Heralds Digest

“And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭23:46‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.23.46.nkjv There is a possibility of uncertainty about the significance of the two events surrounding the Cross of Calvary; that is, the 3-hour event before Jesus breathed His last breath on the Cross and the 3-day event after the death of Jesus in the grave. The 3-hour event brought darkness all over the whole earth and the veil of the temple, that represented the separation of the congregation of people and their priests from the presence of Holy of Holies, was divided into two. Obviously, the period represented the climax of the battle between the light and darkness, and the removal of the standing restraints into the presence of God. It was after this final victory of Jesus over the forces of darkness that Jesus said “It is finished!”, and then committed His Spirit into the hands...

“Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots....Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭23:34, 42-43‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.23.34,42-43.nkjv Life is full of purposeless activities. Even at Calvary, Jesus had to pray for the forgiveness of men’s sinful expenditure of their time resources; and one of the criminals who were crucified with Jesus became the first beneficiaries of the Saviour’s priestly supplication. Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom”. A criminal whose entire life had been wasted on purposeless activities suddenly became convinced of the need to seek the kingdom of God. Whereas, many other religious people and rulers were distracted by their pursuit of religious activities and self righteousness. Likewise tod...

“And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭23:27-28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.23.27-28.nkjv One of the expected expressions of good condolence is the wearing of long faces and the offer of teary eyes. But for the dead in Christ, the scriptures admonished believers never to mourn. This is because sudden death brings sudden glory. Particularly for Jesus Christ, the crucifixion announces the glorious offer of the final sacrifice for the sin of the whole world; and usher in the King back to His throne of glory at the right hand of God. How would anyone dare to mourn for that? Notwithstanding, the women and the great multitude of people followed Jesus with mourning and weeping, possibly for His being the unfortunate victim of circumstances. But Jesus responded and said “Daughters of Jeru...

And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will. Luke 23:25 NKJV https://bible.com/bible/114/luk.23.25.NKJV The cross represents the intersection of the weak will in man and the winsome will of God. Nevertheless, the weak will desires a walkway from the cross; while the winsome will embraces the cross. Like the preference of the chief priests, human will often prefers or recommends the institution of wickedness and instability in the system as long as it empowers self-centred mediocrity. How on earth could anyone prefers the release of a recalcitrant Barabbas into the system, at the expense of the Saviour Jesus Christ? It was a weak will, composed of wickedness, envy, and jealousy in the heart of men. Whereas, the embrace of the cross reveals the winsome will of God, delivering the souls of men from the dungeon of sin and death at the expense of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And those wh...

“Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him. Then he questioned Him with many words, but He answered him nothing.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭23:8-9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.23.8-9.nkjv Finding friendship in a new world of social networking is made easy with little search efforts from different social media platforms. Nevertheless, the quality of friendship discovered on these online platforms still depends on the motives, expected to be guided by the users’ sets of criteria. Literally, friendship brings funfair; but ideally, true friendship provides freedom from the fears in the world. When Herod was exceedingly glad to see his long desired Jesus, the scriptures declare that the basis of his finding friendship in Jesus was that ‘he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him’. It implies that ‘to be’ in friend...

“Then Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He answered him and said, “ It is as you say.” So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no fault in this Man.”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭23:3-4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.23.3-4.nkjv The interaction of Jesus Christ on one-hand, or the chief priests and the multitude of His accusers on the other hand, with Pontus Pilate teaches a fundamental lesson about the secret of finding peace in this wicked world. The quest for peace of mind in all human endeavours will either tow the path of fault-finding or Faith-finding. Whichever the path is chosen of the two options, the basic denominator is always ‘how do I respond to the absolute will of God in life?’. To Jesus Christ, the final battle in the inevitable struggle of the flesh against the will of God was fought and won at the garden of Gethsemane. Whereas, the religious multitude have never explored the only path of finding a lasting peace to the struggle of thi...

“As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, “If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will by no means believe.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭22:66-67‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.22.66-67.nkjv The major reason why the scriptures discouraged the act of Christian taking another Christian to council or court is their expected willingness in both parties to submit to the Will of Christ. Unfortunately, when anyone in Christ struggles with submission to the Will of God, even Christ Himself is often summoned to the council to defend His lordship over the affairs of life, needless to query the indictment of fellow believers before the council of unbelievers. When Christ was brought to the council of the Sanhedrin, the query of the chief priests and elders was “If You are the Christ, tell us”. As straightforward as the answer may appear, Christ refused to provide a straightfor...