The FaithOfJesus2 Daily Devotional

Focus:

kjv@Revelation:14:12 @ Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

( FaithOfJesus thread begun by rRandyP )

Today's Verse:

kjv@Matthew:27:45-56

kjv@Matthew:27:45 @ Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

kjv@Matthew:27:46 @ And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

kjv@Matthew:27:47 @ Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.

kjv@Matthew:27:48 @ And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.

kjv@Matthew:27:49 @ The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.

kjv@Matthew:27:50 @ Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

kjv@Matthew:27:51 @ And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

kjv@Matthew:27:52 @ And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

kjv@Matthew:27:53 @ And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

kjv@Matthew:27:54 @ Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

kjv@Matthew:27:55 @ And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:

kjv@Matthew:27:56 @ Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.

Today's notes: About The Ninth Hour

Context:

Before - Let HIM deliver Him now
After - and begged the body of Jesus

What is man believing/doing?:

standing, watching, listening at/near the crucification scene in darkness
guessing/interpreting at what Jesus is meaning, one taking a sponge of vinegar to Him, others thinking to see Elias come
observing the spirits of risen saints throughout the holy city
fearing greatly
women that had ministered to Him since Galilee beholding from afar off

What is making man to believe/do as he is doing?:

Some in an official capacity to make report and or secure the scene, some as legal witness, family and dear ones. Note the women (some/all?) appear to have backed off at some point.
some held out hope or fear that something saving was still yet to happen

Notes:

It is a continuous question of non and near believers what was meant by Jesus by "forsaken". It is sometimes seen as proof that Jesus was not Christ or that Jesus was wrong about what He expected God to do for Him. It stems from an ignorance of the prophecy being quoted kjv@Psalms:22 which by it's end has the Messiah shouting out the Father's praise in the great congregation and the nations declaring HIS righteousness. This forsaking was the necessity of substituting Him for Us to atone for our vast iniquities, redeeming us by the price of His blood into the resurrected life.

Of the many doings that convinced the Roman centurion perhaps the most miraculous from his point of experience would be that Jesus was yet able to cry out in a loud voice. Crucification is a process of excruciating suffocation, Jesus in the end should not have the wind to produce an audible sound let alone have it carry through a storm to the ears of those afar off.

That Elias is expected by some to come down either illustrates the blinded depth of that last final hope or else the contamination of legend or myth exposed in their beliefs. Nothing in canonized prophecy would lead one to expect such. It could also be a ploy to further disappoint the gullible into expecting yet another thing that wasn't going to happen.

Key Messages:

What does this say about our present condition?

In one respect it could be said of what this all means: remember the astonishingly powerful Sermon on the Mount? remember the multitudes that were healed? remember the demonic made whole? remember the woman's daughter and the centurion's servant and the man dropped to Jesus from the roof top? remember all this goodness and wonder and might? This is where all of that gets you when your doing all of this in a name other than the name of the men who think that they know better than you, that have played the game, that have worked their way up, that have secured the lofty seats and wear the long robes.

In another respect it could be said: this is where all this gets when other good men cower and abandon their post behind you. Or else: this is where all this gets when the people stand the fence and won't commit to the way even though the know the way to be right.

In the better respect what this says is: this is the present condition of man, it is to be expected that man would operate in all of these ways, every angle of man's intention and expectation counted on in all God's plans. However, this story is not about what man did upon it's savior, it is about what it's savior did upon man, what the Father did upon the savior so that HE wouldn't have to do it upon man, what that means to the man now that that has been accomplished. Sin is not just what each man does, it is what all these doings amount to and why it is continually perpetuated despite our better intentions. Sin is not whatever we make it, it is every single thing and far beyond that Jesus chose to die for.

When it comes to the subject of a Christ, the reader's eye is typically set to pick holes in what it reads. Where the context exposes the darker intents of the sinners' heart, the heart turns that back around on Jesus. Why it is this way to such a large extent when it is not as oppressively critical in other self complimentary indulgences is most revealing in itself.
A man experienced with crucifixions is convinced by what he has witnessed. With others even the ground can rattle and the pillars shake and the sky can look as if it was about to collapse down on them and they still refuse to own up to their guilt. The dead will walk about the holy city as never observed before and yet they will find a way convenient to explain it all away or blame it back on Jesus.
The necessity of the Father to withdraw is a concept contradictory to our expectations. To think that if not from the substitutionary intercessory than from us remains foreign and un-compassionate even today. It is an obvious dismissal on our part of God's righteousness and justice and holiness, the terms and conditions that must be set to be and remain in His presence. It is an elevation of our own moral character above His despite every evidence now to the contrary. If Jesus had not asked "why hast thou forsaken", we would not know the depth of sin for which for us He is suffering (the real suffering of which is the being separated from the Father).

Further Resources:

Comment Board:Matthew:27:45-56
index:FAITHOFJESUSDEVOTION - Devotional Index
strkjv@Matthew:27:45-56 rwp@Matthew:27:45-56 mhcc@Matthew:27:45-56
FaithOfJesus2 - Devotion Index

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