Title: The Purpose of Jesus' Death
Contents
▒▒▒ Mark 15:1~15
In fact, one of the reasons I like the Old Testament is because I understand the lessons of life through the characters of the Old Testament. For example, Solomon was a wise king when he was in God's grace, but after leaving God, he borrowed money by taking his own country as a mortgage in a country called Sidon, and then commits the folly of taking the land from Sidon because of the debt. King Ahab sees Naboth's vineyard and becomes greedy. He calls Naboth and tells him that if you give him the vineyard, he will give him a lot of land. But Naboth responds, saying, “God forbade the king to sell the land that has been passed down as an inheritance to the king.” Ahab could not do what the Bible forbids, nor did he want to give up the land. Ahab's wife Jezebel arranges a counselor to kill Naboth and gives Ahab possession of Naboth's vineyard.
The text is the scene of Jesus being tried before Pilate. In verse 3, the priests accuse Jesus of “speaking blasphemous things against God and doing ungodly things.” But Jesus doesn't say anything. Consistent with silence all the time. When Jesus responded with silence, it means, “No matter what you say, I will carry even your sins of false testimony.” Strictly speaking, Jesus did not die by them, but chose death for himself. One reason was to save us. Therefore, 1 John 4:9 says, “This was how the love of God was manifested, that God made us alive through the sending of his only begotten Son.”
‘Achan’ recorded in Joshua 7 stole gold and silver from God’s promised land. I also stole Sinalsan's coat. So he is stoned to death. Death in faith goes beyond mere physical death. It means spiritual death. Spiritually dead people are not touched even when they hear praises, and they are not touched even when they hear the word of God. becomes insensitive. When we are numb and untouched, what we most want is to feel again and live again. John 5:24 speaks of the way to life. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life and will not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
The reason why the Lord died for us is well understood in 2 Corinthians 5:15, when the Apostle Paul said, “We no longer live for ourselves, but for Christ, who died for us.” can. The reason Adam and Eve ate the fruit in the middle of the garden was because of selfishness. It was the selfishness of wanting to be like God. It was none other than selfishness that Achan stole the gold and silver and the cloak of Shinar. Selfishness is the root of greed. The fact that Jesus died on the cross means that from now on, you must move forward from selfishness only for you to a life for someone like Jesus who died for you. If John Newton had continued his life of buying and selling slaves, he probably wouldn't have written hymn 405. What is important is the end, not the beginning, of our lives. People of faith, those who lived for Christ, met the end of glory. But those who lived to satisfy their own selfishness met a disastrous end.
Dear brothers and sisters, I hope you will remember the meaning of the cross of Jesus again. Jesus died for me, and he also died to save me. Realizing that the Lord has changed the purpose of my life from being selfish to living a holy life for Him, I sincerely pray that your life will change during this Lent.
2009-04-04 13:54:51