Coming immediately from the recent Easter, it is necessary for us, Christians, to reflect on the life and teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ which He demonstrated in Golgotha within the few hours that He hanged on the Cross.
An attempt is being made here to bring to highlight the significant lessons from the events that took place there before His death.
Forgiveness
“Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34, GNV) was the first Word of Jesus on the Cross. With this, He confirmed the title “Prince of Peace” which He displayed by praying for forgiveness for those who were torturing and mocking Him.
Forgiveness, being one of the greatest requirements for a peaceful co-existence, is prescribed for all believers. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus preached against revenge (Matthew 5:34-42) and even went on (in John 18:10) to answer a question from one of His disciples as to how many times one should forgive another and said that it should be “seventy times seven”. He also demonstrated this, in the Garden of Gethsemane by healing the severed ear of a servant of the High Priest among the “machomen” who had gone there to arrest Him (John 18:10) and commanding Peter to withdraw his knife.
One writer, Tyler Perry, is quoted to have stated that “it’s not an easy journey, to get to a place where you forgive people but it is a powerful place, because it frees you.” The example Christ led on the Cross demands that His followers have to do the same. Even in marriage, the Word is defined as a union of two persons (male / female) who are capable of showing forgiveness to each other.
Confession for Salvation
Another significant lesson to be drawn from the Cross is in the second Word by which salvation was granted to the repentant criminal who did not only confess his sin (as against his dying colleague) but accepted Jesus as his Lord and asked for forgiveness and acceptance in His Kingdom. Jesus promptly forgave him and told him that “I promise you that today, you will be in Paradise with me,” Luke 23:43 (GNV).
In John 1:12 we read that those who accept Jesus Christ and believe in His name, He gives them power to become children of God. In John 3:16, God Himself gave His only begotten son to the world to show His love for mankind and that, whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Himself is quoted to have said that He will not cast away “whoever comes to Him”.
Jesus truly demonstrated this when He instantly saved the penitent soul who asked for salvation. One may wonder why the same was not done for the other criminal who could also have been covered by the forgiveness granted to the one who prayed for it. The fact is that forgiveness often goes along with salvation. Jesus prayed to God to forgive His mockers but did not promise them salvation because they did not ask for it. The unrepentant criminal did not beg Jesus for forgiveness so obviously, he could not have been granted the accompanied salvation like his other colleague did. He did not admit his guilt and did not call on the name of Jesus (Romans 10:9) to merit His consideration.
By what He did for the criminal, Jesus confirmed His faithfulness in forgiving those who confess their sins and cleansing them from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). We, Christians, who have been forgiven by Jesus, are expected to forgive others too (Colossians 3:13).
The lesson for us is that, if we do not confess our sins and call on Jesus to save us, our prayers will not have been accomplished to earn us His salvation. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus advised that we should “ask and it shall be given” (Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9). Isaiah 59 verse 12 onwards and verse 20 show how God offered to save the Israelites after they had confessed to Him.
Corrie ten Boon, a wonderful woman of God, once said “when we confess our sins, God casts them into the deepest ocean, and they are gone forever.”
Reverence to Parents
His third saying on the Cross demonstrated reverence to the mother, “Woman, behold thy son. Son, thy mother” John 19:26-27 (KJV). Madam Mary had been courageous enough to follow her son from His triumphant entry into Jerusalem to the point of His torcher and finally, His crucifixion. The Bible says “whoever endures to the end, shall be saved”
Jesus knew that He had not provided any material benefits for the comfort of His mother as many sons, (who are capable of doing) do. He, however, had to ensure her safety and dignity after He had left her. He did that, as an obligation while hanging on the Cross.
Open interactions between Jesus and His mother in the Bible appear to be very few. At the age of twelve years, we hear Him answering His mother’s query after two days search in Jerusalem that “Don’t I have to be in my father’s house” (Luke 2:49). At a wedding at Cana, He is recorded to have asked His mother, “Woman, what have I to do with you?” (when she went to report to Him that the party had exhausted its drinks). He went ahead, in spite of that, to honour her by performing His first miracle of turning water in the twelve jars into the best admirable drinks for the party (John 2:1-11).
The third was what happened around His Cross
Jesus displayed this example of His respect for His mother, even at the point of death, our PHB 146 verse 1 enjoins us to do the same as He did. This calls for our reverence to our parents as in Exodus 20:21 and Ephesians 6:1-3.
Very little is heard of Joseph, the father, after returning (as directed) with the family to Israel following the death of King Herod (Matthew 2:18-21). He returned with his wife to Jerusalem where, after three days of search, Jesus was found at the feet of the Jewish teachers listening to them and asking questions, at the age of 12 (Luke 2:41-47). But what He did for His mother covered what Joseph would have done for her if he was alive.
Suffering as a Sacrifice
The fourth Word “Eli, Eli, Lema Sabachtani” (Matthew 27:46), interpreted as “My God! My God! why have you forsaken me” shows His human nature and the great pain He was going through. Here was someone who had been in the Garden of Gethsemane for several hours, for fortification, going through serious bodily pains on the Cross prior to entering His heavenly Kingdom as a victor.
This goes to prove what He taught His disciples that it was, (and is), not easy to enter the Kingdom of God. He had, in the Sermon of the Mount, recommended “the narrow gate”, rather, which is not easy and so is accessed by only a few people.
Jesus could have chosen to live His life like anyone else if He had not disciplined Himself to fulfil the mission of salvation for which He had been sent. He sacrificed His wishes to show the way to guide the world. He fought the good fight and won the race (as Paul stated) to give us an example to emulate. Verse 2 of our Twi PBH 146 points to this fact, and demands from us similar sacrifices.
True Demonstration of Human Nature
The fifth saying “I thirst” is a testimony that the Son of God truly became flesh and experienced all the weaknesses of the human body like hunger, thirst, sorrow, pain, joy, etc. In Mathew 21 and Mark 11: 12-21, He cursed a fig tree for deceiving Him with no fruits which He had gone for to satisfy His hunger.
Jesus demonstrated that He too was human and that what He was able to accomplish with His human nature, every other person with similar discipline can do, provided that he or she wishes to do so. This leaves us (Christians) with no excuses for failing to live like He did if, In fact, our anthem is the song “Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart.” We should pray hard, therefore, for our lives to be transformed into sanctuaries of signs and miracles to achieve this noble vision.
Successful Accomplishment of Mission
“It is finished” (John 20:29) the sixth Word on the Cross, indicates the successful accomplishment of His mission. Prophecy had described Him as “the Lamb of God” to take away the sins of the world and reconcile believers unto God. He Himself predicted that His hour was drawing near. Matthew, recorded three of these predictions in 16:21; 17:22; and 20:19-20 John recorded three predictions – His death (12:23). His betrayal (13:21) and Peter’s denial (13:38). His death was (for Him) a given task He had to undertake. (“A charge to keep”). That was why He rebuked Peter and called him “Satan” (Matthew 16:23).
With this accomplishment, our faith in Jesus is required to be solid. We should not joke with His teachings, particularly, the Sermon on the Mount (Mathew 5- 7) and the closed-door ones restricted to His disciples prior to His arrest in Bethany (John chapters 12 – 17). We should also be mindful of His prayer not for His twelve disciples alone, but “for all those who will believe in me through their (the disciples’) message” (17:20-21), if we mean to benefit from His life, death and resurrection.
Power in Prayer
The last Word of Jesus “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46) is a demonstration of His acknowledgement of a Supreme Being whom He had faithfully served and to whom He was returning with joy and happiness for answered prayers, (as He had taught His disciples). He started His ministry with a 40-day prayer retreat in the wilderness, continued with regular ones in several places, with the last one being in Gethsemane where He was arrested. It was what He used to end the ministry (per PBH (Twi) 146 verse 8) “sƐ wode mpaebƆ wui de wiee wo fam tena no…”).
In His last days, Jesus devoted time to groom His disciples on how His father would answer their prayers, namely, by remaining in Him (John 15:7) and by doing so in His name (John 15:16).
The lesson we need to draw from His seventh Word, therefore, is that just as our Lord prayed all the time (even to the end of His life), we, Christians, should believe and not relent in our prayers. In 1st Thessalonians 5:17 Paul advises believers to “pray without ceasing” because Jesus Himself assures us that we will receive whatever we ask for in prayers (Mathew 21:22).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that it does not matter how many Easters we may have celebrated so far in our lives. The most important question for us to answer is whether we have learnt any lesson at all to generate our spiritual growth as required in 2nd Peter 3:18. Jesus demonstrated, with His Seven Words on the Cross at Golgotha that He meant everything He taught His disciples which have to be followed by all those who would later come to accept Him as their Lord and Saviour. I hope that you too are truly one of them and that people around you, or those who hear you speak can notice the saltness and light in you as their role model (Matthew 5:13-14).
The writer is the Immediate Past Senior Presbyter, Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Lakeside Estate and Registrar, Ghana Christian University College, Amrahia – Accra.