". . . Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." - Luke 23:34
Even on the cross Jesus offered up a prayer of mercy unto the Father for His accusers. God is just even in judgment. On the surface you would think Jesus' reason for asking the Father to forgive His executioners was simply because His purpose in coming was to die in our place that we might be reconciled back to God. But it goes much deeper than that.
Jesus asked for forgiveness on their behalf because they really didn't know what they had done. The Roman soldiers didn't know He was the Christ, God of everything seen and unseen. To them god was one of many statues they gave honor to for atmospheric occurrences they couldn't explain, and victory in battle. The crowd that yelled "crucify Him, crucify Him" were following the instructions of the religious leaders who they believed to be the true guides in matters concerning Jehovah.
The scribes and Pharisees who knew the law of Moses and the writings of the prophets, did not know that the man they sentence to death was their long awaited Messiah. They didn't have Jesus executed because they wanted to kill the promised Messiah! They didn't know His birthplace was Bethlehem Ephrathah, of a virgin. They thought He was born in Nazareth, a product of fornication. They didn't realize that He was the one Moses said would be raised up from among them as a prophet like unto him, who would raise the dead, heal the sick, open blind eyes and give speech to the dumb. How could they, the keepers of the sacred Word of God, have missed all the signs and proof of Jesus' identity? Envy, insecurity and fear.
They were so envious of Jesus' popularity with the multitudes that they feared losing their preeminence over the people---that they would no longer be sought after. They feared the end of their authority as the experts on God among the people, so they conspired and plotted His demise. If they could have overcome their envy and fear, they would have been stirred to use their skills of research and study to discover that He was indeed God's Servant the Prophet Isaiah spoke of. Instead, they became blind guides.
AS LEADERS IN THE MAKING you must come to a level of maturity and say, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." There will be times in your press for attainment in Christ that those who for envy and fear for self-preservation and importance in the eyesight of people will come against the anointing of Christ in your life. Friendships will be severed at the command of insecure religious people. But like Jesus, you must look beyond their attacks and understand the reason for their actions, and become a healing balm of prayer to the Father on their behalf.
(This, and all of the "Meditations for Leaders in the Making" were developed from the personal journal entries of Anna M. Ashby-Caison, 1996-1998, copyright 2003 by Christ Made Known In Me!)
". . . . many believed in His name when they saw the miracles which He did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because He knew all men. And needed not that any should testify of man: for He knew what was in man." - John 2:23b-25
A danger to our effectiveness as Leaders is to look for validation from men.
In the above scriptures, many believed on Jesus because of the miracles He did. But Jesus did not commit or entrust Himself to their validation of who He was because He knew the fickleness of man. Such as the seventy who became His disciples after witnessing His miracles and later, disassociated themselves from Him when He said, "he that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." However, their rejection of Him did not change the fact that He was, and still is the Son of God and that He was sent by God to give His life that we might have eternal life.
When the Pharisees declared Him not to be the Son of God because He lacked validation from two witnesses, Jesus told them they erred because their judgment was based on flesh; what they thought, what their colleagues thought, what the town people of Nazareth thought, perhaps what His own brothers and sisters thought. The validation of who He is was not determined by man. His validation was of the Spirit, and since Jesus is God, He is His first witness, and His second witness was God the Father for it was the Father who sent Him. Proof that the Father sent Him is the power and authority He exhibited over sin, sickness, death, the elements, and all the works of the devil.
As LEADERS IN THE MAKING, our validation of sonship and ministry is not based on the testimony of men either. Not our parents, siblings, co-workers, not even our pastors or other Christian leaders can validate whether or not we are called of God. Our validation is based on the testimony of God. Romans 8:16 says that the "Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." The Holy Spirit, is witness number one. Jesus is our second witness for as the Father sent Him, He has sent us and have given us the ministry of reconciliation (John 17:18: 2 Cor. 5:19-20). And the proof that He has sent us is the manifestation of His power in our life over sin and all the works of the devil.
"And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided Him, saying, He saved others; let Him save Himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God." - Luke 23:35
When Jesus hung and died on the cross He looked like He had failed in His mission. One of His disciples had betrayed Him while the others (except John) hid in fear. No one could be found to speak up for His innocence, no one came forward to testify of the healing they and their loved one received at His touch. There were women weeping at the foot of the cross, believing their hope was lost, and injustice had scored another victory. It's all over His followers thought; the time, monies, travels, everything they invested in Jesus and His ministry was a loss.
That's what it looked like, but that's not what it was! What looked like failure to the carnal eye was actually Success! The cross was the means by which the Success of His ministry came.
AS LEADERS IN THE MAKING there will be times when after you've followed the instructions of the Holy Spirit, gone where you were sent, did what you were prompted to do; your mission will look like failure. Your bank account may be empty, friends will become few and there will be none to encourage you. Everything will look like a loss.
Remember, what looks like failure to the carnal eye is success to the spiritual eye. Apostle Paul said God took the foolishness (what looked like failure) of the cross to confound the wise (Greeks: great thinkers and learners of men), and confuse the Jews (a stumbling block). Why? So no flesh (including you and I) should glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1:17-29).
TO GOD IS THE GLORY!
"But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." - Philippians 2:7,8
Whenever I begin to feel I can't handle being belittled by peers; when I just can't take being humiliated by the very people God sent me to minister to, and to assist in the work of the ministry; the Holy Ghost brings to my remembrance Philippians 2:7, 8.
Jesus was so determine to do the will of the Father, that He willingly took the position of a bond-servant, a surrendering of His will in order to accomplish God's will. And in the process of His submission to God, He had to endure the misconceptions, injustice, humiliation and slander of those He came to minister to. Yet He endured, without faltering, even unto death.
Just think about it. Jesus, the creator of everything seen and unseen; Jesus, God incarnate; the "Ancient of Days;" the "I Am that I Am" stepped down into the likeness of man and humbled Himself before the very people He created!
At age 12 He humbled Himself before His earthly parents and went home with them when He was found in the temple talking with the Doctors and Teachers of the law. At a wedding He humbled Himself before His mother and produced wine out of water for the host. He took the insults of misinformed people who called Him a wine bibber and a cohort of prostitutes and publicans. He was labeled by the Pharisees as Mary's illegitimate child, and at another time they called Him Beelzebub! He was turned over by the Sanhedrin to the Roman government for execution, being falsely accused of being an insurrectionist and blasphemer of the God of Israel (ridiculous! He was the God of Israel!). He was whipped, mocked, slapped, ridiculed and crucified between two thieves as if He was a common criminal. He could have called legions of angels to come to His aid, but He didn't because pleasing the Father meant death on the cross to deliver you and me from the power and penalty of sin. Following His death and resurrection, many who shunned Him and yelled "crucify Him" became Christians.
AS LEADERS IN THE MAKING, your relationship with Christ will be tested and tried in like manner as He was. As a servant of Christ you have access to unlimited help 24 hours a day. For we have not a High Priest who is not touched with the weakness of the flesh. He knows from personal experience what you are feeling and going through as you seek to please the Father. Draw from His strength and know of surety that as you continue to humble youself before God and man, you are dying to the sinful desires of the flesh. And in the process of your death in the flesh, the new man is being exalted drawing many to become Christians.
"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night" - John 3:1-2
There's much theorizing as to why Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. Was it because it was more convenient for both their schedules; or was it to avoid being seen by fellow Pharisees conversing with the opposition?
One thing was evident to Nicodemus, Jesus was sent by God because of the miracles He did. However, the miracles were not enough for Nicodemus to openly support or respond favorable to His ministry in the open when the honorable and prestigious firm he belonged to was vehemently against Him.
We've all been where Nicodemus was at this point when there is a struggle between the established norm with its fringe benefits, and revealed truth without the frills of life. That's where Nicodemus was. To acknowledge Christ would be to forsake his office and position with all of its perceived power and prestige within the Sanhedrin in exchange for fellowship with a band of perceived heretics whose leader was the son of a carpenter that drew a following of sinners and publicans.
But like the Apostle Paul after him, Nicodemus counted everything he once valued as dung when in the open he and Joseph of Arimathaea took the bloody body of Jesus (becoming ceremonially unclean) and laid it in the tomb.
IN YOUR MAKING TO BE A LEADER, you will encounter those who like Nicodemus will desperately call upon you in the evening to pray for them, their sick, and wayward love ones; to speak a word of hope from God's Word to them----and then when daylight comes, in the midst of their clique, club or mix, they will avoid eye contact with you, they will act as if yesterday evening never occurred.
Don't allow their shame of you (which is actually being ashamed of Christ) make you wish you hadn't ministered to them. Don't allow bitterness to rob you of the hope that your personal Nicodemus like his biblical predecessor will one day unashamedly and without fear publicly embraced and declare the truth revealed through you, Christ's humble servant.
MEDITATIONS FOR LEADERS IN THE MAKING (Unwavering Faith)
"Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." - Matt. 4:8, 9
As God, everything Satan offered Jesus was already His. But as man, it was not.
In order for Jesus to redeem man of sin and restore his inheritance lost in the garden through Adam, He had to be born of a woman, and live life as a man in obedience to the plan of God. Through the suffering of the cross, all power in heaven and earth (which included the kingdoms of the world and their glory) was given to Him. Satan offered Jesus a short cut to attain what God had promised Him if He would bow down and worship him, but Jesus chose to ". . . become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." If Jesus had taken Satan's short cut, we'd still be in bondage today and our inheritance would still belong to Satan.
David faced a similar challenge. As a boy, the prophet Samuel had anointed him God's choice to succeed Saul as king of Israel. As the favor of Israel moved from Saul (due to Saul's disobedience) and onto the young man David, David became a fugitive (forced out of his inheritance) pursued by Saul to be killed on sight. Twice King Saul and His men unwittingly placed themselves in a position that was advantageous to David and his men to destroy them. Each time David forbade his men to do Saul or his army harm (1 Sam. 24:4-6; 26:8-10). David's unwavering faith that God would make him king over Israel prevented him from taking a shortcut to the throne through murder (2 Sam. 2:7; 5:1-5).
If David had taken a short cut to the kingdom, he would have lost the favor of Israel and a civil war would have consumed the nation making it a laughing stock before its enemies instead of a testimony of the true and living God.
AS LEADERS IN THE MAKING you will have a type of King Saul in your life. The test? Will I take what God has promised me through manipulation, schemes and politics, or will I wait (trust) on God to bring His promise to pass? Satan would have us panic and justify using whatever vice necessary to get what's rightfully ours, however, we must understand, it's not rightfully ours until God gives it at the fulfillment of our obedience to Him (2 Cor. 10:6).
