Lent

[Suzi]

I'm kind of struggling with this one... I don't really understand it. I'm going to let this filter through a bit and come back to it later...

[Paula]

Ask away, I’ll try to make sense of it for you

[Suzi]

I don't understand the link for weeping for their own children, to then those who have not been able to have children are being "blessed"....

[Stella180]

Blessed as they don’t have the pain and worry about their child’s well-being brings?

[Paula]

Oh ok. As I understand it, the prophecy initially relates to the Jews rebelling 40 years from Jesus’ death. The Romans held the city to a siege, where its reported that the Jews starved and (I’m sorry this is grim but relates to your query) some ate their own children. When the Romans finally broke through, they destroyed the city and the temple. 1.1 million Jews died.

Jesus was warning them of the horror that was to come, including that children would starve or would erm, not .

Many Christians listened to the prophecy and left the city in time.

[Suzi]

I wasn't aware of that, that's horrible! Thanks though...

[Paula]

Luke 23:32,39-43
[32] Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. [39] One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” [40] But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don't you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? [41] We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” [42] Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. ” [43] Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Of 24 chapters in Luke’s Gospel, he devotes 2 whole chapters to the final 24 hours of his life, which is understandable as it’s with a view to those hours that Jesus has lived all his previous hours. And he decides this very short conversation is important enough to spend 5 verses on. Because it is with a view to what Jesus would accomplish in those few minutes that he lived all previous minutes.

One criminal would shout what most of us would shout in those circumstances ‘Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ (ie, save me!)

The other, though, somehow recognised the truth of Christ in his final moments:

He confessed his guilt: ‘we are receiving the due rewards for our deeds’ v41
He recognised Jesus’ innocence: ‘this man has done nothing wrong’ v41
He sought mercy: ‘Jesus, remember me’ v42
He confessed Jesus’ lordship: ‘when you come into your kingdom’ v42

And that, my DWD family, is all any of us has to do to have the following:

He was given gospel hope: ‘today you will be with me in paradise’ v43

[Suzi]

It does seem a really good insight into Jesus's whole life in those few verses...

[Paula]

[Paula]

Luke 23:44-49
[44] It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, [45] for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. [46] Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. [47] The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” [48] When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. [49] But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

I’m going off piste a bit here, and not following the study book. Because I want to share something very personal to me. Matthew’s Gospel records Jesus as saying, at this point, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ Matthew 27:46. Jesus had, for the first time in eternity, felt the lack of the Father’s presence as he died, took our sin, and temporarily went to hell, so that we didn’t have to. The Father had to turn his back to Jesus, because He can’t be in the presence of sin.

Even before I committed my life to Jesus, every time I went into crisis, I felt the lack of the Father’s presence. And this is why it took me so long to become a Christian - how could He abandon me when I needed Him most? Except it wasn’t God who turned his back on me, I turned my back on Him. My pain meant I couldn’t see that He was with me even in the worst moments of my life. The words of the famous ‘Footprints on the Sand’ prayer sum it up for me:

“One night I had a dream…

I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord, and
Across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; One belonged to me, and the other to the Lord. When the last scene of my life flashed before us, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that many times along the path of my life, There was only one set of footprints.

I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life
This really bothered me, and I questioned the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
You would walk with me all the way;
But I have noticed that during the
most troublesome times in my life,
There is only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why in times when I
needed you the most, you should leave me.

The Lord replied, “My precious, precious
child. I love you, and I would never,
never leave you during your times of
trial and suffering.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you”