Count It All Joy!

Bring your friends and join me to celebrate the launch of my new book and learn how to Count It All Joy!

We Have Moved!

I am now posting Good New! from my web site Hearken Institute.com.
Check today's post it out here:
http://hearkeninstitute.com/2014/03/05/winning-the-battles-of-life/

Happiness is a Habit

Yes, happiness is a feeling—an emotion—but happiness is also a habit. Some people naturally find happiness in whatever they are doing. Other people go through all kinds of mental gymnastics to find misery in whatever they are doing. In other words, happiness is something we have either trained ourselves to do or not to do.

If you are one of those people who goes for happiness like an avid movie fan goes for the best seat in the theater, you know what I’m talking about. You either learned happiness from your parents, or you learned how to do it yourself, but you know how to find it and you do.

On the other hand, people who perform the negative mental gymnastics routine do their handsprings and back flips and somersaults right over happiness all the while crying, “Foul play! Happiness doesn’t happen to me!” The sad thing is that they honestly think there is no happiness for them when all the time happiness is there for the taking.

The Good News! is that habits can be broken. Happiness can be learned. It takes effort, but it is very possible. So choose happiness—make it a habit.

Embark on the Hearken Path

Most people think that the opposite of depression is happiness, and thus they try to find things to make them happy. But you can have all kinds of things that make you happy and still feel depressed or blue. The irony of this fact is that it increases the depression in people who know they have everything to be happy about yet feel down in the dumps. In addition, you can have all kinds of unhappy, depressing events going on in your life and still be happy. It isn’t the events or the pleasures or the things in life that cause us to be depressed. 

So if happiness isn’t the opposite of depression what is? The answer is vitality. When we feel down in the dumps we have lost our vitality for living. We lack vigor and enthusiasm and motivation to do anything. We go through our days feeling numb and haunted by a feeling that there must be more to life. While this lack of vigor and enthusiasm can happen because of physical reasons, just as often it happens because of the way we think. 

The GOOD NEWS! is that there are ways to revitalize your life. 

The dictionary defines vitalize as “to give life or energy to something.”  And that’s what Hearken Institute is all about—vitalizing your life, your relationships, and your business helping you change the way you think.

Life is meant to be enjoyed, not endured!

What is Hearken Institute?

If you are one of the Good News! followers or are one of my Facebook  friends you have by now heard of Hearken Institute, but you may be wondering what Hearken Institute is. Well, let me tell you . . .

Over the past eight years I’ve been researching and developing the principles of Living in Truth. Five years ago,  I began teaching seminars around the country and at Brigham Young University’s Campus Education Week on the things I’ve researched, how to vitalize your life, and have been delighted with the response I’ve gotten. For the past three years I’ve also written the daily blog, Good News! about these same principles and how to apply them into daily living .

Now (Drum roll, please!) I have founded my own business, Hearken Institute, to more effectively teach people how to vitalize their lives, their relationships, and their businesses. Why? Because I have personally experienced the vitality, zest, and joy that Living in Truth has brought to my life. I used to be the world’s biggest pessimist. I lived in a constant state of vexation (PAIN!) and didn’t even realize what joy, peace, and excitement life has to offer.

Most people think the opposite of depression is happiness, but the opposite of depression is vitality. I didn’t know it then, but the old vexed me was living life in a numb state—not  depressed in the clinical sense, but certainly not excited or enjoying life. The new me is full of vitality! I love it and want to share how to tap into that vitality with everyone who wants a better life.

So that’s what Hearken Institute is all about. Helping others to discover and Live in Truth—to live a vitalized life.

Check us out at Hearken Institute.com and PLEASE help us out by going to our Facebook page and like it so you can receive reminders about how to Live in Truth.

But most of all, if you are in the Orem area, come to the festivities to help us launch Hearken Institute. You’ll find out more about Hearken Institute and we will be giving away some fantastic door prizes. One lucky person will win the grand prize—a  free Hearken Now seminar!

If you want to come to the Hearken Launch follow this link to register. Hope to see you there!

Sail Toward the "Port"

 Image from: FreeDigitalPhotos.net by Scott Chan

Hearken Institute is all about helping you Live in Truth. And why should you Live in Truth? There are many reasons, but one is that when you Live in Truth you experience life differently. For example instead of seeing situations around you as problems, you see them as opportunities.

The word opportunity itself teaches a lot about this concept. Opportunity means, "a favorable juncture of  circumstances." That's a good definition, but there is something more to this word. You may have noticed that there is a "port" in the middle of the word. That is significant. Sail toward it!

Opportunity comes from the Latin word opportunus which consists of the prefix, op- meaning "toward" and portus meaning (You guessed it!) "port or harbor." If traveling by ship, a port is your entry into a city which means you are approaching your destination which means you are now going to be able to carry on the business you came to do, or to enjoy visits with friends and family, or to start a new life, or to refuel the ship, or to take on needed supplies, or even to invade and conquer. But to do what you had come to do, you first have to take advantage of the port and enter it.

When we think of what we sometimes call problems as "ports of call" or refueling stations encountered along the journey of life that are an opportunity to restock supplies, and unload and/or exchange cargo, we are Living in Truth. These opportunities become exciting adventures that prepare us for the rest of the journey.

Visit Hearken Institute.com for more information.

FINALLY!

GOOD  NEWS! 

is back, and it's bigger and better! 

Thank you so much for your patience and for the kind emails that have encouraged me to move on!

It has taken longer than I anticipated, but I think you will be pleased with what has happened. 

We are expanding! 

Besides the blog to give daily encouragement, we have now formed a company 

that will help people vitalize their lives, their relationships, and their businesses by 

Living in Truth.

Changing habits takes time and effort, 

but it is much easier when you have continued support and help. 

And that's what HEARKEN INSTITUTE is all about.

The new website is still a work in progress, but come visit and tell us what you think!

http://hearkeninstitute.com/

AND, I will be back posting encouragement and tips

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from now on!

I've missed you all and am so excited to be back.

Good News Is Coming!

I am getting so excited. I am about ready to re-launch Good News! with a new format and lots of new helps and information.

By now you're probably wondering if I'll ever be back, but I will be--SOON! Thanks for being patient.

Some Decisions Made

I am happy to announce that I am going to be resuming my blog.

I do thank the many of you who left comments or who emailed me to express your thanks for the blog. Your kindness was much appreciated.

But I am not going to begin immediately. I have been doing a lot of reflection and study lately and I am going to take this opportunity to revamp the blog to make it more helpful, and when I resume it will have two parts. One part will be spiritual and scriptural insight and the other will be life-coaching on how to implement the principles of Walking in Truth! (The change from Living to Walking is one of the first changes.)

I am very excited, but the next few weeks are filled with family. (Our Johnson Camp is being held in St. George this year and my children are coming in from all over the United States to spend a week or two together.) So stay tuned and I'll let you know when I'm ready to launch again.

In the meantime, if any of you have stories of how living the principles of Truth have helped you, please either email them to me or leave a comment here. Let's help each other!

An Explanation

I can't believe a whole month has gone by since I last posted. Life got very busy for me and at the same time readers of Good News! dropped off dramatically so that very few people were dropping by each day. Because of both things I took a break to try and decide what to do. At this point I am still weighing the options. I will let you know soon whether I have decided to stop writing Good News! or whether I am going to reformat and try to do some new things that would be beneficial. If you have any suggestions let me know!

I do thank those of you who were concerned about why I wasn't posting. I appreciate it very much.

Hooray for the Truth!

I'm still alive! Besides the bathroom remodeling it is the end of the semester and yesterday I taught three classes and graded over 150 student journals. It is a fun thing to do because most of the students write things that are interesting to read, but it is also a tedious thing to grade that many journals in one day. But I got it done in record time! I went to work yesterday at 6:30 a.m. and came home at 9:00 p.m. It was dark when I left home and dark when I returned home, but I know that somewhere in between those dark walks to and from the car there was sunshine. (My office has no windows!)

I've been so busy, but have been waiting excitedly to share a scripture with you. It is a verse that talks about the Pit of Illusion which the Book of Mormon calls vain imaginations. (See 1 Nephi 12:18 and Roman 1:21.) This verse is found in Helaman 16:22;

"And many more things did the people imagine up in their hearts, which were foolish and vain; and they were much disturbed, for Satan did stir them up to do iniquity continually; yea, he did go about spreading rumors and contentions upon all the face of the land, that he might harden the hearts of the people against that which was good and agaisnt that which should come."

That pretty well sums up the opposite of Living in Truth and what it means to live in the Pit of Illusion. It is foolish and vain and people who dwell in the Pit are disturbed, or as I call it vexed, all of the time.

I might be busy, but today I'm celebrating the fact that I don't have to dwell in the Pit of Illusion. I know how to Live in Truth! Three cheers for Truth!

Beginning, Middle, End

I'm in the middle of a remodel job in my home and I've decided I missed my calling in life. I've enjoyed getting bids from contractors, lining up work crews, and making all the decisions about what goes where and when. But it has kept me busy so I've been a little sporadic with the Good News! I hope you haven't given up on me.

I did discover something fun the other day that I've been eager to share. The word for truth in Hebrew is transliterated as emeth and in Hebrew it consists of three letters. I had known that before, but what I didn't realize is that the three letters are the first letter of the alphabet, the exact middle letter of the alphabet (thirteen letters before and thirteen letters after), and the last letter of the alphabet. Jews teach that the word itself testifies that truth must be the beginning, the middle, and the end of all things.

When Living in Truth it is a good thing to remember--truth must be our beginning, our middle, and our end!

Skip and Sway

Last night, tired after teaching three classes ending at 6:40 pm, I walked out of the building to go to my car which was parked about 150 yards away and found the skies weeping profusely. I don't know what the sky was so sad about, maybe how cold it had turned, but I had to navigate to my car without an umbrella or other fixtures with which to protect myself from the tears.

But I Live in Truth and the Truth was that it was raining. Weeping skies are something I can't change so I had two choices. I could get all grumpy and ornery and fill myself with the pain that is better known as self-pity or I could live with the rain. Like I said, I Live in Truth so there was really only one thing to do and I did it. I started humming, "I'm Singing in the Rain" not at all like Gene Kelly does it, but you might recognize it if you heard it. (I'm not a singer!) Then the magic happened. The music began to dance in me so that I found myself skipping, swaying and splashing my way to the car, arriving wet but in very good spirits.

The water dried shortly after I arrived home, and I am still laughing about my dance to the car. Oh what a beautiful life Truth is!

Formula For A Satisfied Soul

There is an amazing promise found in the writings of Isaiah: “If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not” (Isaiah 58:10-11).

Most words here are translated very well, but the meaning is a little clearer when you know that in the first verse the word darkness could have been translated gloominess. What this says to me is that when we reach out to help and assist the poor and the afflicted, the Lord will heal our poverty and afflictions. But the most important promise is that when we help others, the Lord will guide us at all times and feed our hungry souls even in times of dire distress so that we won't be gloomy. His Living Waters will flow to us continually.

These verses are encouraging to me because they are doable. All of us have the capacity to reach out to others. We can give a smile, a note of appreciation, a hug, a meal, or whatever we have because we all have something to give. And in return for giving what we have, the Lord gives us more. He will “guide thee continually.” What a great blessing!

Seeing By the Truth

picture by André Kutscherauer © 2011
  http://www.ak3d.de/all/selfillumination-1/

We are doing some bathroom/kitchen remodeling in our home and at times electricity goes out, water is unavailable and chaos is everywhere all the time.

Yesterday the new lights were finally installed in my kitchen and as I turned them on for the first time last night my whole kitchen looked new. The wood of the cabinets was brighter, the stone on the counter tops looked like I had just polished it, but all that was different was the lighting. This make me think of a quote from my friend, C. S. Lewis; "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."  

Like my kitchen with new lights, when we Live in Truth (also known as Light) the world looks different. Truth illuminates the world so that we see things that we've never noticed before and we see them more clearly and distinctly. When we are deep in the Pit of Illusion there is little light so that the things we are trying to see are distorted and blurred and indistinct. Life doesn’t make sense. Teachings of the gospel don’t make sense. We don’t see any meaning to life or what we are doing because we can't see clearly.

But when we Live in Truth that Truth sheds its Light on all aspects of our lives so that meaning is apparent, beauty is illuminated, and the gospel message becomes clearer. When we Live in Truth we see everything around us as it really is and that brings peace to the heart and joy to the soul.

It's All About Love

Today in my New Testament class we discussed the three epistles of John, known in the New Testament as 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. 1 John is one of my all time favorite chapters of scripture for two reasons. The first is that it is all about Living in Truth. For example, "The darkness is past, and the true light now shineth" (1 John 2:8). In my own words, when you are Living in Truth the bad things of the past are over, you don't need to think about or dwell on them, and today the true light shines. If you step out of the dark past, you are walking in light. The best part is that you can step out of that dark past anytime you want and the light is waiting for you.

The second thing I love about 1 John is that it is all about love. I never read this without feeling that some unseen power has risen from the page, wrapped arms around me and is hugging me tightly while whispering reassuring words of comfort in my ear. Verses like, "Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God" (1 John 4:7). and "We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16), and "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18).

If you are every feeling discouraged, down, dismayed, depressed or any other negative feelings read 1 John 1-5 and let the words wrap you in love.

Easter Morning

While soldiers guarded the sepulcher in which the body of Jesus Christ lay, the earth violently shook, two angels descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. Overcome with fear the soldiers fell to the ground as if dead.

"Holy Women Near the Tomb" by Maurice Denis

The next morning, as soon as day began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and other women hurried to the tomb bearing sweet spices to anoint the Savior’s body. Worried about how they would roll back the heavy stone, they were surprised to find it already rolled back, and two angels guarding the entrance. Sensing the women’s fear, the angels said, “Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here” (Mark 16:6). “Remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee. Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again” (Luke 24:6-7).

At the invitation of the angels the women then looked inside the sepulcher and when they had seen that it was empty the angels instructed them to go tell Peter and the disciples that the Lord had risen. The women returned quickly and told all they had seen. But most of the men took it as idle talk and refused to believe the women.

However, Peter and John hurried to the sepulcher and when they arrived Peter stooped down to look inside and saw that the linen clothes were lying undisturbed, but the napkin which had been about Jesus’ head was folded in a place by itself. The sight must have startled him. If the body had been stolen the linen would have been taken with the body or at least strewn about the room in disarray, but instead it lay where it had been and the napkin neatly folded. What could it mean? Perplexed Peter and John returned to their homes.

Overcome with sorrow, Mary stayed in the garden, and still weeping, peered inside the tomb one more time. There she saw the two angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain. Seeing her sorrow, one said to her, “Woman, why weepest thou?” (John 20:13.

"Jesus Appears to Mary" by Gregg Olsen

“Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.”

As she spoke, she turned back and saw Jesus standing in the garden, but with tears filling her eyes she didn’t recognize Him. “Why weepest thou?” he asked her.

Thinking He was the gardener she begged of Him, “Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.”

Jesus responded, “Mary,” and at the sound of the familiar voice calling her name her grief turned instantly to joy and she cried, “My great Master.”

“Hold me not,” Jesus cautioned, “for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (John 20:17).

Mary did as instructed and thus dawned the greatest day in the history of the world. Many mighty miracles followed as graves opened and the resurrected bodies of the saints came forth to minister to believers. 

Jesus also appeared to many other people and the world rejoiced in the fact that the great enemies of life, spiritual and physical death, had been defeated. Because He loved us so much, Jesus Christ saved us.

He is risen!

The Crucifixion

Crucifixion was designed to cause death but to do so at the slowest, most torturous pace. The agony was intense as wounds tore and bled, and muscles and joints pulled from tendons and sockets. But that is not what caused death. The strain of hanging by the arms eventually caused asphyxiation as the person lost the ability to breathe.

That day on Calvary two others were executed alongside Jesus. One of them joined the Jewish leaders in deriding Jesus and cried out, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us” (Luke 23:39). But the other rebuked the first saying, “Dost not thou fear God. . . .We receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.”

Then to Jesus he said, “Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”

Many of the women who had followed Jesus were sorrowing at the cross including Jesus’ mother. When Jesus saw her there he said,, “Woman, behold thy son!” Then to John he said, “Behold thy mother!”

At noon darkness fell over the land, and for the next three hours the sun was hid. Finally after three hours of suffering, Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

John tells us that then, knowing all things were now accomplished, Jesus said, “I thirst.”

In response someone dipped a sponge into a pot of vinegar, put the sponge on a hyssop reed, which would have been about three or four feet long, and lifted it to Jesus’ mouth. After He had sucked from it Jesus said, “It is finished. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Then bowing his head, as the Greek text says, Jesus breathed out his last breath and delivered up His spirit.

Meanwhile at the temple the new course of Levites were performing the sacrificial rituals and at this same moment the trumpets announced that the ritual service was one-third over. Inside the Holy Place the veil separating it from the Most Holy Place ripped in two. The symbolism of this incident is beautiful. Before only the High Priest, representing Jehovah, could enter the Most Holy Place which contained the throne of God, and he was only allowed in once a year on the day of Atonement. With the veil rent, the way back to God was now open for all mankind. But there is something more. Josephus tells us that according to the Rabbis, the veil was a handbreadth thick. It was woven of 72 twisted plaits, each consisting of 24 threads (24 ply yarn!). Josephus, who tends to exaggeration, also informs us that the veil was so large it required 300 priests to lift it into place. But at the moment of Christ’s death it miraculously ripped in two from top to bottom.

Wanting the ordeal to be over before the Sabbath began, the Jewish leaders implored Pilate to expedite the crucifixion. Under orders, then, the soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves so that they could no long push themselves up by the small platform at their feet and would suffocate. But when they came to Jesus, He was already dead. Seeing this one of the soldiers thrust his spear into the Savior’s side and blood and water gushed out. This is significant in that it indicates that instead of dying by asphyxiation, Jesus’ heart literally ruptured making the cause of death a broken heart.

After the death of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathaea asked Pilate for the body and he and Nicodemus lovingly anointed Jesus with myrrh and aloes, wrapped Him in linen burial clothes and spices, and placed him in a never before used sepulcher over which was rolled a stone.

On Saturday the Jewish leaders, remembering that Jesus had said that after three days He would rise again, asked Pilate to place a guard at the sepulcher for they feared someone would steal His body and then claim Jesus had risen. Pilate consented, saying, “Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can” (Matthew 27:65). Given permission, the Jewish leaders sealed the stone door and set soldiers to guard the tomb.

But soldiers would not be enough to secure this tomb.

It's Good Friday

As Jesus awoke the sleeping disciples saying, “Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand” (Mark 14:42), Judas, leading a great multitude entered the garden. What we usually don’t realize is how great that multitude really was. The gospel writers tell us that the group consisted of the chief priests, scribes, elders, the captain and officers of the Jews temple police force, and a band of Roman soldiers armed with swords and staves and carrying torches and lanterns. Like all things in New Testament scholarship, how many men were in a band of soldiers is debated, but it is safe to assume there were at least 150 which shows how much the chief priest fear Jesus. In addition, it is Passover week and the city is crowded with people who hearing the commotion would have followed out of curiosity. One senses the irony as hundreds of angry men stomped through the night led by the light of their torches in order to capture the Light of the world! (See Isaiah 50:11.) As they approached Jesus, Judas cried out “Hail, master!” and kissed Jesus.

Jesus responded, “Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:48). Then turning to the crowd He asked, “Whom seek ye?” 

They responded “Jesus of Nazareth.”

Jesus answered, “I am he” (John 18:6). But you will notice in your scriptures that the word he is italicized. This means that the word is not in the original Greek manuscripts but is a word the King James translators added to make things clearer. However, in this case it hides the meaning. What Jesus says to them is simply, “I am” which was considered to be the name of God. As Thomas Aquinas explained, the title I Am referred to the “being of all things.”

Something extraordinary happens as Jesus pronounces, “I am.” At those words the entire multitude stepped backward and fell to the ground which indicates to me that there must have been a power or spirit that accompanied those words as if to give the people one last chance to understand and repent. Instead they arrest Him, but as He surrenders His love is manifest as He asks that His disciples be set free.

At this point Peter drew his sword and lashing out cut off the ear of a servant of the high priest named Malcus. “Put up thy sword,” Jesus says to Peter. Then turning to Malcus he touched his ear and healed him. But even that fails to soften the angry mob. Now, turning Himself over to the mob Jesus said, “This is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53).

After His arrest Jesus was taken to the palace of the chief priest Caiaphas, and his father-in-law Annas, and tried for the crime of blasphemy. The fact that they were trying a man during the night and many other details of the proceedings were illegal under their own laws, but that did not stop them. A unanimous decision was reached (also illegal) and the crowd began to spit on Jesus and make a game of covering His face, striking him, and then crying out, “Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?”

Outside as Peter waited, a maid who also sat with him at the fire suddenly proclaimed, “This man was also with him.”

But Peter answered, “Woman, I know him not.” Two more times people recognized Peter as a follower and both times Peter again denied knowing Jesus. After the third denial the cock crew and Peter remembered that the night before Jesus had told him, “Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.” At the realization of what he had done, Peter went out and wept bitterly.

As the day began to dawn, Jesus was taken to Pilate because the chief priests wanted Him executed under Roman law. As they delivered Jesus up to Pilate in the Praetorium, the official residence of the Roman governor, they refused to enter the judgment hall themselves lest they be defiled. Curious about this man he had heard so much about, Pilate began the examination by asking, “Art thou the King of the Jews?” (John 18:33).

Jesus replied, “Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?

Sarcastically Pilate replied, “Am I a Jew?” and explained that it is the chief priests that have told him these things. As the trial goes on Pilate persisted, “Art thou a king then?”

Jesus finally answered, “For this cause came I into the world. . . . Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.”

At this Pilate asked, “What is truth?” But without waiting for an answer sent Jesus to be judged of Herod.

Herod is equally as curious to see Jesus and questioned Him intensely, but Jesus refused to answer Herod. So Herod and his men mock “the King” by arraying him in a gorgeous royal robe and send Him back to Pilate.

Pilate can see that Jesus has committed no crime and is reluctant to pass judgment, but the Jewish leaders incite the crowd and insist on Jesus’ death. In a last attempt to free Jesus, Pilate offers the people a choice. There is to be a prisoner released to celebrate the Passover. Do they want Barabbas who is accused of murder and sedition set free or Jesus? The name Barabbas in Hebrew means “son of the father” and an early Christian scholar named Origen claimed that Barabbas’ given name was Yeshua, which in Greek is Jesus. Whether that is true or not the irony remains. The Jewish leaders chose to free the guilty “son of the father” who had destroyed lives, and condemn the innocent “Son of the Father” who would give them life.

Pilate, still unconvinced of the Savior’s guilt pleaded with the crowd, but fearing rioting from the crowd that refuses to relent, Pilate washes his hands as a symbolic gesture that he does not agree with this verdict, but proclaims Jesus as guilty and condemns Him to be crucified with the words, “Shall I crucify your King?” and the people shout back, “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15).

Once again the soldiers mock and torture the Savior as they carry him to prison. Clothed in the purple royal robe, they now place a crown of thorns upon his head and salute him saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” as they smite and spit upon Him.

Tired from being awake all night, fatigued from the atoning agony, and wounded from the scourging He had received Jesus began the walk to Calvery with the beam of the cross upon His back, but He had no strength left for the task and so a man, Simon a Cyrenian, was pulled from the crowd and forced to carry the cross. Once on the hill, Jesus was nailed to the cross beam, it was lifted into place on the permanently installed post, His feet were nailed to the post and He was crucified with a placard placed atop the cross that read in three languages, “This is the King of the Jews.” The Jewish leaders asked Pilate to change the placard to read, “He said, I am King of the Jews.” But Pilate refused to change it saying, “What I have written I have written.”

As the soldiers jeered and reviled while carrying out their duties, Jesus looked down upon them and said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

Totally clueless as to the eternally significant event taking place at the top of the cross, the soldiers at the bottom of the cross made four piles of His clothing, but instead of ripping the royal coat into four pieces they cast lots to see who would win it. Thus they went home that day rejoicing over their spoils unaware of the great gift of life that had been given them.

The crowd continued to jeer and mock. “Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, and come down from the cross.” And the chief priests cried out, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.” 

 

(To be continued tomorrow) 

It's Maundy Thursday

As the days of the last week of His life go by, the Savior’s love for His disciples and for us becomes even more evident. On what has become known as Maundy Thursday He sends His disciples to prepare a room where they can celebrate the Passover meal together. At the appointed time Jesus begins the meal by saying, “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” The Greek translated as desire has more intensity than the King James translators give it. The Greek work indicates an eagerness and would have been better translated, “With great desire.” 

It is difficult to determine the exact time line of what next occurs. John is the only writer to report the washing of the apostles’ feet, but He tells us that it was before the feast. If that is so, then the evening begins with Jesus removing his outer coat and girding himself with a towel, in other words He clothes himself as a servant would be clothed, and taking a basin of water He washes the feet of His disciples and wipes them with the towel. 

When He is finished He asks, “Know ye what I have done to you?” and then answers His own question, “Ye call me Master and Lord, for so am I. If I then have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

After this Jesus takes the cup of wine, gives thanks and the last legitimate Passover meal begins and during its course is transformed into the first Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. But then Jesus grows troubled in spirit and says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.” One can imagine the emotions that then afflicted the disciples. Those that loved Him were grieved and bewildered, and asked, “Is it I?” And the one who did not love Him, filled with guilt and fear that he was about to be denounced, tried to play the part of the loving and hypocritically imitated their concern, “Master, is it I?”

Jesus responded, “That thou doesn’t, do quickly.”

At these words Judas left. John reports this by saying, Judas “went immediately out: and it was night.”At least it was for Judas; he had left the Light of the world and entered darkness.

With Judas gone, Jesus proceeds to teach His disciples. Under the law of Moses the command has been to love others as you love yourself. But Jesus now says, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:34-35).

Foreboding feelings must have permeated the evening and caused uneasiness among the participants, but Jesus always aware of what is needed, comforts them by saying, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1-2). In other words, 

Don’t worry. Trust me. I will always take care of you.

Jesus goes on to teach them the things that will guide and comfort them after He is gone; the same things that will bring us peace and comfort. He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Then He explains that he is going to send another Comforter, the Holy Ghost, and assures them as the KJV reports, “I will not leave you comfortless” (John 14:18). But the Greek manuscripts say, “I will not leave you orphaned.” 

With love so deep and sincere that these thousands of years later one can still feel the emotion as if it were being spoken directly to the reader the Savior then says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, netiher let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

The time in the Upper Room ends by singing a hymn which was most likely the Hallel. Then they left and walked north-eastward, passing the Temple Mount, crossing down the Kidron valley, and finally ascending the Mount of Olives until they reached the Garden of Gethsemane. But His teachings do not end. As they walk, He continues to exhort them. “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine: no more can ye, except ye abide in me . . . for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:4-5). And again, “Love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12). “When the Spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). And finally, to prepare them for what is about to happen He says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy” (John 16:20). “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

After this Jesus lifts up his eyes to heaven and prays a marvelous prayer for the disciples and for you and me. It has become known as the Intercessory Prayer or the Great High Priestly Prayer. I cannot do this justice by condensing it. Read John 17 as the Savior of the world prays to the Father for you and ends with these words, 

“And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it; that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26).

Finally the Savior and His followers arrive at Gethsemane, which means oil press. Jesus instructs most of the disciples to sit while He takes Peter, James and John further into the garden. At this point Jesus begins to be “sore amazed” as Mark reports, but again the Greek here is much more intense. The Greek words mean “terrified surprise or astonishment.” You and I know the consequences of sin. We’ve felt the guilt, the heavy darkness, the anguish, and the depression that are brought on by sin, but Jesus Christ had never before felt such feelings. This was new to Him—astonishing in its intensity and darkness. Thus as the sins of the world press upon Him in this place called “Oil Press” he cries out, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).

But the agony continues until the anguish and pressure is so intense that blood presses through His flesh and great drops fall to the ground. 

He had instructed His disciples to pray, but instead they have slept. Three times during this ordeal He returned to them and instructed them, but the first two times, though they try, they fall asleep again. Thus the third time when He returns He says, “Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners” (Mark 14:41).

Like all days, this first Maundy Thursday came and went. But unlike any other day, this Thursday contained more love, concern, guidance, and admonition than any Thursday before or since. In it Jesus Christ commands us to love, but more than that He shows us love as He bears our sins so that 

"With his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

The entire day can be summed up in four words that you should repeat often this day and always: 

Jesus Christ loves me.

(The full account can be found in Matthew 26; Mark 14; Luke 22; and John 13-17)