Today's Devotional is written by Pastor Roy Summers
An American Hymn
Growing up as a Missionary Kid, my mom and dad held family devotions twice every day, once after breakfast and once before bed time.
In the evening we'd sing from "Redemption Hymnal" from which we learnt some hymns more sung in the USA than in the UK.
My mother - I can hear her as I type - would sing the chorus of our hymn for today at the top of her voice:
Lest I forget Gethsemane,
Lest I forget Thine agony,
Lest I forget Thy love for me,
Lead me to Calvary.
The hymn writer asks the Lord to lead him or her to Calvary so that they would never forget God's agony-borne love.
The place Calvary
The word Calvary refers to the spot, outside the walls of Jerusalem where they crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. There are three names for this location, The Place of the Skull, Golgotha and Calvary. Here is how Luke describes it:
"When they came to the place called the
Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his
right, the other on his left." (Luke 23:33)
Perhaps the most important aspect of the location is that it was outside the walls of Jerusalem. The writer of Hebrews explains:
"The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make his people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come." (Hebrew 13:11-14)
The bodies of the animals who were sacrificed on the Day of Atonement were taken and burnt outside the city walls (Leviticus 16:27). Their blood had been used to atone for the sins of God's people inside the walls of Jerusalem, inside the temple, but their bodies were taken outside and burnt.
Other sacrifices would be burnt on the altar in the Temple grounds, within the walls of Jerusalem, and many of them were eaten there too. But not the animals sacrificed on the Day of Atonement: their bodies had to be taken outside the city and burned there. Why?
There was a reason for this practice - it would prefigure the fact that Jesus was crucified outside of the walls of Jerusalem.
All the other sacrifices people brought to the temple were for the individual sins of individual people, but the Day of Atonement Sacrifice was for the sins of all God's people. In this way it uniquely prefigured the sacrifice of Jesus.
And so God has stipulated that the bodies of those Day of Atonement sacrificial victims would have to be burnt outside the walls because that is where Jesus would one day be sacrificed.
We must be prepared to bear disgrace
And what was the meaning of being "outside" the walls of Jerusalem? Well, it signaled disgrace, says the writer of Hebrews.
It was a way of excluding Jesus; by crucifying him outside of God's city they were renouncing him, rejecting him, expelling him.
And so, says the writer, we must be prepared for the same thing. "Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore." For those first readers, that meant no longer hiding under the umbrella of Judaism which was protected by Rome, but confessing they were Christians now and facing the inevitable persecution that would bring.
For us it means bearing the inevitable disgrace that standing up for Christ will mean, in our families, neighbourhoods, places of work and in the world. It means not being ashamed of Jesus in front of our friends. It means courage when sharing the Gospel. It means suffering persecution for Christ's sake.
Just as Jesus was excluded, so we must be prepared to face exclusion for his sake.
Disgrace for a Moment,
Glory for ever!
But, says the writer, we should remember that this disgrace is to be expected, for this is not our true home: "For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come." (Hebrew 13:11-14)
One day we will go home where we will share the honour and glory Jesus has already received when he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.
So let's put up with brief disgrace now, anticipating eternal honour in the world to come.
SONG FOR THE DAY
Our hymn writer encourages us never to forget Calvary so that we never forget God's love for us expressed through the giving of his Son for our redemption.
1 King of my life I crown Thee now-
Thine shall the glory be;
Lest I forget Thy thorn-crowned brow,
Lead me to Calvary.
Lest I forget Gethsemane,
Lest I forget Thine agony,
Lest I forget Thy love for me,
Lead me to Calvary.
2 Show me the tomb where Thou wast laid,
Tenderly mourned and wept;
Angels in robes of light arrayed
Guarded Thee whilst Thou slept.
3 Let me like Mary, thru the gloom,
Come with a gift to Thee;
Show to me now the empty tomb-
Lead me to Calvary.
4 May I be willing, Lord, to bear
Daily my cross for Thee;
Even Thy cup of grief to share-
Thou hast borne all for me.
This rendition of the song is solemn and slow, but then again, the words of this hymn command us to ponder its high thoughts. You Can Listen HERE
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Our loving Father in heaven,
We thank you for the words of this hymn. We would echo its prayer that we might always remember Calvary, for this is where divine love was most fully demonstrated.
Thank you for your love for wretched sinners such as ourselves. Thank you for mercy, thank you for grace.
And help us to remember that the disgrace our Saviour experienced on that Green hill, far away and outside the city walls, is the same disgrace we will also face in this world.
But keep our eyes firmly fixed on the eternal and enduring city to come.
Help us to do that today, through all the weariness that our present confinement brings.
We ask these things in Jesus' Name,
Amen
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