It’s Good Friday…

Dallas Jenkins, creator and director of The Chosen, made a short movie in 2014 called Once We Were Slaves about the two thieves. He sets it up beautifully. The two thieves are brothers: one is irreligious, given to crime. The other is studying to be a rabbi. When the Romans assault his fiancé, he lashes out at them, and they both end up on death row. Guess which one “will be with Me in Paradise.”

(Spoiler alert! If you want to take the 26 minutes to watch the movie now, I’ll wait.)

As much as I’ve studied grace, I always think of the repenting thief being the good guy, and the other thief as evil. It didn’t occur to me that it might have been the other way around. 

While we were still SINNERS, Christ died for us. (Romans 5.8)

For we ourselves were once…slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. (Titus 3.3, ESV)

So many images from Maundy Thursday – we especially remember Jesus’ initiation of “The Lord’s Supper” or “Communion” or “The Eucharist.”

And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22.14 – 20, ESV)

In addition to the bread and the wine, John’s Gospel, chapters 13 – 17, records a lot that Jesus said and did that night:

• He washed the disciples’ feet.
• He told them to love each other.
• He promised the Holy Spirit.
• He explained the vine and the branches.
• He prayed for them (and us!).

A good night, and worth thinking about as we:

Do this in remembrance of me.

It was Palm Sunday a few days ago – a day I’ve written about, mainly negatively because although it was an important day that fulfilled prophecy, Jesus was crucified just a few days later…apparently by some of the same people.

That said, maybe the Palm Sunday crowd was just disappointed that Jesus didn’t overthrow the Romans, but the Jerusalem crowd incited for his crucifixion. Two different crowds? It wouldn’t be the first time the Jerusalem crowd was out of step. Look again at the visit of the wise men as recorded in Matthew 2:

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. (Matthew 2.1 – 3, ESV, emphasis mine)

Then notice that the Jerusalem crowd is similarly out of step at the triumphal entry (Palm Sunday):

The disciples…brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21.6 – 11, ESV, emphasis mine)

God has always done some of his best work away from the “important cities” and “the elites” of society:

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1.26 – 29, ESV)

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” (John 1.43 – 46, ESV)

He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John 1.11, KJV)

Tom Hanks, playing a broken-down manager of a women’s baseball team in A League of Their Own, uttered this famous line:

Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There’s no crying! THERE’S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!

Well, sometimes there is. In the Colorado Rockies opening day game last Friday, Cuban-born Rockies shortstop Jose Iglesias got a base hit in the second inning to drive in the Rockies’ second run. He broke down in tears. Why? Because his father, still in Cuba, had died just a few weeks before. Here’s how the Colorado Springs Gazette described the moment:

What I want to draw your attention to is Dodger first-baseman Freddie Freeman, one of the heroes in the Atlanta Braves’ world series victory last season, and one of the most well-liked players in baseball. Google him, and you’ll read things like this:

“There is no person that doesn’t like Freddie Freeman in the league,” said Miguel Rojas, the Miami Marlins shortstop.

When it comes to earning the respect of your teammates, coaches and fellow players in a sports league, it certainly helps to be good at the sport. And it just so happens that Freddie Freeman is good — really good — at baseball, earning the MVP Award for the 2020 season and leading the league in runs scored while picking up All-Star selection No. 5 in 2021.

But even if Freeman was a .195 career hitter instead of a .295 career hitter, and even if his career-high in home runs was 11 instead of 38, and even if he had a grand total of zero Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers to his name, it seems like he’d still be a beloved member of Major League Baseball. Why? He’s the nicest dude on the diamond. – Audacity.com

Many say that he treats first base like his front porch, and if you’ve gotten a base hit, you’ve dropped in for a visit. He congratulates players for getting a hit, and they often exchange batting tips.

When Jose Iglesias came for his “visit,” and then broke down in tears, here’s how the Gazette described the moment:

On Friday, noticing the emotion, Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman immediately tried to comfort him. Freeman lost his mother when he was young and tried to help Iglesias get through the moment. “It was a beautiful moment,” Iglesias said. “Beyond baseball, we are human beings.”

I write frequently about the 6Ms – ways God uses us – and Freddie Freeman at first base demonstrates that we can both Make Good Work and Minister Grace and Love, even in the competitive environment of professional sports.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. (Romans 12.15, ESV)

I know that we’re already into Passion Week, and I’ll no doubt have a few appropriate meditations as we approach Easter. Our reading program has just started Matthew, however, and I don’t like to miss the unsung hero of the nativity: Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus. He doesn’t get much press: a few mentions here in Matthew, even fewer in Luke, and a few people in the gospels refer to Jesus as “Jesus, son of Joseph.” None of his words are recorded.

But Matthew tells us of four angelic visits and four instant responses:

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”…When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. (Matthew 1.20, 21, 24, 25, ESV)

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt... (Matthew 2.13 – 14, ESV)

But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. (Matthew 2.19 – 22, ESV)

Four angelic visits, four immediate responses, two in the middle of the night!

And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt. (2.14)

And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. (2.21)

No one wants to get up in the middle of the night! A few days ago, our dog who almost always sleeps through the night had a problem, and I had to take him out at 2:30 am and again at 5 am. Even when I know that he’s not just changing positions, but he needs to go out, I have a tough time “rising and taking.”

“Rise, take the child and his mother…” Obedience requires work, and sometimes it requires an instant response! Arise…

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. (1 Corinthians 15.10, NIV)

Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them…Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. (John 14.21, 23, 24, NIV)

Our 5x5x5 Reading Plan takes us to the Gospel of Matthew after James, and with Matthew’s opening, we have a most unusual genealogy: one that includes women! I briefly referred to this the other day when talking about Skip Gray’s one-liners, but it’s worth another look. Here are the first two-thirds of it, as shown in the ESV on my iPad with my highlights:

Artist C. Farrell Johnson, of whom I know nothing, captured the question well:

The opening verses of the Gospel of Matthew trace the ancestry of Jesus back to the patriarch Abraham. Not surprisingly, Jesus’ genealogy is an illustrious one, including Jacob, Judah, David, Solomon and Hezekiah. Somewhat unusually, however, the list includes four women from the Hebrew Bible. 

In Matthew’s Jewish world, genealogies typically mentioned only men.  Even more surprisingly, the four women—Tamar [Genesis 38], Rahab [Joshua 2 and 6.22-25], Ruth [read the whole book with her name on it!] and “the wife of Uriah” (that is, Bathsheba)—have somewhat spotty reputations. What prompted Matthew to include a prostitute (Rahab), a woman who pretended to be a prostitute (Tamar), a sexually forward widow (Ruth), and a woman taken in adultery (Bathsheba) in his “account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham”? – C. Farrell Johnson, scripture references added

Why, indeed? Moreover, most, if not all, of these women were Gentiles!

The late Skip Gray said, “God cares about the weak, the abused, the marginalized, and the sinful.” Amen. And in addition, Matthew is showing us that God uses all kinds of people. Anyone can be part of God’s plan, “regardless of who you are or what you have done.” That’s good news – a worthy start for a book of that name: “The Good News, as told by Matthew, the tax collector,” another person of questionable reputation.

Now God says he will accept and acquit us—declare us “not guilty”—if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, by coming to Christ, no matter who we are or what we have been like. (Romans 3.22, Living Bible)

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2.10, NIV

We cited James 3.5 – 8 when writing last week about Will Smith’s Oscar outburst. The tongue surely is dangerous.

• And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness…set on fire by hell…
• It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
• With it we bless our Lord and Father, and
• With it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
• From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. (James 3.6 – 10, ESV, bulleted for clarity)

But the solution is right there in James 3 although the appropriate verses are usually under another heading like “Wisdom from Above.” The break causes us to miss what might be a connection to the earlier warnings about the tongue. What’s the solution? I offer it straight from scripture without further comment:

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom… The wisdom from above is

• first pure,
• then peaceable,
• gentle,
• open to reason,
• full of mercy and good fruits,
• impartial and sincere.

And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3.13, 17, 18, ESV, bulleted for clarity)

I ran across a note in my Bible while reading James 4.17:

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

I used to read that as good versus evil: making the right choice. But that’s not what it’s saying. It’s more the idea of performing a positive good for someone else. In this case, doing nothing is a sin if you don’t carry out the good. Here’s the story I wrote in a note in my (iPad) Bible:

We were at the memorial service of June’s pastor from childhood, Mark Senter, who passed in 2013 at the age of 97. I knew him too and was blessed by his preaching at the summer camp where June and I met at age 11 (another story!). A friend of ours from those days, Robert Pettus, was preaching the service, and he told a story that went something like this:

My ambition in life as a teenager was to become a race car driver. Pastor Senter didn’t think that was a good use of my potential, so he came to our house one day and said, “I think I can get you a baseball scholarship to Bryan College.” (Pastor Senter was on the board.) So I went to Bryan and played baseball. It didn’t occur to me until later that I really wasn’t very good at baseball. [And I would add, schools the size of Bryan College don’t have athletic scholarships.] I realized that Pastor Senter himself had provided that “scholarship.”

To me, it was an example of James 4.17. To Pastor Senter, he had an opportunity to help a young teenager go off in the right direction. (Robert Pettus ultimately had a long and successful career with Coca-Cola.) I’m sure to Pastor Senter that not using his means for that purpose would have been a sin.

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6.10, ESV)

We like our rules and our rituals – it seems to be endemic to the human condition. The entire book of Galatians was written to address this problem, and, indeed, it is a problem. And it’s not just Galatians (or Hebrews that we read just before Galatians). Look what Paul wrote in Colossians:

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2.20 – 23, ESV)

“No value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” Bible teacher Dave Wyrtzen wrote recently about an experience he had a number of years ago trying to order pizza with another pastor. They couldn’t agree on what kind of pizza to order because the other pastor had committed himself to keep the Old Testament dietary laws. The sad ending to the story is that Dave heard later that a few years after the pizza incident, the fellow had left his wife and run off with his secretary. Indeed, eating kosher had not prevented the indulgence of the flesh.

Maybe that’s why Paul wrote twice in Galatians some very startling words:

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. (Galatians 5.6, ESV)

For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. (Galatians 6.15, ESV)

“Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything.” What does count, Paul?

• Faith working through love
• A new creation

For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again…Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5.14, 15, 17, NKJV)

I should share good news whenever I find it, and the fact that there are nice people willing to go out of their way to help a stranger is good news.

I was on my way to church Sunday when the car began to sound funny. I determined it wasn’t the engine so I thought maybe it was a tire. I pulled over at the first opportunity, still in my neighborhood, less than two miles from home.

I can’t even call it a flat tire. It was shredded. Half the sidewall was completely gone. So I pulled my spare tire (the temporary donut type) and jack out of the trunk. I remembered to loosen the lug nuts first, and I’m glad I did. They were VERY tight. If I had tried to loosen them while the car was elevated on the jack, I’m sure I would have knocked it off. I squeezed the jack under the car (not much clearance with no tire) and began to raise the car.

I was having a hard time because the jack was so low to the ground and it took many turns to get even a little movement. After two knee replacements, my knees don’t fold under me like they used to. So I decided I would call AAA. The first recording explained that they were understaffed (isn’t everyone?), and it would take a while to get someone to the phone. “Why don’t you try our website?”

So I’m on hold and trying to report my need on the website, but the website reporting system bogged down. In the meantime, a fellow approached on foot and said, “Do you need help?” I said, “Well, I’m on hold with AAA. The jack is working, but I can’t work it.” He got right down on his knees and started making progress with the jack. By the time AAA came on the phone, we were nearly finished so I canceled AAA.

I was parked next to a church, and he had parked in the church’s parking lot. He quipped, “I hope they don’t mind my parking there. If they say something, I’ll remind them of the story of the Good Samaritan.” He told me he lived right near where I was stopped, and he actually passed me twice. The first time, he thought, “He’s OK. He’s on the phone getting some help.” Then he had to go back home to get something he forgot, and when he passed me again he saw I was still on the phone. That’s when he decided to stop.

So I am grateful to Walt Moore, retired environmental impact engineer, now filling his time making and teaching pottery! My neighbor in every sense of the word.

“Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10.36, 37, ESV)

P.S. I’m very thankful that if I have to have a blowout, it happened in the neighborhood at low speed, not out on the highway.