When We Hurt
Matthew 27:32-44
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
32 As they were going out, they
met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the
cross. 33 They
came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). 34 There they offered Jesus
wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink
it. 35 When
they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.[a](G) 36 And sitting down, they
kept watch(H) over him there. 37 Above his head they
placed the written charge against him: this
is jesus, the king of the jews. 38 Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his
right and one on his left. 39 Those
who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are
going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come
down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”
41 In the same way the
chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they
said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come
down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let
God rescue him now if
he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the
robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
So
much flooded my head today as I read this scripture.
The
man, Simon, who carried the cross, is mixed in with the people who insulted
Christ. I am not sure why he is
mentioned ever so slightly in the scripture but I have to wonder about him a
little. Why did the soldiers choose him
to carry the cross? Did he gladly do it
or did he do it because he was afraid or respected the soldiers commands? Was the cross heavy for him or did God
lighten it for him so it would not be so hard?
After he was finished did he feel a sense of satisfaction that he had
done something for the Lord or was he just glad the job was done? I really can’t answer that question for Simon
but we can all answer that question for ourselves. When we are asked to do something do we do it
as if we are doing it for the Lord or because someone asked and we feel a sense
of obligation to fulfill the request? If
we do it for the Lord we will have a sense of satisfaction when the task is
complete but if we do it to please others there may be a sense of pride or
relief when the task is finished.
Sometimes when we do things for others there is a sense of
disappointment, discouragement, frustration when the favor is not returned or
even worse when they forget about you and don’t seem to appreciate what you
have done. I don’t know how Simon felt
but I am thankful that he was there to carry the cross for Jesus who by this
time was so weakened by all the beatings.
You
have heard the saying, “Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will
never hurt me.” We would say this when
insults were hurled at us but oh how those words can stick in the brain and
cause people so much pain. I have to
wonder though if at this point in Jesus painful experience if this might have
been somewhat true for Him. He knew
everything that they said was true. He
had said that He could tear down the temple and three days He would rebuild
it. They just didn’t know what He was
talking about. He had saved others and
He could save Himself but they just didn’t know why He wouldn’t do that. He knew that He could come down from that
cross but they didn’t know that He would do something even greater, three days
later, and they still would not believe.
I don’t think those words were hurting Jesus because He knew the truth,
they didn’t. He knew that God could
rescue Him at any minute but He knew that it would be over for sinners like you
and I if He gave up and called upon the angels to come and rescue Him. He did the Father’s will no matter what
others said or did.
As
I read this passage I had to think of the times that I may have hurled those
same insults to my Lord and Savior. Not
in the same manner as those men, surely I wasn’t as mean as them but it may
have gone something like this, “Lord, if you really care about me, show me a
sign. Give me some indication that you
really love me.” Maybe it was because of
frustrations from work, or because someone I knew was suffering, maybe I was
suffering (or at least I thought it was suffering). Sometimes we ask God to show up, just like
these people who were hurling insults at Jesus, and yet He is there all the time. He hears our cries, He hears our insults, and
He says, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are saying”. We
need to remember that we don’t have to ask God to show up, He is here.
Lastly
today, as I read this, I thought of the insults that have been hurled my
way. I especially think of the insults
that implied that I was less than someone else.
Galations 2: 28 states it
clearly, 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. After the charter school closed in which I was a principal and I lost myjob, I was hurting. I loved working withthe students and I loved my job. I feltit was a good thing and some really great things were happening there. I was upset but not at God. All the time I knew God was in control but itdidn’t negate the fact that I was hurting. I did not struggle in my faith in Him but began to write this blog inorder to keep me in His word and trusting in Him. I wasn’t happy about the situation and I don’tbelieve for a minute that Jesus was happy about the situation that He was in onthat cross. Yet Christ bore the crossfor us. As I struggled, someone told myhusband that I must not be in the center of God’s will or I was not spirituallysound, otherwise I would be happy in wherever God placed me. To me this person was saying that if I werereally in the will of my Father that life would be perfect. I would never find myself in a place that I didn’twant to be. I believe this scripturediscounts that argument 100%. The menwere hurling insults, “If you are the Son of God rescue yourself” and I felt Iwas being hurled an insult, “If you really love God, He won’t let you be inthis situation”. From what I read, there
is one thing that Jesus said that I have to say too and that is this, “Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they say”.
I forgave that person for hurling an insult towards me. They probably didn’t mean it in a bad way but
I use it as an example that sometimes we think that God will only work to
please but we need to realize that He works to bring glory to Him. He is the Father and His ways are so much
greater than ours. Who are we to
question His actions. We may not be
happy with our situation but we need to remember that Jesus was not happy
either but He endured the cross for us.
Praise be to the Father for giving us this gift!
Seek Him, forgive others, and be content in knowing
that the Lord is in control.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
P.S. I will be
out of town and spending some time with my family. I will be in the Word but probably not
writing a blog but still check to see if there is a new one and if not, read
one that you might not have read or better yet pick up the Word and ask the
Lord to show you what He has for you! I
love seeing that people are reading and I trust that God has spoken to you
through His word. Blessings to all my
fellow Christians, may God open your ears to hear and learn more about Him as
you seek Him with all your heart.
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