ONE HONEST LOOK

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”  (Romans 8:32 NKJV)

Nothing like one honest look, one honest thought of Christ upon His cross. That tells us how much He has been through, how much He endured, how much He conquered, how much God loved us, who spared not His only begotten Son, but freely gave Him for us. Dare we doubt such a God? Dare we murmur against such a God? 

-- Charles Kingsley (1819-1875)

#5906

FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE

SPECIAL NOTE: Today, March 29, 2024 marks the 25^th anniversary of this SOUND BITES Ministry in memory of our son, Dustin, who had died on this date the previous year (1998) from a brain tumor at the age of 16. Dustin was buried on Good Friday and two celebrations of his life and of God’s love were held on Easter Saturday – one in Green Bay, Wisconsin where I was then serving, and one in Cleveland Heights, Ohio where I had previously served and where Dustin had grown up.

Since SOUND BITES began 5,826 quotes, including today’s, have been sent out to our e-mail subscribers or Facebook followers or Blog readers around the world. As we continue through Lent, let today’s SOUND BITES quote speak to you, and then let it overflow to others everywhere. Please freely share with friends and family, with school and work mates, and with neighbors and fellow church members. We would love to hear from you. Simply send an e-mail to SOUNDBITESMinistry@gmail.com with where you live and how God is using SOUND BITES to minister to you or through you to others. You are welcome to comment below as well. – Rev. Dave Wilkinson

FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE

“One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Jesus: ‘Aren’t you the Messiah? Save Yourself and us.’ But the other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this Man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in paradise.’” (Luke 23:39-43 NIV). 

On the day Christ died, the angels must have been struck speechless at God's sacrifice. But perhaps even more amazing to them was the conversation between Christ and a common criminal.

For the condemned thief on the cross, time was running out. Regardless of what he had done before, in the end, he did fear God. He realized that his judgment after death would be totally determined by God.

Like the convict on the far side who insulted Jesus (Luke 23:39), this man must have come to the cross with knowledge of Jesus. He understood Jesus was no criminal. Even more important, he must have realized Jesus was God's Son who was headed back home to the paradise from which He had come.

Believing this, the thief decided to make one last request. He asked Jesus to save him when He arrived back in heaven. What an interesting contrast between the criminal who mocked Jesus to save him physically and this man who sought Jesus to save him spiritually.

Of course, Jesus said yes. He was being crucified for this very purpose -- to save sinners and to promise heaven to all those who ask.

Two thousand years later, the invitation still stands. 

-- Leith Anderson in “Christian Reader” magazine 

#5826

THE FULLNESS OF JESUS CHRIST

“But we preach Christ crucified…”  (1 Corinthians 1:23a)

One of the most fascinating of all the preacher’s tasks is to explore both the emptiness of fallen man and the fullness of Jesus Christ, in order then to demonstrate how He can fill our emptiness, lighten our darkness, enrich our poverty, and bring our human aspirations to fulfillment. For to encounter Christ is to touch reality and experience transcendence. He gives us a sense of self-worth or personal significance, because He assures us of God’s love for us. He sets us free from guilt because He died for us, from the prison of our own self-centeredness by the power of His resurrection, and from paralyzing fear because He reigns... He gives meaning to marriage and home, work and leisure, personhood and citizenship... The main objective in preaching is to expound Scripture so faithfully and relevantly that Jesus Christ is perceived in all His adequacy to meet human need. 

-- John Stott in “Between Two Worlds” 

#5714

IT WAS HIS CHOICE

Jesus outlasted, outmaneuvered, and outthought every group, every power. But not just that. Mostly He just out-loved everybody. For Jesus in the garden had one agenda that superseded the agendas of all the others: love. On Friday, Jesus died for love. He said it was His choice. It wasn’t Pilate’s. It wasn’t Herod’s. It wasn’t Caesar’s. It wasn’t the chief priests’. It wasn’t the crowds’. He said, “I lay down my life for the sheep. . . . No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” (John 10:17b-18)

The cross was changed from the symbol of a human empire’s power into a symbol of the suffering love of God. It was changed from an expression of ultimate threat into an expression of ultimate hope. It came, in a sense, to express the exact opposite of its original purpose -- that the power of embraced sacrifice is greater than the power of coercion. How did this happen? Jesus chose it. He chose to die on it. After Friday, neither the cross nor the world could stay the same. 

-- John Ortberg in “Who Is This Man?”

#5576

A UNIQUE DEATH FOR A UNIQUE MAN

“Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with Him to be executed.”  (Luke 23:32 NIV)

Though we find it hard and even repulsive to imagine, Jesus was only one of many people tortured to death by crucifixion. He had two companions at the brow of Calvary. But His experience on the cross included several added sobering features. A unique death for a unique man:

First, it was shameful. He was stripped of His clothing and pinned naked between heaven and earth. There’s no mention of the soldiers casting lots for the clothing of the other victims. He was ridiculed by the crowds and taunted by one of the criminals. Jesus suffered the humiliation of the sign posted over His head that attempted to mock His claim to be king.

Second, He was absolutely innocent -- and He could prove it! He was there by choice. The nails didn’t keep Him on the cross. His decision to remain there was stronger than His desire to avoid the pain. Think for a moment how tempting it must have been to have a self-pity party.

Third, Jesus bore the sins of the world -- including yours and mine -- on the cross.

Fourth, He sensed the forsaking action of God as His Father turned away from Him, covered as He was in our sins. 

-- Neil Wilson

#5574

A RIDE LIKE NO OTHER

Jesus said, “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”  (John 12:27-28 NIV)

Serious reflection on the Scripture references for Palm Sunday remind us that Jesus did not take a leisurely ride to town along a path strewn with palm branches. That first Palm Sunday saw the final ride on the high road of principle, obedience, and faith that would lead to the death of Jesus. The disciples may have wished otherwise, but deep in their hearts they must have known that this ride was like no other Jesus had taken and would bring the end of the life they knew as His followers.

We can be sure that Jesus knew that the shouts of “Hosanna” would give way to the cry of “Crucify.” He knew because He was fully human and was well acquainted with the temptation to follow the path of political correctness and the easiest way out. He also knew the shouts would change from “Hosanna” to “Crucify” because He was fully divine and could see clearly that His journey of incarnation was near the end. The coming humiliation and execution were now undeniable. His desire to be faithful was so overwhelmingly strong that He rode on in confidence and ultimate trust in God whom He knew intimately as Abba. There was no looking back with the question, “What if?” His focus remained on God and God’s will as He moved forward, propelled and sustained by His deep faith in God’s goodness and love. 

-- Norman Shawchuck and Rueben P. Job in “A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God” 

#5572

AN ACT OF GRACE AND MERCY

“When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals -- one on His right, the other on His left. Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’”  (Luke 23:33-34a NIV)

In the midst of the darkness and gloom of the cross, there came a voice from one of those two thieves. It flashed into the soul of Jesus as He hung there, “This must be the man; this must be the true Messiah.” He cried out, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom!”

We are anxious to get the last word of our dying friends. Here was the last act of Jesus. He snatched the thief from the jaws of death saying, “This day you will be with Me in Paradise.” Such was His forgiveness of sin, an act of grace, just as His forgiveness of His murderers was any act of mercy. 

-- Dwight L. Moody

#5328

FOR ME

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20 NKJV)

Every one of us must face the cross. Every one of us needs to come personally. "He died for me." Put the "me" into it. Only when you begin there, will the love of Christ begin to dawn in you. 

-- H. S. Vigeveno in “Jesus the Revolutionary”

#5327

DON’T TURN AWAY

“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him; nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem. Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”  (Isaiah 53:2b-6 NIV)

Most of us don’t like to face bad news. We turn off the television when a sensitive story is told. We ask to be spared the details when an injury or death is described. For whatever reason, we would rather avoid hearing or knowing the truth if it isn’t pretty.

One of the reasons that Lent is so important is that it requires us to come face to face with the graphic and painful death of Jesus. We would rather jump right over the suffering of Good Friday and go directly to Easter. But we cannot. We must watch Jesus die.

It may have been the Jews who placed Jesus upon the cross, but it was our sin that drove the nails into His hands and feet. It was our voices that cried out “Crucify Him!” It was for us that He died, and He did it willingly, so that we might live.  

-- Steven Molin, from the “Cypress Lake UMC Lenten Devotional 2004”

#5326

THE HANDS AND FEET OF CHRIST

“Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ After He said this, He showed them His hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” (John 20:19b-20 NIV)

Jesus' hands and feet were not just anyone's hands and feet, but the signs of His real bodily presence. They were the hands and feet of Jesus marked with the wounds of His Crucifixion.  It is of great spiritual importance that Jesus made Himself known to His disciples by showing them His wounded body.  The Resurrection had not taken His wounds away, but, rather, they had become part of His Glory.  They had become glorified wounds.

Jesus is the Lord who came to save us by dying for us on the Cross.  The wounds in Jesus' glorified body remind us of the way in which we are saved.  But they also remind us that our own wounds are much more than roadblocks on our way to God.  They show us our own unique way to follow the suffering Christ, and they are destined to become glorified in our resurrected life.  Just as Jesus was identified by His wounds, so are we.

This mystery is hard to grasp, but it is of the greatest importance in helping us to deal with our own brokenness. 

-- Henri Nouwen 

#5071

THIS WASN’T EXPECTED

“As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.”  (Matthew 27: 57-61 NIV)

I have often wondered what the disciples must have been thinking on the Saturday after the Friday Jesus was crucified. They weren’t expecting this. “This shouldn’t have happened” may have been part of their bewildering conversations. “This wasn’t expected” may have run through their minds as they sat in their grief.  The facts of Jesus’ presence among them had been replaced by the fears for their own lives. They were sheltering in place, not knowing what might come next.

It sounds a lot like today, doesn’t it? This Covid-19 virus wasn’t expected. The hospitalizations and deaths shouldn’t be happening. Grief and fear are ever present, sometimes hitting too close to home. “This isn’t the April we expected.”

On this April Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday 2020 I thought I would share with you a blog post by Max Lucado entitled “Surviving April.” Go to https://maxlucado.com/surviving-april.

Please be safe and keep others safe. And remember that when the disciples went to the empty tomb on Sunday morning this wasn’t expected either.

-- David T. Wilkinson

#4819

A STEADY RESOLUTION

“Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, ‘This Man is calling for Elijah!’  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. The rest said, ‘Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.’ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.’”  (Matthew 27:45-50 NKJV)

Jesus died by a voluntary act of His own, and in a way peculiar to Himself. He alone of all men that ever were, could have continued alive even in the greatest tortures, as long as He pleased, or have retired from the body whenever He had thought fit. And how does it illustrate that love which He manifested in His death insomuch as He did not use His power to quit His body, as soon as it was fastened to the cross, leaving only an insensible corpse, to the cruelty of His murderers: but continued His abode in it, with a steady resolution, as long as it was proper. He then retired from it, with a majesty and dignity never known or to be known in any other death: dying, if one may so express it, like the Prince of Life.

-- John Wesley

#4818

GOD VISITED THE EARTH

“For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in [Christ], and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.”  (Colossians 1:19-20 NIV)

The Gospel has a once-and-for-all quality. It is unique. There is nothing like it in history or in any other world religion…  God visited the earth.

That says it all! God visited the earth in Jesus Christ who lived and died and rose again for our salvation, who ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts and community of Christian believers. That is the Gospel, the Christ-event, the foundation of our faith. It happened once and need not happen again. All that we Christians believe is based on it.

-- Rev. Dr. A. Leonard Griffith in a sermon entitled "The Faith Entrusted to Us" 


#4574

THE RESURRECTION IS THE GAME-CHANGER

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  (Romans 10:9)

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the axis around which our faith revolves.  When Jesus rose from the dead, it radically redefined reality.  When He walked out of the tomb under His own power, the word impossible was removed from our vocabulary.  The resurrection is the history-changer, the game-changer.  But the trick is learning to live as if Jesus was crucified yesterday, rose from the dead today, and is coming back tomorrow!

The resurrection isn’t something we celebrate once a year by donning an Easter bonnet.  It’s something we celebrate every day in every way…  God raises dreams from the dead.  He resurrects dead relationships.  And no matter what part of your personality has died at the hands of sin or suffering or Satan himself, the Grave Robber came to give you your life back!

-- Mark Batterson in “The Grave Robber”

#4573

JESUS BECAME A CURSE FOR US

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us -- for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’ -- so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”   (Galatians 3:13-14 ESV)

Many years ago I was asked by the Quaker community of Pennsylvania, the Society of Friends, to come to one of their meetings and explain to them the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant. I talked about the Day of Atonement in Israel and the crucifixion of Christ in the New Testament. As I spoke of Christ becoming cursed, my message was interrupted by a guy in the back who stood up and shouted, "That's primitive and obscene!" I was taken aback, and just to give myself a chance to think I said, "What did you say?" as if I hadn't heard him. (Everybody in the room heard him.)

With great hostility he repeated himself, so I told him that I loved the words he'd chosen. What could be more primitive than killing animals and placing the blood over the throne of God or taking a human being and pouring out his blood as a human sacrifice? One of the things I love about the gospel is that it wasn't written merely for an agnostic elite group of scholars. The drama of redemption is communicated in terms so simple, so crass and primitive, that a child can understand it. I really like the second word he used -- obscene. If there ever was an obscenity that violates contemporary community standards, it was Jesus on the cross. After He became the scapegoat and the Father had imputed to Him every sin of every one of His people, the most intense, dense concentration of evil ever experienced on this planet was exhibited. Jesus was the ultimate obscenity.

-- R.C. Sproul, from “Proclaiming a Cross-centered Theology”

#4571

THE CENTERPIECE OF SALVATION

“But we preach Christ crucified…”  (1 Corinthians 1: 23a)

A centerpiece is the central or most important feature. Centerpieces tend to be the focus or center of attention. Anyone who has ever attended a wedding should be familiar with centerpieces. The centerpiece of the wedding is the bride; the centerpiece of the reception is the couple. The centerpiece of Philosophy is the love of wisdom. The centerpiece of Science is knowledge, knowing how things work. The centerpiece of History is facts. The centerpiece of most religions is works. The most important centerpiece of all time is God’s centerpiece, the Cross. The Cross is the centerpiece between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Cross was the centerpiece of Calvary; Jesus hung on the cross between two thieves. The Cross is the centerpiece of Salvation.

-- Billy Hicks in a sermon entitled “The Centerpiece of the Gospel: The Cross”

#4555

LIVING BY FAITH

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”  (Galatians 2:20)

A faithful person sees life from the perspective of trust, not fear. Bedrock faith allows me to believe that, despite the chaos of the present moment, God does reign; that regardless of how worthless I may feel, I truly matter to a God of love; that no pain lasts forever and no evil triumphs in the end. Faith sees even the darkest deed of all history, the death of God's Son, as a necessary prelude to the brightest.

-- Philip Yancey in “Reaching for the Invisible God Study Guide”

#4386

CHRIST’S SUBSTITUTIONARY SACRIFICE

^“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23 NRSV) We are the guilty parties who should have hung on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. And indeed, our deaths would have satisfied the need for justice -- the guilty would have been punished. But God’s love also needed to be satisfied. His love was compelled to extend forgiveness and make possible an eternal relationship between humans and their Creator. Only a sinless substitute, Jesus the Son of God, could accomplish that.

The Apostle Paul explains it this way: “God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT)

Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice fulfills a prophecy that Isaiah uttered some 800 years earlier: “The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6b NKJV)

Theologians have often referred to this as Jesus’ “vicarious” suffering; that is, He suffered in our place. As our substitute, He took the punishment that we deserved.

-- Clinton E. Arnold in an article entitled “The Ultimate Sacrifice” in Discipleship Journal, Sep/Oct 2006

#4308

THE IMAGE OF CHRIST

“For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”  (1 Corinthians 2:2 NKJV)

Jesus Christ evokes many images in the minds of people. Some picture Him as a baby in the manger -- the Christ of Christmas. Others picture Him as a child, perhaps living in the home of a carpenter or confounding the religious leaders of Jerusalem. Many picture Him as a compassionate and powerful healer who restored the sick and raised the dead. Still others picture a bold and fiery preacher speaking the Word of God to great crowds. And there are those who see Him as the consummate man -- a model of goodness, kindness, sympathy, concern, care, tenderness, forgiveness, wisdom, and understanding.

Yet one image of Christ that surpasses all the rest is Jesus Christ on the cross. To know Christ crucified is to know Him as the author and finisher of your faith -- the truest picture of His person and work.

Christ’s suffering on the cross is the focal point of the Christian faith. That’s where His deity, humanity, work, and suffering are most clearly seen.

-- John MacArthur in “Truth for Today”

#4306