Once and for All

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.  But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”

– Hebrews 10:11-14

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ,  And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 1:20

He was despised and rejected by men,

A man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

Like one from who men hide their faces

He was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he took up our infirmities

And carried our sorrows,

Yet we considered him stricken by God.

Smitten by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

The punishment that brought up peace was upon him,

And by his wounds we are healed,

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

Each of us has turned to his own way;

And the Lord has laid on him

The iniquity of us all…

He poured out his life unto death,

And was numbered with the transgressors.

For he bore the sin of many,

And made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:3-6, 12b

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me.  And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.  His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze flowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.  In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.  Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One: I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.  

Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.  The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Revelation 1:12-20

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These passages have been rumbling around in my heart.  Thank you for taking the time to read them. In this fast-paced world, being asked to read four passages can be a tall ask! 

This Holy Week and Lent has been so different from any other in my life.  We are in lockdown, quarantined. We can’t gather. (Which, for a Greek girl who is used to the whole calendar year being based on gathering at Pascha – that’s really hard!!)  But, this has also afforded time to meditate on Truth.  And, as I’ve been leading up to this Good Friday, I’ve been thinking about Jesus before Pilate and His accusers, and how He didn’t fight back.  He didn’t correct the accusations. He didn’t show a great display of power. And it wasn’t that He didn’t have that Power. Remember, in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Judas and the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, they all fell backwards to the ground when He simply said “I am he.” (John 18:5).  And yet, He waited until they roused and asked again who they were looking for, not seeking to get away. So, He clearly had the power to escape, and He clearly had the power to show beyond a shadow of a doubt that He was who He said….but He didn’t.

When I was a new believer, barely beyond a year newly in the Lord, people often described me as a sponge.  When I was prayed for, I would soak it all in, gleaning all I could, embracing everything that would be given me spiritually.  It was the same in Bible studies – I was zealous and eager to absorb it all. I was reminded of that when I thought of Jesus before Pilate and His accusers.  He was also a sponge….but not of blessings.

A man of sorrows…with the iniquity of us all upon Him.  He wasn’t looking to set the record straight. He wasn’t looking to convince them He was Lord…He was bound and determined to sit in the seat of the accused and absorb every drop of sin, every bit of ugliness, all the worst of mankind.  He was determined not to leave a single drop of the darkness and grime unabsorbed. He was determined to take it all, all of it into and onto Himself….so that in Him, we could be made totally whole, holy, righteous, redeemed….so that we could become a part of His family….so that we could come to the throne of righteousness unashamed…so that we could be with Him for all ages.

What do you do when you are approached with a situation of pain?  Isn’t the first instinct to flinch away? Don’t you try to preserve yourself from feeling it?  What do you do with grief? Isn’t the first instinct denial and to try to not look it in the face?  What do you do with wrongful accusations? Don’t you feel anger and want to set the record straight?  Not our Jesus….because He wanted to be the Once and for All kind of sacrifice. He wanted to pay for every last drop.  He wanted to cover every person with His Blood and give every single person the opportunity to come into His family…that’s our Jesus.

But what seems to happen is that sometimes I forget that it was once and for all.  Sometimes I get scared. Covid-19 seems to be a valid opponent, and I realize I in myself am powerless to protect my baby boy.  Jobs become untrustworthy as a stable source of provision, and I realize I in myself am unable to provide. And just like that – I forget.  We are forgetful people.  

And, for that reason I am so grateful that we have the Holy Spirit.  I am so grateful that Jesus knew we were forgetful. I am so grateful that the Holy Spirit reminds us of Truth.  He reminds us that Jesus paid for it once and for all. He reminds us that there is no name greater than the name of Jesus – even the name of Coronavirus has to bow.  He reminds us that when we ask for bread, he won’t give us a stone. He reminds us that worrying won’t add a single day to our lives. He reminds us that we have the victory in Jesus.  He reminds us that this world is only a very small glimpse of time, and that we have eternity with Him to look forward to – that death is defeated, once and for all, by the Blood of Jesus – poured out willingly to cover all of our sins, from yesterday to today to the days to come.

And so, when I asked Jesus what He was up to during all of this Covid craziness…He gave me this image: Him, walking amongst all the candlesticks of the world, all of the Church lights, and His big, mighty, heavy, blazing feet walking amongst us…not crushing one.  And He said to me “I am seeking out My children.” He is seeking out His children….those who have already chosen Him and whose ears and eyes and hearts He wants to open further…and those who have yet to know Him, but who He has paid the price for…once and for all.

So let me leave you with this – rest.  It can be the hardest thing to do. Even when we are quarantined, we are aware of all that is happening, and all we want to do is spin and toil and strive to make this right.  We can’t. Just rest. He paid for it all, once and for all. And He loves us. And we’re safe. He did what we couldn’t. He chose to be a sponge and absorb it all….He chose to love us even unto death, so that He could take the keys back and welcome us home.