A Note from DT
Hey HoF Fam,
In the western world we find ourselves in the season of two very large celebratory weeks in the church schedule. One week, filled with palm branches and donkeys we celebrate what is known as the ’Triumphal Entry’ and the next will be the ‘Super Bowl of the Christian Church’ known as Easter. It is not uncommon for churches to bring in a donkey for a photoshoot and to have craft palm branches in all of the kids programs followed by a week of easter egg hunts and instagram photo booths outside of the church…“don’t forget to hashtag #Heisrisen@insertchurchname”. There is certainly value in taking time to really focus on the resurrection of Christ but I can’t help but to think that between these two celebrations is something very heavy that if not communicated in truth will propagate a view of God that is the root cause of an incredible amount of damage via anxiety and psychological disorders that have become like a mental plague in the minds of the masses. Yes, in much of what seems to be a celebration of the victorious Christ there is also the undertone of an angry vengeful Father who refuses to forgive unless he is satisfied by the shedding of innocent blood. Yeesh! This drastic perversion of our loving Father is like a splinter in the psyche of our minds inserted between two joyous celebrations which are the bread slices in this poisonous sandwich of fear. The wonderful news is that this twisted view of God could not be further from the truth. Jesus was not in the garden of Gethsemane begging His angry Father to spare Him from His wrath. That is an absolute contradiction of the scripture. Stay with me, I know what I am saying may trigger your instinct to defend this wrathful angry God you have been conditioned not to question, but I can give you scripture to prove it. (a ton of it)
Hebrews 5:7 says, In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.This verse is often misinterpreted as Jesus being saved from death on the cross. The obvious truth to anyone who reads the story is that He was not spared from that death on the cross but there was a time, the night before in the garden of Gethsemane, where He prayed vehemently with tears to His Dad in order for the cup of suffering to be removed from Him. In that garden Jesus was under immense pressure taking upon Himself such a level of darkness in His human body that He was very close to dying before He was even able to make it to the cross. In Luke 22 the doctor records this time of prayer along with Jesus sweating out His blood. Truly, Jesus was so close to death in that Olive Garden that He needed divine intervention to even be able to go through the trial and subsequent death on the cross. His prayer was heard, angels were sent, and Jesus was given the strength to follow through with His mission. After all, it was His plan all along.
What we do not see is the agonizing prayer of a Son begging His father to be rescued. What we do see is God in Christ (as One Team in full agreement) reconciling the world to Himself (2 Corinth 5:19). Yes, God is Love and not in some weird twisted abusive version of love that we just have to accept. He was willing to go through anything in order to rescue us. His wrath wasn’t against His Son or against mankind but against all of the ungodliness which bound mankind (Romans 1:18) His wrath is actually His raging love which was willing to step into the line of fire taking upon Himself every bit of darkness that was coming our way, and not only that, but He was happy to do it! This “Holy Week” I’ll leave you with this verse as we ponder all of this together:
Hebrews 12:2 …for the joy that was set before Him (Jesus) endured the cross, despising (thinking little of) the shame.
Indeed Jesus was so happy about the opportunity to rescue us all that He didn’t hesitate to jump into humanity to take on all of the darkness in this world and not even the terror of the cross could deter Him. That really is a contrast to the underlying dark narrative that shades what we have come to call ‘Good Friday’. What a Champion! This is the heart of your true Father and His heart is actually in you. When you abide in Him as your truest self you are just like Him. He really does love us completely and fully. Put your trust in Him above all else and you will not be disappointed.
-DT