by Prince Mathew
Preface for Meditation:
"They will look on the one they have pierced." Not just those gathered around
this wooden cross erected on the darkening hill of Golgotha--haven't we all
looked upon him? For close to two thousand years humanity has looked back on
this seminal, defining moment. It has looked back on the one they have pierced.
Yes, all of us have pierced him, for all of us have sinned. As Paul so aptly
will remind us in Romans 3:23, it is sin that has placed him there, nailed him
to that barren tree, and we are all sinners, each and every one of us.
Crucifixion of Jesus Christ is the nexus point, the pivotal moment in all of
human history. Everything that came before led up to this moment and everything
that has happened afterward is the outworking of it, looking back to it. As
Peter told the assembled elders in Jerusalem, which is recorded in Acts 4:11-12,
"He is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. Salvation
is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by
which we must be saved."
From the first promise to Eve as mankind was banished from the Garden of Eden
that her seed would crush the head of Satan, to the Jews standing that very day
throughout the Roman Empire, all of whom awaited the coming Messiah represented
in the fifth Passover cup, the Cup of Elijah; everything in the life of the
people of God since their creation has pointed to this moment. From David
blessing Jerusalem as the city of God, to Nehemiah saving it for the future
Messiah to walk in, to the revolt of the Macabees preserving the temple and
priesthood from the Abomination of Desolation, so that the High Priest might
this very morning pronounce that "it is better for you that one man die for the
people than that the whole nation perish"; everything has pointed to this one
decisive moment.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the physical wilderness of Sinai to heal the
stricken nation of Israel, so now Jesus is lifted up in the spiritual wilderness
of Golgotha to heal the whole stricken human race. Salvation is found in no one
else, no one who came before, and no one who will come after. There is no other
name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. There is only one
way, one truth, and one life. It is in the singular name of the one that the
Romans have just pierced. It is in the name of the one whose hands and feet are
at this moment nailed to the rough wood standing before us. It is in Jesus the
Christ whom we look upon for our hope of redemption.
Bible Reading Passages:
Evening
Morning
Before Holy Qurbana
Holy Qurbana
Bible Verse of the Day:
"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
Sixth Sunday of The Holy Lent
- St. Mark 10:52
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