I woke up this Easter morning with my soul overflowing in thoughts and emotions. It was probably ten years or so ago, when I found myself listening to a disrespectful teaching in my Sunday School class that suggested that Jesus did not know He was the Son of God until He was hanging on the Cross! I was deeply distressed to hear this unbiblical speculation [along with others] based on a "new paradigm" within Christianity which proposed that much of the Bible was written as metaphors, allegories, and oral traditions that didn't bear weight in our modern understanding of theology. I was saddened, disheartened, and disappointed at the direction it seemed the Church was headed -- which only resulted in me digging deeper into the Word and the writings of the faithful at the time that Jesus lived, ministered, and prophesied.
Fast forward to this Easter week and Good Friday. Mark and I were honored to speak and lead a Celebration of Life for a close family friend; a man who unfailingly refused to compromise the moral teachings, and standards of right and wrong , as commanded by our Lord. We were celebrating his life, but also the life of Jesus Christ, and acknowledging His ultimate sacrifice for humanity through His suffering and death on the Cross. For a moment, my thoughts returned to the day I'd heard [in my big mega-church] that there was now a new theology being preached which promoted His ignorance of His own identity.
But here we stood, in a small country church, with wooden pews that seated maybe 100 people, honoring our friend; a man who possessed a simple, old-fashioned faith that was pure and genuine. He didn't speak often of that faith, but the few times we had the opportunity to minister to him, we knew it was authentic and pleasing to Jesus. Then we invited his 20-year-old granddaughter to come speak of her beloved grandfather. Let me tell you, my spirit jumped for joy as she stood for nearly 20 minutes, sharing the True Gospel message!
It was not some flowery, watered-down version to satisfy lukewarm Christians, but a straight-forward, accurate presentation of who Jesus is; who we are in Him; His amazing love for us that He was willing to die for us; the hope we have in Him because He defeated death; what is expected of us as His followers; that we are commanded to share this Good News with everyone we meet .... and so much more!
My spirit was applauding her with each revelation she spoke about Jesus's purpose while He was on earth. And I've never seen anyone radiate the joy of the Lord like she did! Her face was positively glowing, and she couldn't stop smiling. She had no trepidation or apprehension about Her desire to share Jesus's purpose for the Father, nor of His life and death, carried out for us. She was speaking the Gospel, because Jesus as command us to do it. I have such hope for her generation!
But while I'm speaking of the impact of one's desire, I want to share a message from the late Marvin Rosenthal, who was a pastor, author, and President Emeritus of the missionary organization Zion's Hope. He wrote an article pointing out a precept of Jesus's crucifixion, burial, and resurrection [during the Passover celebration in Jerusalem] that I had never contemplated. And I think it is not only relevant to us Christians, but highlights the mindset that Jesus reveals in Scripture as He faces the most consequential time of His earthly ministry.
In this article Rosenthal reminds the reader that on the evening before His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus Christ said to His disciples, "With DESIRE I have DESIRED to eat this passover with you before I suffer (Luke 22:15). [NOTE: the emphasis is mine]. I must confess that I have read this verse many times, but never stopped to ask myself, "What is so special about this Passover meal that He desires "with desire" to experience it before He proceeds to the torture and pain of the Cross? As Rosenthal explains, we must understand that Jesus knew He was going to suffer. He had been telling His disciples that His hour had come. He told them He was going to be rejected, betrayed, and crucified. However, they couldn't understand what He was saying. But He knew it, and He knew (and understood) it perfectly!
When I looked at the Greek meanings of those words "desire" and "have desired", Strong's Concordance defines them as "It is my wish" and "I have set my heart on". In other words, we can understand this verse to mean "It is my wish that I eat this Passover meal with you before I set my heart on becoming the Passover". As Rosenthal writes, "Jesus spoke these words passionately from the very depths of His soul"!
That is nothing but astounding to me! He knew what was coming [which is far from the "new paradigm" teaching that He didn't know who He was until He was actually on the Cross]. I sometimes think modern-day Christians see these last days of Jesus's life as being controlled by the religious leaders of His day who unjustly take Him to trial and crucify Him cruelly and unmercifully. In reality, Jesus held total control of the situation in His hand. And there is ample proof in the Word that this is so ... For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45 ... No man taketh [my life] from Me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it [up] again (John 10:18) ... Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall immediately give Me more than twelve legions of angels? How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen this way (Matthew 26:53-54)? You would think the "new paradigm' false teachers would do a little more research before they spread their lies.
What is additionally astounding is that Jesus could have easily saved Himself -- deciding to leave Jerusalem and the evildoers lying in wait for Him. He could have turned around at the gates of the Temple compound and headed for Galilee. As He stated, He could have called down legions of angels to defend Himself and avoided all the suffering planned for Him. But, as Marv Rosenthal points out, Jesus Christ was (and is) the Messiah, the Anointed One. He was the Prophet, Priest, and King who would proclaim to humanity the way to salvation, make atonement for the people, and one day rule over them.
He was the Passover Lamb and the atoning sacrifice for sin. Jesus offered Himself because God the Father is infinite and eternal, and only a sacrifice that qualifies as infinite and eternal could propitiate [satisfy] the demands of that kind of God. It is so important that we understand the reason He offered Himself: He so desired to both celebrate the Passover as well as be the Passover. Furthermore, we need to understand that for the Lord Jesus, partaking of the Passover would be the most vivid reminder to Him, just hours before His sacrifice, that His death would not be in vain.
And the final extraordinary chapter of this story in the Holy Scripture is worthy of our attention. From the time of Moses -- when the Passover memorial was instituted -- Passover was a memorial to remember the blood shed of a perfect lamb and applied to the doorposts as the Jews made their escape from Egypt. From that fateful night, and for thousands of years, the children of Israel ate the Passover lamb during the structured format of the Passover [seder] meal. However, sometime following the Lord's final Passover meal [with His disciples], the lamb disappeared from the Passover table. From the first Passover to the night before Jesus's crucifixion, the lamb pointed to the Messiah who would come in the fullness of time and die for the sins of the world. For centuries those lambs pointed to THE Lamb of God. They were a shadow of what was to come. Jesus, however, was the substance [the reality]; the Lamb who was to come. Once the substance had come, the shadow was no longer needed. So, when Jesus broke the unleavened bread that night [just as the legs of the Passover lambs were broken before their Passover sacrifice] He was, in essence, announcing, You don't need a four-legged lamb; the real Lamb is here!
In summary, my soul has been so blessed this week as I've spent solitary and consecrated time with my thoughts and emotions. I am trusting that God's Truth will always overcome the false teachings that seek to weaken and corrupt His Holy and sacred Word. I am thrilled to witness the joy and passion with which our younger generations are seeking a personal relationship with God that will spread the Gospel message with enthusiasm. And finally, I thank my Father in Heaven, that He never tires of giving us new revelation that points to the miraculous life, death, and Resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. I am thankful that the Holy Spirit breathes new life into the Word, constantly teaching me more of His purpose in the world, and my place in that Divine Plan. Today, as I celebrate when Jesus walked out of the Tomb, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for all that He is and for His presence [for eternity] in my life. I bow down in reverence to His Holy Name, and my spirit shouts, CELEBRATE, ALL YOU BELIEVERS! IT'S RESURRECTION DAY!
My thanks to the late Marvin Rosenthal for his gifted writing and insightful revelation concerning the Word of God. I have learned much from him, and encourage you to read the bi-monthly magazine, Zion's Fire, that he inaugurated. You will receive Biblical Truth for the modern Christian.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
