30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 23 26-43 THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS 15 Luke 23 34 Emptied in order to be filled
📖 Luke 23:26-43
Tue 27 Dec 2021 – Emptied to be filled - Luke 23:26-43 - THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS (15) - Bible reading: Philippians 2:5-11
“Lord Jesus, we thank You that You emptied Yourself for us. You came down to the lowest level so that we, in all our brokenness and emptiness, can identify with You. It is from this place of emptiness that You are raising us up to sit with You in the heavenly realms. We praise You. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen.”
Luke 23:34 Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." And they divided His garments and cast lots.
This incident, that they divided His garments and cast lots is a fulfilment of prophecy.
Psalms 22:18-19 They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots. (19) But You, O LORD, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
Recorded here is a seemingly insignificant incident but of all the different incidents that took place at the crucifixion, this particular event is narrated in all the four gospels.
God, the Holy Spirit, in His wisdom, gave much importance to this happening. This event to be prophesied, one thousand years before the death of Jesus, and then being fulfilled in such precise detail is truly a matter that man must take note of. Man must, therefore, understand the death of Jesus on the cross for the salvation of man.
John 19:23-24 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. (24) They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be," that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: "THEY DIVIDED MY GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS." Therefore the soldiers did these things.
This event tells us that the world was bringing Jesus to a place of total emptiness. Jesus was stripped of everything. A mockery of a title was fixed above Him, on the cross, saying, “King of the Jews”.
It was the world’s way of saying, “Jesus, we made You into nothing. We are done with You. You are finished. We have stripped You of everything. The title above You is only to mock You”.
The last material possession that Jesus had, were the garments that He wore, and even these were stripped off Him and the soldiers took them.
This is the work of the devil from the very beginning. He wants to defeat the Lord of heaven and earth. At this place on the cross, when the garments of Jesus were taken away from Him and divided amongst the soldiers, it was the devil saying, “Jesus, I have defeated You. You are now, nothing. You have been stripped.”
All of these tell us of how Jesus came to the lowest level for us so that He could identify with our emptiness and brokenness.
Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
It is to this place of total emptiness to which Jesus had to come, so that it is from this point, He could raise us up to be seated with Him, to reign with Him forever.
Philippians 2:5-11 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, (6) who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, (7) but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. (8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (9) Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, (10) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, (11) and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
As we look at the history of our world, for the last two millenniums, we see how Jesus has towered over history. Consider the exploits that men and women of God have accomplished because of Jesus, across cultures. It has happened because Jesus emptied Himself.
We, the church of Jesus, are a part of a great cloud of witnesses, who have lived and have given their lives for the cause of Christ. The devil thought that he had brought an end to Jesus but it is from that place of emptiness that Jesus has risen with His church.
II Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
As we come to the close of this year, shall we identify ourselves with Jesus and empty ourselves before Him? Let us acknowledge that we are nothing and we are in desperate need to be filled with the fullness of Jesus.
We will enter 2022 in the fullness of Jesus .
Thought to ponder
Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to the cross I cling.