Poezie de Vinerea Mare – Ti-aduci aminte Vinerea aceia

Ti-aduci aminte Vinerea aceia
Lovindu-se in piepturi Fariseii
Strigau: ,,Sa cerem lui Pilat osanda,
Profetului din tara Galileii!”

Iti amintesti cum ne-mbulzeam cu totii
Ca sa-L vedem…era ciudat din privire.
Cind L-au lovit cu-n pumn in dreapta fetei
El si-a intors si stanga spre lovire

Iar cind Romanul se spala de sange
Silabisind verdictul, trist si rar.
Iti amintesti de chiotele noastre
Scapasem de la moarte un talhar.

Uraland spre Gologota, ti-aduci aminte
Cum se inaltara spre cer acelei zile neuitate
In asfintitul mohorit si sumbru
Trei cruci masive si insangerate?

Si cum in clipa cind isi dete duhul Galileanul
Tunete bizare pufnira-n hou,
Si se crapa in doua catapeteasma Templului cea mare.
Ingenunchind atunci Centurionul
Isi umili in fata crucii fala.

Si-alaturea de dansul, zguduita
Plangea amar Maria din Magdala.
Inebuniti atunci de groaza-n noapte
Am alergat tipand si robi caintii

Si-am intalnit in drum pe Iuda
Care isi numara plangand argintii.
Iar mai tarziu cind ne-am trezit deodata-n Ghetsimani
Intr-un hatis de spini
L-am intalnit legandu-si funia
Pe cel mai drept si falnic din maslini.

Si-nspaimantati atunci, ti-aduci aminte ?
Vorbecaind prin bezna grea de tuci
Am alergat la locul Capatanii
Si-am plans si noi, rugandu-ne sub cruci.

Din Poezii difuzate la Radio Vocea Evanghelei, Romania.

Nicu Wagner – Isaia 53

Isaia 53

¹Cine a crezut în ceea ce ni se vestise? Cine a cunoscut braţul Domnului?
²El a crescut înaintea Lui ca o odraslă slabă, ca un Lăstar care iese dintr’un pămînt uscat. N’avea nici frumuseţă, nici strălucire ca să ne atragă privirile, şi înfăţişarea Lui n’avea nimic care să ne placă.
³Dispreţuit şi părăsit de oameni, om al durerii şi obicinuit cu suferinţa, era aşa de dispreţuit că îţi întorceai faţa dela El, şi noi nu L-am băgat în seamă.
⁴Totuş, El suferinţele noastre le -a purtat, şi durerile noastre le -a luat asupra Lui, şi noi am crezut că este pedepsit, lovit de Dumnezeu, şi smerit.
⁵Dar El era străpuns pentru păcatele noastre, zdrobit pentru fărădelegile noastre. Pedeapsa, care ne dă pacea, a căzut peste El, şi prin rănile Lui sîntem tămăduiţi.
⁶Noi rătăceam cu toţii ca nişte oi, fiecare îşi vedea de drumul lui; dar Domnul a făcut să cadă asupra Lui nelegiuirea noastră a tuturor.
⁷Cînd a fost chinuit şi asuprit, n’a deschis gura deloc, ca un miel pe care -l duci la măcelărie, şi ca o oaie mută înaintea celor ce o tund: n’a deschis gura.
⁸El a fost luat prin apăsare şi judecată; dar cine din cei de pe vremea Lui a crezut că El fusese şters de pe pămîntul celor vii şi lovit de moarte pentru păcatele poporului meu?
⁹Groapa Lui a fost pusă între cei răi, şi mormîntul Lui la un loc cu cel bogat, măcar că nu săvîrşise nicio nelegiuire şi nu se găsise niciun vicleşug în gura Lui.
¹⁰Domnul a găsit cu cale să -L zdrobească prin suferinţă… Dar, dupăce Îşi va da viaţa ca jertfă pentru păcat, va vedea o sămînţă de urmaşi, va trăi multe zile, şi lucrarea Domnului va propăşi în mînile Lui.
¹¹Va vedea rodul muncii sufletului Lui şi se va înviora. Prin cunoştinţa Lui, Robul Meu cel neprihănit va pune pe mulţi oameni într’o stare după voia lui Dumnezeu, şi va lua asupra Lui povara nelegiuirilor lor.
¹²De aceea Îi voi da partea Lui la un loc cu cei mari, şi va împărţi prada cu cei puternici, pentrucă S’a dat pe Sine însuş la moarte, şi a fost pus în numărul celor fărădelege, pentrucă a purtat păcatele multora şi S’a rugat pentru cei vinovaţi.

Cine-a crezut vreodata ce ni se povestise
Si bratul celui tare cine L-a cunoscut
Cine a crezut oare ce ni se proorocise
Despre Acel ce este si-a fost de la inceput.
El a venit in lume, serios in umilinta
Cu buna stare sare dintr-un pamint uscat
Ca o odrasla slaba, nascut in suferinta
Dispretuit de oameni, urit si alungat.

N-avea nimic aparte privirea sa-ti atraga
Ca lumea-i daruise dispret si umilire
Cel ce-a trait in slava o vesnicie-ntreaga
Pierduse frumusetea si marea stralucire.
Noi rataceam prin lumea de Dumnezeu straina
Si fiecare-n parte-si croieste o carare
Dar El a luat asupra-i suprema noastra vina
Prin ranile Lui sfinte avem rascumparare.

Cel ce-a venit din ceruri la noi plin de iubire
Sa ne aduca pacea in dar si fericirea
Dispretuit in chinuri a fost de omenire
Atit de mult de parca iti intorceai privirea.
El cit rabda durerea purtata in tacere
Cind gloata inraita isi revarsase ura
Cum Mielul fara vina e dus la junghiere
In clocotul durerii El nu-si deschise gura.

Desi facut-a lumi doar bine si dreptate
Lasind o mingaiere in suflete pribege
Mormintul Lui fusese ales cu rautate
Intre bogatii lumi si cei faradelege.
Noi am crezut sarmanii ca-si merita destinul
Ca Tatal il smerise atunci cu rautate
Dar El rabda pe cruce in locul nostru chinul
In jertfa Lui avem noi iertarea de pacate.

Ca Dumnezeu Preasfintul gasise de cuvinta
Privind la vina noastra prin sfinta Lui dreptate
Sa isi zdrobeasca Fiul in crunta suferinta
Prin jertfa Lui sa ierte a lumii-ntregi pacate.
Dar dupa ce in moarte a-nvins cu biruinta
Strivind pe totdeauna puterea ferecata
Isi va vdea urmasii si din a Lui saminta
Au rasarit in veacuri pina la judecata.

Iubirea-i fara margini le va schimba puterea
Si ei vor duce vesnic cereasca Lui solie
In miinile strapunse va propasi lucrarea
Ce Tatal a-nceput-o cu El in vesnicie.
De-aceia-i va da locul de cinste sus in slava
Pe scaunul de domnie in sfinta Lui cetate
Ca parasit-a cerul si fara de zabava
El a venit sa moara pentru-a lumii pacate.

Related articles

• Nicu Wagner – Isaia 53 + 3 cintari
• Nicu Wagner – Te-ascunzi in florile cimpiei
• Cintari cu har – Nicu Wagner, Arman Ludovic si Valer Bogdan si Grupul Maslinul
• Poiema Iubirii: Dragostea Lui este steagul fluturat peste noi, in cintari si versete biblice

Florin Ianovici – Pastele

De cănd vocea lui Dumnezeu răsuna in gradina Edenului intrebând: „Unde eşti?”, Gen.3 cu 9, de atunci planul Lui pentru sufletul omului era alcătuit. Isus plin de durere rosteşte in faţa ucenicilor următoarele cuvinte: „Dar cum se vor implini scripturile care zic ca aşa trebuie să se întample”? Mt.26 cu 54, căci „Toate aceste lucruri s-au întamplat ca să se implineasca cele scrise…”Mt.26 cu 56

În trei zile avea sa fie rescrisă istoria omenirii.

În trei zile cruciale avea sa fie deschisa o cale noua omenirii. O cale croită prin voinţa lui Dumnezeu arătată în fiul sau Preaiubit, Isus Hristos. „Acolo se va croi o cale, un drum care se va numi Calea cea Sfantă:nici un om necurat nu va trece pe ea, ci va fi pentru cei sfinti…”Isaia 35 cu 8 Dar această cale s-a croit în trei zile cruciale pe care le-a cunoscut omenirea:vineri, sambătă , duminică! Trei zile pământeşti… (Photo via Wiki Media)

VINEREA cumplită a neamului omenesc

Cum începe ziua de vineri? Din gradina Ghetimani undeva puţin după miezul nopţii cand Iuda, vanzatorul vine impreuna cu o gloata de oameni înarmaţi cu ciomege si săbii, care au pus mâinile pe Isus si L-au prins.” Atunci toţi ucenici l-au părăsit si au fugit”. Matei 26 cu 56. În această vânzare există ceva atât de uman. Specific omului. Iuda s-a arătat şi s-a dus la Mântuitorul. S-a apropiat, l-a prins de umeri şi l-a sărutat. Deja cel rău stăpănea inima lui Iuda. Planul era întocmit. Alegerea stabilită. Dar Isus se cutremură de gestul lui Iuda.”…cu o sărutare vinzi tu pe Fiul omului?”.Lc 22 cu 48.

Într-o zi un fiu risipitor se întoarce acasă. Tatăl l-a zărit de departe. Aşa este dragostea. Are privirea antrenată. Fiul a fost îmbrăţişat de tată care „l-a sărutat mult”, Lc 15 cu 20. Un sărut al iertării. O pildă despre dragostea tatălui ceresc care cuprinde în braţe fii risipitori. Pe care îi sărută cu dragoste de părinte. Un sărut al iertării. Iuda se apropie să îl îmbrăţişeze pe Isus şi îl sărută. Un sărut josnic, al trădării. „Cu un sărut…Iudo? „Nu putea fi altceva? Sub un sărut o inimă întunecată. Aşa e omul. Poate zâmbi, poate vorbi frumos, te poate îmbrăţişa, dar inima să fie rea.

L-au dus la marele preot Ana unde unul dintre aprozi l-a pălmuit pe Isus. Pe seama nevinovatului Isus a încercat aprodul slugarnic să îşi construiască o imagine în faţa marelui preot. Isus nu a raspuns în opinia lui cuviincios. Slugărnicia are limbajul ei. Şi pălmuieşte pe unii şi pe alţii şi azi. Ce contează adevărul? Lui să îi fie bine.L-au dus la marele preot Caiafa si l-au învinuit. L-au scuipat in faţă, l-au bătut cu pumnii si l-au pălmuit, zicand: „Hristoase, proroceşte-ne cine Te-a lovit? Mt.26 cu 68. Este uimitor faptul ca aceste evenimente se petrec în timpul nopţii. Undeva după ora 12. Câtă ură trebuie să fi strîns preoţii în inimă. Să ai atîtă energie în a striga, a pălmui, a bate cu pumnii, a scuipa şi a aduce injurii la aceea oră tîrzie din noapte!Inima nu are odihnă când este să urască.

Spre ziuă au făcut sfat impotriva lui Isus, nu ca să îl judece, ci „ca să îl omoare”Mt.27 cu 1. L-au legat si l-au dat in mana dregătorului Pilat din Pont; Pilat l-a trimis la Irod care stapănea ţinutul Galileii de unde era Isus. Irod l-a primit pe Isus cu gând ca va vedea o minune. Un fel de specatacol la care nu plăteşti billet. Dar Mântuitorul a tăcut. I-a pus Irod multe întrebari dar Isus nu a răspuns nimic. Preoţii şi cărturarii cei mai de seama „îl părau cu înfierbantare spune cuvantul. Luca 23:10  Apoi Irod şi-a aratat faţa adevărată: „se purta cu dispreţ şi dupa ce şi-a bătut joc de El l-a îmbrăcat cu o haină stralucitoare şi L-a trimis înapoi la Pilat.

În ziua aceea, Irod şi Pilat s-au împrietenit unul cu altul căci erau învrăjbiţi între ei înainte. Lc.23:12. Iată un lucru semnificativ. Doi făcători de rele, Irod şi Pilat, doi oameni interesaţi de poziţiile lor pământeşti, ajung să se împrietenească. Pe seama nevinovatului Isus. Pentru mulţi oameni Pilat apare ca o victimă a unei situaţii de constrângere. El are un gest de a încerca să îl elibereze pe Isus. Dar acestă menţiune din Evanghelia lui Luca aduce lumină în privinţa adevăratuului caracter al lui Pilat. Se împrieteneşte cu Irod cu prilejul acestui simulacru de proces.

Pilat a pus să îl bată pe Isus. Cu nuiele, cu biciu, a fost legat si bătut. Rănile Sale au picurat sânge. Gemetele Sale nu au smuls nici un regret. Mâinile Sale nu s-au mai lăsat pe creştetul cuiva pentru a aduce vindecare, sau binecuvantare ci au fost legate cu funii. Ca un miel pe care îl duci la tăiere. El nu a deschis gura deşi era chinuit şi asuprit.Aproape că inima strigă: destul!E prea mult!Dar calvarul Mântuitorului Isus era departe de a se fi sfârşit.

Apoi a fost dus în pretoriu, l-au desbrăcat de hainile Lui si L-au îmbrăcat cu o haină stacojie, au împletit o cunună de spini, au pus-o pe cap si I-au pus o trestie în mâna dreapta. Apoi îngenunchiau in faţa lui şi îsi bătea joc de El spunând: „Plecaciune Ţie Împaratul iudeiilor”.Mt.27 cu 29 şi 30. Şi scuipau asupra Lui si-l băteau în cap. Apoi a început ultimul drum pământesc al lui Isus. (Photo via Wikipedia Tissot)

Drumul spre Golgota.

I-au pus crucea în spate si l-au silit sa meargă. Ajunşi la Gologota, L-au întins, l-au străpuns cu piroane în încheieturile mâinilor şi l-au ridicat pe cruce.I-au pironit picioarele cu piroane de 13-18 cm. Umerii au fost dislocaţi. Ca să respire trebuia să se impingă în picioarele străpunse altfel cutia toracică nu se umplea cu aer. Piroanele din picioare s-au oprit în oasele tarsiene. Setea era cumplita. Din cauza biciuirii era in soc hipovolemic. Ca urmare a şocului hipovolemic inima galopa pentru a pompa sangele care nu mai era acolo. Tensiunea arterială a scăzut provocând o stare de leşin sau colaps, iar rinichii nu mai lucrau. Isus suferise o hematidroză atunci când in Ghetimani ca urmare a unui chin sfâşietor , ca de moarte, s-au eliberat în organism substanţe chimice care au rupt capilarele din glandele sudoripare.

Norodul stătea şi privea.Fruntaşii îşi băteau joc de El si spuneau „Pe alţi I-a mântuit; să se mântuiască pe Sine Insuşi dacă este El Hristosul, Alesul lui Dumnezeu. Ostasii de asemenea îşi băteau joc de El. Se apropiau, Îi dădeau oţet si_Îi ziceau „Daca eşti Tu Împăratul iudeiilor mântuieşte-Te pe Tine Însuţi” Luca 23:35 si 36. Unul dintre talhari işi bate joc de El. Trecătorii îşi băteau joc de El, dădeau din cap si ziceau: „Uăă!Tu, care strici Templul, şi-l zidesti la loc în trei zile, mantuieşte-te pe tine însuţi si pogoară-te de pe cruce”Marcu 15 cu 29 si 30.

În agonia morţii privirea lui Isus îmbartiseaza chipurile celor din jur. Îi răsună în urechi şoapta vrăjmaşului: Pentru ei vrei Tu să mori? Merită ei atâta suferinţă? Legiuni de demoni aţâţau mulţimea care arunca ocara asupra lui Isus.
Ingerii şi întreaga ostire cerească este înmărmurită. Cu ochii atinţiti spre Isus, cu atenţia îndreptată spre Tatăl aşteaptă un semn din partea Tatălui pentru a izbăvi din chin pe Neprihănitul Isus. Dar Tatăl tace.

Despărţit de Dumnezeu, părăsit de ucenici, sfredelit de vorba vrajmaşului, Satana, împresurat de taurii din Basan care îl impung, ţinta ocarii si epuizat de durerea trupului din care se scurge viaţa, fara un singur cuvânt de mângâiere,…iată VINEREA cumplită a neamului omenesc.Iată adevărata faţă a neamului omenesc.Făra farduri aplicate, fără politeţuri zaharisite, fără strălucirea mincinoasă a unor strasuri ieftine. Faţă adevărată a neamului omenesc este faţă nelegiuirii care a înveninat inima şi a întunecat mintea.VINEREA numită mare. Zi de adevăr cumplit. Zi de faliment total pentru omenirea care zace în cel rău.

SAMBATA – Tacere

Ucenicii sunt ascunşi în case. Dincolo de uşi. O zi a tăcerii. Preotii isi sarbatoaresc Pastele atât de drag lor. Cu pioşenie se apropie de un Dumnezeu care le lăsase porunci şi legi. Pe care le ştiau. Ce bine acum că nu mai era nimeni să le conteste autoritatea. Ce bine că nimeni nu mai tulburau oamenii cu cuvinte care loveau în ei ca nişte bice. Lucrurile intraseră în normal. În obişnuitul pe care îl ştiau şi îl controlau.

Pilat, Irod si toate autoritatile sunt linistite. Nimic nu tulbură liniştea cetăţii. Cerul tace. Dumnezeu tace. Tăcere peste tot. O tăcere în care vorbeşte doar frica. Frica preoţilor, frica ucenicilor. Totul este pierdut. Fară speranţă. Tăcere. Nu mai este nimic de spus. Hristos este în mormânt. Păzit cu străşnicie. (Tissot Photo via Bible Picture Gallery)

DUMNICA –  A ÎNVIAT!

Peste cetate răsar zorii. Grăbită Maria Magdalena şi cealaltă Marie împreună cu Salome au venit să vadă mormântul. Dar nu doar mormîntul ci pe Cel ce era acolo. Însă Domnul Isus nu mai era acolo. Un mesaj al unui înger a căzut mai puternic ca fulgerul. A ÎNVIAT! Ele au plecat cu frică şi mare bucurie şi au fost întâmpinate de Isus Hristos, Mântuitorul care le-a spus: „Bucuraţi.vă!”.

Ele duc vestea ucenicilor care par neputincişi în a crede că El a înviat. Un basm. Nimic mai mult. Acolo Petru auzind vestea este cuprins de frenezie. Poate că mai există o şansă să se reabiliteze. Să îşi ceară iertare în faţa lui Isus. Dacă El a înviat va sta de vorbă cu El, va plânge, se va căi. Aleargă cu acest gânduri în inimă la mormânt. Dar n-a văzut decât nişte făşii de pânză. Prea puţin. Mirat s-a întors acasă. Cleopa cu un alt ucenic întălneşte pe drumul Emausului pe Isus Cel Înviat. Plini de bucurie se întorc la Ierusalim să dea vestea ucenicilor. Ucenici ascultau.

Deodată Isus a venit în mijlocul lor şi a rostit: „Pace vouă!”. Cuvânt care va rămâne pe buzele credincioşilor de atunci şi până la venirea Sa. Dar ucenicii s-au speriat. El i-a invitat să se uite la mâinile şi picioarele Lui care păstrau urmele piroanelor. A măncat peşte şi un fagure de miere ca semn al învierii Sale în trup. Apoi le-a deschis mintea.

Dumincă. Zi de spaimă pentru preoţi. Isus a înviat! Mintea lor căuta febrilă o soluţie .Ziceţi că ucenicii au venit şi au furat trupul Lui pe cănd voi dormeaţi! Şi au plătit bani mulţi pentru această minciună.

Dar toată cetatea era în mişcare. Multe morminte s-au deschis şi în sfănta cetate s-au arătat multora. Mulţimea nu mai putea fi înşelată. Învierea era peste tot. Speranţa renăscuse. Ochii au prins să aibă sclipiri noi.Privirile s-au înălţat. Isus înviase! Dumnezeu deschisese drumul spre mîntuire prin Robul Său Isus. Moartea a fost biruită. Satan a fost doborît. Cheile locuinţei morţilor i-au fost smulse. Moartea a fost biruită şi boldul ei frânt. Zapisul cu păcatele lumii a fost ţintuit pe cruce. Viaţa s-a coborât din belşug.

Un cuvînt nou a prins să se fluture pe buzele oamenilor:a înviat.Hristos a înviat!

• Lumea a vorbit VINERI.Dumnezeu a tăcut şi a suferit moartea pe cruce.

• Lumea a tăcut SÂMBĂTĂ.Dumnezeu a tăcut şi El.

• Dumnezeu a vorbit DUMINICĂ. Prin ÎNVIERE! Şi toţi cei care L-au crezut au început şi ei să vorbească:”Hristos a înviat!Cu adevărat a înviat!.

Să rămănem în DUMNICA ÎNVIERII pentru toată viaţa noastră. Tu cel ce ai rămas în ziua de vineri a neamului omenesc, vino la sărbătoarea duminicii. A iertării şi a învierii.
HRISTOS A ÎNVIAT! (Tissot Photo via Wiki Media)

Sursa predicii Ciresarii.Ro

Virginia, cintari pentru Vinerea Mare – De la Ana la Caiafa – Isus calvarul a urcat

Isus Calvarul l-a urcat
Cu lacrimi pentru min.
Pacatul meu El l-a purtat
De m-a salvat deplin!

Refren:
Eu spre Calvar merg usurat,
Acolo Domnul m-a salvat,
Si al Sau sange l-a varsat,
El l-a varsat, da, l-a varsat.

2 Isus fu atarnat pe lemn,
Cei rai l-au pironit,
Sluji atuncea ca blestem
Si pace-a faurit !

3 Pacatele de-acum s-au dus
Eu merg spre-al meu Calvar,
Caci tinta mea este Isus
Si al vietii far.

4 Ce am primit eu pe Calvar
Sunt mangaieri din plin,
Acolo mi-a dat al Sau har,
Cerescul Miel divin.

Versurile de la www.muzicacrestina.net/isuse-du-ma-la-cruce

De la ana, la caiafa
te-au purtat si judecat
fata ta nevinovata
vinovati au scuipat

te-au lovit in fata legii
oamenii nelegiuiti
si te-au osandit la moarte,
Doamne cei mai osanditi.

cu intreg pacatul lumii
Calea Crucii ai suit
fardelegea tuturora
ne-ai pltito rastignit

O, te rog , precum, isuse
pentru mine tu-ai murit
sa m-ajuti si eu sa sufar
Pentru tine , fericit

Toata viata mea pe lume
vreau sa-ti fiu copil supus
ca si-acolo-n cer cu tine
sa fiu fericit isus -amin-

versurile de la www.resursecrestine.ropoezii/87791/de-la-ana-la-caiafa

Isuse, du-ma la cruce,
Acolo-i raul cel dulce,
Deschis pentru mine, in dar,
In sfintele rane de pe Calvar,

Refren:
O, Isuse, du-ma acum,
La izvorul cel curat si bun,
Totdeauna eu vreau sa fiu al Tau
Isuse, Domnul meu.

Pe Gologota ai sangerat
Doamne, pentru al meu pacat
Si viata Tu ti-ai jertfit
Si inteleg ce mult mai iubit.

Cu sufletul indurerat
Cu trupul de biciuri brazdat
Di cuie Tu strigi: S-a sfirsit
De ce Tata ceresc m-ai parasit?

Versurile de la www.muzicacrestina.net/isuse-du-ma-la-cruce

James MacDonald videos from the Via Dolorosa (in Israel + 3 more)

It is powerful to see some actual places where Jesus walked as we commemorate so many events from Jesus’s life this week. James MacDonald, Pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows, Il features 4 short (less than 2 minute) videos so far from these places:

1. The Via Dolorosa
2. From the actual steps of Caiaphas’s house in Jerusalem where Jesus’s suffering began
3. At Jerusalem’s Antonia Fortress (Matthew 27:11)
4. The actual garden of Ghetsemane

Also, James will continue to add clips each day for the rest of this week on his blog (if you wish, you can subscribe to his blog by email or rss at the top right of his blog page)

You can see all 4 videos so far via the title links on  James’ blog page here.

Boasting Only in the Cross – John Piper

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Boasting Only in the Cross – John Piper
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Boasting Only in the Cross

Galatians 6:14

But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

You don’t have to know a lot of things for your life to make a lasting difference in the world. But you do have to know the few great things that matter, and then be willing to live for them and die for them. The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by a few great things. If you want your life to count, if you want the ripple effect of the pebbles you drop to become waves that reach the ends of the earth and roll on for centuries and into eternity, you don’t have to have a high IQ or EQ; you don’t have to have to have good looks or riches; you don’t have to come from a fine family or a fine school. You have to know a few great, majestic, unchanging, obvious, simple, glorious things, and be set on fire by them.

But I know that not everybody in this crowd wants your life to make a difference. There are hundreds of you – you don’t care whether you make a lasting difference for something great, you just want people to like you. If people would just like you, you’d be satisfied. Of if you could just have good job with a good wife and a couple good kids and a nice car and long weekends and a few good friends, a fun retirement, and quick and easy death and no hell – if you could have that (minus God) – you’d be satisfied. THAT is a tragedy in the making.

Three weeks ago we got word at our church that Ruby Eliason and Laura Edwards had both been killed in Cameroon. Ruby was over 80. Single all her life, she poured it out for one great thing: To make Jesus Christ known among the unreached, the poor, and the sick. Laura was a widow, a medical doctor, pushing 80 years old, and serving at Ruby’s side in Cameroon. The brakes failed, the car went over the cliff, and they were both killed instantly. And I asked my people: was that a tragedy? Two lives, driven by one great vision, spent in unheralded service to the perishing poor for the glory of Jesus Christ—two decades after almost all their American counterparts have retired to throw their lives away on trifles in Florida or New Mexico. No. That is not a tragedy. That is a glory.

I tell you what a tragedy is. I’ll read to you from Reader’s Digest (Feb. 2000, p. 98) what a tragedy is: „Bob and Penny… took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball and collect shells.” The American Dream: come to the end of your life – your one and only life – and let the last great work before you give an account to your Creator, be „I collected shells. See my shells.” THAT is a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. And I get forty minutes to plead with you: don’t buy it.

Don’t waste your life. It is so short and so precious. I grew up in a home where my father spent himself as an evangelist to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost. He had one consuming vision: Preach the gospel. There was a plaque in our kitchen for all my growing up years. Now it hangs in our living room. I have looked at it almost daily for about 48 years. It says, „Only one life, twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

I am here at One Day in a sense as a father. I am 54 years old. I have four sons and one daughter: Karsten is 27, Benjamin is 24, Abraham is 20, Barnabas is 17. Talitha is four. Few things, if any, fill me with more longing these months and years than the longing that my grown sons not waste their lives on fatal success.

So I look out on you as sons and daughters and I plead with you as a father – perhaps the father you never had. Or the father who never had a vision for you like I have for you, and God has for you. Or the father who HAS a vision for you, but its all about money and status. I look out on you as sons and daughters and I plead with you: Want your lives to count for something great and for eternity. Want this. Don’t coast through life without a passion.

One of the reasons I have loved the vision of Passion 98 and Passion 99 and One Day is that the 268 declaration is so clearly what my life is about. The declaration is based on Isaiah 26:8 – „Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.” Here is not just a body but a soul. Here is not just a soul, but a soul with a passion and a desire. Here is not just a desire for being liked or for softball and shells, here is a desire for something infinitely great, and infinitely beautiful, and infinitely valuable and infinitely satisfying – The name and the glory of God – „Your name and your renown are the desire of our souls.”

This is what I live to know and long to experience. The mission statement of my life and the church I serve: „We exist – I exist – to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.”

You don’t have to say it like I say it. You don’t have to say it like Louie Giglio says it (or like Beth Moore says it or like Voddie Baucham says it).

But whatever you do, find your passion and find your way to say it and live for it and die for it. And you will make a difference that lasts. You will be like the apostle Paul. Nobody had a more single minded vision for his life than Paul did. He could say it in different ways.

Acts 20:24: „I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may accomplish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

One thing mattered: Finish my course, run my race.

Philippians 3:7-8: „But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ.”

How shall I help you? How can I be used of God in this moment at One Day to waken in you a single passion for a single great reality that will unleash you and will set you free from small dreams and send you to the ends of the earth?

The answer I think the Lord gave me was: take them to one verse of Scripture that is as close to the center as you can get and show them why Paul says there what he says.

The verse is Galatians 6:14: „May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

Or to state it positively: Only boast in the cross of Jesus Christ. It is a single idea. A single goal. A single passion. Only boast in the cross. The word can be translated „exult in” or „rejoice in.” Only exult in the cross of Christ. Only rejoice in the cross of Christ. Paul says let this be your single passion, you single boast and joy and exultation. In this great moment called ONE DAY let the ONE THING that you love, the one thing that you cherish, the one thing that you rejoice in and exult over be the cross of Jesus Christ.

This is shocking for two reasons.

1) One is that it’s like saying: Only boast in the electric chair. Only exult in the gas chamber. Only rejoice in the lethal injection. Let your one boast and one joy and one exultation be the lynching rope. „May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” No manner of execution that has ever been devised was more cruel and agonizing than to be nailed to a cross. It was horrible. You would not have been able to watch it – not without screaming and pulling at your hair and tearing your clothes. Let this be the one passion of your life.

2) That is one thing that is shocking about Paul’s words. The other is that he says this is to be the only boast of your life. The only joy. The only exultation. „May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

What does he mean by this? Really? No other boast? No other exultation? No other joy except the cross of Jesus – the death of Jesus?

What about the places where Paul himself uses the same word for „boast” or „exult” for other things? For example:

Romans 5:2: „We exult in hope of the glory of God.”

Romans 5:3: „We also exult in our tribulations, knowing that they produce patience and approvedness and hope.”

2 Corinthians 12:9, „Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses.”

1 Thessalonians 2:19: „Who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you?”

So, if Paul can boast and exult in all these things, what does Paul mean – that he would not „boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”?

But what does that mean? Is that just double talk? You exult in one thing and just say that you are exulting in another thing? No. There is a very profound reason for saying this – that all exultation, all rejoicing, all boasting in anything should be a rejoicing in the cross of Jesus Christ.

He means that, for the Christian, all other boasting, should also be a boasting in the cross. All exultation in anything else should be exultation in the cross. If you exult in the hope of glory you should be exulting in the cross of Christ. If you exult in tribulation because tribulation works hope, you should be exulting in the cross of Christ. If you exult in your weaknesses, or in the people of God, you should be exulting in the cross of Christ.

Why is this the case? For this reason: for redeemed sinners, every good thing – indeed every bad thing that God turns for good – was obtained for us by the cross of Christ. Apart from the death of Christ, sinners get nothing but judgment. Apart from the cross of Christ, there is only condemnation. Therefore everything that you enjoy in Christ – as a Christian, as a person who trusts Christ – is owing to the death of Christ. And all your rejoicing in all things should therefore be a rejoicing in the cross where all your blessings were purchased for you at the cost of the death of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

One of the reasons we are not as Christ-centered and cross-saturated as we should be is that we have not realized that everything – everything good and every thing bad that God turns for the good of his redeemed children was purchased by the death of Christ for us. We simply take life and breath and health and friends and everything for granted. We think it is ours by right. But the fact is that it is not ours by right.

We are doubly undeserving of it.

1) We are creatures and our Creator was not bound or obligated to give us anything – not life or health and anything. He gives, he takes, and he does us no injustice.

2) And besides being creatures with no claim on our Creator, we are sinners. We have fallen short of his glory. We have ignored him and disobeyed him and failed to love him and trust him. The wrath of his justice is kindled against us. All we deserve from him is judgment. Therefore every breath we take, every time our heart beats, every day that the sun rises, every moment we see with our eyes or hear with our ears or speak with our mouths or walk with our legs is free and undeserved gift to sinners who deserve only judgment.

And who bought these gifts for us? Jesus Christ. And how did he purchase them? By his blood.

Every blessing in life is designed to magnify the cross of Christ, or to say it another way, every good thing in life is meant to magnify Christ and him crucified. So, for example, we totaled our 1991 Dodge Spirit last week, but nobody was hurt. And in that safety I exult. I glory in that. But why was nobody hurt? That was a gift to me and my family that none of us deserves. We are sinners and by nature children of wrath, apart from Christ. So how did we come to have such a gift for our good? Answer: Christ died for our sins on the cross, and took away the wrath of God from us, and secured for us, even though we don’t deserve it, God’s omnipotent grace that works everything together for our good. So when I exult in our safety, I am exulting in the cross of Christ.

And the insurance paid us $2800 for the car and Noel took that money and went to Iowa and bought a 92 Chevy Lumina and drove it home in the snow. And now we have a car again. And I exult in the amazing grace of so much bounty. Just like that. You wreck your car. You come out unhurt. Insurance pays up. You get another one. And move on almost as if nothing happened. And in thanks I bow my head and exult in the untold mercies even of these little material things. Where do all these mercies come from? If you are a saved sinner, a believer in Jesus, they come through the cross. Apart from the cross, there is only judgment – patience and mercy for a season, but then, if spurned, all that mercy only serves to intensify judgment. Therefore every gift is a blood-bought gift. And all boasting – all exultation – is boasting in the cross.

Woe to me if I exult in any blessing unless my exulting is an exulting in the cross of Christ.

Another way to say this is that the design of the cross is the glory of Christ. The aim of God in the cross is that Christ would be honored. When Paul says in Galatians 6:14, „May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” he is saying that God’s will is that the cross be always magnified – that Christ crucified always be our boast and exultation and our joy and our praise – that Christ get glory and thanks and honor for every good thing in our lives – and every bad thing that God causes to turn for good.

But now here’s a question: If that is the aim of God in the death of Christ – namely, that „Christ crucified” be honored and glorified for all things, then how is Christ to get the glory he deserves? The answer is that children and youth and adults have to be taught that these things are so. Or to say it another way: the source of exultation in the cross of Christ is education about the cross of Christ.

That’s my job: to get glory for Jesus by teaching you these things. And then your job is to get more glory for Jesus by acting on them and teaching them to more people. Education about Jesus is for exultation in Jesus. And if we want there to be no exultation except in the cross, then we must pursue education about the cross – and under the cross.

Or maybe we should say, „on the cross.” Education on the cross will lead to exultation of the cross. What do I mean?

Look at the rest of verse 14: „May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Boasting in the cross happens when you are on the cross. Is that not what verse 14 says? The world has been crucified to me, and I have been crucified to the world. The world is dead to me, and I am dead to the world. Why? Because I have been crucified. We learn to boast in the cross and exult in the cross when we are on the cross.

Now what does that mean? When did that happen? When were you crucified? The answer is in Galatians 2:20, „I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” When Christ died, we died. The glorious meaning of the death of Christ is that when he died, all his own died in him. That death, that he died for us all, becomes our death when we are united to Christ by faith.

But you say, „Aren’t I alive? I feel alive.” Well, here is a need for education. We must learn what happened to us. We must be taught these things. That is why Galatians 2:20 and 6:14 are in the Bible. God is teaching us what happened to us, so that we can know ourselves and know his way of working with us and exult in him and in his Son and in the cross as we ought.

So we read Galatians 2:20 again to see that, Yes, we are dead and yes, we are alive. „I have been crucified with Christ [so I am dead, and he goes on]; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me [why? Because I died, that is, my old rebellious, unbelieving self died, and he goes on]; and the life which I now live in the flesh [so, Yes, I am alive, but it isn’t the same „I” as the „I” who died] I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” In other words the „I” who lives is the new „I” of faith. The new creation lives. The believer lives. The old self died on the cross with Jesus.

And if you ask, „What’s the key for linking up with this reality? How can this be mine? The answer is implied in the words about faith in Galatians 2:20. „The life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God.” That is the link. God links you to his Son by faith. And when he does there is a union with the Son of God so that his death becomes your death and his life becomes your life.

Now take all that over to Galatians 6:14, „May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Don’t boast in anything except in the cross.

And how can I become that radically cross-centered – so that all my exultation is traced back to the cross? Answer: realize that when Christ died on the cross, you died; and when you trusted him, that death took effect in your life. Paul says, it’s your death to the world and the world’s death to you.

Meaning: when you put your trust in Christ, your bondage to the world is broken, and the overpowering lure of the world is broken. You are a corpse to the world, and the world is a corpse to you. Or to put it positively, according to verse 15, you are an „new creation.” The old you is dead. A new you is alive. And the new you is the you of faith. And what faith exults in is NOT the world, but Christ, and especially, Christ crucified.

This is how you become so cross-centered that you say with Paul, „I will not boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The world is no longer my treasure. It’s not the source of my life and my satisfaction and my joy. Christ is.

But what about safety in the car accident? What about the insurance payment? Didn’t you say you were happy about that? Isn’t that the world? So are you dead to the world?

I could be. I hope so. Because being dead to the world doesn’t mean going out of the world. And it doesn’t mean not feeling things about the world – some negative and some positive (1 John 2:15; 1 Timothy 4:3). It means that every legitimate pleasure in the world becomes a blood-bought evidence of Christ’s love, and an occasion of boasting in the cross. We are dead to insurance payments when the money is not what satisfies, but Christ crucified, the Giver, satisfies. When our hearts run back along the beam of blessing to the source in the cross, then the worldliness of the blessing is dead, and Christ crucified is everything.

That is the goal of education for exultation – in the cross. O may God grant us to dream and plan and work and give and teach and live for the glory of Christ and him crucified!

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

The seven last sayings of Jesus Christ (on the cross)

1.) Luke 23:34
Jesus said, „Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His clothes by casting lots.

2.) Luke 23:43
Jesus answered him, „I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise.”

3.) John 19:27
When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, „Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, „Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

4.) Matthew 27:46
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, „Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, „My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

5.) John 19:28
Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, „I am thirsty.”

6.) John 19:30
When He had received the drink, Jesus said, „It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

7.) Luke 23:46
Jesus called out with a loud voice, „Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When He had said this, He breathed his last.

1 John 3:16 „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.

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Passion Week (F) Thursday – The divinity of Jesus and His prayer at Ghetsemane

(via) Justin Taylor from Gospel Coalition Holy Week: What Happened on Thursday?.

Holy Week: What Happened on Thursday?

With help from the ESV Study Bible, here’s an attempted harmony/chronology of the words and actions of Jesus in the final week of his pre-resurrection life.

Jesus instructs his disciples Peter and John to secure a large upper room in a house in Jerusalem and to prepare for the Passover meal

Matthew 26:17-19 Mark 14:12-16 Luke 22:7-13

In the evening Jesus eats the Passover meal with the Twelve, tells them of the coming betrayal, and institutes the Lord’s Supper

Mathew 26:20-29 Mark 14:17-23 Luke 22:14-30

After supper Jesus washes the disciples’ feet, interacts with them, and delivers the Upper Room Discourse

John 13:1-17:26

Jesus and the disciples sing a hymn together (probably from Psalms 113–118), then depart to the Mount of OlivesMatthew 26:30 Mark 14:26 Luke 22:39

Jesus foretells Peter’s denials

Matthew 26:31-35 Mark 14:27-31 Luke 22:31-34

Jesus gives his disciples practical commands about supplies and provisions

Luke 22:35-38

Jesus and the disciples go to Gethsemane, where he struggles in prayer and they struggle to stay awake late into the night
Matthew 26:36-46 Mark 14:32-42 Luke 22:40-46

Here is an article by Stephen Witmer posted at the Gospel Coalition on Jesus in the garden of Ghetsemane and His divine nature. (Jesus and the Martyrs.)

Jesus and the Martyr

by Stephen Witmer

And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground (Luke 22:41-44).

In this passage, the eternal Son of God pleads with God the Father not to make him go to the cross, requires the help of an angel, and experiences great emotional upheaval in light of his approaching death. He is profoundly shaken. Early in church history, already in the second century, critics of Christianity were pointing to Jesus’ agonized prayer as reason to doubt that he was divine. The problem is heightened when we compare Jesus’ reaction in the face of death to other martyrs, ancient and modern, who appear to be more composed and able to face death with greater dignity than Jesus showed (see Timothy Keller’s The Reason for God for an insightful treatment of this). Here I provide three such examples.

Stephen Witmer gives examples of 3 ancient and modern cases of martyrdom where the men involved appear to face death with a calm dignity and contrasts it with Jesus’ agonizing prayer.

He concludes-

first, the Gospel writers had to be honest, to include such passages of struggling by Jesus and

second, ‘ What sets Jesus’ death apart from the death of any other person in the history of the world is the spiritual component of his suffering’.

We have an indication of that terrible spiritual reality in Luke 22:42: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.” To what “cup” is Jesus referring?

We get an answer in the Old Testament. Psalm 75:6-8 uses the imagery of a cup to refer to God’s judgment upon his enemies:

For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.

Isaiah 51:17 makes explicit that the “cup” is the cup of God’s wrath: “Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering.”

The “cup” Jesus is going to drink on the cross is far worse than the horrific physical suffering of crucifixion he faces. Jesus’ “cup” is the infinite wrath and judgment of almighty God upon human sin. The wrath of God that Jesus will experience on the cross is, very literally, hell. On the cross, he will experience separation from God the Father. He will be cut off from God. He will be considered an enemy of God because our sins will be counted as his (2 Cor. 5:21).

This is why Jesus agonizes and struggles in the Garden—because he knows he will soon be crushed under the infinite weight of the wrath of God.

click here to read the entire article…

Poem – The thief on the cross – Justified by John Piper

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Justified

The Thief on the Cross

• • Audio: Full Length

It was as though a thousand layers
Of fraud and murder and affairs,
Each wrapped around his shrinking heart,
And hard as steel, had come apart.
He hung there silent, numb and hoarse
From screaming at the pain. The coarse
And filthy language of his soul
Dried scarlet on the splintered pole.
No strength remained to comprehend
How these few, quiet words could rend
The wicked wineskins of his life
Where every other moral knife
Had snapped like twigs against the rock.

The man had heard the soldiers mock
The Lord, and joined them at the first.
He saw him keep his peace, and thirst,
And with this tongue he whipped and sliced
The folly of a feeble Christ.
And then by some strange providence
Of grace, above his impudence
He heard the word of Life—not preached,
But whispered low; and that it reached
His ear above the blasphemy
Of his own lips was gift, as free
As gifts could ever be. He heard
Above the mockery the word:
„O Father, please, I beg of you,
Forgive, they know not what they do.”
A curse, half-formed beneath his teeth,
Fell silent to the ground beneath,
Like slaving ropes and prison chains,
Like fears and rage and guilt and pains.
But then the lurid memories
Like waves from demon-laden seas
Broke savagely against the light
Of hope.

The lad had learned to fight
For garbage just to stay alive
Before he reached the age of five.
When he was nine he stabbed a man,
A beggar, just to have his pan,
Then threw up in the alley where
He ran to count the coins. He’d wear
A holy garment like a priest
When he was grown and rob the feast
And desecrate the holy meals.
And set the stage for his appeals
To lonely women in their grief,
Until they learned he was a thief,
And he escaped to Jericho.
He formed a group called Ganavo
And worked the wealthy routes until
The roads to Jericho were still,
And Roman legions searched the woods
And found him drunk among his goods.

The prosecutor’s case was built
With ease. He bragged about his guilt,
And cursed his way from court to cross
Without remorse, as if the loss
Of his own soul to endless woe
Were sealed, and he would have it so.

But now his vicious mouth was still,
And something deep within his will,
Begotten by the quiet prayer
Of this reputed King, was there
As new and strange to wickedness
As orchards in the wilderness.
And from his lips there came a word
That none from him had ever heard.
He turned his head so he could see:
„Jesus, is there a hope for me?”

At first he feared the Lord was dead.
But then he lifted up his head
To see the fruit of his travail,
And softly spoke around the nail,
„Today with me in Paradise
You’ll reign beside the feeble Christ.”
And when he heard the Savior die,
He gave his agonizing cry:
„My God! My God! How can this be!
Why hast thou not forsaken me?”

And do we not this time of year
Repeat these words with godly fear,
And stand in awe of sovereign grace
That put a God in sinners’ place,
And turned his head to hear our plea!
Who is a pardoning God like thee!

The awesome truth of candle three:
A sinner justified and free!

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org