Monday, April 29, 2024

MOURN AND GRIEVE

Today’s Reading: Zechariah 11-12

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

 

The Altar area inside Saint Anne’s Church, next to the ruins of the Pool of Bethesda, Jerusalem. The message is that God’s altar is the Cross of Christ. Jesus said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:14,15).

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

 

Key Verse: Zechariah 12:10

And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

 

God is speaking through Zechariah. The words, “I WILL” make it clear that God is committed to the time when the people of Jerusalem will look on Him (GOD) “whom they have pierced.” This was written 500 years before Jesus was crucified, and while the people looked on Him as He hung on the Cross, it refers to a yet future time when Jesus will come again. They will see Jesus in His resurrected Body, in which the wounds of His crucifixion are visible. Other prophets wrote of the One Who was “wounded for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5-6), and “They pierced My hands and feet” (only in crucifixion, and written centuries before any historical record of this method of execution). Read King David’s prophecy found in Psalm 22:16-18. To read one of the records of the crucifixion of Jesus, read John 19:34-37 and then read John 20:26-31 (prophesied in Zechariah 12:10 and 13:6). Make no mistake about it! Nobody other than Jesus fulfills these prophesies. Dr. Mark Hitchcock, a former attorney and now a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, appeared on the 100 Huntley Street telecast with a message called, “The Shadow of the Cross.” He documents the impossibility of the words of the prophets, including Zechariah, coming to pass as they did by accident (click here for Dr. Hitchcock).

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, my heart is so very sad as I think of how You must have grieved “as One mourns for His only Son.” As Jesus is there, one with You at Your throne, You can see the marks on His hands, His feet, and His side. You gave Your “only begotten Son, that whosoever [me included] believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). I pray that the scenes of Your Cross would continuously be before me. I believe “In Him” because You have shown me the One Who is “The Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6a) through the words of the prophets, the Apostles, and Your Holy Spirit’s revelation to me. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You, Jesus!!! Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

I first saw the gruesome picture (below) when Dr. Paul Maier was my guest on the 100 Huntley Street telecast. Dr. Maier has a Ph.D. in semitic languages from Harvard and is professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University. The photo shows a nail which was embedded in the ankle bone of a crucified man, according to the archeologists. There must have been a knot in the wood into which it was driven that bent the point of the nail. Of course, the Romans crucified others, including the two thieves who died on the crosses on either side of Jesus. Dr. Maier’s book, Skeleton in God’s Closet, is based on the facts of Jesus’ crucifixion, and then a fictional story evolves when it is claimed that the bones of Jesus have been discovered. This book, in my opinion, is most captivating, stimulating, and well researched. I guarantee that readers will find it very difficult to put it down having begun to read (click here to purchase Skeleton in God’s Closet).

Yours to focus on the most important event in human history, prophesied by the Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and fulfilled by Jesus only!!! (read with me 1 Peter 1:18-25),

David

In the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, this heel bone with a nail pierced through it is on display, giving evidence for the ancient Roman practice of execution on a cross. Oh Jesus, how I grieve over my sins. You suffered crucifixion so that I, and all who believe in You, could be forgiven, saved from eternal death, and given as a free gift, eternal life. The Cross of Jesus was God’s altar where His sacrificial Lamb was sacrificed in human time, but in reality was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).

4 thoughts on “Monday, April 29, 2024

  1. Today’s reading is hard to comprehend. The incredibly difficult thought of crucifixion (the unbelievably cruel death sentence). It’s so hard to imagine. Thank You is a great understatement. What great Love and sacrifice has been given for us all.

  2. Amen,Doreen…no greater love.God bless
    Three Rusty Nails

    The Lord never wore silver or gold,
    His riches were of wealth untold,
    But He shunned the glitter sold,
    Only to help the poor and the old.

    If you follow,there’s wealth in His ways
    And in His words is found great strength,
    Where this wealth for some dismays,
    For it will stretch to any length.

    There are many who will remain lost,
    For they are fixed on earthly treasure
    And care not who pays the cost
    To fill more than their fair measure.

    Of your riches,what would Jesus ask ?
    Can the starving eat your ear rings?
    Can you take on His ancient task
    To share the harvest salvation brings?

    His only jewellery,a thorny crown,
    Matched only by three rusty nails,
    Showed a King who was put down
    But arose to glory that never fails.
    G W Marshall / 06-Oct-13

    A Kiss By Love

    The vastness of the sins we wrought
    Was cancelled by one wooden cross,
    For there alone forgiveness was bought
    By the Gift of His Son who took our loss.

    What caused this Man of holy reign
    To take our sins of unholy shame
    And with His blood give hope again,
    When He was least of all to blame?

    This King of kings who rose above,
    Broke the serpent’s strangle hold,
    For hate was given a kiss by Love
    In the greatest story ever told.
    G W(Bill) Marshall / June 08, 2013

  3. Thank you Lord for giving your Son for our inequities, we are so blessed. Today I’m giving the Lord all the glory for bringing an estate issue that I have been involved in to closure. All papers have finally been signed and now I pray and ask for your prayers that this is all finalized and finished that everything is now in order, that God will supply all the needs to finalize. I am so thankful for the news this morning about this matter to God be the glory Amen

  4. Blessings HJR. Father God, in Jesus Name, please bring to fruition, the completion of this transaction. Thank You Lord. Amen

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.