A REQUEST AND A GIFT

"One of the criminals hanging beside [Jesus] scoffed, 'So You're the Messiah, are You? Prove it by saving Yourself -- and us, too, while You're at it!' But the other criminal protested, 'Don't you fear God even when you are dying? We deserve to die for our evil deeds, but this man hasn't done anything wrong.' Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.' And Jesus replied, 'I assure you, today you will be with Me in Paradise'." (Luke 23:39-43 NLT)

Amidst all the people at the crucifixion scene there is one person with whom all of us can identify. We can all relate to the crucified crook. All of us hang on the cross beside Jesus. All of us have made the most imaginable request. And all of us who are in the body of Christ have received the most unimaginable and immeasurable gift that we could ever receive -- salvation!

-- Max Lucado 

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SUFFERING ON THE CROSS

"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed."  (1Peter 2:24 ESV)

During my senior year in high school, I took an art history survey course taught by a dynamic and passionate art lover. Ms. Giles, with her colorful, stylish clothes and contagious enthusiasm, trained us to analyze and appreciate art in all its diverse genres and media, from the art of the ancient Greeks to the art of surrealist, abstract, and post-modern painters and sculptors. Some time periods and artists I appreciated more than others.

One day Ms. Giles pulled me aside after class for a gentle conversation. "I noticed you weren't looking at some of the slides today, Sharon," she said. "Is anything wrong?"

The slides that day were primarily paintings of the crucifixion, and I couldn't bear to look. I made some excuse about feeling squeamish with some of the gory depictions. But more than that, I found the paintings disturbing because they were too close and confrontational. At that point in my life, I was far more comfortable with an empty cross, a sanitized cross, the kind I could wear around my neck on a gold or silver chain on Sundays. I didn't want to look at Jesus suffering upon it. 

-- Sharon Garlough Brown, excerpted from her newsletter

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BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES

SPECIAL NOTE: Today, March 29, marks the 22^st anniversary of this SOUND BITES Ministry in memory of our son, Dustin, who had died on this date the previous year. This past year we marked the milestone of sending out SOUND BITES #5000. This past year the Covid-19 pandemic has affected us all in so many varying ways. It has been a tough year, but because Jesus lives, we can have hope, not only for this life, but for our life to come. As we begin Holy Week today’s SOUND BITES quote speaks to the “life-changing message” found “in the Person of Jesus Christ.”  -- DW

BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES

“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”  (Matthew 21:9 NKJV)

Praise God! The world of humanity that had been separated from God and unable to approach Him except indirectly through the Jewish sacrifices and ceremonies was now invited to draw near and be reconciled directly to God through [His Son] Who had invaded time and space [to live among us!]…

Real meaning to your life is found in the glorious dawn of God’s story, which breaks into full resolution in the Person of Jesus Christ. What an astounding truth! What a life-changing message!

Because He emptied Himself of all but love, you can be filled.

Because His body was broken, your life can be whole.

Because His blood was shed, your sin can be forgiven.

Because He submitted to injustice, you can forgive.

Because He finished His Father’s work, your life has worth.

Because He was forsaken, you will never be alone.

Because He was buried, you can be raised.

Because He lives, you don’t have to be afraid.

Because He reached down to you, you don’t have to work your way up to Him.

Because His promises are always true, you can have hope! 

-- Anne Graham Lotz in “God’s Story”

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WHO IS THIS?

“A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Jesus and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’” (Matthew 21:8-10 NIV)

The Triumphal Entry got so many things right but the crucial things wrong. Jesus received a royal welcome for shortsighted reasons. Those who cut the branches and spread their coats expected a lot from Jesus. They didn’t expect enough. They wanted a king; they needed so much more.

The Triumphal Entry represents all of those clear motives when humanity has expressed its strongest wishes for God to intervene, but has mistaken its own purpose for God’s. This opening scene in Jesus’ final week serves as a reminder of all the ways in which Jesus’ entry into history was misunderstood even by those who were expecting Him. The Triumphal Entry teaches us to acknowledge Jesus Christ for who He really is…

Our understanding of Jesus Himself has much to do with the way we see and understand the Triumphal Entry. 

-- Adapted from “His Passion: Christ’s Journey to the Resurrection”

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YOUR KING COMES

“Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”  (Matthew 21:6 NKJV)

Christ’s public Entry into Jerusalem seems altogether different from -- almost inconsistent with -- His previous mode of appearance. Evidently, the time for the silence so long enjoined has passed, and the time for public declaration had come. And such, indeed, this Entry was. From the moment of His sending forth the two disciples to His acceptance of the homage of the multitude, and His rebuke of the Pharisee’s attempt to arrest it, all must be regarded as designed or approved by Him; not only a public assertion of His Messiahship, but a claim to its national acknowledgement. And yet, even so, it was not to be the Messiah of Israel’s conception, but He of prophetic picture: “just and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass.”…

There can, at least, be no question that this prophecy was intended to introduce, in contrast to earthly warfare and kingly triumph, another Kingdom, of which the just King would be the Prince of Peace, Who was meek and lowly in His Coming, Who would speak peace to the sinner, and Whose sway would yet extend to earth’s utmost bounds. 

-- Adapted from Alfred Edersheim in “The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah”

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