[Shirley Crawford Dobson passed away last night. It was Valentine's Day. All three daughters, Jane, Tracey, and Anne were there holding her hands and singing her favorite hymns. She had been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease for many years. She remained gracious and funny to the end. She was a favorite among the staff at the nursing home. She was 87 years of age.]
Today's scripture reading also described the death of another person - Jesus Christ. This is how the story was told by Matthew:
Matthew 27:27-50
Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.
From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”
Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
Jesus willingly suffered physical, mental, and spiritual pain before he died. His last words: “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) described the spiritual agony as he felt abandoned by his heavenly father. He carried my sin on the cross and suffered physical and mental pain, and finally death on my behalf. It is my sin that alienated him from his holy father.
For a very long time I had wondered why Jesus had to suffered that much in order to pay the penalty for my sin. Couldn't he just come down as a lamb without blemish and be killed quickly and cleanly to fulfill all the law's requirement? I think we can understand this better if we read carefully the meaning of the atonement in the Old Testament.
I was also reading this passage of scripture this morning:
Leviticus 17:10-12
I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood.”
God who instituted the atonement sacrificial system in the Old Testament was preparing for the final sacrifice through his own beloved son. But instead of prohibiting his own people from eating blood, we are now encouraged to eat Jesus' body and drink his blood to remember his death and the new covenant in his blood which offers eternal hope to all who put their trust in him. The purpose of his suffering is to encourage and strengthen us to persevere while we are still living, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need". (Hebrews 4:15-16)
We too will eventually die, but through Christ's death on the cross, we can face death bravely, knowing that we have a merciful father waiting for us with his arms wide open.
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ... Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:32-39)
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