Author: BTP

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you” (Isaiah 59:1-2).

Earlier this week I had the chance to speak to one of our neighbors whose wife has been sick and in the hospital. I was able to give him a small gift, and to speak to him about the Lord. However, he was not interested in knowing how to be saved, and said that “if there is a God, why does He not do something about all the suffering in this world?” He went on to tell me how he had always been a good man and had never treated anyone wrongly. He felt that he was quite fit for God’s presence.

Our verses today point out that the Lord is listening and is able to save, but that we must first of all acknowledge our sins. Many people today are measuring themselves by others around them, and then thinking that they are “good people.” But if we are honest before God, we must admit that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). Our sins have indeed separated us from God, but the blood of Christ can wash away those sins.

This does not mean that the Lord is suddenly going to take away all the suffering in this world, but it does mean that we can have peace with God about our sins, and have a happy relationship with Him.

“And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives” (Matthew 26:30).

The Lord Jesus had just finished eating the Passover with His disciples, and He knew very well that He was to be the true Passover. The Passover looked on to the Lord Jesus, for only His precious blood could really cleanse from all sin, and allow God to “pass over” those who were protected by that blood.

But then we read that after keeping the Passover, the Lord Jesus and His disciples sung a hymn together. How could they do this? We know that the disciples did not really understand completely what was going to happen, but the Lord Jesus certainly knew. How could He sing under those circumstances?

The Lord Jesus could sing because He looked beyond the cross, and could see the wonderful effects of His finished work there. He knew that not only would we be able to be saved, but that it would glorify God His Father as to sin, so that eventually all sin would be removed from this whole universe. What a mighty work that was! Yes, there was awful suffering ahead of the Lord Jesus, but He could sing when He looked ahead to the result of it. He knew that it was worth it!

“After two days was the feast of the passover…and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by craft, and put Him to death. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people” (Mark 14:1-2).

The chief priests, Pharisees, and scribes, who were the leaders among the Jews, had plotted for some time to get rid of the Lord Jesus. Several times they had tried to kill Him, but He had quietly escaped every time, because it was not yet time for Him to die. Now again they took the occasion of the Passover, when many Jews would be in Jerusalem, to try and kill Him. But they agreed that it should not happen on the feast day, in case there was a big riot among the people.

But the Lord Jesus was the true Passover, and He must be crucified on the exact day of the Passover. Whose word would stand—God’s Word, or the decision of the Jewish leaders? Despite the decision of the Jewish leaders, the Lord Jesus was crucified on the day of the Passover, for that is the way God wanted it. “For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

“The waters…go down by the valleys unto the place which Thou hast founded for them. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth” (Psalm 104:6,8-9).

We hear a lot today about how global warming is causing much of the ice in the Arctic and Antarctic areas of the world to melt. Many are very concerned that this will increase the water in the oceans to such a degree that some land areas of the world will be flooded. Those who live on small islands in this world are particularly worried about this. People who live near the coasts of bigger countries are also concerned.

Here in our verses for today, I believe we read about some comfort that the Lord gives us. Originally water covered this earth, as we read in Genesis 1:2. It was the Lord who said, “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear” (Genesis 1:9). The Lord is able to keep the water where it is supposed to be, and to prevent it from flooding this earth. The Lord knows how long this earth needs to last in order for Him to do what He wants to do. He has set a boundary for the water on this earth, and we can trust Him to keep that boundary, despite global warming.

“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away” (Mark 13:31).

This verse is so important that the Spirit of God records it three times in the Bible: once here in Mark, once in Matthew, and once again in Luke’s gospel. We cannot emphasize too strongly the importance of the Word of God.

In a coming day, at the end of the millennium, God is going to burn up this world, and create new heavens and a new earth. You can read about this in 2 Peter 3:10-13. This world was created a long time ago, but it has been spoiled by sin, and when God is finished with it, He will burn it up, and replace it with new heavens and a new earth.

But notice our verse for today. There is one thing that will never have to be replaced. When God speaks, His Word endures forever. When man speaks, he can speak only in a limited way, for we do not know everything, as God does. What people said 100 years ago may be proven to be wrong, because we have discovered new things since then. But what God speaks never needs to be corrected or changed. When we read the Word of God, we can depend on it, for it is always completely up to date.

“The Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands” (Acts 7:48).

We saw yesterday how that the beautiful temple built by Herod in Jerusalem was eventually completely destroyed. Actually, Titus had given orders that it was not to be destroyed, but in the battle, some of the Jews took refuge in the temple. A soldier threw a firebrand into it, and the whole building went up in flames. All the gold melted and ran down into the cracks between the stones of the temple. After the fire was out, in order to get the gold, the soldiers overturned every stone, so that the Lord’s words came to pass exactly; not one stone was left upon another.

Today some Christians tend to build beautiful buildings in which to worship, and many so-called churches or cathedrals are huge and very costly. Some think that all this is to the glory of God, but today God is not appealing to man by beautiful buildings, stained glass windows, instrumental music, and other natural things. No, we read in John 4:24 that “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.” Appeals to man’s natural senses never brought him nearer to God. Only the precious blood of Christ can do that.

“And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, He [the Lord Jesus] said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Luke 21:5-6).

The temple built by Herod the Great was very beautiful and had taken forty-six years to construct. During His time on this earth, the Lord Jesus honored it as the house of God, but told the disciples that eventually it would be totally demolished. This happened when the Roman general Titus attacked Jerusalem about 70 A.D. Why did God allow this to happen?

It was because a beautiful building could not make up for a lack of reality by those who went there. Sadly, the Jews did not recognize the Lord Jesus as their Messiah, and insisted that He be crucified. Then those same Jews resisted the preaching of the gospel by the apostles and others, and persecuted them. Finally, the Lord allowed their temple to be destroyed, and then later the whole city of Jerusalem was destroyed about 135 A.D. God wants inward reality in our hearts, not beautiful buildings.

“And He [the Lord Jesus] saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither [into the treasury] two mites. And He said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all” (Luke 21:2-3).

The Lord Jesus saw rich people who put large amounts into the treasury, but He noticed that this poor widow gave only a small amount. However, He knew that it was all that she had, yet she was willing to give it to the Lord. He commended her, for in God’s eyes she had given more than the rich people.

The rich had given out of their wealth, but God does not measure our giving by the actual amount of it. Rather, He values it according to how much we have. The poor widow had very little, yet she gave it all to the Lord. In this way she gave more than the rich, who gave more than she did, but who still had plenty left over.

Perhaps you do not feel that you have much to give the Lord, but He appreciates the thought in your heart, and values even a small amount if it is given out of real love for Him. It may well be of more value in His eyes than larger amounts given by those who have more. The Lord does not need anything we have, but appreciates the devotedness and love in our hearts that make us want to give something back to Him, because of all He has done for us.

“And for this cause He [the Lord Jesus] is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death…they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:15).

This is a different verse from the one we had yesterday, but it helps us to understand who the “great” and the “strong” are, in Isaiah 53:12. Eventually, when the Lord Jesus is given His rightful place as “King of kings, and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15), He will take as His inheritance all created things. This inheritance will be for all eternity, for God will never take it away from Him.

But then He shares all this inheritance with us; what a wonderful thing! In this way you and I are the “great” and the “strong” who share it with Him. But how are we great and strong? We are certainly not like this in ourselves. No, the Word of God says that before we were saved, we were “without strength” (Romans 5:6), and since we have been saved, we are strong only when we realize our own weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

However, when we are associated with Christ, we find that He says, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). We are strong in Him, and great in Him, but all because of what He is, not because of what we are. It is more than we can really understand.

“Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death” (Isaiah 53:12).

As we have seen before (March 24) in our meditation about the poverty of the Lord Jesus, He suffered much in order to take away our sins, and to satisfy God about the whole matter of sin. He was humiliated in every possible way, and suffered the kind of death reserved for wicked men. However, God the Father is going to honor Him above everyone else in a coming day, and today’s verse refers to this. Because He suffered so much, and was “numbered with the transgressors,” God is going to “divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong. But what is the “spoil?” And who are “the great” and “the strong?”

Spoil is a word often used in the Old Testament, and it means the things that are taken from others in warfare. Quite often the Israelites acquired a great deal of “spoil” when they defeated their enemies, and took all their cattle, silver, gold, clothing, etc. for themselves. When the Lord Jesus defeats all His enemies, He is going to take this world, and indeed this whole universe, for Himself. It really belongs to Him, for He made it, but man has taken it over and used it for himself. In a coming day the Lord Jesus will reclaim this “spoil” for Himself. All this will be God’s answer to the shame and suffering the Lord Jesus went through. Tomorrow we will see who the “great” and the “strong” are!