November 13 – Luke 23, and John 18 & 19

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Luke 23, and John 18 & 19. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word. Also above in the tabs is a link to the Bible reading plan.

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The reason the Jews chanted crucify was they felt threatened. They felt threatened by the claims Jesus made. They felt threatened that He might mess up the power they had by causing a revolt, and bringing the hand of Rome down even stronger. So to get rid of the threat, they sought Jesus death. I do not believe any of this went unnoticed by Pilate.

When Jesus was placed on the cross, Pilate had a sign simply reading … “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” (John 19:19 NLT) Did Pilate do this because he really believed Jesus was the King of the Jews? I do not believe so. Did he do this because he couldn't stand what the Jewish leaders were making him do? Possibly. Did he do this to get back at the Jews? Absolutely. I am sure he saw these people as a problem, so just to grind it in, he did something that made them mad.

And did it ever. Like little children crying to their parents to make someone else change their behavior, they objected and said … “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to “He said, I am King of the Jews.” (John 19:21 NLT) They did not want people believing that Jesus was their King. But they did not get their way. Pilate told them no.

What the Jews did not understand is that what Pilate had written was the truth. Jesus was the King of the Jews. His family tree took Him all the way back to King David. His blood line was pure royalty, both as a descendent of David and as the Son of God. Now the King of the Jews was about to become the savior of the world. These men who sent Jesus to cross, who felt threatened by His claims, did what was necessary. Their fear brought salvation to the world. For that I am thankful. 

November 12 – Matthew 27 & Mark 15

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Matthew 27 & Mark 15. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word. Also above in the tabs is a link to the Bible reading plan.

Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

It is hard to imagine crucifixion as a good thing. Its history dates back all the way to the Assyrian Empire … the same empire that ended up destroying the northern kingdom of Israel in 725 B.C. It was a rather rudimentary procedure … they basically took a log, sharpened the end, impaled a person through their stomach and then placed the log in a hole in the ground to let the person slowly die. By the time the Romans arrived on the scene and the Jewish leaders chanted crucify, crucifixion had become a perfected art form, designed to cause the most excruciating death possible. Crucifixion could take hours, or days, or even up to a week to claim the life of its victim.

With all that in our minds it is hard to see the cross as anything but gory. So we have canceled all that out. We now look at the cross as a decoration for our churches and our homes. We now wear crosses on our necklaces. We now use the symbol as a marking that we belong to Christ. Why? Because of what Christ did on the cross. Christ paid our debt on the cross. The cross which was gory has now become a symbol of glory.

It is through Jesus that the terrible cross became beautiful. Think about that as you listen to the words of Selah’s song Beautiful Terrible Cross. If you cannot see the video in your RSS reader or email click here.