Yesterday I found myself thinking about Passo
ver, which we are a couple of days into at this point. Not being from a Jewish family, the significance of Passover is somewhat lost on me from a cultural perspective.
However, several years ago Lisa and I sat down with a group of friends and a former Jewish Rabbi walked us through a traditional passover meal, explaining each element as we went. The symbolism that is tied to each and every item on the table is quite meaningful. If you have the time, the video below from Jews For Jesus is similar to what we experienced.
It is important that I remember my spiritual heritage.
It is important to remember what I have been rescued from.
I challenge you to pause and reflect on either your current spiritual state of bondage or freedom.
I pray that you will accept the freedom and deliverance found in Christ.
Below are two songs from Andrew Peterson that move me to remember all these things.
Passover Us
Lyrics for "Passover Us"
by Andrew Peterson
Well, we all remember Moses on the banks of the river
He said "Pharaoh, you've got to let my people go.
You don't want me to have to tell you this ten times over--
Denial ain't just a river, you know"
So we all remember Pharaoh, he just wouldn't do it
So the plagues came upon Egypt one by one
His heart was hard and the other nine just couldn't move it
So the last was the worst: the death of the firstborn son
Oh but the Lord, he gave to Moses a word for the people
He said their firstborn sons would live to see another day
"Put the blood of a lamb on the doorway and death will pass right over"
That night all the children of Israel prayed,
They prayed,
"Lord, let your judgment passover us
Lord, let your love hover near
Don't let your sweet mercy passover us
Let this blood cover over us here"
So the years went by and the people they whined and they wandered
And only sacrifice atoned for the sins of the land
So you see the priest he placed upon the holy altar
The body of a spotless lamb
And he prayed,
"Lord, let your judgment passover us
Lord, let your love hover near
Don't let your sweet mercy passover us
Let this blood cover over us here"
Deliver Us
Lyrics for "Deliver Us
" by Andrew Peterson
Our enemy, our captor is no pharaoh on the Nile
Our toil is neither mud nor brick nor sand
Our ankles bear no calluses from chains, yet Lord, we're bound
Imprisoned here, we dwell in our own land
Deliver us, deliver us
Oh Yahweh, hear our cry
And gather us beneath your wings tonight
Our sins they are more numerous than all the lambs we slay
These shackles they were made with our own hands
Our toil is our atonement and our freedom yours to give
So Yahweh, break your silence if you can
Deliver us, deliver us
Oh Yahweh, hear our cry
And gather us beneath your wings tonight
'Jerusalem, Jerusalem
How often I have longed
To gather you beneath my gentle wings'
I am the woman at the well, I am the harlot
I am the scattered seed that fell along the path
I am the son that ran away
And I am the bitter son that stayed
My God, my God why hast thou accepted me
When all my love was vinegar to a thirsty King?
My God, my God why hast thou accepted me
It's a mystery of mercy and the song, the song I sing
I am the angry man who came to stone the lover
I am the woman there ashamed before the crowd
I am the leper that gave thanks
But I am the nine that never came
My God, my God why hast thou accepted me
When all my love was vinegar to a thirsty King?
My God, my God why hast thou accepted me
It's a mystery of mercy and the song, the song I sing
You made the seed that made the tree
That made the cross that saved me
You gave me hope when there was none
You gave me your only Son
My God, Lord you are
My God, my God, Lord you are
My God
I have been reflecting on the sermon Pastor Bob delivered on Sunday (see Dan's Sunday AM Remix), particularly the section on waiting on God timing, and this song has been in my head throughout that process. Sometimes the silence we hear and feel when we seek direction/guidance from God can be quite unnerving. This is particularly true in cases where we approach God with a heavy emotional burden. And that is why I love the conclusion of this song:
And the man of all sorrows, he never forgot
What sorrow is carried by the hearts that he bought
So when the questions dissolve into the silence of God
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
Jesus understands what it is like to hear the silence of God. While in the Garden of Gethsemane, He pleaded for the Father to remove the cup of agony and pain he was about to experience from Him. (see Luke 22:39-46) Yes, we are told that an angel is sent to comfort Jesus, but the angel does not remove the suffering Jesus is encountering. Note that, after the angel appeared, Jesus then prayed more earnestly while still being in agony. "The aching still remained..."
Jesus then understood the silence of God in a way that we will never understand. While hanging on the Cross on Calvary, Jesus had His Father, whom He has been in communion with for all eternity past, turn his face from Him and pour out His wrath upon Jesus, as the sins of millions of people were cast upon Him and judged. In that moment of alienation, when Jesus Christ experienced the total silence of God, He cried out "Why have you forsaken me?" (see Matthew 27:45-46).
For years I always attributed this quote strictly as a natural response to that painful moment when Christ felt the absolutely foreign weight of sin cast down upon Him. However, in recent years, I have come to love the fact that Jesus was not merely responding to the moment, but was capturing it by quoting the beginning of a Psalm of David, which every Jew that surrounded Him would have instantly recognized and known how it progressed.
Read the following portions of Psalm 22 and see how Jesus was proclaiming His Deity and the faithfulness of God just prior to His death:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praisesof Israel.
In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.
To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd,and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.
For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet -
I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me;
they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!
You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.
All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations even the one who could not keep himself alive.
Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.
I can definitely relate to the "Where are you God?" portions of this passage. However, we must recognize, like the Jews on the hill that day, that Jesus was pointing out that the rest of this Psalm was His to proclaim as well. He was enduring exactly what was prophesied by David centuries before, so that he could also lay claim to final portion where the Lord is given the praise and honor that is due Him. Jesus wasn't merely proclaiming that He was missing God's presence in that moment; He was also proclaiming that He understood that the final outcome was that God would hear His cry and that Jesus would have his rightful place of authority restored.
This is one of the reasons why, immediately prior to his last breath Jesus cried out "It is finished." He had accomplished the task set before Him. He had endured the pain of the crucifixion, as well as the pain of judgement and isolation from God. There was nothing left for Him to do.
So the challenge that I have, that I place to you, is to consider "How do I wait on God?" Do I wait on Him with a sense of dread that He will not respond or that He might give me an unclear response, or do I understand like David and Jesus that God is faithful and He will fulfill all His promises to me? I struggle with remembering that my life is but a vapor and the only amount of significance that it obtains has been given to me by God, so that i proclaim Him to those around me.
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as
we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are
unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that
are unseen are eternal. - 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
The Silence of God by Andrew Peterson
It's enough to drive a man crazy; it'll break a man's faith
It's enough to make him wonder if he's ever been sane
When he's bleating for comfort from Thy staff and Thy rod
And the heaven's only answer is the silence of God
It'll shake a man's timbers when he loses his heart
When he has to remember what broke him apart
This yoke may be easy, but this burden is not
When the crying fields are frozen by the silence of God
And if a man has got to listen to the voices of the mob
Who are reeling in the throes of all the happiness they've got
When they tell you all their troubles have been nailed up to that cross
Then what about the times when even followers get lost?
'Cause we all get lost sometimes...
There's a statue of Jesus on a monastery knoll
In the hills of Kentucky, all quiet and cold
And He's kneeling in the garden, as silent as a Stone
All His friends are sleeping and He's weeping all alone
And the man of all sorrows, he never forgot
What sorrow is carried by the hearts that he bought
So when the questions dissolve into the silence of God
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
In the holy, lonesome echo of the silence of God
Sunday's Comin' by S.M. Lockridge
It’s Friday
Jesus is praying
Peter’s a sleeping
Judas is betraying
But Sunday’s comin’
It’s Friday
Pilate’s struggling
The council is conspiring
The crowd is vilifying
They don’t even know
That Sunday’s comin’
It’s Friday
The disciples are running
Like sheep without a shepherd
Mary’s crying
Peter is denying
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s a comin’
It’s Friday
The Romans beat my Jesus
They robe him in scarlet
They crown him with thorns
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s comin’
It’s Friday
See Jesus walking to Calvary
His blood dripping
His body stumbling
And his spirit’s burdened
But you see, it’s only Friday
Sunday’s comin’
It’s Friday
The world’s winning
People are sinning
And evil’s grinning
It’s Friday
The soldiers nail my Savior’s hands
To the cross
They nail my Savior’s feet
To the cross
And then they raise him up
Next to criminals
It’s Friday
But let me tell you something
Sunday’s comin’
It’s Friday
The disciples are questioning
What has happened to their King
And the Pharisees are celebrating
That their scheming
Has been achieved
But they don’t know
It’s only Friday
Sunday’s comin’
It’s Friday
He’s hanging on the cross
Feeling forsaken by his Father
Left alone and dying
Can nobody save him?
Ooooh
It’s Friday
But Sunday’s comin’
It’s Friday
The earth trembles
The sky grows dark
My King yields his spirit
It’s Friday
Hope is lost
Death has won
Sin has conquered
and Satan’s just a laughin’
It’s Friday
Jesus is buried
A soldier stands guard
And a rock is rolled into place
But it’s Friday
It is only Friday
Sunday is a comin’!
If you are like most people and have a hard time following where the different events of the Passion week occurred, here is a map with the events located on it. (Of course, certain exact locations are unknown and so I believe this tool is utilizing the most popular traditional locations.)
I am also finding Justin Taylor's Holy Week series to be helpful during this time. In this series, he is capturing all Scriptural references to events that happened on each day this week in the life of Jesus Christ, using the ESV.
It's interesting for me to think that a little over 2,000 years ago there was a bunch of incredibly confused, frightened men sitting huddled up in a room in Jerusalem, not knowing what to do next and wondering if they had wasted the last 3 years of their lives. I'm sure they were mourning the loss of their teacher and friend, but I'm sure there also had to be nagging, and perhaps, unspoken questions that resonated within them: "That's how this journey ends? Where's the Kingdom He spoke about? How can He rule when He is dead? Have I been tricked?"
They sat cowering in a room, in a town where the people had just called for and then carried out the brutal execution of their leader. He said He was the long awaited and promised Messiah. I'm sure none of them thought this was part of the plan for that foretold Deliverer. How can you save anyone from anything when you are dead and literally in the ground? What was next for them?
So they waited. They cried. They we perplexed. They were disenfranchised. And they were right where God wanted them to be.
Where do you find yourself today? Are you waiting for something? Are you missing something? Are you confused about what is happening in your life? Are you angry with how your life has turned out?
Guess what? This story didn't end for those men all those years ago on this Day of Questions. This story doesn't end there for you.
God has provided the Answer to all of those questions you have and is waiting for you to see Him as He is today.
He's not dead in some tomb in a far away land. He's not some footnote on the bottom of the page of a history book. He's not just a leader who died and left His followers to fend for themselves.
This Day of Questions will pass and when the sun rises tomorrow, His followers will recognize the Answer.
Today I revel in the questions, knowing that tomorrow I get to participate in the celebration of the Answer.
If you are looking for a church in the St. Louis/ St. Charles, MO area to attend for Easter services, I'd invite you to join me at First Baptist Church of Harvester. Services will be held at 8am, 9:30am and 11am. Childcare and nursery services are available.
ver, which we are a couple of days into at this point. Not being from a Jewish family, the significance of Passover is somewhat lost on me from a cultural perspective.
by Andrew Peterson
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