7 days with the 7 sayings
31/03/09 10:42 Filed in: Bible
Like Christmas and birthdays, Easter comes around every year, but it can be increasingly hard to focus on its meaning. Easter faces the danger of becoming simply a long weekend—an extended holiday.
Yet there is something in us that is drawn to the intensely majestic story of a man dying to save others. Gruesome as the crucifixion is, there is something magnetic about it and the events leading up to it—all the more as we find out what was going on. Why is it that this story of self-sacrifice gets more coverage than any other, for there have been many noble examples of sacrifice over the centuries?
Unlike other situations, something much deeper than self-sacrifice is going on at the cross. Its purpose and meaning can be seen in many places in scripture, but at the cross Jesus himself explains it. Suspended between Heaven and earth, amidst his agony, he utters seven brief, but densely packed, sayings.
These seven sayings reveal Jesus’ mercy, forgiveness, grace, the depths of his suffering, and his triumph. Central to these is his great cry of abandonment, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” which demonstrates that more than physical suffering was at stake here. He was being abandoned, so that we might never be abandoned. In essence they show us what salvation is about.
As a fellowship we’ve produced a CD based on these seven sayings. There is a reading, a brief reflection on one of the sayings, and a piece of music from the book of Psalms tying in with the theme of that saying. It’s designed to be used in the lead up to Easter, listening to one a day. Think of it as seven days with the seven sayings.
There’s a great line in a Garrison Keillor book where he recalls Thanksgiving dinners. Uncle John usually asked the blessing on the meal, thanking God for the food, for the blessings of the past year, but especially the cross. Keillor adds this powerful observation: “All of us knew that Jesus died on the cross for us, but Uncle John had never gotten over it.”
If Jesus is who he says he is, and did what the Bible says he did, then it’s something should think more and more about.
If you would like a copy of the CD, please get in touch. Alternatively, you can listen online at www.newlifefellowship.ie - just click on the ‘7 Sayings’ button on the left.
Yet there is something in us that is drawn to the intensely majestic story of a man dying to save others. Gruesome as the crucifixion is, there is something magnetic about it and the events leading up to it—all the more as we find out what was going on. Why is it that this story of self-sacrifice gets more coverage than any other, for there have been many noble examples of sacrifice over the centuries?
Unlike other situations, something much deeper than self-sacrifice is going on at the cross. Its purpose and meaning can be seen in many places in scripture, but at the cross Jesus himself explains it. Suspended between Heaven and earth, amidst his agony, he utters seven brief, but densely packed, sayings.
These seven sayings reveal Jesus’ mercy, forgiveness, grace, the depths of his suffering, and his triumph. Central to these is his great cry of abandonment, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” which demonstrates that more than physical suffering was at stake here. He was being abandoned, so that we might never be abandoned. In essence they show us what salvation is about.
As a fellowship we’ve produced a CD based on these seven sayings. There is a reading, a brief reflection on one of the sayings, and a piece of music from the book of Psalms tying in with the theme of that saying. It’s designed to be used in the lead up to Easter, listening to one a day. Think of it as seven days with the seven sayings.
There’s a great line in a Garrison Keillor book where he recalls Thanksgiving dinners. Uncle John usually asked the blessing on the meal, thanking God for the food, for the blessings of the past year, but especially the cross. Keillor adds this powerful observation: “All of us knew that Jesus died on the cross for us, but Uncle John had never gotten over it.”
If Jesus is who he says he is, and did what the Bible says he did, then it’s something should think more and more about.
If you would like a copy of the CD, please get in touch. Alternatively, you can listen online at www.newlifefellowship.ie - just click on the ‘7 Sayings’ button on the left.