HOLY
WEEK
in
commemoration of
The
Great --- and Final --- Passover
CHRIST our Passover+
is sacrificed for us;
therefore, let us keep the feast.
not with old leaven,
neither with the leaven
of malice and wickedness;
but with the unleavened bread
of purity (Gk) and truth.
1
Corinthians 5:7,8
+ + +
The LORD JESUS CHRIST'S triumphal
entry into Jerusalem --- the first one --- was over. The Temple of GOD was cleansed. Now laid
before HIM+ was the bleak business of Binding the Sacrifice unto the horns of
the altar, the task for which HE+ had been preparing HIMSELF+ since HE+ had
been born among men.
GOD is the LORD,
Which hath shewed us light:
bind the sacrifice with cords,
even unto the horns of the altar.
Psalm 118:27
BIND: from Strong's Concordance {631}; — 'acar, aw-sar'; a primitive root; to yoke or
hitch; by analogy, to fasten in any sense, to join battle: — bind, fast, gird,
harness, hold, keep, make ready, order, prepare, prison(-er), put in bonds, set
in array, tie.
And they came to the place
which GOD had told him of;
and Abraham built an altar there,
and laid the wood in order,
and bound Isaac his son,
and laid him on the altar
upon the wood.
Genesis 22:9
BOUND: from Strong's Concordance {6123}— `aqad,
aw-kad'; a primitive root; to tie with thongs: — bind.
Here we see the prophetic
fore-runner of the Sacrifice of the LAMB+ of GOD. Abraham's obedient preparations to sacrifice
Isaac, his son, his only-beloved son, shows us that.
We are thankful that The LORD GOD
did not require this sacrifice from Abraham's hand... and that HE does not
require this of us. HE provided Abraham
a ram in the thicket and an angel to tell him the obedience in his heart was
received as "acceptable" to GOD.
How was this prophetic
Scripture
fulfilled in CHRIST ?
Were there ropes which tied
and bound our LORD to The Altar
... the altar of the Cross ?
While walking the mile or so to
Golgotha, our LORD was made to carry the crossbeam of His+ Cross. HE+ may
have been tied to that crossbeam at this point for HE+ was very depleted of
strength. How could HE+ hold His+ lacerated arms up to balance about an
100-pound, rough-hewn, beam of wood?
Indeed, so depleted and weak
from the cruel treatment of the soldiers and His+ scourging , Our LORD was
unable to carry the crossbeam plus continue His+ walking to
Golgotha. So, the expedient soldiers snatched a traveler to carry it. Simon of
Cyrene was plucked from the crowded way as Simon was simply travelling through Jerusalem
from the country.
The Ropes of the Cross of JESUS
It is not so written in
Scripture that there were any actual ropes or leather thongs used when they
crucified Our LORD, although some Christian art would have us "see"
ropes in a variety of ways in pictures of the crucifixion.
This, however, we do know for
certain: His+ binding came from within His+ heart. HE+ always did the Will of
His+ Heavenly FATHER.
JESUS
saith unto them,
My meat is to do the will
of HIM that sent ME+,
and to finish HIS work.
John 4:34
Saying, FATHER,
if THOU be willing,
remove this cup from ME+:
nevertheless not My+ will,
but Thine, be done.
Luke 22:42
The Ropes of the Cross of JESUS
Are our hearts bound to that Cross
of JESUS , the cross HE+ has chosen for us to bear, following HIM+ ?
Do we have cords of love that bind
us closely to His+ Will, no matter what the cost ?
Do we
stand for the Truth of The LORD, as a true Servant of CHRIST? Are we really His+ Servant,
doing the Will of GOD from our hearts ?
Servants, be obedient to them
that are your masters
according to the flesh,
with fear and trembling,
in singleness of your heart,
as unto CHRIST;
Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers
but as the Servants of CHRIST,
doing the Will of GOD
from the heart;
Ephesians 6:5-6
Let
us pray:
Dear LORD JESUS, I
acknowledge my guilt: I have sought to squirm out of doing Your+ Will.
So many times, I have taken
the easy way out, not speaking Your+ Truth from the Scriptures in love, but
just smiling and going on. I was not willing to pay the price.
I have avoided the
uncomfortable, the rejection and anger, which follows.
How shall I ever stand during
persecution ?
Cleanse me from protecting
Self. Cleanse me from hiding Your+ Truth.
I repent. Bind my heart to
Yours+, O LORD. Bind my heart to do Your+ Will at all times.
Bind me to YOU+ ; I give You+
the cords of my heart, O LORD.
I
offer this, my imperfect prayer, to YOU+, O CHRIST.
+ + +
