Not us..but HIM

This is a picture of the chapel on campus at New Orleans Baptist Seminary. I'm thankful for all the times I spent in there, proclaiming the glory of Christ with my brothers. May His Spirit continue to rest on their ministries... wherever they are.

Yesterday in my quiet time, I read Matthew 20:17-28. This is a powerful passage of Scripture. In this text, Jesus is sharing with His disciples the result of their trip to Jerusalem. He was explaining to them that His purpose for going to Jerusalem was to give His life as the propitiation for sins. It wasn't going to be a simple walk through the city on a beautiful day where the vendors were out and the children playing. No, on this visit, Jesus was going to "be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up" (Matthew 20:18-19). What a tear jerking verse! Here, the Son of God was willing to go to Jerusalem to please His Father by giving up His life for the ransom of many! I wonder how the disciples reacted? I'm not completely sure in this text, but I do see a response. This response broke my heart. Look at Matthew 20:20-23 with me. Take a second. I'll wait...



Arrogance! Pride! Self-Centeredness! Greed! Jesus proclaimed His pending death and the first reaction in this text is the mother of the sons of Zebedee wanting her sons to be famous! WHAT A TRAGEDY! I wonder, how would you have responded if you were standing there that day? It would be easy for all of us to agree that her response was not focusing on Christ, but more on her sons. It would be easy for all of us to rally up within our souls anger and judgment upon her for her selfishness. However, I do see a trend in the church today that parallels with the response this woman gave to Christ. In complete honesty, I see a parallel at times in my life that goes with her response.



When you think of the reasons why Jesus came to die, what comes to your mind? Growing up in church, I remember hearing these statements:

1. "Jesus came to die for you and for me" True... but does that identify all of the purpose?


2. "Jesus was thinking of you when He was on the cross." Maybe true... but is that Biblical?


3. "Jesus stretched out His arms to show His amazing love for you." maybe true... but again, where is that in Scripture?


4. "Jesus died for you and is waiting for you to invite Him into your heart." That is a response to the propitiation... how?

I want to do something that I rarely do; a book recommendation! I'm currently reading a book entitled, "50 reasons why Jesus came to die" by John Piper. This book has challenged me to look at the atonement in light of God's Word, not our selfish guesses. Here are some of the 50 that I've studied so far.

1. To absorb the Wrath of God (Galatians 3:13, Romans 3:25, 1 John 4:10)


2. To Please His Heavenly Father (Isaiah 53:10, Ephesians 5:2)


3. To learn obedience and be perfected (Hebrews 5:8, Hebrews 2:10)


4. To acheive His own resurrection from the dead (Hebrews 13:20-21)


5. To show the wealth of God's love and grace for sinners (Romans 5:7-8, John 3:16, Ephesians 1:7)


6. There are more, but I wanted you to look at these. These are the first 5 in the book I'm reading. They do match up with Scripture. They are biblical. They would lead us to a different DAILY response to what Jesus said in Matthew 20:17-19.

This passage broke my heart. Jesus proclaimed His death and a prideful mom was thinking of her sons. Why do we today, removed from this part of history by more than 2,000 years still do the same? We sing songs about ourselves. We give for ourselves. We study for ourselves. We love for ourselves. We dream for ourselves. We may even preach for ourselves. We do so many things for ourselves. Why? What would your response have been if you were there?

During Christmas, I beseech you to proclaim the glory of Christ. Look at Colossians 1-2 and see the Supremacy of Christ. Live your life in agreement with John the Baptist when he wrote, "He must increase but I must decrease" (John 3:30). Join the Psalmist when he wrote, "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth" (Psalm 115:1).

I close by including the lyrics to a hymn that will be my Christmas song today. I invite you to join me in singing this and may words like these be in churches across this nation that have slipped and fallen short of proclaiming the excellencies of Jesus.

How deep the Father's love for us, How vast beyond all measure That He should give His only Son To make a wretch His treasure How great the pain of searing loss,The Father turns His face away As wounds which mar the chosen One, Bring many sons to glory Behold the Man upon a cross, My sin upon His shoulders Ashamed I hear my mocking voice, Call out among the scoffers It was my sin that held Him there Until it was accomplished His dying breath has brought me life I know that it is finished I will not boast in anything No gifts, no power, no wisdom But I will boast in Jesus Christ His death and resurrection Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer But this I know with all my heart His wounds have paid my ransom