Good afternoon Zebras,
I have been giving a lot of thought to Christmas as the celebration
of Jesus’ “birthday,” and I have decided his “birth” cannot be separated from
His life, death and resurrection. We celebrate
His birth because of the life He lived.
If He had lived a normal life, or an evil life, like
Hitler, the “world” would not still be celebrating it 2000 years later. So, when you share Jesus with your friends at
Christmas, make sure to tell the whole story.
With that in mind, here is a fun fact Nick learned at Moody
this semester. On the cross Jesus is
recorded as saying: “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”
Matthew 27:46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a
loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my
God, why have you forsaken me?”
It caused confusion among the bystanders, some of whom thought
He was calling for Elijah. But the Pharisees and Sadducees in the audience would
have known exactly what Jesus was saying.
He was quoting Psalm 22, which starts out “My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?”
They would’ve also known the rest of the Psalm, which reads
like a description of the crucifixion:
Psalm 22:14–18 I am poured out like water, and all my bones
are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. My
strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my
mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs
have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my
hands and my feet. I can count all my
bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and
cast lots for my clothing.
We use so many words and sometimes say so little, Jesus used
so few words and even at the end said so much.
Partly I think, because He always knew who He was talking to. Of course,
He was God, and He had all of God’s words at His disposal, but Jesus never was
a “one message fits all” kind of person. He tailored His words to the audience He
was trying to reach. And with His help I believe we can do the same.
I love you Zebras, pray before you speak this Christmas and
make it your goal to share only the words given to you by God for the people He
knows are listening.
1 Corinthians 2:2 For I decided to know nothing among you
except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Love,
Jill
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