My dear readers,

(Extracts from RPG, Jan – Mar 1998, Edited by Dr SH Tow)

1. THE STONE REJECTED
Luke 20: 9-19, Psalm 118:22-29

“He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11). He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief (Is 53:3). The final hour of His rejection by the Jews was approaching. Confronting His own, Jesus told the Jews this amazing story, the story of their rebellion.

(a) Amazing wickedness. Only to the Jews had God given the covenant blessings, the law and the ordinances, and countless tokens of love. In return they showed no gratitude, only rebellion and unbelief. To warn and save, God sent prophets, but the Jews treated them with increasing hatred and violence. Finally, God sent His Son and Him they cast out and killed. (Here Jesus was predicting His own death.)

(b) Amazing grace. Israel was God’s first-born (Ex 4:22), the object of His love and affection. No other nation had received His salvation grace. By a mighty hand with outstretched arm, with signs and wonders, God had delivered her from Egypt (Deut 26:8). But Israel murmured and rebelled. Nevertheless, with longsuffering and patience, God pleaded with her through servants and prophets.

(c) Amazing love. Despite her ingratitude and wickedness, God loved Israel with an everlasting love (Jer 31:3). His final and supreme act of love was the gift of His own Son, the seed of David, to redeem her. “He came unto his own and his own received him not.” Nevertheless Jesus loved them, and loved them to the end. For all this the Jews sent Him to His death, and He went without a murmur.

(d) Amazing retribution. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, but He will return as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David (Rev 5:5), and with the wrath of the Lamb (Rev 6:16). The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner, even the chief cornerstone (Eph 2:20), a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to the disobedient and rebellious nation (1 Pet 2:8). Those who reject His love will receive His wrath.

QUESTION: Jesus is either “rock of offence” or “Rock of salvation.” Which is He to you?

2. DESPISED AND REJECTED
Luke 22:63-71, Isaiah 53:1-7

(a) Suffering Servant. The scene in the High Priest’s palace goes down as history’s darkest chapter when the vilest of sinners mocked and afflicted the spotless Son of God. But this was the mystery of redemption foretold by the prophet Isaiah: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief ... Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him ... by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities” (Isa 53:3, 10, 11). The sin of those vile men was all the more heinous for they witnessed for themselves God’s mighty acts wrought by the hand of Jesus in their midst. But with each miracle they increased in their hatred against Him. Our Lord saw this from the beginning of His ministry and said, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).

(b) Exalted Son. Before the council of the Jews our Lord bore witness to His divine origin: He was the Christ, the Son of God. By this they condemned Him, saying, “What need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth” (Lk 22:71). Those Jews had their eyes blinded and hearts hardened. They were dead to the truth. Our Lord could have called down help from heaven, but that was not in God’s plan. So the Jews had their way. But what happens on one day must be balanced against the “hereafter”. Our Lord told them the truth: “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sit on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Matt 26:64). For the council, it was “exalted today, condemned hereafter.” They spurned and rejected every opportunity of believing on the Saviour, their Messiah of promise. “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (John 3:20). Today our Lord is exalted and glorified, soon to return to earth as Judge and King, despised and rejected no more.

PRAYER: Lord, teach me how I may suffer with Thee.

3. HONOURING THE SON IN DEATH
Luke 23:47-56, Matthew 27:54-60

In His hour of humiliation, the Son of God received honour from (a) the centurion, (b) Joseph and Nicodemus, and (c) the women.

(a) The Centurion. This Roman soldier would have witnessed many executions before, but this one was different. Never had there been One who spoke as Jesus, with the Father above. Never before had God manifested His power, so evidently in honour of the Son: the earth shook, the sun was darkened. These supernatural signs spoke to the centurion: “Certainly this was a righteous man” (Lk 23:47). In Matthew’s and Mark’s accounts, he said: “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matt 27:54).

(b) Joseph and Nicodemus. Matthew describes Joseph as “a rich man of Arimathaea” (Matt 27:57). Nicodemus was “a ruler of the Jews” who came to Jesus by night (John 3:1-2). Both were members of the Sanhedrin, the highest ruling body of the Jews. They were secret disciples of Jesus. While sitting in the Sanhedrin, Joseph “had not consented to the counsel and deed of them,” (Lk 23:51) for he was a good and just man who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. Together the two men took down the body of Jesus from the cross, and “wound it in linen clothes with the spices” (John 19:40), a mixture of myrrh and aloes about one hundred pound weight (John 19:39). Then they laid Jesus in Joseph’s new tomb (Matt 27:60) wherein was never man yet laid (John 19:41). In the hour of crisis, these two honoured the Lord.

(c) The Women. The faithful band that came with Him from Galilee had not left Him all this while. Love was stronger than death. While some fled, they stayed by Him in His hour of suffering: the nailing and the hanging on the cross. They saw His body taken down by the two men. They followed to see where He would be laid. Then they returned to make preparation for the embalming. In their faithless condition, they had forgotten Jesus’ words that He should “rise the third day” (Mk 9:31). Nevertheless, they honoured their Lord with unwavering devotion.

PRAYER: Lord, may I live daily for Thy honour.

Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service,
Dr SH Tow, Founding Pastor