Following Jesus in Today's World (3)

When I was in Sunday School, the seven sayings of Jesus were sang in a song in Chinese. I remember well and could still sing on this day. The remembrance of these sayings is always visualized with a cross where Jesus cried from revealing the innermost thoughts of Jesus.

Having a Bible Scholar, Dr Bobby Sng helping us to understand these thoughts of Jesus during Holy Week is surely a blessing!

Notes were taken last night while Dr Sng taught. But, holding on his book, "Listen to Him! The Last Words of Jesus From The Cross", I think today I shall extract some from the book. So, in Dr Sng's own words, Listen to Him, and Listen to Dr Sng.

The first of Jesus' seven sayings from the cross was not focused on his personal need. It would have been natural for him to have done so. To begin with, he was already exhausted from a night of grueling trials. Brutal scourging had wrecked his body and now he was to undergo a slow agonizing death. He could have called upon legions of angels to rescue him or he could have pleaded with the Father to quickly relieve him for his suffering. But it was not to be. Far from thinking of his own need, Jesus was pleading for others -

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

In last night's session "The dying man who cried out for help" (Luke 23:32-43), Dr Sng dwelt much on the wonderful words of assurance from Jesus,

"Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

In his book, Dr Sng wrote -

A BEAUTIFUL PROMISE FOR ALL

The scene at Calvary could not have been more ugly; betrayal by a disciple of Jesus, injustice on the part of the Roman governor, scorn and mockery of the crowd, and pain and cruelty of the cross. But in the midst of the unseemly scene, a beautiful promise was given. It brought comfort and hope to the heart of a condemned man and countless others who have since come to the foot of the cross. "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." Let us note two features of this promise.

First of all, it was a promise that offers hope to the mankind. The author of Ecclesiastes struggled with the problem of death. If the end-game of life is only death, with nothing beyond that, then man is no different from beasts. Life is meaningless. "For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity." (Ecclesiastes 3:19).

But such is not the teaching of Jesus. The promise that he gave to the criminal is offered to all. Death is a portal through which we pass to be with Jesus. That is why Christians sing songs of hope and joy at funerals. that is why Paul could sing,

Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?
- 1 Corinthians 15:54-55

Secondly, it was a promise given on the basis of grace. There was absolutely nothing that dying man could do to merit his salvaton. Within a few more hours, he would pass into eternity. There were no sacrifices that he could offer, no rituals that he could perform, no pilgrimages that he could undertake, no fasts that he could carry out. Salvation was offered to him on the basis of pure grace. It was what Jesus was doing on the cross that made salvation possible.

And if salvation is offered to us as a gift, then it means that no matter what a sorry state we are in, there is hope. We need to come to an end of ourselves and plead, like the tax collector in a parable told by Jesus, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner" (Luke 18:13). The dying criminal came to such an end and Jesus gave him those wonderful words of assurance, "Today, you will be with me in Paradise."

There is no situation in our life that Jesus is not prepared to go with us, even in the valley of death! What an assurance. What a comfort.