After years spent with Jesus, the disciples were devastated to hear him say, “I am going away” (16:5). They had been living with him for years. They had come to place their faith in him as their Messiah. He was their hope. Now he was leaving? This couldn’t be!
We will all lose people who are close to us. This is one of the most painful experiences of life. However, Jesus did not want the disciples to dwell on his impending death. He revealed that something very significant would happen once he left them: He would send an Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to guide his disciples.
Although it would be great to walk and talk with Jesus, we discover as believers that God in his wisdom has given us a greater gift. As children of God who have been given the Holy Spirit, we have God himself dwelling within each of us. Jesus was restricted by time and space as an embodied person, but the Holy Spirit isn’t—he is with us always. He helps us in our weakness (Rom 8:26) and serves as a guarantee of our inheritance as God’s children (Eph 1:14). Think about it. No matter what our circumstances—whether disabled, alone, suffering, or confused and afraid—God is with us in the person of the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not leave the world because he wanted to return to heaven. He departed so that he could send the Holy Spirit to be with us always.
Take a moment to thank the Lord for sending his Holy Spirit to empower you to overcome any obstacle and to accomplish the work of God. Allow the Spirit to guide you in your relationship with God and others. This is a lavish gift from God to his people; resolve to be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit in your life.
“Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them. And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.’ The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it.
Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, ‘Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’
Pilate replied, ‘No, what I have written, I have written.’
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said, ‘Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.’ This fulfilled the Scripture that says, ‘They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.’ So that is what they did.
Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, ‘Dear woman, here is your son.’ And he said to this disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from then on this disciple took her into his home.
Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
It was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath, because it was Passover week). So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. (This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also may continue to believe) These things happened in fulfillment of the Scriptures that say, ‘Not one of his bones will be broken,’ and ‘They will look on the one they pierced.’ John 19:17-37, NLT
This place called Golgotha, “the Skull,” was probably a hill outside Jerusalem along a main road. Tradition says that the rock formation of the hill looked like a skull. Many were executed in this place so the Romans could use them as an example to the people who traveled along the road. Crucifixion was a Roman form of execution. Those who were condemned would be forced to carry their crosses along a main road to their execution site as a warning to the people. Types of crosses and methods of crucifixion varied. Jesus was nailed to his cross; some people were tied to theirs with ropes. Either way, death came by suffocation because the weight of the victim’s body made breathing difficult as they lost strength. Crucifixion brought a hideously slow and painful death.
“And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.'” This sign was meant to be ironic. A king stripped nearly naked and executed in public view had obviously lost his kingdom forever. But Jesus, who turns the world’s wisdom upside down, was just coming into his Kingdom. His death and resurrection would strike the death blow to Satan’s rule and would establish Jesus’ eternal authority over the earth. Few people reading the sign that bleak afternoon understood its real meaning, but the sign was absolutely true. All was not lost. Jesus was King of the Jews—as well as the Gentiles and the whole universe. The sign was written in three languages: Hebrew for the native Jews, Latin for the Roman occupation forces, and Greek for foreigners and Jews visiting from other lands. Ironically, this sign, by virtue of being written in multiple languages, declared that Jesus was Lord of all.
Roman soldiers in charge of crucifixions customarily took for themselves the clothes of the condemned men. They divided Jesus’ clothing and threw dice to determine who would get his seamless garment, his most valuable piece of clothing. This fulfilled the prophecy in Psalm 22:18.
Even while dying on the cross, Jesus was concerned about his family. He instructed John to care for Mary, Jesus’ mother. Our families are precious gifts from God, and we should value and care for them under all circumstances. Neither Christian work nor key responsibilities in any job or position excuse us from caring for our families. What can you do today to show your love to your family? Jesus asked his close friend John, the writer of this Gospel, to care for Jesus’ mother, Mary, whose husband, Joseph, must have been dead by this time. Why didn’t Jesus assign this task to his brothers? As the oldest son, Jesus entrusted his mother to a person who stayed with him at the cross—and that was John. Tradition says that Mary moved to Ephesus later with John and that both are buried there.
This sour wine was a cheap form of wine normally mixed with water that the Roman soldiers drank to quench their thirst while waiting for those crucified to die. Until this time, a complicated system of sacrifices had atoned for sins. Sin separates people from God, and only through the sacrifice and shed blood of an animal, a substitute, could people be forgiven and become clean before God. But people sin continually, so frequent sacrifices were required. Jesus, however, became the final and ultimate sacrifice for sin. The word translated “finished” also means “paid in full.” Jesus came to finish God’s work of salvation (4:34; 17:4), to pay the full penalty for our sins. With his death, the complex sacrificial system ended because Jesus took all sin upon himself. Now we can freely approach God because of what Jesus did for us. Those who believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection can live eternally with God and escape the penalty that comes from sin.
These Romans were experienced soldiers. They knew from many previous crucifixions how to tell whether a man was dead or alive. There was no question that Jesus was dead when they checked him, so they decided not to break his legs as they had done to the other victims. Piercing his side and seeing the sudden flow of blood and water (indicating that the sac surrounding the heart and the heart itself had been pierced) was further proof of his death. Some people say that Jesus didn’t really die, that he only passed out—and that’s how he appeared to come back to life. But we have the witness of an impartial party, the Roman soldiers, that Jesus died on that cross (see Mark 15:44-45).
It was against God’s law to leave the body of a dead person exposed overnight (Deuteronomy 21:23), and it was also against the law to work after sundown on Friday, when the Sabbath began. This is why the religious leaders urgently wanted to get Jesus’ body off the cross and buried by sundown.
The Roman soldiers would break victims’ legs to hasten the death process. When a person hung on a cross, death would come by suffocation, but the victim could push against the cross with their legs to hold up their body and keep breathing. With broken legs, they would suffocate almost immediately. The graphic details of Jesus’ death are especially important in John’s record because he was an eyewitness. They certified his accounts as authentic.
Jesus died as the lambs for the Passover meal were being slain. Not a bone was to be broken in these sacrificial lambs (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12). Jesus, the Lamb of God, was the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world (1 Corinthians 5:7).
“But Jesus said, ‘Peter, let me tell you something. Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.’” Luke 22:34, NLT
It is easy to lose faith when we are troubled. As we are buffeted about by the storms of life, we may feel like the faith we once had has slipped away. We may begin to feel anger toward God.
Simon Peter had his ups and downs with God. On the night Simon Peter would deny him, Jesus said to him, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32).
Jesus pointed out that Simon had an assailant in the spiritual realm. Jesus knew Peter would be attacked and “sifted,” but he also was confident that afterward Peter would return to God. Wheat is sifted by throwing it repeatedly into the air. The kernels are separated from the chaff as the lighter chaff is carried away by the wind. All that remain are the good, solid wheat kernels.
We should not be surprised that we face times when our faith seems to disappear. We may feel as if we are being ripped open and our faith is being blown away like chaff. But we needn’t worry. We will find the core of our faith again. And when we do, we will be all the better for it—and better able to encourage others, too.
Holy Week Reading Plan Day 2: The Cross and Passover
“One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. (This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also may continue to believe) These things happened in fulfillment of the Scriptures that say, ‘Not one of his bones will be broken,’ and ‘They will look on the one they pierced.’” John 19:34-37, NLT
At the beginning of John’s Gospel, John the Baptist introduced Jesus by calling him the “Lamb of God” (1:29, 36). This odd phrase might refer to the sacrificial lamb that was killed daily in the Temple (Exod 29:38‑46) or to the sacrificial lamb of Isa 53:7 (cp. Acts 8:32‑35; Rev 5:5‑14). Both of these sacrifices spoke of rescue and forgiveness from sin.
However, this was not all that John had in mind. John presented Jesus as the Passover lamb whose death marks the central event of the Passover season (see Exod 12:46; Luke 22:7; 1 Cor 5:7). In the first century, Jews made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem each spring to celebrate the Passover and to reread the story of the Exodus (see Exod 12–15). When Israel was being rescued from Egypt, the blood of a lamb was sprinkled on the doorposts of each Jewish home in Egypt and saved those inside from death (Exod 12). Jews who came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover needed to supply a perfect young lamb for sacrifice. The animal could not be diseased or have broken bones.
Jesus used his final Passover meal to show that his sacrificial death would give new meaning to the festival (Mark 14:17‑31). In John, the cross became an altar where Christ, the Passover lamb, was slain. Jesus’ legs were not broken (John 19:33), fulfilling a Passover rule (19:36; Exod 12:46). Blood ran freely from his wound (John 19:34), showing that his life was being exchanged for others. Just as a lamb died to save the lives of Jewish families at the Passover in Egypt, so, too, the death of the Son of God on the cross serves to bring salvation to the world.
“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.” Psalm 91:1-4, NLT
I don’t know if you have ever tried to trap birds, but it’s quite an experience. When I was a very little boy, my family lived in the city of Fort Worth for a few years. In our backyard there were many trees. One summer, my sister and brother and I learned the joy of trapping wild birds, caging them, and raising them. Ours was a makeshift method. We had a little apple crate that we put on a stick. We tied a string to the stick and put leaves and dirt on the string so the birds couldn’t see it. Then we hid over in the screened-in back porch with the string in someone’s hand. We had laid out bread that led right up to the trap. Then underneath the trap, we piled up about half a loaf of bread. When a little bird would hop along, we would snicker behind the porch screen. About the time that a bird would get near, one of us would sneeze, and the bird would take off. So we’d wait again. Eventually we learned that what appealed to a mockingbird didn’t appeal to a blue jay, and what appealed to a blue jay didn’t affect a cardinal. We learned through trial and error that you’ve got to know what kind of trap to set or you won’t catch the bird.
Satan knows just how to bait your trap. He’s seen your kind for centuries. I know that you are unique, but you have basic weaknesses, just like others who have lived before you and others before them. Satan’s been baiting traps since human beings came on the earth, and he is delighted to snatch you away in a snare.
We all have weak moments. We all have days in which we are weaker than at other times. You probably know what it’s like to be under attack. It is easy to be vulnerable both when we’re under attack and when we’re resting on the crest of enjoyment.
God gives a great promise to those who “live in the shelter of the Most High” (Ps. 91:1), those who trust in Him and rely on Him day by day: He is able to rescue and protect you from Satan’s traps. Like a great eagle who covers its young with its wings, God covers us, and under the wings of His protection we find comfort and refuge in the middle of the battle. God is a faithful protector. He protects us in the midst of attack, puts His shield around us, and guards us.
Because God is our protector, we can have strong inner confidence. We who trust in Him are redeemed children of God who have been declared righteous in His eyes and are protected, cared for, and loved. Now we can have confidence in dealing with the enemy. I’m not saying that we can play games with him. He is extremely strong and brilliant beyond our abilities but not beyond the ability of Christ. There is wonderful freedom and release from fear in realizing our position in Christ is secure. There is power in the blood of the Lord Jesus and in the application of the Word of God.
“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. 3For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. 4He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. 5Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. 6Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. 7Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. 8Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished. 9If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, 10no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. 11For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. 12They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. 13You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet! 14The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. 15When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. 16I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”
The Lord has not chosen to remove us from evil. He has not isolated us from the presence of wrong. Instead, God walks with us in the midst of an evil world. When we walk in close relationship with Him, we enjoy a secret hiding place, “the shelter of the Most High.” There we can “find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”
The result of living in the shadow of the Almighty is that you lose your fear. Fear keeps us constantly uneasy, looking over our shoulders, and suspicious. When we are living in the shelter of the Most High and finding rest in the shadow of the Almighty, we do not need to be afraid, even when evil is all around us. Fearless courage comes from walking in close fellowship with God.
“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. 3For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. 4He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. 5Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. 6Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. 7Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. 8Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished. 9If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, 10no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. 11For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. 12They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. 13You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet! 14The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. 15When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. 16I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”
This psalm wonderfully reassures anyone facing the sickness or death of a loved one, time in prison, or some other great loss. When you have the opportunity, read this psalm aloud as a prayer for yourself or someone who needs help. It will bring great comfort, encouragement, and peace.
God shelters and protects us when we are afraid, sick, or in deep trouble. The writer’s faith in the almighty God as his protector would carry him through all of life’s dangers and fears. This is a picture of how we should truth God – trading all our fears for faith in him, no matter how intense they may be. To do this, we must “live” and “rest” with him (91:1). By entrusting ourselves to his protection and pledging our daily devotion to him, we acknowledge that he will keep us safe.
“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. 3For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. 4He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. 5Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. 6Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. 7Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. 8Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished. 9If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, 10no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. 11For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. 12They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. 13You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet! 14The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. 15When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. 16I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”
When we see God as our refuge, our protector, we will be eager to seek him and surrender our lives to his care. How comforting to know that when we cry out, God protects us as a mother bird protects her young. Our powerful defender will never fail us if we turn to him for shelter and comfort.
God watches over us, his chosen ones. Sometimes his protection will come in the form of angels who car for us and keep us safe. Other times God may use more natural means. But his help will come. As we cry out to him, he will be with s in our troubles and rescue us.
1 Kings 18 Activity from the Hands-On Bible
Sometimes we forget how powerful God really is. Here is a great activity from the Hands-On Biblethat goes along with 1 Kings 18. Read it together and then try this activity.
“Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’ Jesus responded, ‘Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!’ Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. The disciples were amazed. ‘Who is this man?’ they asked. ‘Even the winds and waves obey him!’ Matthew 8:23-17, NLT
Sudden squalls are common on the Sea of Galilee, which is among mountains. The episode at sea extends the theme of what true discipleship involves. The storm challenged the disciples to entrust their very lives to Jesus for protection and deliverance. Jesus even has authority over dangerous weather and the sea (see Job 38:8-11; Pss 29; 65:1-13; 89:9; 107:23-32).
Who is this man? Salvation requires a proper answer to this question and active faith in him. Jesus’ disciples had still failed to understand.
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