An Unexpected, Life-changing Encounter

Good Friday is a very special day. A day when we remember the heavy price our Saviour, Jesus Christ the Son of God, paid for our salvation and redemption. His precious blood is what cleanses us from our sins and gives us eternal life. Without the events of that day all humanity would be in hopeless misery and darkness now and for all eternity. Neither you nor I would be able to know God, love Him, and approach Him. Thank you, Lord for the cross and the great price you paid for my salvation.

Now, on that Friday long ago, an suspecting man was thrust into the greatest event in history. It was then that He encountered Someone who changed his life forever.
The Gospels tell briefly of that encounter, but in it one could read a lifetime story. 

'And they compel one Simon of Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.' (Mark 15:21)
'And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.' (Luke 23:26)


In his book, The First Easter, Peter Marshall imagines the scene of the procession to Calvary and that special encounter between Christ and Simon of Cyrene.   

It was an ugly situation as the procession went slowly along this way that will for ever be known as the Via Dolorosa [way of suffering or sorrow]. Meanwhile - Simon of Cyrene was approaching the city gate. 

He had just arrived in Judea, and was about to enter the Holy City, as a pilgrim for the festival. 

He had spent the night in some village just outside, and, rising early in the morning, had bathed and dressed himself carefully...with a tingling excitement because soon he would be in Jerusalem. The wonder of Jerusalem, that exiles had described, he would now see with his own eyes...the sounds of the Holy City...he would hear with his own ears. Yet He tried to keep calm, and as he set out on the short walk that lay between him and the city, he was very thoughtful. 

He walked along the winding path that sometimes ran through the fields...Sometimes along narrow roads between hedges where there was the fragrance of pomegranate trees and honeysuckle... Sometimes along the torturous course of the dried-up river bed where the earth was cracked with the heat of the sun.

       Sometimes it wound up the jagged hillside to twist down among the giant boulders and huge rocks behind which many a robber might hide. He walked along beside the tall rushes, where he frightened conveys of birds that flew wheeling, diving... 

And he walked through the divided crops, ripening in the sunshine. 

He could hear the sheep bleating on the inhospitable hillside, while the morning sun climbed higher and chased away the mists that lay in the hollows, trailing down into the ravines like tulle scarves.  

As he walked along, he was thinking of the temple and its glories, the history of his people and the worship of his fathers... 

Already he could see ahead of him the domes of the temple gleaming gold in the sunshine, could hear the pigeons that had their nest in the cupolas and gables, and he thought of his own city looking from her height over the blue waters of the Mediterranean. 

Then as he neared the city gate he began to hear shouting that grew louder and louder. 

There seemed to Simon to be a sort of chant running through the noise... 

        a refrain that men's voices made clearer and clear er until he thought he could recognise the word 

        "Crucify 

crucify 

      crucify...."  

They met right at the city gate ... Simon of Cyrene and the crowd. He found that the procession was headed by some Roman soldiers; he would recognise them anywhere... 

          the insignia on their shields... 

       and their uniforms... 

He could tell a legionnaire when he saw one.  

He had little time to gather impressions, and as for asking questions, that was impossible. He could not make himself heard in all the rabble. 

The noise and confusion with its sinister and malice made Simon shudder.  

Simon was aware of two moving walls of Roman steel. There was something strange about it all but, before he could understand it, Simon was caught up in it - sucked into the procession, and swept out through the gate again. 

Simon was excited, afraid...He was puzzled and ill at ease. He scanned face after face quickly, looking for some light of pity... 

          of friendliness, 

                 of welcome... 

But he found none. 

He felt the drama of the situation, the cruelty of it...And its horror crept over him like a clammy mist - and he shivered.  

He was captured by the procession, stumbling along, tightly wedged in the very heart of the crowd. 

Then he noticed that there were three men who staggered under the weight of crosses of rough, heavy wood on which these unfortunates were going to die.  

Each man was bent beneath the burden he carried, and perspiration moistened his drawn face. 

One of them was strangely appealing, His face was arresting. Simon felt his gaze returning again and again to that one face. He noticed that blood was trickling down from wounds in the brow. 

On His face there was a twig of long-thorned brier, twisted around in the shape of a crown and pushed down cruelly on His head.  

Simon watched with beating heart as they shuffled along, fascinated by the look in those eyes. 

He could see nothing else. Everything was forgotten, even why he had come to Jerusalem. This public execution had driven everything else from his mind. 

Forgotten for the moment were the temple and its services, 

         messages he brought from friends far away... 

               things he had been asked to get... 

Everything was forgotten as he watched this Man carrying the cross.  

And then He looked up! His eyes almost blinded by the blood that trickled down from under that grotesque crown that was on his head... 

Why didn't somebody wipe His eyes? 

And as Simon looked at Him, He looked at Simon...And the eyes of the two ... met! 

How did Christ know what was in Simon's heart?What was it that made Him smile, a slow, sad smile that seemed to still Simon's wildly beating heart and give him courage? 

The look that passed between them Simon never forgot as long as he lived, for no man can look at Jesus of Nazareth and remain the same. (my emphasis)

As these two looked at each other, the Man with the cross stumbled, and the soldiers, moved more by impatience than pity, seeing that the Nazarene was almost too exhausted to carry the cross any further, laid hands on Simon and conscripted him to carry it.

He was the nearest man. 

He was strong.

His shoulders were broad!

Simon's heart almost stopped beating; he tried to speak, but no words came.

A few minutes before, he had been a lonely pilgrim quietly approaching the Holy City. And now, there he was in the midst of a procession of howling men and women, walking between two moving walls of Roman steel, and carrying on his shoulder a cross on which someone was going to die!

The look of gratitude and love that flashed from the eyes of Jesus as Simon lifted the load from those tired, bleeding shoulders did something to the man from Cyrene, and in an instant life was changed. (my emphasis)

Simon never could explain it afterwards - how it happened! 

There are moments of spiritual insight that defy the limits of syntax and grammar. 

There are some things too deep for words.

But all at once he saw the meaning of pain...

          understood the significance of suffering...

The meaning of prayer was unveiled...

          and the message of the Scriptures.

He saw prophecy take form and live before him. 

He remembered words of the psalmist and the prophets of old, words that until now had been without sense of meaning, but now... he saw ... and understood. (my emphasis)

Yes, the one who meets Jesus of Nazareth will never be the same again. No-one can remain neutral. If you haven't yet had such a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, ask Him now. He is near and always ready to heal and forgive. If you have had that wonderful encounter already, take a moment to thank Him for His sacrifice and ask Him to refresh that relationship. This is what I pray. Amen.

God Bless, 
 

_________________
Reference: 
Peter Marshall, The First Easter, (ed.) Catherine Marshall, London: Hodder and Staughton, 1959, pp. 54-59 

Hall of Faith Series: Men of Faith - St. Patrick

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Since it is St. Patrick's Day today, I decided 'St. Patrick' would be my character for this week's 'Hall of Faith Series'. If you ask many people nowadays who St. Patrick was, they would most likely not know very much other than the myths and legends that have been weaved and weaved around him for countless generations. These legends have obscured the man behind those legends and made most of us (yes, even us Christians) forget why he became such a legend in the first place.

Patrick (c. A.D. 386-461) wrote very little about himself and no one during his lifetime wrote about him either. However, we are fortunately left with a few of his writings that tells us something of the true Patrick, a holy and humble man of great faith in God with a truly apostolic mission. The most important document is the Confessio or Confession (*I highly recommend reading it*). In it he sketches his life story - how he was captured by Irish slave traders, how he called on the Lord in the day of his distress and was saved, how he miraculously escaped his captivity and returned to his home in Briton, then how he was called back to the people who had enslaved him in order to preach the Gospel to them, and how he obeyed God's call despite the danger and difficulties. 

Paul Gallico said this about Patrick in his A Steadfast Man: A Life of St. Patrick,

He [Patrick] stands forth as a wonderfully human being, a man with almost all man's failings, yet touched by the divine. The testimony of his own hand exposes one who is not ashamed to admit that he owed everything to God, and that, had it not been for Him, he, Patrick, would have been other than he was.

Out of the pages of the Confessio arises the figure of a man of indomitable purpose and compelling spiritual power, who, as [Bishop] Secundinus [probably a nephew of Patrick] wrote in his hymn, 'in sincerity of heart had confidence in God'.

It is this sincerity, faith, and confidence - the utter subjection of himself to God - that gave Patrick his stature and account for the success that has placed him amongst the saints of the ages. 

 Patrick's trust in God breathes from every page and from every line he wrote. It replaced a confidence that he never felt in himself, for Patrick entertained no illusions as to his initial abilities and talents. But God made everything possible to him, helped him to overcome every obstacle, physical or spiritual, with which his adventurous life was studded. he walked armoured in this faith and nothing could touch him; not the swords and spears of his enemies, or the occasional envy or spite of his friends. 

It was this love for God and his dedication to the life, the work and the word of Christ that gave Patrick his steadfast and unchanging nature. God was Patrick's catalyst who fused and tempered his character. From the time that the boy Patrick discovered Him on the freezing slopes of Mount Slemish, there was not a thought or action that was not first funneled through God. Thus the Saint's line of action ran as straight as an arrow, undeviating, unwavering. It was impossible for him to act other than in concert with his God, who had called him to serve. He had the word of that God and that Christ, spoken through the Scriptures and the Gospels; he lived by them to the utmost of his ability and he asked of those about him and those whom he preached and converted to try to do likewise. And you will see, glittering from some of his paragraphs. like jewels, his joy when he succeeded. (p. 124-125) 

Patrick's faith in God and his obedience to His call to preach to the heathen Irish when nobody else thought it possible, changed the destiny and faith of a whole nation and influenced the development of Christian Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. The monasteries that dotted the Irish landscape became a bastion of learning during the troubled times of the barbarian invasions in Europe. The beautiful calligraphic manuscripts created and preserved in those monasteries awe us all, the Book of Kells, being a chief example. 

There is so much more to learn about Patrick, his faith and his work for the Lord, maybe I'll leave that for another post for now. Until then, however, I highly recommend watching the docu-drama Patrick (narrated by Liam Neeson), which tells Patrick's story really well and it's very encouraging. 

I'd like to end with this: 

A Poem by St.Patrick
Written by St. Patrick in 377 A.D.

Lorica
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who desires me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.     

God Bless, 

Sarah
_____________________________
References and Further Reading: 
- St. Patrick, Confession (available  online at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/patrick/confession.ii.html )
- Patrick Docu-Drama
- Paul Gallico, The Steadfast Man: A Life of St. Patrick, London: Michael Joseph, 1958.
- Mary Wilson, Builders and Destroyers, God's Hand in History A.D. 300-700, Book IV, London: Blandford Press, 1968, pp. 60-8

Hall of Faith Series: Abraham and Sarah (Hebrews 11:8-12, 17-19)

Well, it's time I did another 'Hall of Faith Series' post. It's been a while, hasn't it?  But, here I go now!

Today's Hall of Faith characters are Abraham and Sarah. They are indeed one of my favourites. However, I cannot adequately convey by a long shot the faith of these great characters, considering that the Bible places them as the father and mother of the faithful. Probably, that's why I've delayed so long in writing this post. 

They were not without failings and weaknesses, of course. The Bible records several of these. However, in spite of this, God's grace was made truly manifest in them, with everlastingly glorious consequences in their lives and history. 

Hall of Faith: Noah (Hebrews 11:7)

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Today's Hall of Faith character is Noah. Yes, Noah and the Ark! Everyone knows about that! You know, the ark, the animals, the Flood, the rainbow, etc... Since childhood we've all just loved it. But guess what! I think I love this account more now than I probably ever did when I was a little child. That's because I know now how deep and serious it was, as well as amazing.

After Cain killed Abel, God gave Adam and Eve another son. They called him Seth. He grew up to be like Abel - a man who feared God. Now there were two main family lines on earth: the line of Cain (representing those who were of the world, who were ungodly) and the line of Seth (representing those who were children of God). The entire Bible is full of that tension between the sons of light and the sons of darkness. This also continues till today. 

The years pass and those of the line of Cain grew more and more wicked. For several generations there was a difference between the Cain Line and the Seth Line. As time went on, however, the Seth line began to intermingle with Cain's line. They took on their ways and soon became like them. They lost touch with God, their Creator. They forgot God's instructions. They became violent and wicked (see Genesis 6). The only person on earth who kept himself and was not defiled by all of this was Noah. The Bible says that God saw Noah was just, 'perfect in his generation', who walked with Him (Genesis 6:9). What a wonderful thing for God to look and see us perfect in His sight. He sees that when we are clothed with the Righteousness of Christ. Amen! 

When God saw the wickedness, He regretted that He created man (see Genesis 6:6)! However, He wanted to save Noah. So He told him He was going to destroy the whole earth with a Flood. God told Him to build himself a huge ark and take with him his wife, his three sons, and their wives, as well as, two of every kind of animal, male and female, and seven from the clean animals. 

In Hebrews 11:7 it says that 'By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.' 

Noah believed God and obeyed Him when it was not the popular thing to do. Can you imagine! He was the only really Godly man on earth! It reminds me of the words of the song: 'Though none go with me, I still will follow'. 
Noah really had faith in God. He built the ark contrary to all human reasoning. Building a ship on dry land! Yet, he feared God and trusted His Word and that's what saved him, his family, and all mankind. He did not look to the seen and visible, rather he looked to the unseen, which is eternal (see II Corinthians 4:18).


Give us Lord that faith. To trust you and obey you without wavering and always look to that which is unseen which will last forever. Amen!

Learn More:

I highly recommend watching this classic movie about Noah. It follows the Biblical account closely. Though, I think the actual ark was much bigger, and perhaps a little bit more orderly:) 

Hall of Faith Series: Abel and Enoch (Hebrews 11:4-5)

Welcome to the first post in the Hall of Faith Series. 

I hope you'll be blessed.

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Abel offering a
'more excellent sacrifice than Cain'

The list of characters in the Hall of Faith of Hebrews 11, starts from the early beginnings of history with righteous Abel, who was the first one on earth to ever experience death and death by violence. 

"By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he being dead yet speaketh" (Hebrews 11:4) 

As we all know the account from Genesis, he was the second son of Adam and Eve. Unlike his brother Cain, Abel took heed to what his parents said God required of them after their fall in the Garden of Eden. This was now the only way to approach God as sinners - offering a blood sacrifice. It was, of course, looking forward to Christ, the Saviour, who was to come and be '...the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world' (John 1:29). God gave Abel true saving faith. 


Abel was a shepherd, but Cain was a farmer (see Genesis 4:2). The Bible say in Genesis 4 that one day Cain and Abel decided to offer a sacrifice to God. Cain decided to offer fruits and vegetables he has grown. This does not sound too bad at first. However, he totally missed the whole meaning of the offering. He had no faith in it. It is was just a duty to him.


Abel on the other hand understood by faith what the offering represented. The blood of the blameless lamb was to be his substitute before God for his sins. Through faith he saw his Redeemer. That was what he brought to God - '...the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof' (Genesis 4:4). It was also his best. The Bible says that 'the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect' (Genesis 4:4-5). God looked into Abel's heart and found faith and saw him as righteous. But He did not find it in Cain. 


Cain, of course, was angry with God and Abel and so, murdered his own brother! In 1 John 3:12, it says why he slew him: 'because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.' Even in his death he still speaks faith to us. 


May the Lord give us the faith of righteous Abel! 

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The next character in the Hall of Faith is that of Enoch. We know so very little about him, except for these precious words: 

"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him:  for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God" (Hebrews 11: 5). 


Enoch and Elijah, were the only ones on earth to ever experience this: not tasting earthly death.


God did this for Enoch because he pleased Him. That is indeed a precious thing to have that said about you. But without FAITH it is impossible to please God (see Hebrews 11:6). When we approach God we must believe '...that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him' (11:16). Therefore, Enoch was full of faith in God. 


The only other place in the Bible where we know something more about Enoch's faith is in Jude 1:14-16, where Enoch is said to have prophesied, saying that '...the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgement upon all, and to convince all that ungodly among them of their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him...' 


This is just a glimpse of the godliness and faith of this man of God. 
May the Lord grant us the faith of Enoch that causes us to please God always. 


Thank you for joining me on this journey. My presentation here is very poor. But I know it will be a learning journey for me and am being blessed with it as I hope it will bless you, too. 

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Learn More: 
Genesis 4:1-16
Hebrews 11: 4-6

Hall of Faith Series - Introduction

As I've been thinking and praying about what the Lord would have me share with you this year, He reminded me, through a friend's blog post, of the 'Hall of Faith' in Hebrews chapters 11 and 12. In these days of uncertainties, turmoil, suffering, and spiritual challenges that daily confront us, I believe it is important to remember that we are surrounded by a '...great...cloud of witnesses' (Heb.12:1), always cheering us on and always encouraging us to hold fast to our faith in Him and run the race with endurance and perseverance. 

Since I was a little girl and from the beginning of my walk with the Lord, I've loved and been blessed and encouraged by the stories and biographies of Godly Christians who've lived their lives for the Lord and gave their all for Him who redeemed them. Most were ordinary, simple folk whom the Lord used to change history, to glorify His name, and build His kingdom. 

Through their FAITH they '...wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wondered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitue, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith...' (Heb.11: 33-39a). 

Their God is my God, too - our God! That give me strength and hope and inspires me to persevere. Reading about them has also inspired my present love for history. I realised that God is very much at work in the world and that history is really His Story! 

I invite you to join me these coming months (or longer??) on a 'tour' or 'journey' of heaven's Hall of Faith! The hall is long and it goes back to the beginning of time. Meet their Mighty God and Saviour. See them conquer their sins, weaknesses, fears, and doubts through FAITH in Him. 'This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith' (1 John 5:4b). See them give themselves to the Lord and He doing mighty things in their lives and through them. 

Whenever, the Lord gives me the time, I'll share a bit about a character from either biblical times or from early and late antiquity and modern times, as the Lord leads! I'll also try to place these characters in their historical context and see how the Lord used them even in the small and ordinary things as well as the big and extraordinary to influence people and change history. 

Look out for this picture to follow up on this series!

Many Blessings,