Sabbath: Doing the Unthinkable
Image © Pacific Press
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Isa: 50:4-10, Isa: 52:13-53:12, Isa: 53:3-9, Isa: 53:10-12.
Memory Text: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
Lough Fook, a Chinese Christian, was moved with compassion for those of his compatriots who had become slaves in South American mines. He wanted to give them the hope of the gospel, but how could he have access to them? His solution was to sell himself for a term of five years as a slave. He was transported to Demerara, where he toiled in the mines and told his fellow workers about Jesus.
Lough Fook died, but not until 200 people were liberated from hopelessness by accepting Jesus as their Savior.
Such amazing self-sacrifice for the good of others! What an example!
By doing the unthinkable, that is, humbly “taking the form of a slave” (Phil: 2:7, NRSV), Jesus, too, had reached the unreachable—you and me and all the world steeped and lost in the abyss of sin.
This week we’ll see this incredible event prophesied hundreds of years before it happened.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 6.</
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Most of us accept that the scriptures in this weeks lesson are pointing towards the life and ministry of Jesus and we click our tongues and call shame on the Jewish nation for not recognising the Messiah when we walked among them. But do we also read these passages as an example of how we too should represent Jesus? Is there a message here for us about the power of meekness and humility when presenting the Gospel?
The scriptures on which this week's study is based deserve our closest atttention.
In our world, we have seen how famous human beings are so prideful. There are 3 levels of hierarchies in society. The 1% do not know the struggle someone in the lowest class is facing. However, we have the Creator of the universe leaving all of His riches to come to save us. In ancient culture, you would never see a deity or a being lowering himself/herself to interact with their followers.
In Philippians 2: 5 - 8, " In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!"
He came to die for us. The pagan gods in the Old Testament used to ask for human sacrifice. Some parents had to sacrifice their children in order to please their gods. On the other hand, our God sacrificed Himself in order to save us. Finally as Christians, we need to treat people with respect. Reverend Jesse Jackson stated: "don't look down on anybody unless you're helping them up." One preacher once said: the person in your circle whom you treat the worst is how you treat people. Let us treat everyone the same way that God has been treating us. Happy Sabbath.
Hi Jude,
Your comment reminded me of Daniel 2:11
11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans.”
The difference: Our God has an interactive relationship with humanity even after we have choose to turn our back on God.
John 1:14
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
What a contrast to all other world religions?
He seeks after us. He calls us by name.
Jude, I like the Philippians scripture you chose to make your point. I must say that I disagree with you on your comment about the “1%”. Most that I know, like myself, came from very humble beginnings, if not outright poverty, and have not forgotten where they came from. Most of them are very generous and with their success has come the means to help others. There is nothing wrong with becoming or being part of the 1% as long one remains humble and generous. It is a blessing to many.
...if you are wealth and you see yourself as wealthy then I think you might have a problem. our wealth and value is in Jesus, He saves us from sin. I anyone considers his/her value/wealth in material things like the 1% and count themselves among the 1%, remaining humble is the least of their troubles. Remember the rich in the temple gave abundantly by our standards, but in the eyes of God, the widow offering was superior. She gave all she had. I have that mind of Christ in us - to work to save all men from sin, then there is no division between 99% and 1%. We are 100% people in need of Jesus' mercy and grace.
We should be careful about stereotyping people according to their material wealth. I have seen generous rich people and miserly poor people. The lesson of the rich person and the widow in the temple was in the attitude of heart, not a classification system.
Greater love hath no man than this that he laid down his life for his friend.
John 15:13.
Doing the Unthinkable
Jesus became nothing so that humans can become something. The way humans behave is rooted in nature and nurture but we have no excuse. Jesus grew up in Nazareth, that place had no good reputation. Nathanael asked- can any good thing come out of Nazareth? The answer- come and see. John 1:46. We must allow the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The more we love that sin, the harder it takes for us to let go of it.
I lost contact with a family member and said to others, we have to put her name in the social media platform for someone to look for her. Anyhow the Lord knew my heart and she called me today with some explanation. I am trying hard to get to know more people so as to reach out to them about the Love of God for us.
Each one of us might not be able do unthinkable things, however, there is something which we can do. Yes, we can speak words of love, kind words, words of hope and even just listen. In my little corner where God has planted me, I can let my little light shine. "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength"(Phil.4:13).
The cover picture for this week's lesson is depicting a strong message that I am not sure is biblical. What is being shown here:
A lightning bolt coming from who? I have to safely assume it's coming from God.
A Man boldly protecting another person who is clearly afraid of the bolt striking him and this Protector is allowing the bolt to strike Him instead. This person is obviously Jesus Christ, as the shadow shows the picture of a cross on the ground.
But is this picture what the scripture teaches? Is the wages of sin God striking us with a lightning bolt? Has God ever called us to fear Him in THIS way? According to this picture, Jesus and God are not on the same side, Jesus seems to be protecting us from God. But the scripture clearly teaches that "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself" 2 Cor.5:19. How is this picture depicting the Gospel? This picture is showing exactly what people believe who don't accept the God of the OT, but they accept Jesus of the NT. They see Jesus as being the kind, gentle one and His Father as the exacting, impatience one, ready to destroy.
This picture raises more questions than it answers. Can anyone explain to me why this picture is the Gospel?
That s one way of looking at the picture, but I also see a different interpretation. Let me illustrate with a story:
When my son was little, he understood very little about the danger of traffic. He was old enough to run quite fast, and many times, I had to place myself between my son and a busy road to protect him from the consequences of his own actions. If necessary I would have placed myself in danger to save him. Who was I saving him from? Evil cars or their drivers? I was in fact saving him from the consequences of his own (ignorant) actions. If I was to draw a picture of it I would show my son running, traffic on the road and myself interposed between him and the traffic. Would you draw the conclusion that car drivers are evil?
Likewise in the picture above, I see Jesus protecting us from the consequences of evil and our own decisions, not from the wrath of God. I hope that illustration helps our understanding a little bit.
Thank you for that illustration, Maurice. But I believe there are some inconsistencies with your story and the picture. Let me explain:
I agree that as a loving father you would place yourself in between your son in the cars, which are not evil. You are rightfully protecting your "innocently ignorant" son from the result of his own actions. This is exactly what a father should do in this case.
But in the picture, the person fearfully hiding behind the Man is not "innocently ignorant", because if he was, he would be unaware of the danger coming, like your son who is unaware of the danger of cars. God is not like cars on the road and would hit him regardless of his knowledge. God judges us according to our knowledge not our ignorance.
So, you see the lightning bolt as our bad choices and Jesus protecting us from them by placing Himself in between. So, why does God Himself have to eventually destroy the people making bad choices and not just allow the consequences to carry out its own destruction?
You say the picture (which is obviously Calvary) is not Jesus protecting us from the wrath of God, but our choices. So, was the wrath of God placed on Christ on the cross or not?
Benjamin, I believe we must be careful not to read too much into one illustration. I think it was only an illustration of the memory text - Isa 53:5
I believe this text predicts that Jesus would die for our sins.
Rom 5:6-11, 2Cor 5:18-21
Read Rom 1:26, Rom 2:5, Rev 20:9,15, Mat 25:46, Mat 13:40-42 which are a few texts that tell of the result of rejecting Jesus substitutionary sacrifice.
Yes, I may be reading very deeply into the illustration, Shirley, but it's because I assume that the authors and illustrators would be very intentional about everything they decided to share in order for conversations like this to be had.
Yes, I know that it is a prophecy about Christ's death, but I was interested in how do we believe Christ died?? Did He die by the hand of God, or by the hands of man? The picture in my opinion looks like the former.
I couldn't agree more with Shirley. many people similarly twist the Bible to mean what they want to mean. It does not however change Gods intention for us. An illustration can be interpreted in many similar ways. I'll won't slit hairs about this. All I know, I'm in need salvation from this my vile body.
Thanks for sharing your perception with me Benjamin (not sure which is your first name). I need a little time to think about this one. The issue is that the Bible is quite unequivocal about the "wrath of God". There are about 30 references to the wrath of God, fairly evenly divided between the Old and New Testament. Just reading them through is pretty daunting. Such evidence is not easily explained in a short blog post. We have had a long running discussion on this Blog about the issue as to whether God destroys or sin destroys itself and I guess if we took a straw vote we would find our readers in either camp. I will see if I can have a discussion with my neighbour, a theologian of some repute, to get some answers. It may take a little while.
Hello Maurice. Yes, Benjamin is the first name. I thank you for considering the perspective offered. Yes, the back and forth concerning if God destroys or sin is bit of an ongoing issue. I really appreciate that you will discuss this matter with others. I understand time will be a factor. Thank you!
The Love of God placed Jesus on the cross, who then received the "wrath" of God for sinners, though He was without sin. The "wrath" of God simply is Him allowing us to stand in our sin unprotected from His glory, which He now shields us from. For all who reject salvation and cling to sin, this will be the final result, and when no longer shielded from God's glory, sinners will perish and simply cease to exist. God is without fault in so doing because He is the Sovereign, and is Holy, Just, and Good. Not one creature will find fault in all He has done, and all will confess His justice in revealing His full glory to all. This is what the Bible teaches.
Hi Robert, your explanation makes sense to me. I would appreciate it if you could list some passages that point to this understanding.
Is Rev 15:3-4 maybe one of them?
Yes Shirley, that passage in Rev 15 says a lot doesn't it, along with Rev 5:11-14, which I believe includes those who will be lost, as suggested by Paul in Phil 2:10,11.
I suppose that a study of God's glory, and Him being "a consuming fire", along with Rev 20:9, would help to understand what I shared as my current understanding. In passages such as Ps 15, Isa 33:14-16, and Dan 7:9,10, I see this point made clear, as I understand them. Also, in Ex 33:20 God tells Moses that no (sinful mortal) can see His face and live. While innocent, Adam and Eve enjoyed face to face communion daily.
Those are the scriptures that come to mind at the moment.
Ah, but Maurice, you would be facing your son, not the traffic. (My son had no fear of heights and often guardrail spacing would let little bodies through, so I never took my eyes off of him in "high" situations. I had to be ready to restrain him at a moment's notice and normally kept his hand locked in mine.)
I am inclined to favour Benjamin's interpretation. But perhaps instead, the lightning bolt is a fiery dart from the Adversary? (Ephesians 6:16.) Then Jesus' orientation would make soteriological sense.
Interesting view point. I also see very differently. This picture changes when you put God on a different side of the picture. We (Man) turned our back on God (literally in the picture) and and followed sin which leads to certain death - assuming that is the lightening bolt. Jesus, sent from the Father, from the place behind the man - came to redeem us from death and defeat it. Jesus has taken the lightening bolt for us, and has defeat death already. The Father is not on the sending end of the bolt - like Zeus. On His side is life, His good pleasure (Ish 46:9), joy, fellowship, beauty, blessings, love...
Brolin,
I really like your perspective on this picture, that God is on the other side and not the side of the lightning bolt! Yes, we turned our back on God and the only thing we can get from that is certain death which the bolt represents, but Christ came in placed Himself in between us and our certain consequences and took upon Himself the results of our sins! Praise the Lord!
The Creator's Love releases the most marvelous, creative energy present in the Universe! Do we fully recognize this as the Creator’s fundamental disposition when He established and as He maintains His Creation?
Nothing can exist outside of this primal Life Force; things appear to exist, but they cannot maintain their integrity without the Creator's bonding agent - Creative Love. Sin, the opposing energy to Love, was the reason why man had to leave Paradise; its presence is contrary to God’s life-giving principles which also sustains life.
Yes, man can place the fault for his loss at the feet of the tempter and the first parents, but now, with the Presence of the Holy Spirit in the world, he cannot claim ignorance unless it is willfully embraced.
The ability of the mind to exercise its free Will is the most cherished and invaluable present from God to man, but it can also lead him to choose death instead of Life. The Triune Creator decided to give all that is contained within His Law of Life to prepare man to walk the Way of Life. Gratefully and humbly accepted and applied, it will bring estranged mankind home – the Father's Truth expressed/contained in Christ Jesus' Love applied by Faith.
Yes, the greatest Gift of Love given to mankind was the Son of God, foretold, eagerly anticipated, and manifested in the form of man, our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, and sinful man still found cause to reject Him.
The Son accepted the heavenly call to serve the Father’s Will as He lived His Life on earth among people who live their lives without the Father’s Love in their heart; He gave up His position of privilege and Power in Heaven for the uncertain journey in the body of a man to convince the chosen people that their God is come in the form of man to redeem them. Christ Jesus knew that His Father would remain faithful to His promise, but He could only know it with the certainty of the heart and mind of a man - and Christ Jesus' unwavering, loving, humble Faith has set all mankind free.
His Love of His Father and Faith in that the Father’s live-sustaining principle of righteous, selfless acts of ‘Love’ overcomes the powers of self-serving, sinful acts sustained our Lord and Savior during the time of His Trial; they remained one in Spirit.
Isaiah, the Servant of the Lord of Israel, speaks the Words of eternal Truth from our Creator for all who have an ear to hear, the heart to receive it and the faith and will to live by it. The record of the Words of God provide us with 20/20 vision in hindsight, the present and for the future. All He asks of us is to have Faith and walk humbly in His Love - Isa.51:3-8KJV.
I was blessed to be asked to share a Children's Story at church today. Looking around my home Friday night thinking of what to talk about, I spotted my muddy boots. This led me to contemplate further about Jesus doing the foot washing at the Last Supper.
It was the slave or unpaid servant's role to wash guests feet. The lowest in human-made class and caste systems, hierarchies that imply human value still present in every society. The disciples, in the context of this story, were again jockeying for position and all wanting to be the greatest. 24 feet needed to be washed. About 24 minutes on the floor? Jesus just got down on His knees and did the smelly humble task. No condemnation from Him, just a reminder to His friends and followers that if He could do it, we should race to care for and humble ourselves before each other too.
I think it will make more sense if we look at the lighting bolt in the context of Ephesians 6:16. In the story of Job, the devil sought to destroy Job...and these darts are thrown at us, (by the devil), as a result of the wrong choices we make, but Christ makes Himself our Shield, as shown in the picture, just because it is not His desire or God's desire that we may perish...but that we may come to repentance and be saved. Guys, that's what the devil is very good at...throwing darts at us. He also knows that the wages of sin is dead...so every time we sin, he is in a hurry to destroy us. What the devil does not quite understand is why God is always giving us opportunity upon opportunity to repent. I think we are highly privileged.
I see a person hiding behind Jesus as He faces the attacks from the enemy. Maybe because that’s what I am constantly doing, I try to tuck myself in tightly behind God so that He can keep me from wondering away in thought or purpose. The enemy throws a lot of distractions our way.
What I took away from the verses we read was this; Isaiah 50:4 & 5 are the key to all the other texts. In the NLT the first part of 4 says “The Sovereign Lord has given me His words of wisdom... Morning by morning He awakens me and opens my understanding to His will. The end of verse 5 says “and I have listened and not rebelled or turned away.”
What I see here is that Jesus immersed himself in scripture and prayer, and he did not rebel or turn away, in other words, He was obedient. That right there, those two verses, are the key to how He was able to do what was described in all the other verses. He was able to see his oppressors as sin broken people who needed a Savior, and because he spent time in prayer and scripture, he knew that He was that Savior.
Am so blessed as I read through the comments God bless you all .