BBD 03.13.06 1st Last Cry of Jesus from the Cross
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
The old website is at http://www.theburningbush.org
Several devotional booklets are now available for free download in PDF
format at the new site. Just click on the "Free Book Downloads" link.
Join the Burning Bush Prayer Group! Send and receive prayer requests and be
a part of a great ministry. More than 400 (currently 498) wonderful people
make up this group. To join send an email to: BBPG-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 951 new subscribers since November 1, 2005!!
03.13.06
1st Last Cry of Jesus from the Cross
There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And
when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him,
and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." -
Luke 23:32-24.
For hundreds, if not thousands, of years prisoners who were to be executed
have been allowed the right to utter verbally their last words. Raymond
Vasvari, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, in
defending this right said, "Under the First Amendment, a prisoner has the
right to utter his or her last words. We discovered in our research that
this is one of the oldest free-speech rights in the Anglo-American
tradition. This right predates basic free press rights by four centuries."
Apparently, Ohio wanted to limit the right of inmates to only written last
words. However, the ACLU of Ohio did successfully challenge and the
prisoners are allowed to utter their last words verbally. Actually, the
condemned have been verbally uttering their last words for almost 2,000
years (and no doubt many, many years before that) as we can see from the
statement of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Luke.
If you look at the last words of famous people, some of those words are
serious, some are humorous, and some are just crazy (many lists are
available on the Internet). However, you would think that if you were
condemned to die a horrific death via crucifixion that your last words would
be of a serious nature. You would also think that if those words were the
last words of the Son of God that they would be of great importance. I
believe those words of Jesus are of vital importance to us all.
The 1st of the seven last cries of Jesus from the cross is, "Father, forgive
them, for they do not know what they do." First, this prayer of Jesus
reveals His nature, His character. It is His nature to forgive. He came to
seek and to save that which was lost. He came to provide a way for the lost
to be reconciled to a holy and righteous God. This was not, however, a one
time prayer. Jesus was continually forgiving because this was His nature.
Second, we see that Jesus knows that we are sinners and that we need a
Savior. We may not recognize our own condition or our need but He does. We
may not recognize the extent of our wickedness but He does. We may realize
that we have sinned but do we realize that it was not only the people
shouting, "Crucify" that were responsible for the death of Jesus, but us as
well. We did not live 2,000 years ago but we are still sinners and Jesus
died for our sins just as surely as He did for the people back then. "All we
like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and
the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity (sins) of us all (Isaiah 53:6)."
Third, we see that this cry of Jesus from the cross requires our decision.
When Jesus prayed for forgiveness, did that automatically include everyone?
No. If you look back to the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, we
see that it would not include everyone. The prayer on the cross was a
continuation of the same prayer of the Garden where Jesus prayed, "I pray
for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me,
for they are Yours (John 17:9)." "I do not pray for these alone, but also
for those who will believe in Me through their word (John 17:20)." In the
prayer of the Garden it is clear that not all will have their sins forgiven
but only those who believe in Him. Our salvation is not automatic - we must
"believe" in Him.
The prayer of Jesus on the cross is an example for us to follow. We are to
seek those who are lost - not just some but all that will believe whoever
they may be. We too should be willing to extend forgiveness to all. It
should be our nature to also be forgiving. Let us follow Him.
Copyright © 2006. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. The Burning Bush website has
been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the
Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
The Crossmap Christian Search and Portal is a wonderful resource. I would
like to encourage you to visit this great site at http://www.crossmap.com. Crossmap
has added the Burning Bush Devotionals to their site. You may visit
Crossmap's sister website, the online version of the Christian Post at
http://www.christianpost.com.
If you have a Christian website you are invited to add the link to my free
links at the Burning Bush website. The Bravenet free links is near the
bottom of the front page http://www.theburningbush.org.
If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org
Streaming Videos of our services including my sermons are posted at:
http://www.theburningbush.org/fbcswvideo.html
There is now a webpage available at associate.com where the devotionals are
archived associate.com/groups/burningbushdevo. There is a complete
archive at the Burning Bush website and the address for the archive is
http://www.theburningbush.org/33.html.
You may subscribe to the pure text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org and you can unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-unsubscribe@welovegod.org
You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-subscribe@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@welovegod.org
Subscribe to the Burning Bush Prayer Group. Send and receive prayer requests
to over 400 members. Send a blank email to: BBPG-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe to the Burning Bush Inspirational Group. Send and receive
inspirational material to over 100 members. Send a blank email to:
bbinspire-subscribe@welovegod.org
Subscribe to the Burning Bush Restoration and Recovery Group for those with
addictions or recovering from addictions. Receive devotionals and
inspirational material directed toward those with addictions. Send and
receive prayer requests. Over 200 members. Send a blank email to:
tbbrr-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe to the Intercede Life Group and pray for and help in practical
ways those who need help. To subscribe send a blank email to
interclife-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.