Soulbridge Retreat

God does not sulk around or let His children cry in the dark looking for Him. Is that what Love does? No it is not. What He does is ask us to listen for Him in a myriad ways. A flower reminds us of Him. We see Him in the faces of our Christian friends and family. We see Him in the joy of work well done and of relaxing afterwards in front of the fire. All good things are from the Father above. We hear Him in a Bible story that reminds us of something or gives us new insight. We hear Him in circumstances. We hear Him in the memories of our lives. And sometimes we hear Him directly, but these other things speak of Him, speak from Him, even in the dark. And when He doesn’t show up? Then something better is coming. Look at Martha: “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died!” But when Jesus did come then something better happened. The same thing with the Crucifixion itself! Jesus sure came back, didn’t He? I guess!

The Still, Small Voice

As we learn to listen in all circumstances and in all ways, our faith grows. We are stronger. We are exercising our faith muscle, our spiritual ones. And don’t make any mistake: we are war. My son and I were watching a T.V. show – House – where one of the characters said that God often lets His chosen ones suffer. The T.V. doctor was appalled, but I turned to Alex and said, “You know, that’s true. We’re being trained to fight, and that takes work and sacrifice. But it’s worth it.” Suffering in this world is like spiritual bootcamp and military campaigns. Not everyone wants to hear this, but it’s true. This world  is one giant spiritual battle! Learning to listen to God in a variety of circumstances, people, and ways builds our strength and lets us hear God over the enemy’s jamming signals. We are strong in Christ!

The four gospels collectively report seven “words” (phrases) that Christ spoke from the cross. The words differ between the four gospels but this is neither surprising nor alarming: if you get four people to watch the same event, then you will get a general agreement on what happened but four different perspectives. God inspired human beings to write his Word down but he is also gracious to work within our humanity, and so each gospel writer brings a true yet different perspective to the same event.

Matthew and Mark report “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” or “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:4 and Mark 15:34). This saying is a direct quote from Psalm 22:1 and represents the first time ever – and I do mean ever! – that God the Son was separated from God the Father. Even in Jesus’ human lifetime he and his Father had been in perfect communion. But now the weight of the world’s sins has temporarily slammed the door between Jesus and the Godhead.

Luke reports three sayings beginning with the great “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). His words are incredibly gracious, asking his Father to forgive the mob that turned against him and even now screamed for his torture and death. Yet he loved them anyway – just like he loves us, for how often do we turn away from him too?

The second saying in Luke is “I promise you that today you will be with me in Paradise,” (Luke 23:43). Two thieves were being crucified with Christ, one on his left and the other on his right. One of the thieves was joining in with the mocking crowd below, saying terrible things. It sounds ridiculous that a man would do this since he was hanging on a cross himself, but it was demonic hatred that was infecting the crowd of both Jews and Gentiles that day. But the second thief yelled at the first to “Shut up!” He said that they deserved what they were going through but Jesus did not. This thief then turned to Christ and asked him to remember the poor thief when Christ came into his kingdom. Jesus told the thief that he would be with Him this very day in heaven.

Luke reports the third saying as “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). This tells us that in spite of the severed felt connection between Jesus and the Father, Jesus knew that his Father was there and that the Trinity would be restored. Jesus knew exactly what he was doing, and that he would live again.

John adds three sayings; two of them very human comments that make me feel even closer to Christ, who is both fully divine and fully human.

The first saying is “Woman, behold your son!” followed by “Behold your mother!” (John 19:26-27) When Jesus saw his mother standing near the cross with other faithful women and John the Beloved Disciple, Jesus cared enough in his extreme suffering to put his mother into John’s care. John was faithful; from that hour he took her unto his own home.

The second saying was the simple (or was it?) “I thirst.” There is little doubt that he was thirsty. Dehydration hurried the crucifixion victim’s dying process along, which was just as well for all concerned. But Jesus was also fulfilling the Messianic prophecy from Psalm 69:21: “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” By saying he was thirsty, he prompted the Roman guards to give him sour wine — thereby fulfilling this prophecy.

John’s third saying, and the seventh and last in the gospels, is the triumphant “It is finished!” (John 19:30). With Jesus’ last words his suffering was finished. He still descended into death but within days he would rise again, alive again forever… and us with him.

Questions

• Does it bother you that the gospels report different sayings? Why or why not?
• The Passion fulfills several OT prophecies. Can you find related prophecies from Psalms, Isaiah, and other OT passages?

Exercise: Psalm 22

Jesus quoted the opening line of Psalm 22, and this psalm has additional verses that prophesy Crucifixion events. Read Psalm 22 and discuss the passages that apply. Note that Jesus himself fulfilled some of them but others were fulfilled by other people’s actions (look at 22:18).

Exercise: Imaging Prayer

Pass out copies of The Seven Last Sayings of Jesus:

1. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
2. “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
3. “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
4. “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
5. “Woman, behold your son. [John], behold your mother.”
6. “I am thirsty.”
7. “It is finished!”

Ask your group to prayerfully consider which of these sayings God wants them to pray. Let the group go into silent prayer, either imaging prayer at the Cross or speaking privately to God. Afterwards, people may share as they feel led. God will work powerfully!

photo credit: JWNOWSIn Romans 4:17b Paul writes of Abraham, “He is our father in the sight of God in whom he believed – the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.”

1. “The God who gives life to the dead” – Resurrection
2. “Calls things that are not as though they were” – Creation

In this verse, both resurrection and creation exist in the context of the promises of God. Specifically “gives life to the dead” refers to Abraham’s old body and Sarah’s dead womb (v. 19). “calls things that are not as though they were” is the name God gave him – “Abraham,” the father of many nations. Even though he didn’t have a son yet with Sarah!

What then is the message? It is the power of faith, of believing that God can give life to that which has died, and can create that which does not exist. Read verse 20: “Yet Abraham did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”

Through believing and faithful prayer, we too experience both resurrection and creation in our lives. They are closely aligned in that each produces new life: resurrection by bringing new life to the dead, and creation by giving life to something new.

Believe me, I know how sharp unanswered prayer can be. But is it unanswered? I don’t think so. Here is an example. I have had serious conflicts with the IRS. That is NOT fun, believe me. I ended up owing them a great deal of money, and I thought that the only way out was to go for an Offer in Compromise. I prayed intensely that I would get it, because I knew I qualified. Others prayed intensely that I would get it. And I came so very, very close – and then it was denied. I was devastated because I had no idea how I was going to pay that huge tax bill, which the IRS said was too large to make installment payments on. They reconsidered, but the monthly installment payments they demanded were so large they have driven me out of my home. What was I going to do?

I was going to pray. And so I did. I trusted God that He would take care of me. And what happened was better than the OIC would have been. The IRS miraculously granted me an installment payment plan of a small amount each month, the only thing I could afford. My tax consultant was shocked that they offered it to me, but I knew why they did. Praise God!

As it turns out, the payment plan was immensely better than having to come up with significant OIC payments that I could not have afforded anyway. So the specifics that I asked for – the OIC – were not granted. I trusted God anyway, and He ended up giving me what I actually needed – a workable way to pay off that large debt.  I believe it happened because I was confused over why God did not grant my original prayer, but I did not lose faith. I believe that He would act. And He did, in power – even though the situation rose out of my own mistakes and bad choices!

When we are interceding and petitioning God, think about the things we are asking for. Is it bringing life to the dead? A shattered relationship, lost job, a failed dream? Or is it asking for something to be created? Salvation for a loved one, a new ministry, a baby? We may ask for both of these things. The key is to believe. And even when our specific prayer seems to go unanswered, keep right on believing.

Believe. Pray – and believe.