32 There were also two criminals led out with Jesus to be killed. 33 They were led to a place called “The Skull.” There the soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross. They also nailed the criminals to crosses beside Jesus—one on the right and the other on the left.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.”[d]
The soldiers threw dice to divide Jesus’ clothes between them. 35 The people stood there watching everything. The Jewish leaders laughed at Jesus. They said, “If he is God’s Chosen One, the Messiah, then let him save himself. He saved others, didn’t he?”
36 Even the soldiers laughed at Jesus and made fun of him. They came and offered him some sour wine. 37 They said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 (At the top of the cross these words were written: “ this is the king of the jews.”)
39 One of the criminals hanging there began to shout insults at Jesus: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Then save yourself, and save us too!”
40 But the other criminal stopped him. He said, “You should fear God. All of us will die soon. 41 You and I are guilty. We deserve to die because we did wrong. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you begin ruling as king!”
43 Then Jesus said to him, “I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
From the book of Luke Chapter 23
There are many things about this text that stands out to me but today I want to focus on the fact that Jesus was hanging between two criminals. He could have been there by Himself. There could have been many around Him. Or just one. But there were two criminals one on each side. Today it was brought to my attention that it is like our lives. We have a choice between two options. Like the one thief we can deny Jesus as the Son of God. Or like the other we can choose to believe in Him and live with Him in paradise.
Choice seems easy but are you daily choosing to live for Christ? We daily make the choice of which option we want to take. Are we going to mock Him or are we going to follow Him.
Mocking Him doesn't mean literally throwing insults, although we do that too. We mock Him through our lack of faith, through our actions that are not like what He has asked us to be like, the intolerance and not loving others. Our mocking comes in many forms. Not just words.
To follow, means to deny ourselves of what we want. It means we say yes to whatever God is saying we need to do. Following means even if we have to die for our belief, we will. Here is a story to end with about someone who gave it all to follow Jesus.
Shakeela Bibi smiled to herself as she took a pan out of the oven. Yesterday she and her husband had attended the small Presbyterian church near their home. The message had been such an encouragement to her, that she had decided to go the Monday afternoon Bible study—and she had made bread for the occasion.
Setting the bread on the counter, Shakeela took a deep breath, savoring the aroma of the hot loaf. If the bread tasted half as good as it smelled, then the others at the Bible study would certainly enjoy it.
As Shakeela wrapped the loaf in a clean cloth, she heard people shouting and the repeated sound of wood hitting another object. She thought little of it—the local boys would often use bamboo rods to play cricket and the games could get quite competitive.
Stepping out the front door Shakeela squinted in the bright sunlight and looked around to see where the boys were playing. The sight in front of her did not look like a cricket game. As her eyes adjusted to the light, Shakeela realized that there was a group of men with gun and clubs were moving towards the church.
Recognizing where the men were headed and what they must be intending to do, Shakeela dropped her bread and started sprinting towards the church—someone had to warn the believers inside!
When the group of men saw the woman running towards the church, they quickened their pace and began hurling insults at her. Hearing the commotion outside, some of the Christians in the church stepped outside—that was when the first gun shot was fired upwards and the cross at the top of the church came crashing down.
In panic, Shakeela realized that she would not make it inside of the church before the mob reached her, and froze. For a brief second, the world around her also seemed to freeze. To her left Shakeela saw looks of pure hatred on the faces of the approaching men, their weapons raised in malice. The faces of the Christians behind her were painted with shock and fear.
A blow to her shoulder brought Shakeela back to the present. She fell to the ground as a second bamboo club slammed into her back. Rolling over, she tried to put up her hands to shield her face, but the next blow hit her arm so hard that she heard a cracking sound and an immeasurable amount of pain came shooting up her arm. Without even her hands to protect her face, she was at the mercy of the man standing over her.
But no mercy was extended.
Over and over the man beat her head and face. With each blow the world became darker. Each time the bamboo hit her, the pain became greater. The taste of blood filled her mouth, stars exploded before her eyes, and screams echoed in her ears.
Then in a moment it all stopped.
An hour later, a man knelt on the ground next to a body. With gentle hands, he wrapped the lifeless form of his wife in a clean cloth, and quietly carried her away, tears streaming down his face.
Please remember Shakeela Bibi, a brave Chistian martyr, and her family in your prayers. https://www.opendoors.org.nz/persecutedchristians/christianstories/shakeelabibi
No comments:
Post a Comment