John 11:45-53
I'm not sure why, but a vision of W.C Fields just came into my head. He's shoving a lollipop in a child's mouth in an effort to shut the little......tyke up. Ahhh yes. It really isn't that unusual really. We often will give a child something to appease them. In a similar way, sacrifices were often offered up to appease the Gods. I must be on a tear because now I am picturing Lana Turner being tossed into a Volcano in some B movie as a sacrifice.
The idea of sacrifices have been around forever. Whether it's a bit passive like with a child, or offering a lamb or goat in a ritual sacrifice. I can picture God in heaven saying, enough already, stop with the killing, I am the God of love and life - not killing. God's love is so great that the son, Jesus, offers himself as one last sacrifice. One singular momentous sacrifice to clear the board. One life for the sacrifice of all people everywhere.
That's a lot to digest if you really think about it. Let me focus on this. We are all children of God and loved. We simply do not have to bargain and do something more to be loved or saved. The maturity we should have is that we do not have to say, 'God if I do this, I'll do this'. I think we have all made a statement like that at one time or another.
Just know that you are so loved by God. You need not do anything to achieve more love, Jesus already gave the ultimate sacrifice once and for all. That's the point - ONCE and for ALL.
I'm not sure why, but a vision of W.C Fields just came into my head. He's shoving a lollipop in a child's mouth in an effort to shut the little......tyke up. Ahhh yes. It really isn't that unusual really. We often will give a child something to appease them. In a similar way, sacrifices were often offered up to appease the Gods. I must be on a tear because now I am picturing Lana Turner being tossed into a Volcano in some B movie as a sacrifice.
The idea of sacrifices have been around forever. Whether it's a bit passive like with a child, or offering a lamb or goat in a ritual sacrifice. I can picture God in heaven saying, enough already, stop with the killing, I am the God of love and life - not killing. God's love is so great that the son, Jesus, offers himself as one last sacrifice. One singular momentous sacrifice to clear the board. One life for the sacrifice of all people everywhere.
That's a lot to digest if you really think about it. Let me focus on this. We are all children of God and loved. We simply do not have to bargain and do something more to be loved or saved. The maturity we should have is that we do not have to say, 'God if I do this, I'll do this'. I think we have all made a statement like that at one time or another.
Just know that you are so loved by God. You need not do anything to achieve more love, Jesus already gave the ultimate sacrifice once and for all. That's the point - ONCE and for ALL.
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, ‘What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.’ But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all! You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.’ He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to put him to death.
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