(Disclaimer!!! This devotion is a sequel to last week’s devotion by Pastor Luchterhand, and sequels are never as good as the original.)
In Lent, we pause and take a long, hard look at God’s Lamb. We watch with a sigh, as his captors spit on him, hit him, beat him, flog him. Roman soldiers mock him by placing a reed in his hand, by draping a purple robe over his shoulders, and by jamming a crown of thorns on his head. Meanwhile the Jewish Sanhedrin convicts the Word Made Flesh of blasphemy. And spineless Pilate rubber stamps the penalty: death by crucifixion.
On Good Friday, we gather in our churches once more. The altar is stripped bare. The lights are turned down. The hymns we struggle to sing are mournfully somber. And the Scripture we hear? “So they took Jesus away. Carrying his own cross, he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him with two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the middle.” (John 19:16-18)
In like a lamb. To pay for all sins. To suffer hell itself. And then the lamb died.
But not before he “cried out again with a loud voice,” ““It is finished!” Then, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.” (Matthew 27:50 and John 19:30) And as God’s lamb breathed his last, “the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and rocks were split. Tombs were opened, and many bodies of saints who had fallen asleep were raised to life. . .When the centurion and those who were guarding him saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”” (Matthew 27:51-52, 54)
Out like a lion! Those Good Friday miracles prove that the Lamb who died for us is also the Lion prophesied by Jacob. “Judah is a lion’s cub. You have gone up from the prey, my son. He stooped down. He crouched like a lion. He is like a lioness. Who will provoke him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until the one to whom it belongs comes.” (Genesis 49:9-10)
Out like a lion! It was the Lion of the Tribe of Judah who summoned death on Good Friday and met it head-on. Then three days later, on Easter morning, with a rolled-away stone, an empty tomb, and angel messengers, God’s lion roared again! And “Death (was) swallowed up in victory!” (1 Cor. 15:54)
Out like a lion! Some six decades later, an aged Apostle John was in exile on the island of Patmos. It was the Lord’s Day, a Sunday, when John was “in spirit” and allowed to glimpse heaven’s throne room. And what did John see? Our Savior! But how did our Lord appear? John saw, “The Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David,” and the “Lamb standing in the center, near the throne. . . The Lamb seemed to have been slain.” (Revelation 5:5-6)
“In like a lamb and out like a lion.” One day, with our own eyes, we believers will see the One who is our Lamb and our Lion. And we will fill heaven with his praise! “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and you bought us for God with your blood out of every tribe and language and people and nation.” (Revelation 5:9)
Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
In Lent, we pause and take a long, hard look at God’s Lamb. We watch with a sigh, as his captors spit on him, hit him, beat him, flog him. Roman soldiers mock him by placing a reed in his hand, by draping a purple robe over his shoulders, and by jamming a crown of thorns on his head. Meanwhile the Jewish Sanhedrin convicts the Word Made Flesh of blasphemy. And spineless Pilate rubber stamps the penalty: death by crucifixion.
On Good Friday, we gather in our churches once more. The altar is stripped bare. The lights are turned down. The hymns we struggle to sing are mournfully somber. And the Scripture we hear? “So they took Jesus away. Carrying his own cross, he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him with two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the middle.” (John 19:16-18)
In like a lamb. To pay for all sins. To suffer hell itself. And then the lamb died.
But not before he “cried out again with a loud voice,” ““It is finished!” Then, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.” (Matthew 27:50 and John 19:30) And as God’s lamb breathed his last, “the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and rocks were split. Tombs were opened, and many bodies of saints who had fallen asleep were raised to life. . .When the centurion and those who were guarding him saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”” (Matthew 27:51-52, 54)
Out like a lion! Those Good Friday miracles prove that the Lamb who died for us is also the Lion prophesied by Jacob. “Judah is a lion’s cub. You have gone up from the prey, my son. He stooped down. He crouched like a lion. He is like a lioness. Who will provoke him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until the one to whom it belongs comes.” (Genesis 49:9-10)
Out like a lion! It was the Lion of the Tribe of Judah who summoned death on Good Friday and met it head-on. Then three days later, on Easter morning, with a rolled-away stone, an empty tomb, and angel messengers, God’s lion roared again! And “Death (was) swallowed up in victory!” (1 Cor. 15:54)
Out like a lion! Some six decades later, an aged Apostle John was in exile on the island of Patmos. It was the Lord’s Day, a Sunday, when John was “in spirit” and allowed to glimpse heaven’s throne room. And what did John see? Our Savior! But how did our Lord appear? John saw, “The Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David,” and the “Lamb standing in the center, near the throne. . . The Lamb seemed to have been slain.” (Revelation 5:5-6)
“In like a lamb and out like a lion.” One day, with our own eyes, we believers will see the One who is our Lamb and our Lion. And we will fill heaven with his praise! “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and you bought us for God with your blood out of every tribe and language and people and nation.” (Revelation 5:9)
Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
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