Jesus mocked and crucified

Jesus - mocked and put on the cross Matthew 27:27-44

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Originally preached at Poulner Chapel 25 March 2012

Introduction

Here is a complete outline of this event from all 4 gospels! We will look at briefly the events as recorded by Matthew!

• Pilate's soldiers crown and mock Jesus - Matthew 27:27-30, Mark 15:16-20, John 19:1-3
• Pilate tries to release Jesus - John 19:4-7
• Pilate questions Jesus again - John 19:8-11
• Pilate attempts to free Jesus again - John 19:12
• Pilate sentences Jesus - John 19:13-15
• Pilate delivers Jesus to be crucified - John 19:16
• Jesus carries the cross - John 19:17
• Simon of Cyrene bears the cross - Matthew 27:31-32, Mark 15:20-21, Luke 23:26,
• Jesus speaks to weeping women - Luke 23:27-32,
• Jesus is brought to Golgotha - Matthew 27:33, Mark 15:22, Luke 23:32-33, John 19:17
• Soldiers offer Jesus sour wine mix - Matthew 27:34, Mark 15:23
• Jesus is crucified at the 3rd hour - Mark 15:25
• Soldiers divide the Lord's clothes - Matthew 27:35-36, Mark 15:24, Luke 23:34, John 19:23-24
• Accusation written by Pilate - Matthew 27:37, Mark 15:26, Luke 23:38, John 19:19-22
• 2 Robbers are crucified with Jesus - Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:27-28, Luke 23:33, John 19:18
• "Forgive them..." - Luke 23:34
• "Behold your mother." - John 19:25-27
• Multitude mocks Jesus - Matthew 27:39-43, Mark 15:29-32, Luke 23:35-37
• Robbers mock Jesus - Matthew 27:44, Mark 15:32, 29:39
• One robber rebukes the other - Luke 23:40-41
• "...you will be with me in Paradise" - Luke 23:43

As you know from the reading we are looking at this event in the life of Jesus Christ, as recorded by his friend and disciple, Matthew. Tonight we look at Jesus mocked, Jesus crucified, and the implications and challenges we are presented with. Matthew, throughout his Gospel, presents Jesus as King - and it is probably his main theme as he writes his gospel. In Chapter 27 alone, Matthew ascribes Jesus as king 7 times. He uses Old Testament imagery from passages such as Psalm 22, Psalm 69 and parts of Isaiah to build his story.

Even if you are new to this story, nobody here should really be shocked by this macabre tale. I don't think anybody could really be that naïve about human history and some of the horrors it contains. Human history is full of incidents of people treating others in less than a human and dignified way. The horrors of the killing fields of what was Cambodia, the systematic brutality of Nazi Germany and the macabre excesses of Uganda in the last century, have often been repeated throughout history.

----more----

1. Looking back to look forward

As a further introduction, Jesus has pointed forward to this point throughout his ministry. Jesus knew what we call the Old Testament. Jesus knew that originally there was no sin or evil in the world. Jesus knew that humanity had once enjoyed a perfect relationship with God and His creation. Jesus knew humanity chose to disobey God and caused sin and evil to enter the world. Jesus knew that God had promised that one day the relationship between God and his creation would be restored.

Jesus knew the story of the Patriarchs, the calling of a nation of people separated out for God and that nation's subsequent travels, jubilations, trials and tribulations! Jesus knew these people were waiting for this messiah or saviour to come.

Some of Jesus' first recorded words were "Repent! The Kingdom is near!" Jesus continually affirmed who he was - the long awaited for messiah! Throughout his ministry Jesus has pointed to that day, this specific moment, of his being on the cross. For example, in Matthew's gospel, let alone the other 3 gospel writers, Matthew 16:21; 17:22-33 and 20:17-19, there are three occasions where Jesus has been explaining what all this means.

2. Mocked

Now after that introduction, we return to our passage. Jesus has been found guilty and we looked at his trial several weeks ago from Matthew. Let's now go to look firstly at the mocking of Jesus, before going on to look at his crucifixion.

Jesus is mocked, ridiculed and scorned by several groups of people - Jew and Gentile alike - before his crucifixion and while he was on the cross.

Matthew 27v27-30 mocked by the Romans

Firstly the Roman soldiers, who mock Jesus in some sort of game. These men could have come from across the Roman Empire, to a place they didn't want to be, with a people they couldn't care less about. Their mocking is borne from ignorance rather than malevolent knowledge of Jesus. Jesus was convicted of being a king, so the soldiers mocked him as a king!

Jesus to them was simply part of the Jewish rabble they had conquered in extending the Roman empire. The Romans, beating Jesus with the staff and spitting upon him, as part of some perverted game of degradation, with the cape, the staff and crown continuing the mocking of this would be king. It was quite possibly a form of stress relief for them. There was precedence for this sort of mockery as seen in other documents of the time, so it was probably a normal part of the Roman crucifixion process.

Matthew 27v 38-42 mocked by others & Jewish leaders

Now we move to the mocking by others, including some Jewish leaders, as Jesus hangs on the cross. These people challenged Jesus to come down from the cross if He was really the Son of God and to save himself. They had possibly heard what Jesus had said earlier in his ministry, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." Or they may well have heard the rumours about Jesus, or been there when Jesus entered the city, as recorded in Matthew 21.

What these people didn't realise is that it was precisely because He was the Messiah they were expecting, that he couldn't come down from the cross. Jesus could have come down from the cross with legions of angels to help him. But he chose not to.

As if to complete the mockery, the criminals he is crucified with join in. Though as Luke records, one of them later becomes penitent.

Jesus, mocked by ignorant Romans, irreligious Gentiles, religious Jews, religious Jewish leaders and finally, common criminals - from the breadth of society, Jesus is rejected, mocked, insulted and scorned.



3. Crucified Matthew 27v31-37

Lets' now move to Jesus being crucified

As was normal practise, prisoners due for crucifixion were whipped and scourged. Pieces of stone and metal attached to the whips in order to inflict as much damage as possible during the flogging. Then if they were still alive, prisoners were forced to carry their own cross to their execution. Crucifixion had been used by civilisations in various forms and the Romans had adopted it for their own purposes.

Following his beating and scourging, as Jesus couldn't bear his own cross, the Roman soldiers forced this man Simon of Cyrene to carry it. Simon was probably a peasant, held neither in public esteem or rank.

Then, the Romans offered a form of drug for Jesus to drink, but Jesus refused it. Some speculate that He didn't drink it because he wanted to be fully conscious during his suffering, but as I said, that is only speculation.

Then lastly, before sitting down to keep watch, they divided Jesus' clothes. There is Jesus on the cross. Beaten. Flagellated. Ridiculed. Naked. A sign, with the accusation against him "this is Jesus, the king of the Jews", was placed on the cross, and as Matthew alone points out, above his head - almost like another crown on a king. In the eyes of the Romans, Jesus was guilty of trying to make himself a king. So the sign was to be a deterrent to others who would make such claims, because they would suffer the same punishment.

Matthew sees Jesus as a king and writes his gospel with that in mind. Jesus the king - mocked and crucified. But what does that mean for us?

What does Jesus being on the cross mean for us?

In the Old Testament, we read of how the nation of Israel was looking forward to the day when the Messiah would come and a permanent sacrifice was to be made. Well here it is. This is what Jesus' mission was - to be the perfect and permanent sacrifice.

That permanent sacrifice is what occurred on the cross of Jesus Christ! That is why Jesus suffered as he did, humiliated, beaten, mocked and scorned. It is only through Jesus Christ being on that cross that the stain of sin can be taken away, because Jesus is the permanent and ultimate sacrificial substitute!



The cross of Jesus Christ is the climax of human history. All of time before it, was looking forward and waiting for this event. All of time after this event of Jesus on the cross looks back upon it. For the Gospel writers, Jesus on the cross was the climax of their story, because they knew what it meant!



Jesus on the cross bore the consequences of all sin, of all the earth over all periods of time - past, present and future. Jesus on the cross became sin for humanity and it was His blood that finally fulfilled God's requirements permanently.

Jesus on the cross was propitiation or an offering to turn aside God's anger towards sin. All of God's anger and judgment of sin fell on Jesus, and He alone as an innocent sufferer, instead of falling upon sinful and guilty humanity. How is that for a Jesus WOW factor?

Jesus, on the cross, is a peace offering to God. Another Jesus WOW factor!



Even further, it was an act of redemption! WOW!! Jesus on the cross meant that God had paid redemption, so that humans could be freed from sin.

Those 4 things are not an exhaustive list but examples of what it means for Jesus to be on the cross! WOW! You will probably be very pleased to know that I don't have time to go further!



Because of the cross, and the cross alone, humanity can choose to be back in relationship with God. It is not forced upon anybody, but there is a compulsion! We have the option to take up Jesus' cross and sacrifice or not to take it. It's our choice! What have you decided?



We can have a relationship with God, because of Jesus being on the cross. Because of the cross, we can choose to be declared cleansed from sin and free from the slavery to sin! The cross also means that Jesus intercedes for us, we are given the Holy Spirit to dwell inside us and we are granted direct access to God the Father, through Jesus the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. But it's a choice! Have you chosen to take up Jesus' offer?



The Cross is God's glory

The cross is God's glory! The events on the cross are not meant to portray Jesus as some form of sado-masochistic 'tragi-hero' as some people try to make it out to be, particularly in some popular musical theatre.

The cross of Jesus Christ, rather epitomises God's glory, and if there were any other way that God could restore people into relationship with Himself, then surely He would have done it that way. But there was no other way - Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, hung on a Roman cross. This Jesus took on the sins of the world, paying the greatest price, so that you and I can be restored into a peaceful relationship with God the Father. That is for all people, of all nations, ages, generations, statuses and gender. The cross is amazing love in action! The cross is the wisdom of God displayed. The cross is a WOW Factor of God! WOW!



4. Challenge!

So if that's part of the meaning of Jesus and his cross, what challenges are there for us from Matthew 27:27-44? How are we to react to this passage from Matthew? What challenges face us from this scene of execution as we go through this evening series for Easter?

4a. We also mock Jesus!

Even as Christians living today we have the capacity to mock Jesus. How do we do that?

We Christians mock Jesus today, by engaging in sin - either actively or passively. Particularly those times where at the back of our mind we say "oh it will be ok. I shall ask forgiveness after it." That is mocking Jesus because we are cheapening grace and are effectively crucifying him all over again.

As a result of Jesus going to the cross, we have been declared holy because we now wear Jesus Christ's robe of righteousness! It was given to us as a gift of grace! When we sin, it's as if we are casting lots for that robe and tearing it up.

As Christians, we are to live a life of obedience to God. When we sin against God, either through active or passive disobedience, it is almost like we are throwing Jesus' death back in His face and saying "You up there! If you are the Son of God, come down here and show us!"

Sin is that serious. Sinful acts, thoughts, words and attitudes grieve the Holy Spirit who lives within us. Its why when we come to God to ask forgiveness for the sins we commit against Him, against humanity and against our own self, we should ask to be filled anew with the Spirit.

But even more, how do we react to being mocked because we are followers of Jesus? How do we react when we see our Jesus and our God mocked? Because it does happen and increasingly so in Britain today. Either in the media, on our television screens, on the internet and in our workplace, social activities and schools. Perhaps I am not alone in having been around when Monty Python's Life of Brian was released - and despite their claims that it wasn't meant to be mockery, it was indeed blasphemous mockery.

Is our reaction to mockery of ourselves or of our Jesus, with an attitude of 'ignorance is bliss' or a shrug of the shoulders? Is it with reactionary anger and indignation? I don't know! I am not that clever.

I do know one way to react, is the Jesus way. After all, Jesus did say love your enemies and bless those who curse you. So we are to love!

4b. Exhibit a love, which is sacrificial 1 John 3:16,

We all know John 3:16, probably off by heart most of! Our active response to that love of God can be found in 1 John 3:16, which states: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters."

I asked some people to say some things they have done for others. One had all their bills paid by family when her husband was found to have cancer. Another saved the life of a stranger by giving CPR. Another spent time listening to somebody. Another person was helped by her daughter, to dress and have her hair washed. A couple I know, have over the last 20 years opened their house, love, time and family to 38 foster children.

All those were some measure of sacrifice, including time, money or talents. But those exhibitions of love were not acts towards enemies or mockers, but rather friends, family or unknown strangers. We are called, by Jesus to love our enemies - just as Jesus did on the cross.

We are called, not just to love each other, but to love all others including those who mock and scorn. This is a love which speaks of sacrifice, mirroring that of Jesus who we claim to love. If Jesus' love is truly in our hearts, we should be eager to reciprocate that love to others. Jesus' love as exhibited in his life and on the cross was a love which was without any thought of return, without any thought of it being deserved by others and a love without self-interest. This town of Ringwood would be changed, if we loved each other and those outside the churches, like that. Let's show some God given creativity to show sacrificial love to others!

How can we love like that? That kind of love is always available to us through Jesus, who is the source of such love. We can't do it in our own strength, but the more we are open to receive it from Jesus our master, and ask him for it, then His love will overflow from us to others. Each of us here, has been given by a generous God, in differing quantities, amongst other things: talent, time and money. The way to show gratitude to Jesus is to love others sacrificially - not just with words but with actions.

4c. We have a God who is not immune to suffering.

Lastly, we can know that God is personal because Jesus being fully God and fully human, God Himself has suffered. The awesome and Almighty God, who was outside of time and space, entered time and space, to intimately know what suffering was, because of the suffering Jesus endured on the Cross. Matthew's Innocent Suffering King, is the reason why we who are Christians, have a hope. Because the God we serve, personally knows suffering and has endured suffering just as we do.

God isn't an inanimate and passive carving placed on a shelf or a wall which is immune to the suffering of the world. No! Our God is a personal, dynamic and active God who knows the suffering we ourselves endure - because He Himself has suffered. Not some pathetically lifeless, unemotional and unresponsive statue but an intimate, dynamic, responsive and living personal being who has shared in our sufferings through Jesus on that cross.

I don't know how you or those you love are suffering today. I don't need to know. But I do know that God knows, and that He knows about personal suffering, because this great and awesome God, suffered on a Roman cross, 2000 years ago.

Let's go from here, determined to live a life worth of Jesus Christ, determined not to mock him still by our sinful desires and actions.

Let's go out from here, determined to love others sacrificially as a response to Jesus on the cross and as a response to those who mock Him and us for following him.

Let's go from here willing to be generous in all aspects of life, and so reflect a generous God who has given everything that people may know Him.

Let's go from here determined to blow our cover and be known as a people who love.

It maybe that you are not a Christian here tonight, then please do make yourself known to us afterwards and we would love to talk to you more about this Jesus and the God who suffered. Take the opportunity while you can.

But Jesus being mocked on the cross is not the end of the story, and we look forward to the rest of this series over the next couple of weeks! Hopefully I haven't pre-empted anything that is due to be said!

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WOW Factor of Jesus

Jesus Christ, the most extraordinary person who ever lived, who never wrote a book but has more books written about him than any other person! History is split into BC and AD in honor of him! Jesus Christ, the God-man, who gives a WOW factor to anybody who will bow the knee and serve Him.

Here in this short video, I introduce my own WOW factor about Jesus. I would love to come to your church or your group and talk about this Jesus and the promise of salvation through Him alone and how He still challenges and loves people today.

You can download a copy of this video by right mouse clicking here and saving...

I also have a seminar in draft form, WOWJesus, which I would also love to bring to your church or group. Contact details are below and at the end of the video. I look forward to hearing from you and how we can work together. Thank you.

POD - Psalm 69

Psalm 69

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¹ Save me, O God!

For the waters have come up to my neck.

² I sink in deep mire,

Where there is no standing;

I have come into deep waters,

Where the floods overflow me.

³ I am weary with my crying;

My throat is dry;

My eyes fail while I wait for my God.

⁴ Those who hate me without a cause

Are more than the hairs of my head;

They are mighty who would destroy me,

Being my enemies wrongfully;

Though I have stolen nothing,

I still must restore it.


⁵ O God, You know my foolishness;

And my sins are not hidden from You.

⁶ Let not those who wait for You, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed because of me;

Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.

⁷ Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;

Shame has covered my face.

⁸ I have become a stranger to my brothers,

And an alien to my mother's children;

⁹ Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,

And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.

¹⁰ When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,

That became my reproach.

¹¹ I also made sackcloth my garment;

I became a byword to them.

¹² Those who sit in the gate speak against me,

And I am the song of the drunkards.

¹³ But as for me, my prayer is to You,

O LORD, in the acceptable time;

O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,

Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.

¹⁴ Deliver me out of the mire,

And let me not sink;

Let me be delivered from those who hate me,

And out of the deep waters.

¹⁵ Let not the floodwater overflow me,

Nor let the deep swallow me up;

And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.

¹⁶ Hear me, O LORD, for Your lovingkindness is good;

Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.

¹⁷ And do not hide Your face from Your servant,

For I am in trouble;

Hear me speedily.

¹⁸ Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;

Deliver me because of my enemies.

¹⁹ You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;

My adversaries are all before You.

²⁰ Reproach has broken my heart,

And I am full of heaviness;

I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;

And for comforters, but I found none.

²¹ They also gave me gall for my food,

And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

²² Let their table become a snare before them,

And their well-being a trap.

²³ Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see;

And make their loins shake continually.

²⁴ Pour out Your indignation upon them,

And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.

²⁵ Let their dwelling place be desolate;

Let no one live in their tents.

²⁶ For they persecute the ones You have struck,

And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.

²⁷ Add iniquity to their iniquity,

And let them not come into Your righteousness.

²⁸ Let them be blotted out of the book of the living,

And not be written with the righteous.

²⁹ But I am poor and sorrowful;

Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.

³⁰ I will praise the name of God with a song,

And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.

³¹ This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bull,

Which has horns and hooves.

³² The humble shall see this and be glad;

And you who seek God, your hearts shall live.

³³ For the LORD hears the poor,

And does not despise His prisoners.

³⁴ Let heaven and earth praise Him,

The seas and everything that moves in them.

³⁵ For God will save Zion

And build the cities of Judah,

That they may dwell there and possess it.

³⁶ Also, the descendants of His servants shall inherit it,

And those who love His name shall dwell in it.

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Obedience of Ruth

The Obedience Of Ruth

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Ruth 1v16-18 - ¹⁶ But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. ¹⁷ Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." ¹⁸ When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

There are perhaps two reasons why we study about people in the Bible - to learn how not to do some things like being deceitful, and how to do the right things like this mornings example of Ruth. So this morning we are going to look together at the book of Ruth and discover who Ruth was, what is her story and how we can learn from her as we seek to live a godly and righteous life in Britain in 2009. Tonight we will be looking at the character of Rachel and how she fits into salvation history and how we can learn lessons from her. But on with this morning and Ruth!

Perhaps the key verses for the book of Ruth, which would help us summarise this short story are as we read in Ruth 1v15-18:

The book of Ruth is a cameo story of love, devotion and redemption set in the black days of the Judges. It tells the story of a pagan woman giving up everything to cling to the people of Israel and to God Himself. Shows her faithfulness when the nation was faithless.

4 Aspects of Ruth's Obedience

1. WOW! obedience.

2. Witness in obedience.

3. Wholeness of obedience.

4. Worship by Obedience.

Conclusion

Let us ask God to work in us, changing our weak attempts at obedience into acts of divine worship. We find delight in serving the Lord, instead of indulging in resentment over sinful leaders. The result will be inner freedom and release from bitterness, and also a powerful story to those in authority and to onlookers as well. Just as too Ruth's obedience of Naomi, moved Boaz and all Bethlehem, the Holy Spirit will enable us move others (Colossians 3:23-24). While we obey others we can joyfully remember that it is God alone who is worthy of complete obedience. When our confidence in Him is reflected in our submission to others we become living stories to our trust in God's perfect plan. If we follow the example of Ruth, perhaps someone will notice our stories and find the witness, the wholeness, and the worship in our lives of obedience and praise God because of us. And, remember this from 1 Samuel 15v22 "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."

So go from here and be obedient to our awesome and holy God! Through obedience to Him as revealed in Scripture, you will be growing and changing into the very likeness of Jesus Christ whom you follow. Through obedience, you will be able to enduring and be persistent in your Christian lifestyle and evangelism. So much so, that people will ask you for the reason for the hope you have and portray.

Finally, you may well be here tonight but are not yet a follower of Jesus Christ. If that is indeed you, please do not leave here tonight without making yourself known to one of the leaders, or to me, and we will gladly talk more about this Jesus to you.

Thank you.

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POD - Psalm 71

Psalm 71

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71:1 In you, Yahweh, I take refuge.
Never let me be disappointed.

71:2 Deliver me in your righteousness, and rescue me.
Turn your ear to me, and save me.

71:3 Be to me a rock of refuge to which I may always go.
Give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.

71:4 Rescue me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

71:5 For you are my hope, Lord Yahweh;
my confidence from my youth.

71:6 I have relied on you from the womb.
You are he who took me out of my mother’s womb.
I will always praise you.

71:7 I am a marvel to many,
but you are my strong refuge.

71:8 My mouth shall be filled with your praise,
with your honor all the day.

71:9 Don’t reject me in my old age.
Don’t forsake me when my strength fails.

71:10 For my enemies talk about me.
Those who watch for my soul conspire together,

71:11 saying, “God has forsaken him.
Pursue and take him, for no one will rescue him.”

71:12 God, don’t be far from me.
My God, hurry to help me.

71:13 Let my accusers be disappointed and consumed.
Let them be covered with disgrace and scorn who want to harm me.

71:14 But I will always hope,
and will add to all of your praise.

71:15 My mouth will tell about your righteousness,
and of your salvation all day,
though I don’t know its full measure.

71:16 I will come with the mighty acts of the Lord Yahweh.
I will make mention of your righteousness, even of yours alone.

71:17 God, you have taught me from my youth.
Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.

71:18 Yes, even when I am old and gray-haired, God, don’t forsake me,
until I have declared your strength to the next generation,
your might to everyone who is to come.

71:19 Your righteousness also, God, reaches to the heavens;
you have done great things.
God, who is like you?

71:20 You, who have shown us many and bitter troubles,
you will let me live.
You will bring us up again from the depths of the earth.

71:21 Increase my honor,
and comfort me again.

71:22 I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, my God.
I sing praises to you with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.

71:23 My lips shall shout for joy!
My soul, which you have redeemed, sings praises to you!

71:24 My tongue will also talk about your righteousness all day long,
for they are disappointed, and they are confounded,
who want to harm me.

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POD - Psalm 137

Psalm 137

(as read by Jenny)

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137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

137:2 On the willows in its midst, we hung up our harps.

137:3 For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

137:4 How can we sing Yahweh's song in a foreign land?

137:5 If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.

137:6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don't remember you; if I don't prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.

137:7 Remember, Yahweh, against the children of Edom, the day of Jerusalem; who said, "Raze it! Raze it even to its foundation!"

137:8 Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who rewards you, as you have served us.

137:9 Happy shall he be, who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.
for his loving kindness endures forever.

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True Joy!

Psalm 66 - True Joy!

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Tonight we are to study Psalm 66, which is a prayer of joy. The reason for this is, because where ever hope can be found, there is always joy. This is particularly true of the Christian life. As christians, our great hope is knowing that through the Lord Jesus Christ we will have salvation. Salvation is freedom. Freedom from injustice, freedom from sin. It is freedom from our prison of looking after our self, to a new life of entrance into self-forgetful worship & service to God. It is freedom from the limits of pain, decay, death, and entrance into a new world of life, immortality, beauty and joy without end. That is the hope of the Christian, and that is why we can have joy as Christians. But joy, is not just for the future. Joy is also for the present, for the here and now. But, what is joy, and what place should joy take in our life today. But first we will look at Psalm 66, and see where joy fitted into the life of the Psalmist.

Seasonal Comparisons

To whom or what shall I compare Thy face?
A vibrant rainbow sky after fresh spring rain
Or an exquisite dawn on a summer morn
The awesome falling leaves in an Autumn breeze
Or the bright fluffy blanket of winter snow.
Compared to Thy face,
These sights are nothing and fade away to such

To whom or what shall I compare Thy touch?
The warm spring rain that falls gently on my brow
Or the soft summer sun that softly caresses my hair?
The brittle autumnal leaves that scatter ‘neath my feet
Or the delicate winter snow that cushions a careless fall?
Thy touch is beyond compare as Your arms surround me in Your love!

To whom or what shall I compare Thy voice?
The babbling mountain brook in spring thaw
Or the joyous chorus a summer circus brings?
The persistent rustle of Autumnal trees stripped bare
Or the fervent laughter of children’s’ winter follies?
Thy voice is soft and pure, beyond all other sounds.

Captain, O my Captain
Every morning its your face I long to see
Every noon its your touch I long to feel
Every night its your voice I long to hear.