My thoughts on Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

I read Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross, an anthology of readings about Easter edited by Nancy Guthrie, during the run up to Easter. And it was just as good as Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus was for the season of Advent.
  

As Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus did for Christmas, Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross drilled down into the Easter story quickly, profoundly and powerfully. It opened up lots of the small detail that can be missed when reading over such familiar stories, bringing a freshness to the Easter story.

Interestingly, when I read Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus I started it two days before Advent.  I'd been waiting a long time to read that book and couldn't hold out for those last two days.  Twenty two readings - one a day with a few missed days here and there because December is such a busy month - should have seen me finish the book pretty much on Christmas Day.  As it turned out it was all done and dusted by 10th December.  I was like the child who just can't wait to open the presents under the tree.  Two or three (or five!) readings a day.  I virtually swallowed the book whole and it was pure joy.

I started  Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross at the beginning of Lent.  Now if my Lent maths is correct, that should have given me 46 days to get through the 25 readings.  And as it turned out, I needed every inch of Lent to get through it.  I loved this book like the Advent one.  And yet it sat untouched on my desk for days at a time and when I did pick it up I could only take in one reading at a time.  I finished it just in time for Easter.

Which seems about right.  Because Easter is much harder to take in than Christmas.  Christmas is all about the greatest Gift ever - the gift of Immanuel.  And we get to share in the celebrations and rejoice.  But at Easter we become aware of why God needed to send this gift of Jesus.  The spotlight is shared between Jesus - the crucified and risen Jesus - and our wretched sinfulness that nailed Him to the cross. 

If you don't have a strong sense of God's love for you, of the sacrifice He made in sending His one and only Son to die on the cross, of the enormity of Jesus' work and the pain He bore on the cross or of the magnitude of your own sinfulness then this is a must read.  It isn't an easy book- although there are some glorious bits - but it is truly worthwhile. 

And it need not be confined to the lead up to Easter because we need to understand all of these things all year round.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,

that whoever believes in him shall not perish

but have eternal life. 

John 3:16

See What a Morning Gloriously Bright

See what a morning gloriously bright

With the dawning of hope in Jerusalem.

Folded the grave-clothes, tomb filled with light

As the angels announce Christ is risen.

See God's salvation plan,

Wrought in love, borne in pain, paid in sacrifice.

Fullfilled in Christ the Man,

For He lives Christ is risen from the dead.

See Mary weeping "Where is He laid?"

As in sorrow she turns from the empty tomb.

Hears a voice speaking, calling her name.

It's the Master the Lord raised to life again.

The voice that spans the years,

Speaking life, stirring hope, bringing peace to us.

Will sound till He appears

For He lives. Christ is risen from the dead.

One with the Father, Ancient of Days,

Through the Spirit who clothes faith with certainty.

Honour and blessing ,glory and praise

To the King crowned with power and authority.

And we are raised with Him.

Death is dead, love has won, Christ has conquered.

And we shall reign with Him

For He lives. Christ is risen from the dead.

Keith Getty; Stuart Townend

Copyright © 2003 Thankyou Music/MCPS

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

Oh, what we miss out on when we rush past the cross of Christ.  Oh, the richness and reward when we stop to linger before it, when we take the time to "consider him who endured the from sinners such hostility against himself" (Heb. 12:3).  In a culture where crosses have become commonplace as architecture and jewelry, how we need to truly gaze upon the cross of Christ in all of its ugliness and beauty, in its death and in its healing, in the painful price paid there, and in its free gift of grace. Jesus, keep us near the cross.

...How we need to have our hearts broken again by our sin that put Jesus on the cross.  How we need to have our confidence grounded by what Jesus accomplished on the cross.  And how we need to have our hope anchored in the promise of resurrection.

From the preface, written by Nancy Guthrie, of Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross.

Others' thoughts on Easter # 3

I have heard many sermons about the physical pain of death by crucifixion.  I've heard graphic descriptions of the nails and the thorns. Surely the physical agony of crucifixion was a ghastly thing. But there were thousands who died on crosses and may have had more painful deaths than that of Christ.   But only one person has ever received the full measure of the curse of God while on a cross.  I doubt that Jesus was even aware of the nails and the spear - he was so overwhelmed by the outer darkness.  On the cross Jesus was in the reality of hell.  He was totally bereft of the grace and the presence of God, utterly separated from all blessedness of the Father.  He became a curse for us so that we someday will be able to see the face of God.  So that the light of his countenance might fall upon us, God turned his back on his Son.  No wonder Christ screamed.  He screamed from the depth of his soul.  How long did he have to endure it?  We don't know, but a second of it would have been of infinite value.

Finally, Jesus cried, "It is finished." (John 19:30)  It was over.  What was over?  His life? No.  It was the forsakenness that ended.  The curse was finished.

From "Cursed" by R.C. Sproul (page 95) in Jesus, Keep Me Near The Cross edited by Nancy Guthrie.

Others' thoughts on Easter # 2

Crises have a way of revealing our character.  In the midst of a trial, we sometimes learn things about ourselves that we would rather not know.  At other times we see friends really rise to the occasion in the midst of trial. 

Jesus' character shines through in this moment of crisis.  Don Carson says, "In all of the various trials and mockery that Jesus underwent, His character stood out more and more clearly against the backdrop of moral corruption and failed loyalty and cheap cruelty around it."  We cannot help but admire the dignity of the Lord Jesus Christ as he goes through this indignity.  He does it with magnanimity and with the sense that he is not forsaken.  He is not out of control.  God's providence is ruling over all.  So the character and calmness of Jesus remind us and provide an example for us in the midst of our own trials.
From "Betrayed, Denied, Deserted" by J. Ligon Duncan III (page 38) in Jesus, Keep Me Near The Cross edited by Nancy Guthrie.

Be of good courage, all of you

Image from here

After being SO VERY ORGANISED this year and getting all those readings and lots of plastic eggsready for our run up to Easter...

 the days and the weeks just w...a...n...d...E...r...E...d by...

and we started doing the readings with our kids three days ago. 

AND we have already missed a day!

There is no way we are going to make it up to the Easter accounts by the Easter weekend.  And we aren't going to try.  We'll just keep chipping away at it.  The kids will get to hear the Easter story at church over Easter.  I know that because I am their Sunday School teacher!  And then they'll hear it again with us after dinner a week or two later, at which time we will fill in the gaps left by that Sunday School teacher!!

Two readings in and the boys are really enjoying it.  We've been reading from the Good News version - and in fact the older of our two boys has been doing the reading for us.  After the story we've asked a couple of questions - basic comprehension for the younger, something a bit trickier for the older.  We put a couple of jelly beans for them in the first egg.  Tonight's egg contained an extra piece of paper that said, "There won't be a treat every day but for today, if you listen very carefully we will give you a clue to help you find a surprise," and then sent them off after the story and questions to find chocolate hidden elsewhere in the house.

I'm wondering whether I should have included the account of Jesus clearing the temple in the line up.  It's a story that usually gets pulled out to illustrate that Jesus got angry.  But there is so much more to it than that.  It really sets the scene - what life in the temple had become and how in need people were of a saviour - and stands in stark contrast to Jesus triumphal entry amidst shouts of "Hosanna!"  And it demonstrates Jesus' authority.  No one seemed to stop him from overturning the tables and the chief priests and teachers of law started looking for a way to kill Jesus because they feared him. (Mark 11:18)

So that may need to go in the revised edition for next year.  If you are working through these readings please let me know if you think anything else needs to be added in or taken out.  That would be great.

Others' thoughts on Easter # 1

The Lord deliberately chose Gethsemane.  John's specific mention of it as a "garden" in John 18:1 suggests that the apostle has in mind a deliberate comparison with the orginal garden of Eden.  The symbolism is this:

• The first Adam began life in a garden.  Christ, the second Adam, came at the end of his life to a garden.
• In Eden Adam sinned.  In Gethsemane the Saviour overcame sin.
• In Eden Adam fell.  In Gethsemane Jesus conquered.
• In Eden Adam hid himself.  In Gethsemane our Lord boldly presented himself.
• In Eden the sword was drawn.  In Gethsemane it was sheathed.

From "Gethsemene" by R. Kent Hughes (page31) in Jesus, Keep Me Near The Cross edited by Nancy Guthrie.

I wonder whether Kent Hughes is a little bold in his assertion regarding the comparison between the two gardens.  None the less, it does illustrate the big picture of the Bible wonderfully and provides some practical insight into Romans 5:12-21.

A prayer for Sunday morning

Here is another prayer from the section "A Week's Shared Prayers" from The Valley of Vision. This one is for Sunday morning and makes for a beautiful start to this day.

O Lord,

We commune with thee every day,
     but week days are worldly days,
     and secular concerns reduce heavenly impressions.
We bless thee therefore for the day sacred to our souls
     when we can wait upon thee and be refreshed;
We thank thee for the institutions of religion
     by use of which we draw near to thee and thou to us;
We rejoice in another Lord's Day
     when we call off our minds from the cares of the world
     and attend upon thee without distraction;

Let our retirement be devout,

     our conversations edifying,
     our reading pious,
     our hearing profitable,
    that our souls may be quickened and elevated.

We are going to the house of prayer,
     pour upon us the spirit of grace and supplication;
We are going to the house of praise,
     awaken in us every grateful and cheerful emotion;
We are going to the house of instruction,
     give testimony to the Word preached,

     and glorify it in the hearts of all who hear;

          may it enlighten the ignorant,
          awaken the careless,
          reclaim the wandering,

          establish the weak,

          comfort the feeble-minded,

          make ready a people for their Lord.

Be a sanctuary to all who cannot come,

Forget not those who never come,

And do thou bestow upon us

     benevolence towards our dependants,

     forgiveness towards our enemies,

     peaceableness towards our neighbours,

     openness towards our fellow-Christians.

Amen

Three months down the track

I was speaking to someone last week on the subject of grief after a crisis.  For some, grief hits immediately.  For others, the grief strikes later, after the adrenalin has run out.  For some it's severe and sudden.  For others it's more slow release.  And it takes its many forms - sadness, despair, denial, anger, depression.

Last week, during the course of this conversation, I learned that no matter how the initial grief is experienced, there can often be a new wave of grief about three months after the event.  This is true for personal bereavement and also for large scale crises of the ilk we have seen this year. 

And this grief at the three month mark is a very difficult and confusing time.  The immediate crisis is over.  Maybe recovery and restoration (physical and personal) is underway.  And suddenly in it whooshes.  It can be hard to understand what's going on.  Hard sometimes to even connect this grief with the events that took place three months ago.  You wonder whether you might just be going crazy.

It has been a difficult three months.  We have seen floods, cyclones, bushfires, earthquakes, a tsunami and the disabling of a nuclear reactor.  Each new crisis has taken the attention away from its predecessor.  But while out attention is diverted, the ones who lost family, friends, homes, maybe their livelihood to the earlier disasters continue to live with the effects of their crisis.

Our attentions and prayers have rightly been upon those caught up in the horrors unfolding in Japan.  But it is important to pause and count back.  The January floods happened about three months ago.  If you know someone who was affected by those floods, why don't you check in on them.  They may be fine.  Grief is not text book.  It may be though that they are feeling a bit wobbly just now and just don't know why and don't what to do with it.  Let them know that this OK.  Give them another hug.  And pray for them all over again. 

Stuart Townend - Salvation's Song

We sang this at church this evening. Glorious.

Let us as Christians fill our various situations in life

Back when I was teaching I used to say to my year seven students, "There are two rules for life.  Be nice to your teacher.  And be nice to your mummy.  If you do these two things all will go well for you."  Of course they would laugh.  When you are twelve years old you don't call your mum "Mummy."  But making twelve year olds laugh is one way to make them listen to you! 

In a similar vein to the year seven rules of life, but far better, my husband farewells our boys off to school each morning by saying, "Be a blessing to your teachers and be a blessing to your friends."  Such wonderful words for them to hear as they head off for their day, most especially because they understand, at least in small part, what it means to be a blessing.

I have been dipping into The Valley of Vision again recently.  At the back there is a set of prayers for the week - one for each morning and evening.  This morning's prayer - the prayer for the sixth morning of the week - finishes up with some wonderful words that amplify an aspect of what it means to be a blessing to those about us as we make our way through our day. 

We thank thee for thy unspeakable gift.
Thy Son is our only refuge, foundation, hope, confidence;
We depend upon his death,
     rest in his righteousness,
     desire to bear his image;
May his glory fill our minds,
     his love reign in our affections,
     his cross inflame us with ardour.
Let us as Christians fill our various situations in life,
     escape the snares to which they expose us,
     discharge the duties that arise from our circumstances,
     enjoy with moderation their advantages,
     improve with diligence their usefulness,
And may every place and company we are in be benefited by us.

The line "Let us as Christians fill our various situations in life," particularly caught my gaze, that "every place and company we are in be benefited by us."  Beautiful.  A helpful thing to bring to mind while travelling through the day.  And it reminded me of this...I have thought about this subject before.

Getting ready for Easter

In the month leading up to Christmas, with the help of an Advent calendar, we like to take our boys through what the Bible has to say about the first Christmas.  Every year we learn a little more about this season and it helps us to keep our focus during an otherwise highly distracting month.  After our first son's first Christmas it struck me, never having been in a church that particularly observed Lent, that it would be good to do a similar thing leading up to Easter.



We have tried various things - some years completely over ambitious and other years completely underwhelming.  Last year we tackled the last few chapters of Mark in bite sized readings, one a day for the twelve days leading up to Easter Sunday.Why twelve?  For the sake of a dozen eggs, in our case courtesy of Kinder Surprise - each with the reference for a daily reading enclosed. 

Last year I didn't really think this through or do any pre-reading organised the Mark readings in a rush and so of course on Easter Sunday we were met with:

"Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid."

which was a rather abrupt and unsatisfactory finish to what should have been a glorious moment around the Easter Sunday breakfast table!  A friend who did this along with us, whose children are a little older, also commented that at least one of her daughters found the readings, day after day, too intense given the challenging content. 

And each year I have felt that we really shouldn't stop on Easter Sunday with the resurrection.  A few important things happen after Jesus' resurrection that ought to be mentioned like Jesus' physical proof of his resurrection, how Jesus shows that the Old Testament pointed to himself, how he planned to send the Spirit when he returned to the Father's side and how we all have a job to do in light of all of this.

So this year I have put some thought into it. Here is the plan...

1. The triumphal entry (Matthew 21:1-11)
2. Jesus anointed at Bethany and Judas agrees to betray Jesus (Mark 14:1-11)
3. Jesus washes the disciples feet (John 13:1-17)
4. The last supper (Matthew 26:20-30)
5. Jesus predicts Peter’s denial (Mark 14:27-31)
6. Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-46)
7. Jesus arrested (Mark 14:43-52)
8. Before the Sanhedrin (Mark 14:53-65)
9. Peter disowns Jesus (Mark 14:66-72)
10. Jesus before Pilate (Mark 15:1-15)
11. The soldiers mock Jesus (Mark 15:16-20)
12. The crucifixion (Luke 23:26-43)
13. Jesus dies (Luke 23:44-49)
14. Jesus placed in the tomb (Matthew 27:57-60)
15. The women go to anoint the body (Mark 16:1-3)
16. The Resurrection (Matthew 28:1-10)
17. The road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35)
18. Appearing to the disciples (Luke 24:36-39)
19. Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of Fish (John 21:1-14)
20. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20)
21. The Ascension (Luke 24:50-53)

The key features of this plan are as follows...
1.  I will not be a slave to a dozen eggs! I am sure the boys will oblige in having a few more Kinder Surprises to add to our empty egg collection.
2.  The plan spans the four gospels and features each of the key events leading up to and covering the Easter story.  Where there was a choice of renderings I selected the one I thought was the most concrete and readily accessible to children.  Ultimately it will be good to be reading through each of the gospel accounts of Easter in their entirety but for now, this gets the full story across. 
3. We are planning to start soon so that we don't need to do an Easter reading EVERY day for the next twenty one days, to assist those (praise God) whose tender hearts find the content overwhelming.  As I write this there are six weeks until Easter so that gives plenty of time to get through all the readings comfortably.
4. The aim is to reach number sixteen on Easter Sunday - and then cover the last five over the following week or two.
5.  We probably won't do all twenty one readings straight from an adult Bible.  (The CEV Bible, by the way, is a very user friendly adult version to use with children - written in very plain English.)  To keep their interest up we will probably mix and match -a bit of adult Bible, a few readings from The Jesus Story Book (which covers the Easter story really well) and from other children's Bibles knocking about the place, perhaps listening to an audio version here and there.  We will mix and match as much as is needed to hold the children's interest.

And while that is happening I will also be doing my own reading leading up to Easter.  It's time to start dipping into Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross edited by Nancy Guthrie.  There are twenty five readings - which is about four readings each week in order to reach the end by Easter Sunday.  I am really looking forward to carving out a few quiet moments with a cup of tea a three or four times a week to work my way through this anthology.  I think I will begin this project tomorrow!

More on the subject of trials and suffering

Last night I was reading through a section of the BST commentary on John written by Bruce Milne as I prepared for a Bible study.  We are looking at John 11, part of which is the story of Lazarus' death and being raised back to life by Jesus - and Mary and Martha's response to these events.  In thinking about how Mary and Martha grew in their faith during these events, Bruce Milne said this:

Jesus' attitude to sickness here is parallel to 9:3: the sickness provides a platform so that the 'work of God might be displayed in his life.' What is true here at the level of physical illness can be extended to all the trials we face as Christian disciples. Our natural response is to rebel against them as alien intruders, which must be expelled from our lives as quickly and painlessly as possible by every means available, including God's miraculous intervention. With hindsight, however, another perspective is possible. We can offer our trials to God for him either to remove or retain as He pleases, thereby bringing glory to his name and deepening our faith, and possibly that of others too.

Joni Eareckson Tada, a paraplegic sufferer, authentically expresses this second alternative. "I do not care if I am confined to this wheelchair provided from it I can bring glory to God." The same conviction is expressed more generally by Hudson Taylor. "Trials afford God a platform for his working in our lives. Without them I would never know how kind, how powerful, how gracious He is." While we may feel daunted by the heights of devotion reflected in these quotations, we can all make a beginning in our present pains by offering them consciously to God for His using. From such small seeds a new maturity can blossom.

The Message of John by Bruce Milne, BST series, 1993, page 158