Weep for Yourselves

Saturday, January 01, 2011, 7:31 a.m. – The Lord is taking me through a period of time in my life where he is making me ever more aware of his continued grace in our lives and how we, as his followers, need to offer that same kind of grace to the people in our lives who have wounded us, perhaps in many of the same ways Jesus was wounded by his close companions, by his family members, by the religious leaders of his time, by his own people, and by the people in general to whom he had ministered his love, forgiveness, compassion and healing over and over again. I woke this morning to this song in my mind:

Your Grace Still Amazes Me \ Phillips, Craig And Dean

My faithful Father, enduring Friend
Your tender mercy’s like a river with no end
It overwhelms me, covers my sin
Each time I come into Your presence
I stand in wonder once again

Your grace still amazes me
Your love is still a mystery
Each day I fall on my knees
Your grace still amazes me
‘Cause Your grace still amazes me

Oh, patient Saviour, You make me whole
You are the Author and the Healer of my soul
What can I give You, Lord, what can I say
I know there’s no way to repay You
Only to offer You my praise

It’s deeper, it’s wider
It’s stronger, it’s higher
It’s deeper it’s wider
It’s stronger, it’s higher
than anything my eyes can see

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Luke 23:26-49:

The Crucifixion
26 As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then
“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!”’

31 For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”

36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

38 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

43 Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Jesus’ Death
44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

My Understanding: I prayed to the Lord, inquiring of him concerning the understanding he would want me to get from this today, and this is what I believe He gave to me. I believe the Lord would want me to examine these bolded phrases in light of what Jesus did for us on the cross in dying for our sins so that we could be free, not only from the penalty of sin but from the bondage to and the control of sin over our lives. I believe this passage of scripture offers us some practical steps to freedom in Christ Jesus from sin bondage.

Weep for yourselves and for your children – Some synonyms for the word “weep” are: sob, moan, wail, howl, bawl, lament, etc. Lament – “to express sorrow, mourning, or regret for often demonstratively” (MW Dictionary). Mourn – “to show the customary signs of grief for a death esp” (MW D.). Grief – “the cause of intense, deep, and profound sorrow, especially a specific event or situation” (Encarta).

I believe Jesus told them to weep for themselves and for their children for several reasons. One reason is that, as the people of God collectively, they had rejected Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God in the flesh and their Messiah. They had not only rejected him, but they had crucified him. As a people, they would be judged, which was another reason to weep, because of what was coming upon them because of their rejection of Jesus Christ. The same is true of us today. God continues to judge nations who had once made claim to belief in him, but through rejection of his Son, whether through outright rejection or through actions which speak louder than words, have denied the Lord and have chosen to go their own way.

The Bible also speaks of how God disciplines those he loves and how judgment begins with the house of God. Yet, our weeping should not just be because of the reality of judgment, but because of what we have done to our Lord in putting him to death in our hearts via willful disobedience to his commands. So, we should weep over our sin as one weeps for over the death of a loved one. People don’t much weep over sin anymore, and that is a serious problem. If we are to overcome sin in our lives, we need to grieve over sin.

James 4:8-10:

“Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

Jesus asked, “What will happen when the tree is dry?” – Jesus was basically saying that if they rejected his message when he was physically present with them, how much more would they reject him when he was no longer with them and when they went through this time of divine judgment. So many times we think people who reject Jesus are those who say “No!” to his offer of salvation, but that is only one way people reject Jesus Christ. Even as believers in Jesus Christ we can reject him by not listening to what he says, by not spending time with him, by not obeying his commands, by shoving him in a back corner or only paying attention to him when we are meeting with the church for religious activity, by denying him in front of our friends, or by not allowing him in certain rooms in our house (his temple; our bodies). We are so good at compartmentalizing our faith in Jesus Christ to where we have rooms given over to Him but other rooms given over to our own appetites with little or no regard for him. He wants all of us and all our rooms totally surrendered to him on the altar.

Romans 12:1-2:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Jesus lives within the hearts of true believers in Jesus Christ. We are his physical temple. He will never leave us or forsake us, but he does allow us to go through difficult times in our lives where his presence may seem far away, and during those times it is much harder to walk by faith, especially if we were not walking by faith during the good times. There are all different beliefs on the tribulation period when the beast of Revelation will rule and the saints of God will be persecuted and killed for their faith in Christ. This is not new for many believers throughout the world, but for the most part, Americans have been spared this kind of severe persecution. It is possible that we will not be raptured before this time and that we will live to see this day. If we can’t reject sin and live for God while things are good, how are we expecting we will do it when Satan literally rules the earth? That is the question!

They do not know what they are doing – Jesus asked the Father in heaven to forgive his persecutors and his murderers on the basis that they did not know what they were doing. I think this is a very important point to consider in this area of bondage to sin or to sin habits. Did they know they were killing Jesus? Yes! Did they know who he was? No! Ok, so why didn’t they know? Several reasons come to mind: 1) Jealousy, 2) Pride, 3) Self-righteousness, and 4) Etc. Their own prejudices, pride, feelings of self-importance, etc. kept them from seeing who Jesus truly was/is. It isn’t like he kept it hidden from them. They just hated him because he didn’t follow their rules and because he made them look bad and because he taught people they didn’t have to follow those old rules, etc.

I think what keeps a lot of people bound in sin and in sin habits is not lack of sorrow over their sin or even lack of knowledge of God’s grace and his salvation, but what keeps them bound is a lack of understanding of why they do what they do, i.e. the underlying reasons. For instance, if one’s problem is looking at pornography, he or she can’t just evaluate this on a surface level. Obviously if he or she is a believer in Jesus Christ he or she knows that what he is doing is wrong and that it is sinful. Yet, she keeps repeating the same pattern. Why? Because he has failed to see why he does what he does.

In doing a self-examination on this issue, we have to look at what triggers us to do what we do. When we understand our triggers, then we have to look at why we respond to those triggers in the way we do. So much of this stems in selfishness, pride, self-righteousness, etc. If we don’t see ourselves as the sinners we truly are, how can we ever be free? If we are not honest, then the lies keep the sin going. Often the lust response is just the top layer of many layers underneath that have never been dealt with and have never been brought to the cross. A few years back the Lord revealed to me that I had unforgiveness in my heart towards Jesus because down deep inside me I felt as though Jesus did not protect me, so I responded in anger at my circumstances and then I acted out my anger in sinful ways. I realized that I needed to not only forgive Jesus, even though he had done nothing wrong, but I had to accept his divine sovereignty in my life and instead of running away from certain circumstances, I had to face them and accept them from God as him molding me and making me into the person he wanted me to be.

We treat others according to what is in our hearts – The religious leaders of Jesus’ day and the people, too, sneered at, mocked, made fun of, criticized, disrespected, rejected, and crucified our Lord. We looked at why they did this – underlying sins of jealousy, self-righteousness, prejudice, pride, etc. And, their underlying sins resulted in their mistreatment of Jesus. This is true of us, as well. If we have unresolved issues with pride, we are going to treat others accordingly. If we have unforgiveness, hatred, bitterness, envy, or resentment stored up in our hearts, then those unrepented sins are going to result in bad treatment of other people. So, if we want to conquer sin in our lives, we have to look at what lies underneath and bring that to the cross first and then we can work on the habit that is more outward or obvious.

Psalm 139:23-24:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Jesus’ death tore the curtain in two – The curtain that stood between regular man and the holy of holies was torn in two. What that meant is that Jesus’ death on the cross made it possible that we can now go directly to the throne of grace. We don’t have to go through a human priest, pastor, etc. God is calling each one of us to come to him with our sins and sin habits and to bring them to the cross of Christ through honest heart examination and allowing him to show us those things that are hidden underneath that are keeping us from having continued victory over sin. Will you take your sin or sin habit to the throne of his grace today, seeking his face, and asking him to test your heart to see what wicked and offensive ways lie deep down inside of you that are keeping you continuing the same sin habits over and over again? Jesus wants to set you free! That is why he died! Let him inside your heart today to show you what pride, selfishness, self-righteousness, or unforgiveness is at the root of your sin and is why you don’t know what you are really doing. The truth can set you free!!