Messiah: The Lord, Our Righteousness

“ ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’ “ (Jeremiah 23:4-5, NKJV). “Then Pilate asked Him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ And He answered and said to Him, ‘It is as you say.’ “ (Mark 15:2. NKJV). “Therefore, it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’ “ (I Peter 2:6, quoting Isaiah 28:16. NKJV).

We who live on this side of the Lord’s coming to earth have the benefit of the written Word—both the Old and New Testaments. We can read (and have some degree of understanding) of how the Hope lay in the King who would restore the kingdom of Israel and “execute judgment and rightousness in the earth.” We now know and understand more of Jeremiah’s name for Jesus: “The Lord Our Righteousness.” When He came He was not to be a provincial ruler but for all people everywhere. Earthly kingdoms as they had been known were not God’s intention for the New Order. Jeremiah who lived at the end of the Kingdom of Judah’s last days spoke eloquently of God’s new day. Perhaps, even though he wrote correctly about it, Jeremiah himself may not have understood fully what He wrote. It was persons like Peter, James and John, apostles and leaders of the early Christian church, who saw in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the seed of David, the righteous Branch, the just King. This message they preached and wrote about has withstood the test of time and is still vital and viable. As Lord of Righteousness, Jesus invites us to live in right relationship with God, and He makes that way possible.

I close today’s thoughts with a stanza from a beloved Christmas carol written by the Rev. Charles Wesley (1707-1788). He captured the essence of “The Lord our Righteousness” and His kingly reign:

“Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings, Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by, Born that men no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”

May we praise the “King Our Righteousness” with Wesley’s stately words and Mendelssohn’s lofty music. All our best worship is due the King of Righteousness!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Messiah: Chief Cornerstone in New Spiritual House

“ ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone;’ This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:22-23. NKJV). “Jesus answered and said to them ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ Then the Jews said, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?’ But He was speaking of the temple of His body.” (John 2:19-20. NKJV). “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (I Peter 2:4-5. NKJV).

A new order of spiritual house was badly needed. The old system of the law, and the many interpretations the Jews had placed upon it, was cumbersome, indeed. The sacrificial system, likewise, was flawed in both interpretation and execution. Christ came with new revelation, new life, the makings of a new spiritual house. And He Himself was designated by God Almighty as the chief cornerstone in the new spiritual building.

What are the characteristics of a cornerstone? In a building it is the stone laid at the corner to bind two walls together and strengthen them. Applied spiritually, the Messiah is the only sure foundation of faith. Unfortunately, He came to His own, the Jews, and they rejected the Cornerstone. The idea of Christ as Cornerstone should not be too hard for us to grasp. He, the Cornerstone, was chosen by God for the work of bringing the old wall of the law into the new wall of grace and tying them together. And the subsequent spiritual building is made up, as Peter so aptly stated, of “living stones”—of which you and I are ones if our faith is securely set on Jesus Christ as Cornerstone and Savior. Isaiah centuries before the coming of Christ prophesied that the chief cornerstone would be rejected: “He will be as a sanctuary. But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble; They shall fall and be broken, Be snared and taken” (Isaiah 8:14). Jesus said that He did not come to do away with the law but to fulfill it—to make it more meaningful in our lives. And, set as the Cornerstone of the new Spiritual House in which we find refuge, Christ invites us to enter the house by God’s grace. Once we are safely inside, we will want to obey the laws of God for our own good, righteous living, and as an example to others of the difference Christ makes in our lives. We thus become “living stones” ourselves and tied to the Cornerstone! Praise be to God!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Covenant Blessing

“And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, ‘Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.’ “ (Numbers 6:22-27. KJV)

This priestly blessing recorded in Numbers 6 was given by the Lord through Moses to the priest Aaron and his sons. The words came from God and were intended to be given through the priest from God as a blessing upon the people. It was a verbal affirmation of God’s claim upon the people and their allegiance to God. The beloved words of this priestly blessing are often repeated in worship services. Either the worship leader prays this prayer, or it is prayed in unison by pastor and people.

Reread the words in a reverent and prayerful spirit. It affirms God’s blessing upon his people, His face shining upon us, His grace extended to us, His countenance above us, and His peace with us. The postscript puts God’s name upon the people, claims them as His own. The priest led the words in Israelite worship, and the same is true in many congregations still. A priest had special and direct access to God, and the priest could be the intercessor—the go-between—from people to God and from God to people. But in Jesus Christ, each believer became his own priest. Peter declared: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (I Peter 2:9-10, NIV).

It is good that we pray scripture. The priestly covenant blessing in Numbers was given specifically by God for the people’s worship. It originated with God’s initiative. It does not ask for material blessings or focus on them. Instead, it is about inward blessings, God’s presence and power. This prayer of blessing assures us of God’s involvement in our life in seeking to make us more aware of Him and His presence, and of our attachment to Him. Paul modeled his benediction in 2 Corinthians 13:14 after the one in Numbers: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (NIV)

For prayers that guide our thoughts to Thee, we thank Thee, Lord.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Monday, November 8, 2010

The Clothing of Jesus

“Then the soldiers when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,’ that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: ‘They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.’ Therefore, the soldiers did these things.” –John 19:23-24 (NKJV)

Imagine the scene. The crowd is milling about, for, as gruesome as it seems, a crucifixion drew a crowd of curious people. Near the cross was Jesus’ own mother, suffering untold agony to see her Son crucified. The other women were a sister of Mary, and Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene from whom Jesus had cast out seven demons. And John, the beloved disciple, who had heard Jesus assign the care of His mother to him with these words from the cross: “Woman, behold your son!” and “Behold your mother!”

And there, doing the duty assigned to them by the Roman government, were the soldiers, attending to the crucifixion of one Jesus of Nazareth and two common thieves. And there, while the act of redemption was taking place, they divided the clothing of Jesus into four portions, one for each. But they gambled for the tunic Jesus wore, for it was in one piece, woven from the top to the bottom, seamless.

We learn that in the dress of that day, a tunic was a garment worn next to the skin, loose-fitting and about knee length. Outer garments were worn over the tunic. The tunic belonging to Jesus was special. It was seamless. Such a garment was given to a Jewish young lad before he left his parents’ home to go out into the world. Some have suggested that Mary, Jesus’ mother, may have woven this seamless garment, but we don’t know that fact for sure.

The casting of lots for Jesus’ clothing was predicted in Psalm 23:18: “They part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture.” Max Lucado in his book, He Chose the Nails (Nashville: Word, 2000, p. 73) suggests that the seamlessness of the robe suggests the seamless, unblemished, whole character of Jesus Christ. Instead of the seamless robe, Jesus was crucified in shame and nakedness.

Rev. Lucado also likens the nakedness of Jesus as the indignities he suffered as He bore our sins. He was viewed by the crowd as a failure, else He would not have been on the cross. He wore the shame of sin: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness" (I Peter 2:24, NIV). Paul wrote in Galatians 3:13 that Jesus “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’) “

The Roman soldiers could not have known that long-ago day how valuable, indeed, were the garments Jesus wore which they divided among themselves. Nor could they have known the deeper symbolism of Jesus’ nakedness and indignity. Much has been written about these garments. The novel, The Robe (c1942), by Lloyd C. Douglas was the best-selling novel of the 1940’s. A movie was based upon the novel and widely viewed following its production and even now.

But far more valuable than the seamless tunic for which they gambled are his garments which we are invited to wear in our own person: “For you are all Sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27). From the scarlet of sin to the white of purity is the transformation we receive when we “take on” Christ, wear His garments of righteousness. In wearing His garments, we come before the Father forgiven, and our fellowship with Him is restored. For this purpose Jesus wore the garments of sin and indignity on the cross.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Wednesday, March 31, 2010