The Greatest Week Since Creation

By David R. Ferguson

    In July of 1969, after Apollo 11 put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the Moon, then President Nixon proclaimed to the astronauts, “This is the greatest week in the history of the world since Creation….” Although it was indeed a truly inspiring, remarkable achievement, the events of that July week some 37 plus years ago pale in comparison to the truly greatest week in the history of the world since Creation. What am I talking about? I’m talking about the week we have come to know as the “Holy Week.” The Holy Week was the week in which the Jews observed Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Firstfruits.
    But what made this particular Holy Week so special was that it was the very same week in which Jesus arrived triumphantly in Jerusalem riding on the back of a colt of a donkey as the adoring crowds in Jerusalem lauded Him as their rightful King. That same week, however, Jesus was later betrayed with a kiss for 30 pieces of silver by one of His own chosen Apostles, Judas Iscariot, and He then underwent several mock trials. The King of the Jews (and the world!) was handed over to the Roman authorities where Pilate sentenced Jesus to die upon a Cross, in spite of KNOWING that Jesus was not guilty of committing any crime worthy of death!
    But even before this sentence was carried out Jesus was ridiculed, spat upon, scourged, beaten, paraded in mockery in purple garments as a royal personage while the soldiers laughed at Him. To make things worse they fashioned a crown of thorns together and thrust it upon His head, beat Him some more, and yanked tufts of His beard out by the roots.
    After suffering through all of this pain and humiliation, Jesus was further forced to endure carrying His own Cross throughout the city of Jerusalem in front of the jeering crowds who had chosen to have a murdering insurrectionist by the name of Barabbas released and set free, instead of innocent Jesus. He carried that Cross as far as His strength would endure before He stumbled and fell to the street beneath the weight of its load, whereby the soldiers compelled a man from Cyrene by the name of Simon to carry that Cross the rest of the way for Him. Jesus suffered Himself to be executed by crucifixion at the cruel hands of sinful man, and He allowed them to drive those thick, iron nails through the flesh of His hands and His feet, whereby He could be suspended between Heaven and Earth.
    After undergoing this unbearable pain and humiliation in front of His own mother and dearest friend for six hours, Jesus finally gave up His Spirit, and His body died, just at the precise moment the Passover Lamb was being sacrificed in the nearby Temple. The curtain of the veil in the Holy of Holies was rent from top to bottom. All was finished, just as He had declared from that Cross in the darkness that crept upon the face of the Earth. His body was dead – a Roman soldier made sure of it by piercing the side of Jesus with his sword, causing blood and water to flow from the wound. Yes, the body of Jesus was dead, but His Spirit lived on, and He took with Him one of the repentant thieves who saw the error of his ways, and he asked the Lord to forgive him and remember him when He came into His Kingdom. Jesus heard the man’s prayers, and Jesus promised that He would do just that, saying to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43b).
    Jesus was hastily taken down and removed from His Cross, and His body was placed inside a new tomb which belonged to a rich man named Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin who, along with Nicodemus, became a disciple of Jesus Christ. At the urgent entreaty of the enemies of Jesus who had Him crucified, Pilate had the tomb sealed and a huge stone rolled in front of it. He also ordered armed Roman soldiers to stand guard outside the tomb to prevent anyone from tampering with the remains of Jesus.
     But no seal was strong enough, no stone too huge, and no amount of Roman soldiers would keep the Son of God from emerging ALIVE from that tomb, the firstfruits of the resurrection! Jesus ultimately and completely defeated both Death and Satan, and He shall always emerge victorious! The bonds of Death have been broken! By rising from the dead after spending three days and three nights in the grave, Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Firstfruits, just as He Himself had prophesied: “…for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth” (Matthew 12:40 [NASB]).
    Truly no week can compare to this week, for without these great things happening then which culminated in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then no one would have the opportunity for salvation. As the Hebrews writer declares, “And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22 [NASB]. Thank you, Lord, for Your great sacrifice, and for rising triumphantly over Death!

 - David R. Ferguson preaches for the Lakeland Church of Christ in Mattoon, IL.  He may be contacted through the congregation's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lakelandchurchofchrist/ or davidferguson61@yahoo.com

Chiseled in Stone

By Terry Livingston and David A. Sargent

    The 8th century B.C. religious leader Isaiah is a very prominent figure in the Old Testament.  Four kings – Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah – ruled Judah during the period in which Isaiah served as prophet and spiritual guide to his people.  It was Isaiah who advised King Hezekiah that the invasion by Sennacherib and his Assyrian Army would not lead to the downfall of Jerusalem, and that Sennacherib would not enter the City.  He is also the author of the well-known book of Isaiah, including the prophetic chapter 53 concerning the life of the Messiah Jesus Christ.   Due to his accurate foreshadowing of Jesus in his writings, Isaiah is sometimes referred to as the “Messianic Prophet.”
    In the third chapter of the book of Isaiah, he gives another foreshadowing.   Here a vivid description is given of the fall of Judah.   Isaiah 3:25-26 states “Your men will fall by the sword, your warriors in battle.  The gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.”
    In the year 70 A.D., four legions of Romans led by future emperor Titus surrounded Jerusalem and lay siege to the city and sacked it, including the beloved Second Temple.  Josephus records the earlier scene as adorned and pleasant, but the aftermath as a “melancholy thing for those places which were adorned with trees and pleasant gardens, were now become desolate country in every way.”
    To commemorate the accomplishment of his son and the Roman forces, the emperor Vespasian commissioned coins to be minted.  Below is shown one such coin in which he has depicted Judah as a Jewess in attitude of defeat and mourning, seated destitute beneath a palm tree, being overseen by a conquering soldier.  The caption reads “IVDEA CAPTA” (Judea Captured).  While Vespasian, as Roman emperor, would have little reason to validate the prophecy of Isaiah, his coinage etches in refined stone the truth of Isaiah’s prophecy.

    Interestingly, the Great Scroll of the Book of Isaiah, with the prophecies of Jesus and Judah, has been carbon-dated by the University of Arizona and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and was given calibrated dates well before 100 B.C. *
    The eternal truth of God’s word -- His inspired Word, the Bible -- is “etched in stone.”
    Now observe what Isaiah said the Messiah would do for YOU and ME:

“Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.  5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.  6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” – Isaiah 53:4-6

This is EXACTLY what Jesus did for you and for me when He died on the cross for our sins.

We can accept the salvation from sin for which Jesus died by placing our faith and trust in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turning from sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confessing Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and being baptized(immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38).
    There are myriads of evidences of the truthfulness of God’s Word.  And it is true: He will save you IF you will respond to Him on His terms.
    Won’t YOU?

- David A. Sargent, minister for the Church of Christ at Creekwood in Mobile, Alabama, is also the editor of an electronic devotional entitled Living Water."  To learn more about this excellent resource contact David via their website: http://www.creekwoodcc.org

* References:   www.Vcoins.com, www.Biblehistory.com, The Wars of the Jews by Flavius Josephus

Remember the Scars

By Alan Smith
    John Gordon was a respected general for the South in the Civil War.  After the war, he was running for the United States Senate, but a man who had served under him in the war, angry over some political incident, was determined to see him defeated.  Everyone knew this man would fight Gordon's bid to become a senator.
    During the convention, he angrily stamped down the aisle with his anti-Gordon vote in hand.  As he saw Gordon sitting on the platform, he noticed how his once handsome face was disfigured with the scars of battle -- marks of his willingness to suffer and bleed for a cause he believed in.
    The old soldier was stricken with remorse.  Overcome with emotion, he exclaimed, "It's no use; I can't do it.  Here's my vote for John Gordon." Then, turning to the general, he said, "Forgive me, General.  I had forgotten the scars."
    What a difference it makes in our lives when we remember the scars!  With so many things to distract us, we don't often take time each day to reflect on what Jesus went through on the cross for us.  But, when we are tempted to stray, it is a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice that has the power to draw us back to him.
    "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)
    May I encourage you this morning to take a moment to pause and "remember the scars".
    Have a great day!
- Alan Smith, author of the popular "Thought For Today," and minister for the Fayetteville Church of Christ in Fayetteville, NC, may be contacted at alansmith.servant@gmail.com

The Lamb of God

   John the Baptist had been preaching with fire and passion in anticipation of the emergence of the Messiah.  When the Christ appeared in public to begin His ministry and John saw Him walking toward him, the prophet announced, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

   It would have been accurate for John to say, “Behold the Lion of Judah who has come to lead the people of God to victory.”  He could have shouted, “Behold the Son of David, the King of Israel who has come to rule the nations.”  Yet, he didn’t.  Instead John proclaimed the plan for Christ to come and offer His earthly body as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.  What would be His greatest deed, the greatest manifestation of His identity? His greatest hour was His shameful death as a condemned criminal on the cross.

   All the Old Testament sacrifices make sense now.  They were shadows of the one great event when the Son of God would walk to Calvary as a lamb led to the slaughter and humbly submit to death so that men might live.

   “Behold the Lamb of God”—Fall down before this unselfish King and give Him your praise, your love, and your life (Revelation 5:6-9.

– Source unknown; via THE SOWER, a weekly publication of the Arthur church of Christ, Arthur, IL. Ron Bartanen, who serves as minister and editor, may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://www.arthurchurchofchrist.com