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The 7 Last Sayings of the Cross- Intro

The 7 Last Sayings of Jesus from on the Cross are famous for being talked about, studied, preached, and part of a theme at this time of year. For the next few weeks, I will be looking at them in this Blog to get a better understanding of Jesus. Not so much about what He said, but a deeper look into His heart. Christians are commanded to be like Jesus in every way. But I think many of us believe that this is something we cannot do. And our reasoning is that, well, He was the Son of God. Yet, God has never said anything about us “being as close to Jesus as you think you can”, or “be like Jesus when you fell like it”. If we look at what Jesus said while on the cross, it will give us a greater and deeper perspective on how we can be completely obedient to God’s commands.

I think a good place to start is 2 Corinthians 10:5, where the Apostle Paul tells us: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Have you thought about this? Friends, bringing EVERY thought captive into obedience of Jesus is a daunting task. When we are in great physical or emotional pain, stressed out emotionally, or just at the end of our very last nerve...well, you know what happens; even when we try not to let it happen.

When our pain and stress levels are low it is much easier to live God's way. The real test comes when our pain and our stress levels are high. In times like these, it is good to remember Jesus as the ultimate example of how to react during such times of pain and stress.

In fact, His example on the cross provides great inspiration to encourage all of us to control and think through our reactions when dealing with great emotional and/or physical pain. A friend of mine after seeing the movie The Passion of the Christ, made a very interesting comment. He said, “After seeing the full enormity of what Christ must have gone through, my respect and admiration for Jesus’ discipline to react to all of that in such a spiritual and Godly way went through the roof.” This is what I'd like to focus on today, and through the each Blog on the 7 Last Sayings. Going back in time to this dramatic day in history, and looking at these sayings, shows us they all have a different theme. They reveal Jesus' innermost feelings as He poured out His life for us and provide a powerful example of how we, too, should react in times of great physical and emotional pain. So we begin today with Paul’s admonishment to us that we are in a SPIRITUAL battle. We are ALWAYS in a spiritual battle. So when we go through pain, stress, difficulty, or whatever it is. We must do exactly as Jesus did. We must first bring every thought captive into obedience of Jesus. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can do it.

Love and prayers,

Dr. D.