Jerusalem

My first trip to Israel, 1965, when approaching the walls of Jerusalem, the Damascus gate, I told my driver to stop the car, that I wanted to walk in. It would be an unusual western Christian who would not have a feeling of absolute joy to enter the most famous city on earth. And, for a committed, born again Christian who is a Bible student and has studied this city and the history of this land, it was a splendor beyond description. Varied archeology and historical details have evolved about the city and its early history. This we know: David seized the city from the Jebusites and it has been the center of religious activity since. Just to walk down the streets of the old city: the smells, the sounds, the reverence of the Jews around the wailing wall is a memorial to the millions of pilgrims who have visited and studied this metropolis which has a population of nearly 1 million.

A very wonderful lady in my life described to me at length a trip by her parents to the “Holy Land” long before planes. They were people of wealth and could afford to travel by ship to the Holy Land, live there for several weeks and travel to the Biblical places of interest while they were in a historically and archaeologically primitive condition unlike today, where tourists arrive by the thousands. I have been to Jerusalem three times and the thrill is still there.

This speaks of a time when there was no historical enjoyment.  This speaks of a time when our blessed Lord was tried by a court of mockery and judicial ineptness, sent to death by the polls of pagans and backsliders, who, then as now, cast their polling vote for a thief. Even today, all the major media outlets would choose Barabbas over Christ. Even today, the slick magazines and the few newspapers left in the country would choose Barabbas over Christ.  Even today, the thieves in political office elected mostly by liberal unbelievers, agnostics, academics, would choose Barabbas over Christ.

Jesus Christ, son of God who created the universe, who put on a tent of human flesh and dwelled among us in absolute perfection, was killed by religious people in consort with pagans. After a deceitful trial, which even the roman conquerors determined a fraud, but popularity as then as now, caused politicians, primitive Roman or modern American, to seek a popular compromise rather then justice. Never in the history of humanity has there been such fraud and fright.

The tearing apart of the most innocent of life inside a mothers womb for the birth control of the heathen, the chopping up of small children by the machete in African tribal disasters for the benefit of heathen power brokers, the suicide bombing, blowing apart the human bodies of women and children just trying to live as an objective for religious control of maniac leaders, come close to what our blessed Lord endured. The difference is, He was the son of God, Savior of the world through whose shed blood, all the sins of the world would be forgiven, a gift of grace that through faith redeemed people would have eternal life. 

700 years before his birth, the prophet Isaiah had described his atonement: Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53)

As He dragged His cross, on which He was to be crucified, through the streets of Jerusalem, ( the streets packed with people for this Jewish religious holiday time) He passed by those who had seen Him, from a small boys lunch, feed thousands. He could probably call them by name because as the scripture tells us, our names are written in the very hand of God. As He dragged His cross by women, who were probably shedding tears of compassion, He reminded them that if such is done to a green branch, what will happen to the dry.  As He dragged His cross through the streets of Jerusalem, His feet were probably insecure and He certainly thought of the disabled of time and eternity, the blind, the cripple, who daily walk with uncertain steps. Once when He fell, His cross was thrust on an African slave named Simon from the African country of Cyrene who just happened to be a bystander, who had no idea his name would go down in God’s immortal history demonstrating the blessedness of cross bearing. “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” ( Hebrews 12:2)

On the hill just outside Jerusalem, shaped like a skull, our blessed Lord was stripped naked and nailed to the cross. The artist has been so modest in painting a rag around his genital area, but he was hung on this cross before the world naked, beaten, and blooded for our benefit.

Once I helped my father tear down a very old building, probably built before the civil war. The large timbers were joined by the boring and placing of wood spikes, but the metal spikes in the building were not like today’s nails, smooth. Can you even imagine the spikes that were driven through the wrists and ankles of our Lord?

So much of the actions which occurred at Calvary’s tree, can be compared to today’s heresy. They gambled for his one possession, his robe. Today’s lovers of gambling (lottery, poker machines, betting on everything from horses to dogs) would have participated in this Las Vegas type entertainment.  The lovers of strong drink ( Cocktails, wormwood, etc) would have certainly offered Him a drink to ease His pain. And, certainly was the case with the pagans and semi-religious types mocking him on the cross, they would have said, “if you are God, come down.”

I had a very prominent, educated man say to me recently, “If the God you worship is so powerful why do you ask for money and contributions?” In other words, he had no idea of the gift God was giving the world in the sacrifice of His only Son, just as the non-believer had no idea of the joy and worship the Christian received, giving himself and his wealth for God's benefit. And, like the pseudo-religious and pagan people who think the law is the answer to everything, they wanted to make sure the body was taken down before legal observance of the Passover, the legal religious attitude of not touching a dead body, ( As has been so beautifully shown in the Pieta, a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture by Michelangelo, depicts the body of Jesus on the lap of his mother Mary after the Crucifixion.) As is the case with today’s “church people” who are just playing with God. One is extremely fortunate to have the love of a mother until the end.

About 30 years ago, I was participating of a funeral of one of this states outstanding citizens. One man said to me, “Is your mother still living?” I said “Yes, thank God, but in poor health.” He said, “When you lose your mother you will lose the best friend you ever had.” And, most of His disciples had fled in horror and fear. But the beloved John was still at the foot of the cross. It is a fortunate man, indeed, who still has one friend until the end. Such a good friend, that he could ask him to take care of his mother.

There are many significant, very real, never to be forgotten, blessed memories of this crucifixion, the greatest gift in the history of the world. The event to which all history of the world converges and the event from which all history of the world diverges. One of the more important, for us to remember, in the tomb from which He was resurrected, the Jewish custom of having a napkin over the head, had been observed. The grave clothing in which He was wrapped for burial in this borrowed tomb, were crumpled on the floor, but the napkin, which was over His head was carefully folded by our Lord before his exit. It was the Jewish custom, in home, that when someone arose from the table, if they intend to return to the table they folded their napkin, otherwise if they had finished and did not intend to return they crumpled their napkin. Note: for the blessing of every believer who awaits his return, He folded his napkin, He plans to return. “Even so come quickly Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22)