"High and Lifted Up"

"I will praise Thee, O LORD, with all my heart; I will show forth all Thy marvelous works." (Psalms 9:1) Seeing how this is Good Friday, I thought that I would use that prism example that I gave yesterday and apply this verse to what Jesus did on the cross; with a slight twist that shows what our response is to look like. The first thing that I would like to bring to remembrance that is special about today, is the fact that today is the day that we celebrate Jesus being crucified on the cross for our sins. We can celebrate that glorious day, because Jesus rose from the tomb, thereby defeating the death that He suffered; if Jesus had not rose, then we would really have nothing to celebrate. When Jesus was crucified, no one who loved Him was celebrating His death; nor did anyone who witnessed His death celebrate, save maybe one lowly individual that was close at hand. It was a very dark day in the eyes of all that witnessed it; literally, the Bible says that the sky became darkened in the hours before Jesus died. Luke, who was most likely not there to witness it, worked like a journalist putting together many different aspects of what happened; as one that was searching for the truth, and then writing the truth into a very comprehensive, logical and orderly manner, Luke is known to be the only Gentile writer in the New Testament; and his writings are geared to express Jesus as having a special kindness to those that are outcasts and weak, or suffering in different ways. This may have been in part, because he was known to be a physician and also because he was known to paint portraits of people; two things that cause someone to take special note to the expressions on a persons face, and to read something into that. Anyway; in Luke 23:44-46, he gives that account of those three hours as such, "And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He said, Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, He gave up the ghost". It surely must have been a sight to behold, and many that stood by were taken back by the things that they witnessed. As a matter of fact, Luke goes on to say in the next two verses, "Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man. And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned". In other words, there was a great realization in the hearts of all those who witnessed the death of Jesus, that this was no ordinary man that they had just put to death; and their response was one of remorse for what they had done. In this first verse of Psalm Nine, David is saying, "I will praise Thee, O LORD, with all my heart", and in that, he is speaking about a response in his heart to God's marvelous works. In other words; there is something that must happen in our hearts as we realize what God has done for us; and within that response, is an action that takes place on our part; something which can be seen as an act of believing. David puts this action as showing forth all of His marvelous works; of which David did within all his songs and teachings as he would hold services within his court. But what if someone thinks that they have no way to put into action what has happened inside of them? In James 2:17, the apostle and half-brother of Jesus says, Faith without works is dead; so what then, if you have no time to share what God has done? Works are an outward showing of an inward response to God's working in our lives; which require something that shows that we believe what we believe. What better way to show this reaction, then that of the 'thief on the cross'; for he had nothing more than hours, if not minutes, to show forth the works in his life; and yet he did just that! All it took was a simple realization of who it was that hung next to him, and a rebuke to the other thief that mocked Jesus; and then a simple request: "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom". If you were to compare this to the parable of the 'talents', you could say that this 'thief on the cross' most likely only had one; one chance to express what he felt inside; one chance to declare God's marvelous work! He could have buried that 'talent', and just kept in his heart what he was thinking; not rebuking his fellow malefactor; not asking Jesus to remember him; but he did not bury it, but used it, and used it well! How many lives have been saved over the years by the testimony of this one encounter? How many hearts have been assured of their salvation in the sample of this man's obedience? It only took belief, of which he demonstrated that he believed Jesus to be his Saviour; after which he acted upon that belief ,by showing forth his belief in the only way that he could; and the rest is history; and there was at least one that was rejoicing that day!!!