Easter

All Through the Blood

 “In shady green pastures, so rich and so sweet,

 God leads His dear children along

where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet,

God leads His dear children along.

Some through the waters, some through the flood,

some through the fire, but all through the blood.”

 

 (This old hymn entitled; “God leads us Along” was written by George A. Young in 1903.)

According to John 18:1 when Jesus traveled to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray on the night before He was crucified, He crossed the Kidron valley. The Hebrew word, Kidron means dark or black. The valley derived its name from the fact that the temple was located directly above this valley. As the animals were sacrificed, their blood ran out of the temple, down the hill, and onto the Kidron Valley, turning the ground black as it dried.

Isn’t it amazing to realize Jesus passed through this valley on his way to the cross? I wonder what went through His mind as he stepped on the ground, black from the blood of sacrifices. Maybe He thought of the ordeal He was about to face. Did He agonize over this? Or did he think beyond the cross to those of us whose salvation He would win because of His willing sacrifice? I wonder if He pictured my face – and yours?

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:13 (NIV)

 

Easter

Matthew 27:3-7 tells the sad story of what happened to Judas after his betrayal of Jesus. As you may remember after betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, Judas felt remorse and tried to give the silver back to the chief priests and elders. In doing this, he threw the silver into the sanctuary of the temple. Then he hung himself. The chief priests bought a potters field with the silver.

What are we to conclude from Judas’ actions? To quote one commentary, “Judas’remorse was not for the sin, as committed against God and Christ; but because it brought a load of present guilt and horror upon his mind, and exposed him to everlasting punishment: it was not such a repentance by which he became wiser and better; but an excruciating, tormenting pain in his mind, by which he became worse; therefore a different word is used here than what commonly is used for true repentance: it was not a godly sorrow for sin, or a sorrow for sin, as committed against God, which works repentance to salvation not to be repented of; but a worldly sorrow, which issues in death, as it did in him. It did not spring from the love of God, as evangelical repentance does, nor proceed in the fear of God, and his goodness; but was no other than a foretaste of that worm that dieth not, and of that fire which cannot be quenched: it was destitute of faith in Christ; he never did believe in him as the rest of the disciples did; see John 6:64, and that mourning which does not arise from looking to Jesus, or is not attended with faith in him, is never genuine. Judas's repentance was without hope of forgiveness, and was nothing else but horror and black despair.”

But there is another reason Judas did what he did with regards to the thirty pieces of silver - it fulfilled scripture. Zechariah 11:13 foretold this when he wrote:

“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.’ So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw to the potter in the house of the Lord.”

And what was this magnificent price at which our Savior was valued? Thirty pieces of silver was the price stated in Exodus 21:33 for the life of a slave. That’s the message of Easter, that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who sits at the right hand of the Father and who has been lifted up above all things on Heaven and on earth, lowered Himself and gave of himself for you and me. His life was valued as that of a slave, His body was broken and His blood spilled out so that unlike Judas, we can believe in Him and know true forgiveness of our sins.