Lash Out?

I’m weary of commenting on my weariness so here’s a Psalm of praise instead!

The Lord is my light and my salvation—
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the refuge and fortress of my life—
Whom shall I dread? Psalm 27:1 (AMP)

Mark 15:24-32 (<<click to read the passage)

I am pretty sure that none of us like to be mocked or ridiculed. Say we put hours of time and effort into a project near and dear to our heart, and when it is set out for people to see, they laugh, they jeer, the make derisive statements. They just plain make fun of our endeavor at our expense!

Some may withdraw in that kind of environment but many lash out. They become defensive and angry. And most of us would say, “And rightly so!”

The almighty Creator of the Universe, the incarnate God, Jesus the Messiah, allowed himself to be put into a position where all the time and effort he had invested in us became a focal point for mockery and ridicule. He had the ultimate power to lash out. A thought passing through His mind could have eradicated them all in a nano-second! (That’s one billionth of a second!) And that would have been that…but…He didn’t…

Why? And to our finite minds, it makes absolutely no sense, He loved us. It is as simple as that. He endured it all because He loved them… even his enemies.

And they weren’t alone in their guilt. We had a significant part in the drama that dark afternoon because our sins were on the cross, too. Jesus died on that cross for us, and the penalty for our sins was paid by his death.*

No anger…only sadness. No retaliation…only forgiveness.

Lord Jesus, “forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors [letting go of both the wrong and the resentment].” (Matthew 6:12b, AMP) In accepting Your forgiveness for our sin, we must forgive others.

For if you forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins], your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others [nurturing your hurt and anger with the result that it interferes with your relationship with God], then your Father will not forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:14-15 (AMP)

May it be so. Amen.

*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation

Sept 3^rd, 2019, Tues, 6:44 pm