Seeds for 03/13/2024 - Matthew 27:47-50
Scripture: 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.
Observation: Jesus’ quotation of Psalm 22 and calling out prompts speculation on the observers’ part.
As a pastor, I’ve been around folks sitting with loved ones as the veil between earthly life and the next life reduced to tissue-thin. More than once, we saw those near death speaking with an unseen (by us) parent or relative seemingly comforting and guiding them along. One wonders if the observers of Jesus are drawing a similar conclusion with what they have witnessed.
What I’m holding on to from these verses is the last clause: “He gave up His spirit.”
It was not taken from Him. Jesus gave it up. He had the resources to sustain Himself and hold death at bay, but He gave it up. He gave it up first when He—the Word—took on flesh. He gave it up when He came to the Jordan River so that He might begin His ministry with baptism. He gave it up as He celebrated Passover and instituted the “Lord’s Supper” on the evening before the cross and certainly later that night when He surrendered Himself in prayer in the garden. He gave it up when He allowed the temple guards to arrest Him. It would have been nothing for Him to resist and refuse.
We have a saying about the power of cumulative causes to add up and produce and large effect: “Death by a thousands cuts.”
This was death by a thousand obediences. He gave up His spirit after a final cry to the heavens. But it was the result of a thousand acts of humble obedience—givings up—along the way. Death for Him. But for us? Life by a thousand obediences.
When it came time for the final one, as Paul wrote to the Philippian church, “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
Application:
What work have you witnessed that was the result of many small actions that added up to it?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the many acts of humble obedience and surrender that gained my freedom. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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