March 30: One Sacrifice of Christ is Sufficient
♫ Music:
Day 45 - Friday, March 30
Good Friday
Title: One Sacrifice of Christ is Sufficient
Scripture: Hebrews 10:1-25
For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, But a body You have prepared for Me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure. “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (In the scroll of the book it is written of Me) To do Your will, O God.’” After saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them. After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, And on their mind I will write them,” He then says, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. ”Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Poetry: African Easter: Good Friday
By Abioseh Nicol
The Wounded Christ:
I am not your God
If you have not denied me once, twice,
If I have not heard you complaining,
Or doubting my existence.
I am not your Love,
If you have not rejected me often.
For what then am I worth to you
If you are always sinless.
Pace these sandy corridors of time,
Turn again and live for me your youth, listening
To the gently falling rain, the distant cock crow
Then proceed once more to deny
That I had a part in your being. Say
That I am an invention to keep you held
Always in thralldom. That I was
The avant-garde of your disintegration.
After me, the stone jars of cheap gin, the ornamental
Glass beads, the punitive expeditions, your colonial status,
I have heard it all before; hide your face,
Bury it, for fear that finding me, you may find peace.
For in this hour when the dying night lingers
Unwilling to surrender its waking darkness
Over your face and fevered brow, my torn fingers
Will stray bringing such comfort
As may claim your doubting heart.
ONE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST IS SUFFICIENT
Today we have come to the cross; the supreme act to which the Old Covenant practice of animal sacrifices pointed. The ineffectiveness of the prior Temple sacrifices, which had to be repeated and repeated, gives way to the one sacrifice, offered for all time. Through the cross and Christ’s humbling himself in accepting this death, our sins and lawless deeds are removed from God’s record and we are sanctified (vv.10, 12,14). The voluntary suffering and offering of Christ’s body upon the cross, with the shedding of His blood, establishes the New Covenant for us. Never forget. His obedience in human flesh to the Father’s will, has forever reversed the defeat that came through the disobedience of Adam and Eve.
Viewing the traditional icon painting, we look upon the Crucifixion - standing with Jesus’ Mother, the women followers, the apostle John and a Roman centurion. The earthly and heavenly are combined. The Truth of His absolute victory over Death and the purpose in all that occurred shines through the dreadfulness of His execution. “The hour is come that the Son of man may be glorified” John 12:23. *
At the crucifixion, we mourn that the Son of God has tragically been killed, the ever innocent and forgiving One. The closest members of Christ’s followers, struck by confusion and sorrow, realize only after the three days, that death/Satan could not keep their Master in the grave.
The better, living Way thus opened, imparts a New Covenant where amazingly the law of God is inscribed on our hearts and minds. This is how intimately God wants to interface. We no longer have to measure our righteousness by external rules and standards of the Law, so hopelessly beyond our reach. Our limited comprehension of the shocking price God was willing to pay, to restore the intended relationship with Him makes us plead, “give me just an inkling of this Love beyond all measure”. The righteousness of Christ, and the perfect sacrifice he made, has removed ALL our failings. The compassionate God invites each of us to a brand new life, stretching into Eternity with Him. How can there be any greater Love or calling? This is the Good News, powerful enough to shatter all that imprisons us-sin, death and the devil and raise us to heights beyond what we can think or express. The radical impact of this truth, so much of the time, escapes us.
As a young adult, I once saw a scene that pictured this disparity. I was watching huge jet planes take off at the end of the runways, soaring up into the open night sky, “defying” gravity. Right by this spot was a Military cemetery with an expanse of identical white crosses stretching out in neat, straight rows. With no disrespect for the soldiers so honored, the view made me think of the cautious, predictable pattern by which we try to order our days and fit into this earthly existence. Regulated and proper, but earthbound, missing out on the life transformed through the radical Lover of our souls.
Freed from all sin and transgression, matchless love, grace and utter benefaction are given. How are we to respond? The scripture says to draw near God in faith and sincerity, and confess our hope in the Savior. Commune with the Lord; be still and open for His presence, astonishingly entering the Holy of Holies. Again, it is so unfathomable how we have been given this gift of God, Himself. Further, don’t go it alone; meet together with the faithful as He has told us; encourage each other that we may stir one another up to love and good action. (vv.23-25).
The art piece, Absolution, captures the interpersonal dimension of our being forgiven and purified. We can embrace each other and be generous in our love without fear or guilt. (“By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16).
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your loving kindness. Help us respond to the great sacrifice of your only Son for our sake. May the cross upon which our salvation was won be ever an emblem of victory; a reminder to take up our own cross and follow Jesus.
Amen.
Beth Krammes
Alumna, Cook School of Intercultural Studies
Biola University
About the Artwork #1:
Orthodox Icon of the Crucifixion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Theophanes the Cretan
Fresco painting
1535
Stavronikita Monastery
Mount Athos, Greece
Like most Cretan painters of this date, Theophanes the Cretan’s work shows some influence from Western painting. Some faces are personalized or looking out to the viewer, and his figures are modeled to convey volume. His work is more conscious of visual perspective than older Byzantine artists, but he does not use the geometrical perspective schemes that had been by then standardized in the West. He uses traditional Byzantine compositions, in a rather austere and powerful manner. For a full explanation of the visual meaning portrayed in Artwork #1: https://iconreader.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/the-crucifixion-iconmeaning-of-the-cross/
About the Artist #1:
Theophanes the Cretan (b.? -1559) was a leading icon painter of the Cretan School in the first half of the sixteenth century, and in particular the most important figure in Greek fresco painting of the period. Frescoes bearing his signature survive in the Greek monasteries of Mt. Athos, especially Stavronikita Monastery and Lavra, and in Meteora, which has his earliest dated work, from 1527. He also did many panel icons, either for iconostasis or small portable works. Theophanes was active from about 1527-48, and trained his sons and several pupils, often themselves Cretan. By 1535 both he and his two sons had become monks in the Lavra Monastery of Mount Athos, where many of his best works remain.
About the Artwork #2:
Absolution
Andrey Yanev
Oil on Canvas
51.2 x 39.4 cm
About the Artist #2:
Andrey Yanev (b. 1965) is an award-winning artist who has become a popular figure in Bulgarian fine art. He graduated from the Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg. The Balkan artist draws his inspiration from the legends and the music of his homeland. He is a winner of numerous prestigious awards from national and international competitions. The artist has also created many works of stained glass, glass mosaics, murals and enamel panels for public buildings and private homes in Bulgaria.
About the Music:
“Quatuor pour la fin du temps: VIII: Louange à l'Immortalité de Jésus” from the album Rejoice - A Vision of Christ Through Music
About the Composer:
Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992) was a French composer, organist, ornithologist, and one of the major composers of the 20th century. His innovative use of color, his conception of the relationship between time and music, and his transcription and use of birdsong are among the features that make Messiaen's music distinctive. When France fell in 1940, Messiaen was made a prisoner of war, during which time he composed his "Quartet for the End of Time" inspired by Revelation Chapter 10. He wrote for the four available instruments—piano, violin, cello and clarinet. The piece was first performed outdoors in the rain by Messiaen and fellow prisoners for an audience of 400 inmates and prison guards. A translation of Messiaen’s preface to the score describes the eighth and final movement: “It is especially aimed at the second aspect of Jesus, Jesus the Man, the Word made flesh, immortally risen for our communication of his life. It is all love. Its slow ascent to the acutely extreme is the ascent of man to his god, the child of God to his Father, the being made divine towards Paradise.”
About the Performers:
Celebrating thirty years of award-winning recordings and performances, Amici Ensemble is recognized as one of Canada’s finest and most distinguished chamber music collectives. Artistic Directors clarinetist Joaquin Valdepeñas, cellist David Hetherington and current pianist Serouj Kradjian invite some of the finest musicians to join them in innovative and eclectic programming, celebrating friendship through music. Besides performing beloved classical standards, the ensemble has commissioned and premiered over twenty new works by Canadian composers, among them Allan Gordon Bell, Chan Ka Nin, Jacques Hétu, Alexina Louie and Jeffrey Ryan. In this recording, founding member and pianist Patricia Parr accompanies violinist Scott St. John.
About the Poet:
Abioseh Nicol (1924–1994) was a Sierra Leonean academic, diplomat, physician, writer and poet. He has been considered as one of Sierra Leone’s most educated and greatest citizens of the twentieth century, as he was able to secure degrees in the arts, science and commercial disciplines and he contributed to science, history, and literature. Nicol was the first African to graduate with First Class Honours from the University of Cambridge. Nicol significantly contributed to medical science when he was the first to analyze the breakdown of insulin in the human body, a discovery that was a breakthrough for the treatment of diabetes. Nicol has written poetry, articles, and short stories that have appeared in a number of publications. He won the Margaret Wrong Prize and Medal for Literature in Africa in 1952. Many reviewers have acclaimed his work to be dramatic and representative of rural, idyllic Africa.
About the Devotional Writer:
Beth Krammes is an alumna, Cook School of Intercultural Studies, Biola University.