Baptized Into Christ

The wicked sound of the whip flaying flesh resounded once again. It was a sickening sound.  Some of the whips had bits of glass, metal, and stone embedded at their tips, so that when they hit flesh they would simply shred it. The one on the receiving end was the same one who not too long ago had constructed a whip and used it to chase moneychangers out of the temple.  He had done this for the purpose of purifying the temple. Now He was being whipped unmercifully.  The reason though, was the same.  He was receiving justice. This was the just punishment for wickedness; not for His own wickedness, but for ours. The sound of the sizzle of the whip flying through the air sounded once again, followed by a sickening thunk, as the whips had now ripped through His flesh in some areas and were now drubbing his bones. Years before, the prophet Isaiah had prophesied concerning the Messiah,  In faithfulness He will bring forth justice.  In order to bring...

After reading about Jesus making a whip and then driving out the moneychangers, I wondered what ever happened to the whip. So I wrote a story of what could have happened to that whip. The Jewish Passover was near, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. He found those who were selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons in the temple courtyard. He also found moneychangers sitting there. He made a whip from small ropes and threw everyone with their sheep and cattle out of the temple courtyard. He dumped the moneychangers' coins and knocked over their tables. He told those who sold pigeons, "Pick up this stuff, and get it out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" His disciples remembered that Scripture said, "Devotion for your house will consume me."   (John 2:13-17) What do I do with this this? The man looked at the whip and wondered what to do with it.  He had just witnessed Jesus use the whip, which Jesus had fashioned with His own hands by ta...

It is more blessed to receive freely and give generously than to receive freely and hoard. -Adolph L. Harstad The Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea both receive their waters from the Jordan River.  The upper Jordan flows into the Sea of Galilee and the lower Jordan flows into the Dead Sea. However, they are very different bodies of water. Why? In his wonderful commentary on the book of Joshua, Adolph L. Harstad writes this: The Sea of Galilee receives freely from the Upper Jordan and in turn gives freely as it releases water to form the Lower Jordan. The result is that the Sea of Galilee is a living sea that teams with life in its waters and has productive land on its coasts. In contrast, the Dead Sea receives freely from the Jordan River but gives nothing in response. The result is that it lives up to its name. Nothing lives in its waters. Lifeless rock and sand make up its shoreline.  These two seas of the promised land speak to Christians about their stewards...