 Seven Declarations of Love
This emphasis on victory through love is one that calls to the very depths of the human spirit. True love hopes for the best at all times, bears no ill toward any, believes in the impossible for good. A nineteenth century quote from Octavius Winslow expresses it well: “Who delivered up Jesus to die? Not Judas, for money; not Pilate, for fear; not the Jews, for envy—but the Father for love!”
The inscription written and nailed over Jesus’ head read: “This is the king of the Jews.” This was humiliation for the Jews, as well as a warning to any contemplating insurrection against the Roman occupation under Caesar. It was also an indictment against those who crucified Him: They had put their hand against the King of heaven. It was written in the three languages Hebrew used by the Jews, and Greek and Latin used by the Gentiles. In a few words the entire world, Jew and Gentile, became guilty of crucifying the innocent Man.
As Jesus was lifted up in nakedness for all the world to gaze upon, He covered once and for all man’s shame revealed in the Garden of Eden. He then spoke seven “words” from the cross, open expressions of His love and absolution.
“Father, Forgive Them”
“Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’” (Luke 23:34). This word of love was unexpected and undeserved.
It revealed the purpose for which He would hang there for the next six hours until His death—that in spite of our ignorance, we might be forgiven the sins committed against the Father who created us. It also showed that the relationship of Father and Son was fully intact in spite of His suffering.
Included in His intercession were prayers for Roman soldiers who were following orders, for Jewish authorities who viewed Him as a threat and for Pontius Pilate who had the authority to release or kill Him. He forgave those who inflicted violence upon Him, and those who jeopardized their own eternal destiny by their ignorance. In His words we see the arms of God open wide to receive the righteous and the unrighteous. All—Jew and Gentile, religious and secular—were taken into the embrace of the cross to be made one new man in Him.
While He prayed for the sinners of the world, the religious rulers mocked Him. The soldiers, also mocking, took His garments, His only possessions, and divided them among themselves. The crowd looked on in silence.
“Today You Shall Be with Me in Paradise”
“And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you today you shall be with Me in paradise’” (Luke 23:43). This word of love gives the promise of eternal life.
One criminal beside Him, though thoroughly deserving His judgment, asked to be delivered. He said, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” A dying man saw the crucified Christ beside him and chose to walk through the door of salvation. When he had no other options, he looked beyond the cross to the crown and coming glory. He embraced the mercy of God. To him Jesus said, “It won’t be some day far away: Before the sun sets today I will have you with Me where I am in bliss.” This word gives assurance to everyone who stands on the threshold between this life and the next. He is there—both Doorkeeper and King, offering the only release from all that binds and all that burdens.
“Woman, Behold Your Son!”
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.
John 19:25–27
This word of love brings comfort and healing. Addressing first the one who sang Him to sleep and kissed His bruised knees when He was learning to walk, and then the one who loved Him most as He sat at the table for the last time with His friends, Jesus was the supreme example of a “heart at leisure from itself, to soothe and sympathize.”
Though suffering severe physical pain and enduring far more awful agony of soul, Jesus looked out through blood-blurred vision and saw her standing there in horror at the sight of Him. Now the words of Simeon on the day of His dedication came to pass. As the sword pierced Mary’s heart, her Son reached down from the cross to comfort and secure her in the arms of a faithful guardian. In midst of personal suffering He took care of the one who had taken care of him. We see in His example one who never turned inward to His own grief, but remained careful even in death that provision be made for others. And from that hour the apostle John took her into his home. The true test of our love for Christ is found in the experience of those around us when we are in pain ourselves.
These first three words were spoken during the bright morning hours before noon. Heat and thirst began to compound His suffering as not only the weight of His own body but the weight of the world hung on the nails that pierced His hands and feet. Then He entered into long silent agony. The first Adam was put into a deep sleep in order to bring a helpmate from his side. But this last Adam (see 1 Corinthians 15:45) would be anesthetized only when His agony was ended in the sleep of death. And out of the bloody side of the spotless Lamb would come a Church—a Bride adorned for her Husband.
“Why Have You Forsaken Me?”
“Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, . . . ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’” (Matthew 27:46; see also Psalm 22:1). This word of love answers the cry of every aching heart.
As the mysterious, supernatural three hours of darkness were lifting, Jesus spoke words that have puzzled theologians for centuries. It is likely that they express either the feeling of being abandoned by God, even when we know He has not left us alone, or else they give evidence of the doctrine of substitution wherein Christ identifies Himself with sinful man and endures separation from God that is due sinners. This has been called Jesus’ “cry of dereliction.” It shows that we cannot always dissect the cosmic events of the Cross.
If this word reveals Jesus’ frailty of flesh and lost awareness of the Father because of His agony, it is the voice of a man feeling abandoned. It is your voice when you last cried out “Where are You, God?” in your trials.
If, on the other hand, it is the epiphany of separation from God by sin, it is the cry that satisfies every injustice ever done to an innocent man. Suspended in the heart that is fully God and fully man, it is the deepest cry of anguish of all time.
While theologians debate the depths of this word, Jesus’ cry posits itself as an answer to every “why” we might ask of God. In discussing this with one of our friends recently he reminded us that the deepest things of God are simple enough for a child to grasp. Then he said, “I thought of Jesus’ cry and immediately heard the many times I have said the same thing to God in the midst of a trial.”
Once when we were in the depth of our trial over Aaron’s life, Mahesh was answering the Lord’s direction to be in Africa and I, Bonnie, was keeping vigil through long nights. On a certain rainy, gray afternoon as Aaron was in yet another operation to repair his gut, which had been gangrenous at his birth, I stood under the hospital portico and asked, “Why?” I will never forget the answer that came, soft and certain: I am here with you, and that is more than enough. The answer to every “why” that comes to our lips in times of trial, suffering or challenge is the Presence of the One who loved us and gave Himself for us.
When our human suffering leads us to question why, we can remember that Emmanuel has torn down the wall of separation. He will not leave us orphaned and alone. Remember this word the next time you are tempted to ask God, “Where are You?” or “Why is this happening to me?” or “Why didn’t You stop that?” Look to the cross for your answer.
“I Thirst”
“After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst’” (John 19:28). This word of love speaks of Jesus’ own suffering.
Jesus uttered this word still in grasp of His faculties. So faithful to the Father’s plan was He that He remained “the Word on display” and fulfilled the prophecy spoken by the Spirit through David concerning the last moments of the Messiah’s life: “For my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Psalm 69:21).
The One who had turned water to wine could have commanded angels to minister to Him or clouds to pour down their refreshment upon Him. Instead He filled the cup of salvation with His own blood and said, “Let all who are thirsty come and drink.” In days past He had asked a Samaritan woman of questionable character for a drink of water in order to give her the water of life. Of this cup He said to His disciples, “Should I not drink it?” He drained it to the dregs for the Father’s sake.
It was never about His needs. Reaching the point of no return in the battle and understanding that at last all things had been accomplished, He let His need be known. But even then He allowed His need to be heard only as it did not contradict or hinder the Father’s plan.
Particularly in the midst of the storm we must maintain the certainty that God is accomplishing His purpose through our obedient sacrifice. Remember the proverb about prophetic vision: “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint” (Proverbs 29:18). The vision of sons is to complete our mission no matter how many turn back or who turns against us.
“It Is Finished!”
“So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’” (John 19:30). This word of love expresses mission accomplished!
He wet His lips with a drink too late to ease His sufferings so that His voice would ring loud and clear for all creation to hear! The sixth word is the cry of the Victor: Mission accomplished!
That word is a single comprehensive Greek verb tetelestai. It is not the cry of a vanquished victim, but the shout of a victor who has finished the work he came to do. With Scripture fulfilled and having completed all the works He saw the Father doing, only then did He allow Himself—like the marathon runner who breaks the tape—to collapse.
“Father, into Your Hands”
“And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, ‘Father, “into Your hands I commit My Spirit.”’ Having said this He breathed His last” (Luke 23:46; see also Psalm 31:5). This word of love expresses the joy of the righteous at the end of the day.
The traditional evening prayer of a pious Jew is made more poignant as we see a beloved Son using His last breath to express His dependence and trust in His Father. His skin flayed, His form marred beyond recognition, there still resides within Him steadfast devotion to the One He came to serve. And so He offered Himself up by the Spirit, their bond of love unbroken till the last.
Too often we see people turn from God and break communion with Him when they are betrayed by those around them. God is the one true Friend and Companion we can always turn to. The Storm Warrior, through the entire ordeal, looked first and last to God for solace and security.
When all is said and done, the righteous one entrusts himself and all that concerns him into the loving grace of his heavenly Father.
In these seven primal utterances made as Jesus poured out His own soul unto death, every part of the human experience is brought to perfect peace through justice. Every argument is silenced. Every question answered. Every accusation muzzled. Every debate settled. Every case resolved.
The Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world. As He offered Himself up by the Spirit to the violent destruction of His body, He brought perfect fulfillment to God’s work at the dawn of Creation. There the Spirit of God hovered like a mother eagle stirring up a nest in which to lay her young. The vacuous swirling chaos is called in Hebrew tohu wa bohu, “the waste of destruction through judgment.” Into that emptiness light erupted as the Word of God was made manifest. At that moment God entered His labor to bring about a new creation. The end of His work was a family of persons made in His own image. The cross of Christ signifies for that family that every victory has been won, every foe vanquished.
Then after three days, in a blinding surge of light, up He came out of hell and death—forever loosed and loosing all who call upon Him!
In all of these words of Jesus we see God’s perspective on saint and sinner. We see His obsession with persons and relationship. We see redemptive purpose assigned to trial and even death. We see utter love and utter victory. We see Jesus, the ultimate Storm Warrior.
Excerpted from Storm Warrior: A Believer’s Strategy for Victory by Mahesh and Bonnie Chavda.
All rights reserved. No part of this message can be used without permission. © 2010
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Mahesh and Bonnie Chavda, 4/2/2010 |
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