Observing the Cross

In our service, are we participants or spectators? We don’t typically say, “We saw a good service this morning?” We can understand and apply the lessons of the Bible if we actively engage in our service, but in this lesson, we’re going to look at some individuals who did not engage with Jesus. They merely spectated.

Matthew 27:35-36 records some who, in the midst of the crucifixion, sat down, cast lots for Jesus’ garments, and simply watched Him. We read of the crowds surrounding the crucifixion, the leaders involved in the trial and accusations, the women gathering around the cross, the scattering apostles, and the soldiers attacking Jesus. What do these people see in Jesus? What do we see?

What Did They See?

What do the soldiers see? Matthew 27:27-31 describes some of the cruelties Jesus endured prior to His execution. What do those soldiers see during these indignities? They see a spectacle they enjoyed. These cruelties were not unique to Jesus. To them, He is just another prisoner, and they took joy in their job. They care nothing for Jesus’ identity, His claims, or the charges surrounding Him. They are merely caught up in their jobs.

What do the religious and governmental leaders see? We know Jesus had some supporters among the leaders, but even those often held their peace, for the majority of their peers are set against the Christ. Most of those religious and political leaders see victory in Jesus’ death. They continuously plotted His death while He was teaching and preaching, seeing Jesus as a threat to their positions and their way of life.

What do the criminals see? One sees a miscarriage of justice while one sees a figure to mock. In Luke 23:39, one figure hanging on the crosses joins in the jeers against Him. He takes up the chant persisted by the crowds. “Save yourself.” In contrast, the other recognizes that they will die alongside Him – them deserving, Him undeserving. This second thief started out mocking Jesus, but, while they are on those crosses, this thief sees Christ as something different.

What do the apostles see? Matthew 26:55 tells how the disciples flee. Some observe from a distance. Some hide behind locked doors. What do they see? They see their hopes crumble. In Luke 24:18, we see how despondent two of Jesus’ disciples are in their conversation. For them, their work for the past three years has become pointless. All of their work is for nothing.

What do the women see? Matthew 27:55 describes those women who had received kindness from Jesus, and they, in turn, had shown hospitality to Him. They had helped feed Him and His disciples, giving them room and board. When Jesus dies, these women see the death of a friend.

What do We See?

What do we see in the death of Jesus? Do we focus on the violence? Do we see it as an excuse for racial hatred – showing no interest in emulating Christ but rather feeding a grudge? Do we simply see an interesting point of Roman history? Do we see a mere man who dies for His principles? What do we see when we are faced with Jesus and the cross?

• We should see the wickedness of man. Acts 2:22-23 describes how hatred and sin put Jesus on the cross, and our animosity, rebellion, and sin did just as much to crucify Him as those shouting, “Crucify Him!”
• We should see the inadequacy of the Old Law. Hebrews 10:1-4 describes the impossibility of animal sacrifices truly atoning for sin. It took a perfect sacrifice to fulfill the requirements of sin.
• We should see the seriousness of sin. Isaiah 59:1-2 describes the separation sin creates between us and God. It creates a rift the took Jesus’ sacrifice to bridge.
• We should see the majesty of God’s justice. Romans 3:23 describes that all fall short of God’s glory, but the point comes in verses 24-26, showing that God through Christ justifies us in mercy. He pays the penalty for sin.
• We should see the extent of God’s love. John 3:16, I John 4:8-10, Romans 5:10 – these verses and more describe the love God has in His sacrifice for us and the love that should be reflected in our lives.
• We should see the trauma of conversion. In Romans 6:6, Paul describes our life-changing conversion as a crucifixion. We put our sinful self to death the same way Christ was put to death. We should see more than in Christ’s death than an act that occurred to someone else.

Those baptized to Christ are baptized into His death, being raised to walk in newness of life. When we look at the cross, we should see the dedication and commitment it takes to be a follower of Christ. It is more than a name we wear on Sundays. It is more than a label. It is a transformation to a new being, set apart and sanctified by the sacrifice of Jesus on that cross.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Known By Your Enemies

I am a movie buff. I enjoy movies that make me think, that entertain me, that inspire me, or that simply make me laugh. Recently, I got around to watching a 2005 movie called Kingdom of Heaven. In it, a Muslim prince named Nasir parts with a Christian knight by saying, “Your quality will be known among your enemies, before ever you meet them.”

What does it mean to have an enemy? Enemies oppose one’s values, one’s beliefs, or one’s very existence. Enemies can be the result of certain stands on issues, because of political or military loyalties, or for numerous more personal or for more insignificant reasons. We may have enemies of which we are unaware, or we may ourselves feel opposed to one unaware of our own feelings. Enmity happens. What, then, as Christians should we do about it?

Christian Enmity

Are we authorized by scripture to have enemies, though? The word enemy is used over 300 times in the New American Standard translation of the Bible. Most are assurance of God for protection from enemies. Some are appeals to God for that protection, and a few discuss our handling of personal enemies. In Matthew 10:22, Jesus begins discussing the fact that there will be those who oppose the apostles’ efforts. They will set themselves against the apostles and even hate them. While we should not seek to create enemies (Romans 12:18), being a disciple of Christ will result in those who oppose us.

With this in mind, how are we to conduct ourselves around those who oppose our beliefs, our values, or even our existence. Luke 6:35 calls on us to do good toward those who might be enemies, and Romans 12:20 calls on us to be charitable toward those set against us. We are not instructed to treat an enemy differently than a friend. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus calls on us to control our anger in Matthew 5:22. He goes on to instruct those around Him to avoid retaliation (Matthew 5:39) and to go as far as caring for and praying for those who are hostile toward us (Matthew 5: 43-48). It’s easy to love a friend and hate an enemy, but Jesus challenges us to love both. We should not mistreat those who mistreat us. There should be no distinction in conduct between how we treat those who stand with us versus those who stand against us.

Conclusion

We do need the courage to stand for our faith and our God. We need faith in God’s protection, and we need the strength of character to demonstrate love to those who oppose us. We need to treat them with kindness and mercy as Christ has treated us – going as far as dying on our behalf even when we were set at enmity against Him according to Romans 5:8-10. Paul never cast stones back upon those who sought to kill him. Stephen did not fight the Pharisees stoning him. Jesus did not destroy those who crucified Him. Rather, He asked for their forgiveness. We should be as merciful to those who mistreat us.

lesson by Brad Rosene

The Bondage of Sin

In John 8, Jesus proclaims His deity multiple times, and in the midst of His declaring that He is the I AM, he calls on his audience to accept the truth that will make them free. In response, those around respond that they have never been in bondage as sons of Abraham. This is a confounding answer, for their forefathers had indeed been in captivity under the Egyptians, under Assyrians, and under the Babylonians. In this lesson, we’re going to look at these times of bondage for Israel and what we can learn from these periods of history.

God’s People in Bondage
In Exodus 6, God tells Moses to go to Egypt and redeem the Israelites. God says they will become His people, and He will be their God. Deuteronomy 7:17, some forty years after the Exodus commences, Moses calls upon the people to remember their deliverance from Egypt by God’s outstretched arm. In Deuteronomy 2:29 and 11:2, Moses again calls upon them to remember God’s power in His deliverance.

Generations pass. The period of the judges comes and goes. The monarchy is established, and the kingdom divides between northern and southern kingdoms. Hosea 8:13 records God saying the people of the north would return to Egypt. He does not mean literal Egypt, but they would return to the dangers of captivity. In Hosea 11:5, the prophet reveals Assyria to be the new captors. Contemporary to Hosea, to Amos 4:1 begins describing the terrors of this captivity, God giving them over to a people cruel and merciless because they have forsaken Him.

Amos 2 foreshadows another captivity. Verse 4 speaks of the transgressions of the southern kingdom of Judah, and Amos anticipates the bondage under Babylon. During the life of Jeremiah, the temple would be destroyed, the city burned, and the majority of the population carried away. The kingdom of Judah would never completely recover from the damages caused by Babylon.

Captivity Under Sin
What can these stories of bondage and captivity mean for us as New Testament Christians? After converting the sorcerer Simon, Paul in Acts 8:22-23 accuses him of being in bondage to sin. Discussing his inner conflict in Romans 7:14, Paul describes himself sold as a slave to sin, and Romans 6:6 and 16-17 speaks of sin in terms of slavery as does Galatians 5:1. Sin is spiritual captivity. Living in such a state puts us in the same situation as those Israelites being carried off to Assyria by fishhooks.

Longing for Slavery
In Numbers 11:4, the people of Israel remember their days in Egypt fondly. They long for the relative luxuries they had when they were in bondage to Pharaoh. They view their captivity as a form of good old days. Also, in Numbers 14, as the spies return from Canaan, the congregation of Israel weep against Moses, wishing they had died in Egypt or in the wilderness. They even plan to return to Egypt. As terrible as their bondage was, when times were difficult, they sought to return.

Likewise, at the end of the Babylonian captivity, some were content to stay in the land of their conquerors. We shake our heads in disbelief at their resistance to God’s redemption while we do the very same thing. The bondage of sin can look very attractive at times, and we can turn back to sin as the Israelites wished to return to Egypt. We must understand the wretchedness of bondage to sin. I John 1:8 warns us against taking sin lightly, and Romans 6:23 spells out the consequences of sin. Like Israel should have come out of captivity, never looking back, we should come out of sin to never return.

God stretches out His arm to redeem us and pull us from slavery. We can accept that saving grace to live free from the chains of sin.

lesson by Tim Smelser

The Extent of Our Faith

In our society, we are discouraged from being extremists – spiritually, politically, morally. It is uncomfortable at times to take things to extremes. We want to be moderate in our application of philosophies and ideologies. To what extent do we take our commitment to God? Are we moderates or extremists with our views of our Savior and His word? When we examine Christ’s own teachings, it’s evident He leaves no room for middle ground when it comes to accepting or rejecting Him.

The Extent of Jesus’ Deity
In Christ’s time as well as our own, some view Christ as a philosopher, a Son of God as we are sons of God, a spiritual leader, or as God in flesh. Luke 4:16 records Jesus return to Nazareth during His ministry. As he reads a Messianic prophecy from Isaiah, He clearly indicates that this prophecy points to Him. He Claims to be the Messiah. In John 8, Jesus draws a line between belief in Him and condemnation, and, in verse 58, Jesus equates Himself with Jehovah. He calls Himself I AM. John 10:30 has Jesus saying He and God are one and the same.

Jesus, in His ministry, takes an extreme position. He claims to be the way to Heaven. He claims to be deity. The Jews of the New Testament know what He means. They take up stones to kill Him. Jesus never backs down from His claims. He is either a fraud or He is what He claims. We cannot be moderate in our acceptance of Jesus’ teachings. With such claims, we are forced to either completely accept or completely reject Him.

The Extent of Accepting the Bible
Do we view the Bible as folklore? Do we view parts of the Bible as inspired while other parts are secular? Do we want to pick and choose from the Bible, only applying those parts with which we agree? In II John verse 9, John writes there is no flexibility with God’s word. He claims it is impossible to reach God while modifying His word. The gospel of John 12:48 records Jesus claiming that rejecting Him will result in judgment by the word delivered by God through Him.

In Acts 2:4, we see the apostles filled with the Holy Spirit, and they begin to speak as inspired by God. Jesus promises this event in John 14:25, saying they will be inspired to recall all that He has taught them. Paul acknowledges this inspiration in Galatians 1:6-12. The writers of the New Testament do not view their work moderately. They claim it is of God, and Peter claims the words of the Old Testament are of God. We cannot claim to be following Christ while only accepting a portion of His message.

The Extent of Our Service
There is no such thing as a part-time Christian. I cannot treat my identity casually. It is always a part of me, whether I am at church or not. In Matthew 12:30, Jesus challenges His audience, claiming those who are not working for Him are working against Him. Chapter 6:24 calls upon us to choose who we will serve, this world or God. In Matthew 19:16, Jesus tells a young man to keep the commandments and to give up his possessions to achieve treasure in Heaven. We cannot serve both God and worldly interests.

We cannot be devoted to God once a week and then devoted to self the rest of the week. To what extent does Jesus go in His service and ministry? To what extent do the apostles go in their service? We must be willing to go to the same extent. Jesus was not moderate in His sacrifices for us. The apostles were not moderate in their efforts to spread His word. We have challenges we have to overcome if we are going to serve Christ as He expects. It takes focus and determination, but we can follow our Savior to the extent He expects.

lesson by Tim Smelser