quoted by C. S. Lewis, in “Mere Christianity”).
Psalm 103:8 (NIV) “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.”
Psalm 103:11 (NIV) “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him”
Reading Psalm 103 – these two verses really stood out at me this time. I see reflections of the journey to the Cross.
Compassionate – Jesus showed such compassion throughout the week leading to the Crucifixion. He had compassion on His disciples (even though they let Him down). He had compassion on His mother and brothers. He had compassion towards the man on the cross that cried out to Him. The list goes on.
Gracious – In everything Jesus did He was gracious. To everyone He met, He showed Himself to be gracious.
Slow to anger – If anyone had a reason to be angry at the injustice He was being shown, it was Jesus. Even when Peter tried to defend Him against the soldiers, He was slow to anger.
Abounding in Love – Jesus is love, and He abounds in it. He overflows with love. He has more love than we can even begin to comprehend. “An intense emotion of affection, warmth, fondness, and regard towards a person or thing” (ReversoDictionary). An INTENSE EMOTION – that’s my Jesus.
And then verse 11 gives us a picture of the vastness of Jesus’ love, compassion, grace and mercy. As high as the heavens are above the earth … We have flown a number of times over the last decade or so – and it always amazes me that even at 36,000 feet above the earth, the sky still seems unreachable. How vast is the love that Jesus has for those that fear Him that He would pour it out on the cross for us?
Psalm 8 reminds us that God is mindful of us, and that He cares for us. I’m so grateful that He cared enough to send His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross, to go the gates of hell and then to rise again on the third day for me. So that I can experience the compassion, grace, love and desire of the Father. So that I can be in relationship with the Father, seated with Jesus at the right hand of the Father, filled with the Holy Spirit who leads, guides, and counsels me into ALL truth.
As we reflect on these verses from the Psalms, may God bless us, and reveal to us the vastness of His love for us as we draw near to Him and worship and adore Him with all of our hearts.
Be blessed today, and always.
With my love
Jean
Palm Sunday was a day of great celebration, celebrating the King who had come to save the world. Good Friday was a day of sadness and disappointment, because the Hero King had become just another thief on the Cross, or had He? And then there was Resurrection Sunday – a day where something happened that still confounded the masses, even though it had happened a couple of times in history already. Someone rose from the dead. The King had come and accomplished what He had come to do – save the world. Just not in the way that the masses had expected. But in a way that the Father had planned.
The cross, the grave, the resurrection, all part of the Father’s divine salvation plan. Because of the cross our sins are forgiven. Because of the resurrection our relationship with Father and with Jesus is back to the way God intended. Jesus did what no other sacrifice has been able to achieve. But Jesus did this not out of duty, but out of great and amazing love. Love that took Him to the cross. Love that held Him in the grave. Love that took Him to the gates of hell and took the keys away from the devil. Love that caused the stone to be rolled away on the third day. Love that showed the world that Jesus is King and Jesus is Lord, and Jesus is the only way to the Father.
Love – a word that can be used with such flippancy at times that we have lost the true meaning of it. Love – a word that describes what Jesus feels for us. Love – a demonstration of the Kingdom in the person of Jesus.
As I reflect on the journey to the cross, I reflect on Jesus and His emotions, feelings, desires. I believe that He demonstrated both His deity and His humanness in the days leading up to the Cross. The human side of Jesus asked Father to take the cup from Him. Why would He ask this if He knew that the outcome was going to be good? Why would He voice such a request to the Father? Because I believe that in human form, He could only but perceive the extent of the trauma He would experience. But yet in His deity – not My will but Yours be done – He knew there was only one way. A sacrifice that would cause an exchange to happen. Because “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” (quoted by C. S. Lewis, in “Mere Christianity”).
Psalm 103:8 (NIV) “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.”
Psalm 103:11 (NIV) “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him”
Reading Psalm 103 – these two verses really stood out at me this time. I see reflections of the journey to the Cross.
Compassionate – Jesus showed such compassion throughout the week leading to the Crucifixion. He had compassion on His disciples (even though they let Him down). He had compassion on His mother and brothers. He had compassion towards the man on the cross that cried out to Him. The list goes on.
Gracious – In everything Jesus did He was gracious. To everyone He met, He showed Himself to be gracious.
Slow to anger – If anyone had a reason to be angry at the injustice He was being shown, it was Jesus. Even when Peter tried to defend Him against the soldiers, He was slow to anger.
Abounding in Love – Jesus is love, and He abounds in it. He overflows with love. He has more love than we can even begin to comprehend. “An intense emotion of affection, warmth, fondness, and regard towards a person or thing” (ReversoDictionary). An INTENSE EMOTION – that’s my Jesus.
And then verse 11 gives us a picture of the vastness of Jesus’ love, compassion, grace and mercy. As high as the heavens are above the earth … We have flown a number of times over the last decade or so – and it always amazes me that even at 36,000 feet above the earth, the sky still seems unreachable. How vast is the love that Jesus has for those that fear Him that He would pour it out on the cross for us?
Psalm 8 reminds us that God is mindful of us, and that He cares for us. I’m so grateful that He cared enough to send His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross, to go the gates of hell and then to rise again on the third day for me. So that I can experience the compassion, grace, love and desire of the Father. So that I can be in relationship with the Father, seated with Jesus at the right hand of the Father, filled with the Holy Spirit who leads, guides, and counsels me into ALL truth.
As we reflect on these verses from the Psalms, may God bless us, and reveal to us the vastness of His love for us as we draw near to Him and worship and adore Him with all of our hearts.
Be blessed today, and always.
With my love
Jean