John 19:31-37
Will you be part of the story, it is the day of Preparation
and Jerusalem is bulging with masses of people who have come for “Pesach” and
you picked this week totally by ignorance of Jewish customs to bring the family
for a vacation to Jerusalem. You and the
family are staying at Hotel King David, and being from Rome as you came near
the city there were three crosses and the one in the center had a sign above it
in Hebrew that said; “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Being Roman, crucifixion is not a new thing
to your wife, but the children are young and so you use it as a teaching
moment. Not exactly what the wife had in
mind for a vacation, but more surprises are in store for the family.
It takes over two hours to go from where the crosses are to
your hotel; it is bumper-to-bumper traffic and when you ask a local why so many
people they tell you it is Pesach, or in your language it is called
Passover. It is the most observed Jewish
holiday and you are quick to remind both the children and your wife of this
fact, that when in Rome you do what the Romans do, but you are not sure why you
said that, in fact you are not sure where you heard that saying.
It has been a long trip and at the hotel you have noticed
that the ones who greeted you are not Jews and a notice comes in your papers of
the non-Jewish place in town where your family can get a meal. All of them are in areas away from the main
part of town, and all are owned and run by non-Jews, not what you were
expecting. So being a teacher you ask
the person at the hotel where you can read about the meaning of this holiday,
and are told that a scroll in the hotel lobby has the information you need. One of the doorman shows you the scroll and
you begin to read to the family from a part that is titled Exodus 12:11-13, “In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened,
your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in
haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will
pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will
execute judgments: I am the Lord.
The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses
where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague
will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.”
When I had finished reading, a
man ask if I understood what I had read and I said that I understand the Hebrew
language but have no knowledge of what this is all about. He ask if I know the name Moses and I
explained that I had read that he was credited with bringing the children of
Israel out of the bondage of Egypt, but it had been reported in my papers as a
tall tale. The man said that if we wish
he would explain to us how Passover and the man hanging with the sign over his
head “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” would bring my family
into the story of the Passover. How
could that be? So with that we were all
wondering how we could be part of any story about being freed from slavery, are
we not Romans, are we not the rulers of the world?
But we listen and the man began with how the Jewish God told
Moses that each family was to take a lamb on the tenth day of that month and the
lamb is to be without blemish, a male a year old and on the fourteen day of
this month they shall kill the lamb at twilight. They are to take some of the blood and put it
on the two doorposts and the lintel of the house in which they eat it. That very night they shall roast it over the
fire and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. And they were told to eat it all and if not
to burn it in the morning. The man said,
“does that help you understand what you read earlier?” Yes and did those die, the first born of
those without the blood on their doorpost?
Yes, was his quick answer, and if you would have kept reading you would
understand that the Lord has required us to keep this for all times as a
memorial day, it is our feast to our God of His favor to us as a people, it is
a holy assembly, and no work shall be done on these days.
The man did not seem to take a breath and that is why the
high priest and our leader have ask Pilate to break the legs of the three
hanging on the cross. That is where I
came from, I am a follower of Jesus, and this is what happen when they had
broke the legs of the two on each side of Jesus, they noticed that Jesus was
already dead, so one of the guards pierced his side with a spear, and at once
there came out blood and water. The man
said it has been prophesied in our Bible that God would send a Lamb to take
away the sins of the world, and the Lamb of God would be pure without sin, and
that is why we were told to pick a lamb without blemish. Look down to where it says in Exodus 12:46, “It shall be eaten
in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you
shall not break any of its bones.” Then he turned to what was called the Psalms
and read “He keeps all his bones; not one of them is
broken.”
It seemed as if he was finished when I ask, but how does
that effect my family; we are not Jews, so how does it bring my family into the
story of the Passover? Once more he went
to that scroll and turned to what he called the great prophet Isaiah and began
to read, “He was
despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and
as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him
stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our
iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his
wounds we are healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has
laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah
53:3-6 ESV) Then he said to us and to
others who were listening, one of our Prophets said this about Him, “The next day he
saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who
ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for
this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”
And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and
it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize
with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is
he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness
that this is the Son of God.” (John
1:29-34 ESV)
But this is what I heard Jesus said about you, and your
family, and everyone who has lived or will live, “For God
so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him
should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the
world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through
him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is
condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of
God.” (John 3:16-18
ESV) Then as if finished the man began
to walk away, but only a few steps, then as he turned he ask this question of
us; will you believe in Jesus, the Son of God?
And each of us was left to ponder on his question.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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