Luke 23:46 KJV [46] 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. Luke 23:50-53 KJV [50] And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just: [51] (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. [52] This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. [53] And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. What did that cold stiff body feel like in the hands of Joseph? It had to feel like the death of revival: The loss of the hope that, in his lifetime, things would be the way he had prayed, hoped, and ached to see them be. Hope had ridden high when he heard him preach, as no man yet spake as Jesus spoke. This had to be the kingdom of God he had waited for all his life! He saw and heard of lives touched and changed: as broken, blind, and unclean bodies were made whole; sinful men and women and those possessed by the spirits of hell were even set free -- not a brief touch of God, but a forever change. Joseph had waited for the kingdom of God, one of the few who believed there was something beyond the religion hed grown up bound by. And he had heard the preaching of the kingdom by Jesus and his disciples. This was it! Finally! In his own lifetime, the One prophesied of from Moses on down was in their midst. How could it all have gone so horribly wrong? No doubt, as men tend to do with such sudden loss, he tried hard to turn back the clock in his mind and heart: wasnt Jesus still preaching on the hillside? Couldnt he just be in the next village, about to come back and ride in on a colt, cleanse the Temple and set things right? The memories were jerked back to reality by the stiff form he was wrapping in a linen cloth. If any dream was dead, this one was, quite literally, dead. Joseph had stuck his neck out in the counsel meeting where they were discussing this horrible deed. He would not agree to murder by court decree. He made up his mind that would risk his reputation and position, possessions--everything. He would give it all to have revival! But in the end his faith and his fight did no good. His hopes died in front of him. Hed stood at the cross, feebly supporting a dying man--the last thing he could think of to do at the time. He didnt jeer with the crowd, He saved others...let him come down and save himself... But surely his heart pounded with the words! It doesnt have to end this way! You can do anything! But Jesus hadnt come down. He had spoken from the cross, given up the ghost, and died. It was over. Perhaps loyalty, even the conviction that having made a stand, he would stick to it no matter what, but Joseph had boldly gone straight to Pilate to ask for a dignified burial for a broken body. Once he had laid him to rest, he could move on, whatever that would mean. This sickness will never be healed. That backslider is beyond hope. That church will never come back from this. Whats in your tomb? Was there any concept in Josephs heart the next day of a Savior who could have healed Lazarus with a word from miles away, but refused to show up til hed been buried four days? Did thoughts creep across his mind of a prophet who was buried at sea, hopelessly entombed in the deep? If so, sorrow crowded out any hope those thoughts might bring. It was over. A few weeks later, Joseph was no doubt in the middle of the greatest revival the world had ever seen: a risen Savior had instructed his disciples how his death brought about the very kingdom Joseph had waited for! Jesus had then named them Apostles, told them to tarry for the Holy Ghost, and had ascended into Heaven to send forth that promise. The Apostles and others received the promised power. Peter preached the whole events of Jesus death into perspective to the wondering crowd--his message mercifully convicting the murderers of their guilt, and simultaneously giving hope for all who repented and obeyed the Gospel. Three thousand obeyed the Word, as they repented, were baptized in the name of the very one Joseph had buried--Jesus, the one who gloriously came out of that tomb! They, and no doubt Joseph as well, were all filled with the power of the Holy Ghost just as the Apostles had been! It would spread to all the world! Sometime dreams die. They go beyond the reach of our hands or our words or our intellect to keep alive. What we do then makes all the difference. Joseph could have shrugged his shoulders and walked away from the cross, sheepishly rejoining those who said this would never work to begin with. But when it didnt make sense to do so, he continued to be faithful. He was waiting for the kingdom of God. If he had to die still waiting, then that is what he would do. Faith--faithfulness--is the key to seeing God move. Luke 18:7-8 KJV [7] And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? [8] I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 22:00:48 +0000
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