Sat.’s Devo - The Cruscifixion

Read: Numbers 15:17-16:40; Mark 15:1-47; Psalm 54:1-7; Proverbs 11:5-6 God instructed Moses that when they arrived at the promised land and reaped their harvests, they were to bring the Lord the first fruits of their labor. They were to make a cake from the wheat they reaped and present it to the Lord. This day would be fulfilled when Jesus rose from the dead as God’s first fruit. *** God gave them a way to atone for sins they unintentionally committed. If the whole community failed to carry out the Lord’s laws because they were unaware, then when they became aware, they could offer these sacrifices and be clean. They could offer a burnt offering, a grain offering, and a sin offering and be forgiven. *** If an individual unintentionally sinned and then realized their sin, they could atone also by offering the same offerings for themselves. But, if they brazenly sinned, they blasphemed the Lord and they should be cut off from the community and suffer the punishment for their guilt. *** The opportunity came for them to see this in action. A man was caught gathering wood on the Sabbath. He was brought before Moses, Aaron, and the community and God said he must die. He was taken outside the camp and stoned. *** God told the people to make tassels and to attach them to the hem of their garments with blue thread. This was to remind them to obey the commands of the Lord instead of their own desires. *** Korah, who was a Levite conspired with Dathan and Abiram to rebel against Moses and challenge his leadership. They had convinced 250 others in the camp to follow them. *** Moses told them to meet him with incense burners and God would choose which were holy. They were challenging the fact that only sons of Aaron could go into the Holy of Holies with incense. *** They met the next morning and God showed up. Moses declared what would happen to them and it did. The ground opened up and swallowed them alive - Korah, Dothan, Abiram and all their families. The 250 followers of theirs were killed by fire from the Lord. Their incense burners were pulled from the fire and beaten into thin sheets of bronze and overplayed on the altar as a reminder of what happened. It was to warn anyone who was not a descendant t of Aaron that they should never enter the Lord’s presence to burn incense. *** In Mark, early the next morning, Jesus was taken to Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate asked him if he was the king of the Jews and he replied, “You have said it.” Pilate listened to all the priests accusations against Jesus. Pilate asked Jesus if he was going to defend himself but Jesus said nothing. *** Every year, the governor would pardon a prisoner during the Passover celebration. He took Barabbas who was a murderer and an insurrectionist and placed him next to Jesus. He asked the crowd to choose which one would die and which would go free. The crowd was incited to vote to crucify Jesus. (This was the picture of the scapegoat ceremony.) Pilate knew Jesus was innocent but he caved to the crowd and released Barabbas and sentenced Jesus to die. *** Jesus was flogged and dressed in a purple robe. They put a crown of thorns on his head and mocked him as a king. Then they dressed him in his own clothes and sent him to be crucified. *** Simon from Cyrene was forced to carry Jesus’ cross to Golgotha which means “place of the Skull. There they nailed him to the cross and threw dice for his clothes. It was nine o’clock in the morning, the time when the high priest would have bound the Pascal lamb to the altar to be the lamb to die for the nation. *** A sign was placed above his head that read, “The king of the Jews. Two sinners were hung on either side of Jesus. *** At noon the sky went dark for three hours until three o’clock. This would be the exact time they would crucify the Pascal lamb and the priest would proclaim, “It is finished.” This was Jesus last cry also and he died. The Roman officers attending the crucifixion exclaimed that this man truly was the Son of God. *** The women who followed Jesus watched everything from afar. Since this happened on the day before the Sabbath, things had to be done quickly so they could be home by 6 to prepare for the Sabbath. *** Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and begged him for Jesus’ body. He took Jesus and laid him in his own hewn tomb. He wrapped his body in linen cloth and rolled a stone over the entrance. Mary Magdalene and Jesus’ mother, Mary saw where Jesus was laid. Lord, may we worship you with honest and pure hearts. Thank you for dying for our sins and taking our place. May we be directed by honesty and humility and bring glory to your name.