March 11
Num 15:17-16:40 | PS 54:1-7 | Prov 11:5-6 | Mark 15:1-47
Pontius Pilate asks a question to the crowd, which we would do well to ask ourselves, when he presented Jesus in Mark 15:12, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” The answer to this question for you, personally, determines your fate. Will you confess Him or deny Him? Will you receive Him or reject Him? Will you submit to Him or rebel against Him? The chief priests mocked Him as He hung on the cross saying in 15:31, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save." Jesus could have saved Himself by getting off the cross but that would have come at the expense of our salvation. Jesus chose to love us to death. We read what happened as our sins, mine and yours, were laid upon Him in 15:33-34, "Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”" This was a pure act of mercy and grace. Mercy is our not receiving the punishment that our sins deserve. Grace is our receiving that which we have done nothing to deserve. Jesus did it all. Our forgiveness and salvation rests upon His perfect work on the cross. It has nothing to do with our "good works". Our participation in the salvation process is to see this and come to Him in brokenness, realizing the undeserving state we are in. This is why religion is dangerous, as it is works oriented. It focuses on what we do. Salvation is all about coming into a true relationship with the Savior of the world. Realize His sacrifice paid for both our unintentional and intentional sins.
This realization of what Jesus did stands in stark contrast to the limitations of the Mosaic law. We read in Numbers 15:27-31, "‘And if a person sins unintentionally, then he shall bring a female goat in its first year as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for the person who sins unintentionally, when he sins unintentionally before the Lord, to make atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. You shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwells among them. ‘But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the Lord, and he shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be upon him.’ ”. There was no provision for the intentional sin, only justice. David knew this. He had willfully committed adultery with Bathsheeba, and arranged for her husband, Uriah, to then be murdered. This certainly did not fit into the realm of unintentional. David had already done so many "good" things, but he knew that it doesn't work out that his good things would outweigh his bad things somehow deserving mercy. We read his words, as he prophetically looks forward to the grace of the cross in Psalm 51:16-17, "For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise."
So, what are you trusting in? Do you believe, "I got this?" Do you rest upon the long history of your "good" works? If you choose to face your forgiveness, your mercy, and ultimately your eternal destination on your works, then you have chosen religion over relationship. This choice means that you are seeking your own righteousness based on the law. Just remember what it says in James 2:10, "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." It really is your choice. I can't answer for you, but as for me, my sin is real and is present before my eyes. I do not choose my own righteousness, for it will never suffice. I don't demand my justice, for that same justice would demand my condemnation. I take comfort and peace in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." It was Him, It is Him, It will always be Him. Jesus is the only way. There are not multiple paths, there is only one, and that path leads to the cross.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: