Deuteronomy 21:1-22:30, Luke 9:51-10:12, Psalms 74:1-23, Proverbs 12:11
Today is the 2nd day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is truly a privilege and truly an honor to be here with you as we continue to just…ahhh…get settled into a brand-new month. And today, I mean we’ve been working through this week, holy week, and today is Good Friday, the day that we observe and commemorate the…the crucifixion, the execution, the death of Jesus on a cross in Jerusalem. And, so, indeed we’ve got a lot going on and a lot to consider. And we’ve also got the next step forward in the Scriptures. And, so, let’s take that step. We’re reading from the Contemporary English Version this week and we’re continuing to work our way through the book of Deuteronomy, the last things that Moses wants to impart before he…before he passes away. And I want to guess we’ve got another…we’ve got another week in the book of Deuteronomy and we’ll be facing another transition. We’ll be ending the Torah and moving forward. But for today Deuteronomy chapters 21 and 22.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word. And Lord, Lord Jesus as we read through the gospel of Luke You have made Your turn toward Jerusalem. And, so, over the coming days we’ll read that narrative again. But today is a day where we observe a culminating point, the day of Your crucifixion, the day of Your death, which makes this one of the darkest days that we can comprehend. And in terms of a Christian calendar this would be the darkest day possible, a day when Your creation turned so utterly against You, that they could not recognize You and were willing to kill You. Obviously, that’s not the end of the story and we know that, but this is the story that today represents. And, so, as we put ourselves in that position thinking of an angry mob crying out for Your execution, thinking of the mayhem of it all, thinking of the mistreatment, the abuse, the beating, the bruising, the crown of thorns, the blood, the cries of agony, the human cries of agony as…as the instruments of execution are driven through flesh and into wood. It’s so difficult for us to embrace the picture. It’s so difficult for us to even slow down enough. It's…it’s not something we…we want to look at. It’s something that we would much rather look away from. And yet since we began a journey so long ago on Ash Wednesday and moved through the season of Lent it was always coming to this because we were considering the pathways of sin, and sin only leads to death. And You had no sin, but You paid the price of sin. And, so, even though we don’t want to look at, this is what it cost, this is what it cost for us to be here in fellowship with You now. And if we continue to look away and not pay attention to this cost…well…then, it’s cheap to us, its grace, it's…it’s drive through forgiveness and it doesn’t actually register that this, our sin caused Your death in our place. And, so, therefore we don’t want any part of sin. Anything that would estrange us from You is leading us down the pathway of destruction but is leading us away from the one who loved us more than is comprehendible to step in on our behalf and take the punishment. And, so, Jesus we are so grateful today. But this is where we focus our attention and our affection and our motivation and our contemplation. And, so, as we go through this day Holy Spirit come and allow us to sit with it. Allow us to move around today somberly. Yes, we will be rejoicing. Easter is coming. We will rejoice. But today is the day to sit with what it cost to bring us a moment to rejoice. Come Holy Spirit we pray and to all of this we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Song:
Jesus Paid it All – Fernando Ortega
I hear the Savior say
Thy strength indeed is small!
Child of weakness, watch and pray
Find in Me thine all in all
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power, and Thine alone
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
For nothing good have I
Where-by Thy grace to claim
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calvary’s Lamb
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete
Jesus died my soul to save
My lips shall still repeat
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow