It is now Day 2:
Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus....With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus.... Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds....At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb.... Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there." (John 19)
I was thinking yesterday why the, "darkness over all the land," was only, "from the sixth hour...until the ninth hour." Why was it not dark over the land for the entire 6 hours Jesus was on the Cross? Could it be that as the hours passed, the intensity of the Cosmic "Struggle" greatly increased? The Bible says that at some point in Christ's three day ordeal, "He went and preached to the spirits in prison." Could it be that as the Enemy of our souls saw, "the spirits in prison," about to be liberated by the Blood, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, that every demon in hell, every principality, "spirits of wickedness in heavenly places," was summoned to the Great Battle of the Cross and the Grave?
Whatever all was in process in those six hours on His Cross, the battle, centering in Jesus, was an encounter which you and I can never begin to comprehend, so cosmic, so universal, such as described in Ephesians 6, "wrestling...against the despotism, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly sphere."
"Alas! and did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?
The body slain, sweet Jesus, Thine-- And bathed in its own blood--
While the firm mark of wrath divine, His Soul in anguish stood.
Was it for crimes that I have done, he groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut his glories in,
when Christ, the mighty Maker, died for man the creature's sin.
Thus might I hide my blushing face while his dear cross appears;
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness, and melt mine eyes to tears.
But drops of tears can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe.
Here, Lord, I give myself away; 'tis all that I can do.
Refrain:
At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day!
Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus....With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus.... Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds....At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb.... Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there." (John 19)
I was thinking yesterday why the, "darkness over all the land," was only, "from the sixth hour...until the ninth hour." Why was it not dark over the land for the entire 6 hours Jesus was on the Cross? Could it be that as the hours passed, the intensity of the Cosmic "Struggle" greatly increased? The Bible says that at some point in Christ's three day ordeal, "He went and preached to the spirits in prison." Could it be that as the Enemy of our souls saw, "the spirits in prison," about to be liberated by the Blood, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, that every demon in hell, every principality, "spirits of wickedness in heavenly places," was summoned to the Great Battle of the Cross and the Grave?
Whatever all was in process in those six hours on His Cross, the battle, centering in Jesus, was an encounter which you and I can never begin to comprehend, so cosmic, so universal, such as described in Ephesians 6, "wrestling...against the despotism, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly sphere."
"Alas! and did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?
The body slain, sweet Jesus, Thine-- And bathed in its own blood--
While the firm mark of wrath divine, His Soul in anguish stood.
Was it for crimes that I have done, he groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut his glories in,
when Christ, the mighty Maker, died for man the creature's sin.
Thus might I hide my blushing face while his dear cross appears;
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness, and melt mine eyes to tears.
But drops of tears can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe.
Here, Lord, I give myself away; 'tis all that I can do.
Refrain:
At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day!
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
