The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Samuel 18:33,
"The king [David] was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: 'O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!'"
Absalom's revolt against his father, David, ended when he was put to death by Joab and his armor-bearers. When David sent out his army to oppose the revolt, he asked that they "Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake." Verse 5. Nevertheless, Joab killed Absalom and David was bereaved.
I sometimes wonder about the emotions God the Father felt when his Son was put to death. The death of Absalom broke David's heart and I'm quite sure the death of Jesus Christ must have impacted his Father. The death of Jesus Christ was the intended plan by God when he entered the human race two millenia ago, to appease his own sense of justice - that he might welcome guilty sinners into his family. God sent his Son into the world to save the world, John 3:16. As John puts it in his first letter, "He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:9-10.
We know that our ability to emote is because we are made in God's image. We feel because our Creator feels and he has made us this way. As a matter of fact, in some of the accounts of Scripture, we find God feels some emotions incredibly intensely. I have to think that although it was God's intent that Jesus die on that miserable cross to pay for our sins, and although that sacrifice appeased his sense of justice and made way for his love of us to be expressed and be completed, it broke his heart just as David's was over the death of Absalom.
Perhaps this helps us understand the incredible events that attended the death of Jesus Christ on that cross, "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus' resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, 'Surely he was the Son of God!'"
"The king [David] was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: 'O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!'"
Absalom's revolt against his father, David, ended when he was put to death by Joab and his armor-bearers. When David sent out his army to oppose the revolt, he asked that they "Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake." Verse 5. Nevertheless, Joab killed Absalom and David was bereaved.
I sometimes wonder about the emotions God the Father felt when his Son was put to death. The death of Absalom broke David's heart and I'm quite sure the death of Jesus Christ must have impacted his Father. The death of Jesus Christ was the intended plan by God when he entered the human race two millenia ago, to appease his own sense of justice - that he might welcome guilty sinners into his family. God sent his Son into the world to save the world, John 3:16. As John puts it in his first letter, "He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:9-10.
We know that our ability to emote is because we are made in God's image. We feel because our Creator feels and he has made us this way. As a matter of fact, in some of the accounts of Scripture, we find God feels some emotions incredibly intensely. I have to think that although it was God's intent that Jesus die on that miserable cross to pay for our sins, and although that sacrifice appeased his sense of justice and made way for his love of us to be expressed and be completed, it broke his heart just as David's was over the death of Absalom.
Perhaps this helps us understand the incredible events that attended the death of Jesus Christ on that cross, "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus' resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, 'Surely he was the Son of God!'"
And, perhaps, this tells us something of the love our God has for us.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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