VIDEO The Medical Aspects of the Crucifixion

Mar 13, 2016

Because of his background as a medical doctor, Jameso Fuzzell was naturally interested in the medical aspects of the crucifixion. His in-depth study led him to a greatly-deepened appreciation of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

Dr. Fuzzell considers each aspect of the events leading up to the crucifixion as well as the crucifixion itself. He discusses the trials and the accompanying scourging and paints a graphic picture of the crown of thorns, the cross, and the agony inflicted upon Christ.

As He Said, It Is Finished!

 

What did Jesus mean when He uttered the words “It is finished!” in John 19:30?

The phrase actually translates one word in Greek, tetelestai, from the root teleō, which means “to finish, fulfill.”

Significantly, this specific form of the verb, tetelestai, is only found twice in the entire New Testament, both times in John 19.

In fact, the two occurrences of tetelestai are found within three verses of each other: “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’ . . . When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:28, 30).

Do you see that? Although the verb teleō occurs 28 times in the New Testament, the formtetelestai is found only twice, and those two occurrences are in the same context, right next to each other, making the meaning perfectly clear.

Jesus was saying, “Mission accomplished! Everything that had to be done has been done! It is finished!”

Similarly, leading New Testament scholar D. A. Carson writes,

The verb teleō from which this form derives denotes the carrying out of a task, and in religious contexts bears the overtone of fulfilling one’s religious obligations. Accordingly, in the light of the impending cross, Jesus could earlier cry, ‘I have brought you glory on earth by completing (teleiōsas; i.e. by accomplishing) the work you gave me to do’ (17:4). ‘Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them eis telos—not only ‘to the end’ but to the full extent mandated by his mission. And so, on the brink of death, Jesus cries out, It is accomplished!

According to another great New Testament and Greek scholar, B. F. Westcott,

The earthly life had been carried to its issue. Every essential point in the prophetic portraiture of Messiah had been realized (Acts 13:29). The last suffering for sin had been endured. The “end” of all had been gained. Nothing was left undone or unborne. The absence of a definite subject forces the reader to call up each work which was now brought to an end.

Similarly, M. Dods wrote,

The cry, tetelestai, “it is finished,” was not the gasp of a worn-out life, but the deliberate utterance of a clear consciousness that His work was finished, and all God’s purpose accomplished (17:4), that all had now been done that could be done to make God known to men, and to identify Him with men.

Yes, the divine mission has been accomplished. Jesus has done it!

Every sin has been paid for, every evil deed judged, and the full and total price of our redemption purchased at the cross.

That is the power of the blood of Jesus.

That is the glory of the Son of God.

That is the depth of the Father’s love – and it was all for you and for me so that forever, we could be with Him and even share in His nature.

Who could imagine such a story of love?

There’s really no need to read other meanings into “It is finished,” such as: “When Christ died, He said ‘it is finished’, meaning the old covenant was now fulfilled and done away with.” Or, Jesus spoke in Hebrew on the cross, and when He said, “It is finished,” it was actually the Hebrew word nishlam, which means ‘Paid in full.’”

Regardless of whether there is any truth to these claims (Jesus certainly spoke in either Aramaic or Hebrew on the cross, not Greek), neither of them convey what John intended to convey.

Jesus perfectly lived the life He had to live and perfectly died the death He had to die. It is finished!

All we have to do is to put our faith in that finished work of the cross and follow that Lord who died and rose for us.

Our own works cannot save us, but the work Jesus did for us on the cross can save us perfectly and forever.
It is with good reason that John G. Lake (1870-1935) said, “In all of your preaching and teaching you must always leave people with the consciousness of the triumph of Christ.”

Yes! Amen!

 

By Dr Michael L. Brown

(Excerpted and adopted from Michael L. Brown, Hyper-Grace: Exposing the Dangers of the Modern Grace Message.)

Original here

LIVING EXPECTANTLY

Mark 14:42-46

After the crucifixion, a wealthy Jewish leader named Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate if he could have Jesus’ body to bury it. Surely Joseph grasped the huge risk in requesting Rome’s permission to provide proper burial for a criminal convicted of treason. Undoubtedly he realized that his reputation and status in the religious community would be endangered.

What gave Joseph, a secret follower of Jesus, the courage to come forward while the Lord’s closest friends stepped back in fear? Was it because Joseph had been living expectantly, on the lookout for God? (See Mark 15:43 MSG.)

Christ’s sacrifice changes everything—both our forever destiny and our daily life—allowing us to live with a sense of boundless hope and resolute anticipation. Yet sometimes I wonder, How often do I ignore, overlook, fail or refuse to recognize God’s presence? Am I truly on the lookout for Him? How expectantly am I living, between “the already but not yet”?

Christ’s sacrifice changes everything—allowing us to live with a sense of boundless hope and resolute anticipation.

These are important questions, today and every day of my life. Because where Jesus appears and how Jesus thinks and what Jesus says oftentimes aren’t what I expect. And I’m not alone. Consider Joseph of Arimathea, Peter and John, and the women who discovered the empty tomb. Despite Jesus’ guarantee, they did not anticipate His death. And after He was buried, what did they expect? Their shock and disbelief when He reappeared provide the answer.

Years ago I received a letter from a friend struggling between the already but not yet. “All I can do,” he wrote, “is live each moment as it comes and be aware of God in it.” His conclusion: “I want to let struggle, grief, and hurt exist side by side with joy, peace, and hope.”

It may not be easy to live expectantly between present and future realities, but I believe it’s the best approach. A mom grieving the death of her son explained, “I’m discovering how grief and hope dance together, often exchanging the lead. Yet without Christ’s sacrifice, there would be no hope—and what a cruel dance that would be.”

Now, that’s living expectantly!

by Fil Anderson

 

Reporting on the Parables

“And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.” (Mark 12:1)

This parable of the vineyard had an obvious meaning, for even “the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders” to whom He was speaking (Mark 11:27) “knew that he had spoken the parable against them” (Mark 12:12). The same parable and the events surrounding it are reported in Matthew 21:33-46 and Luke 20:9-16.

But there is another question that has been raised about this parable, as well as all the other parables that have been reported in two or more different gospels. That is, if the Bible is inerrant in its very words as Jesus taught (e.g., Matthew 5:18; John 10:35), then why did the writers often vary in their reporting of the words of the parable?

It should be remembered, however, that Jesus probably spoke in Aramaic, whereas the written accounts were in Greek. Furthermore, two of the writers (Mark and Luke) were not present at the time, so would have to obtain their accounts from someone who was there (e.g., Luke 1:1-2). Flexibility in translation and reporting is always possible with different translators and different reporters.

The doctrine of divine inspiration of the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16), however, applies not to the process but to the result. The Spirit of God was free to use the writer’s own research, vocabulary, and style in reporting an event, so long as there were no factual errors or irrelevancies in the final result. In fact, such minor differences often give greater depth and credence to the reported event since they help in proving that the different writers were not in collusion but simply telling of a real event from different perspectives. HMM

The Consistency of His Attributes

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? —Numbers 23:19

In studying any attribute, the essential oneness of all the attributes soon becomes apparent. We see… that if God is self-existent He must be also self-sufficient; and if He has power He, being infinite, must have all power. If He possesses knowledge, His infinitude assures us that He possesses all knowledge. Similarly, His immutability presupposes His faithfulness. If He is unchanging, it follows that He could not be unfaithful, since that would require Him to change. Any failure within the divine character would argue imperfection and, since God is perfect, it could not occur. Thus the attributes explain each other and prove that they are but glimpses the mind enjoys of the absolutely perfect Godhead.

All of God’s acts are consistent with all of His attributes. No attribute contradicts any other, but all harmonize and blend into each other in the infinite abyss of the Godhead. All that God does agrees with all that God is, and being and doing are one in Him….

God, being who He is, cannot cease to be what He is, and being what He is, He cannot act out of character with Himself. He is at once faithful and immutable, so all His words and acts must be and must remain faithful.

What confidence that inspires, Lord! Thank You for Your faithfulness, love and unchanging nature. Amen.

Time To Break with This World

Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord. (2 Corinthians 6:17)

I dare to say that Christians who have genuinely come to love and trust Jesus Christ have also renounced this world and have chosen a new model after which to pattern their lives.

Further, we should say that this is the aspect of the Christian life that most people do not like. They want comfort. They want blessing. They want peace. But they recoil from this radical, revolutionary break with the world.

To follow Christ in this rough and thorough-going way is too much for them!

Actually, the true Christian dissents from the world because he knows that it cannot make good on its promises. As Christ’s believing disciple, he is not left without a “norm” to which he seeks to be adjusted. The Lord Jesus Christ is Himself the norm, the ideally perfect model, and the worshiping soul yearns to be like Him. Indeed, the whole drive behind the Christian life is the longing to be conformed to the image of Christ!

As you grow downward in humility

The holiest men, the most free from impurity, have always felt it most. He whose garments are the whitest, will best perceive the spots upon them. He whose crown shineth the brightest, will know when he hath lost a jewel. He who giveth the most light to the
world, will always be able to discover his own darkness. The angels of heaven veil their faces; and the angels of God on earth, his chosen people, must always veil their faces with humility, when they think of what they were.

As you grow downward in humility seek also to grow upward, having nearer approaches to God in prayer and more intimate fellowship with Jesus.