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It's About Time
From one reader we received this
pithy letter:
Jesus crucified. Time not specified.
(John 19:18) I thought it was noon. ( John 19:14-18) Thanks.
Our reply was a little longer :-)
The Jews determined time, not
as we do (on a midnight to midnight clock), but based on sunset to sunrise.
For instance, when the sun sets on Tuesday, our time, the Jewish community
considered that event to signal the start of a new day, or Wednesday.
Jesus surrendered His life (John 19:31 ff.) just before the guards went
about breaking the legs of the "criminals" to hasten their deaths, for
it was an abomination to the Jew that anyone hang on the tree on the
High Sabbath of the Passover ... and that would have occurred when the
sun set that day (which would have started the High Sabbath for the
Jew). Thus the guards went around breaking legs, hastening death just
before sunset. He found Jesus already dead, thus no bones were broken
on our Messiah.
So, if John was using the Jewish
reckoning of time, what time would the crucifixion be? Mark said that:
Mark 15:25 "And it was
the third hour, and they crucified him."
So if Jewish time was being
used (which I assume it was in Mark), then Jesus would have been crucified
around 9:00 AM, SUPPOSING that the sun rose at 6:00 AM, starting a new
Jewish day. Based on that reckoning, then supernatural darkness fell
over the land:
Mark 15:33 "And when the
sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the
ninth hour."
From the sixth hour (or noon)
to the ninth hour (about 3 PM). Jesus gave up His life sometime after
this:
Mark 15:34 "And at the
ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?
which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?"
And the veil of the Temple was
rent from bottom to top. There is support for "the sixth hour" being
around noon if you read John 4:6 ff., and note that Jesus and His disciples
were paused to eat (perhaps to lunch?).
The writer John gives a somewhat
more "courtroom view" of the crucifixion:
John 19:14 "And it was
the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith
unto the Jews, Behold your King!"
Showing that Jesus was condemned
at the sixth hour, and carried His Cross off to be crucified after that.
Is this a discrepancy in Scripture? I don't think so, because John,
writing from Asia Minor, and focusing on the Roman trial of Jesus, probably
used the Roman (not Jewish) mode of computing time, which is what we
use today (midnight starts a new day). Thus Jesus would have been condemned
by Pilate around 6:00 AM (the sixth hour of the Roman day). He would
have then been tormented, made to carry His cross, made a spectacle
of, from 6:00 AM till 9:00 AM (the third hour, per Jewish custom - and
per Mark, see above) until He was crucified, around 9:00 AM. This would
be consistent with Roman treatment of criminals. The Romans rarely gave
any a swift death UNLESS it was a convicted Roman citizen, but often
tormented the victim until the time of actual crucifixion. This would
also be in line with Messianic prophecy,
Isaiah 53:3-9 "He is despised
and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and
we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed
him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet
we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was
wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are
healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one
to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth:
he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison
and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was
cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people
was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the
rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any
deceit in his mouth."
I hope this answers your questions.
God bless you for writing.
A Time To Die
Dear Pastor, I have been taught
that each of us has an appointed time to die. My confusion is if a person
is a victim of a murderer, is that considered God's appointed time for
him to die even though a human chose the time of death? Also, if a Christian
chooses lifestyles involving risk, such as riding motorcycles, or even
deliberately being careless with health issues that could cause an early
death. Could they be instrumental in their own deaths that would not
correspond with God's perfect will for their times of death? I know
that God is omniscient and knows the time of death regardless of the
cause. Could you refer me to some teaching that would answer this and
maybe explain how man's volition is involved with God's will? Thank
you.
Our reply:
The Bible says:
Hebrews 9:27 "And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment"
Job 14:5 "Seeing his days are
determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed
his bounds that he cannot pass"
Acts 17:26 "And hath made of
one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth,
and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their
habitation"
Which seem to teach that the
day of our death is already determined by God. And yet, as you point
out, what of those who do dangerous things, or have dangerous occupations?
If the day of our death is already determined, then is there nothing
we can do to shorten our lives? How does free-will fit into this scenario?
Truthfully, though - even though
the Scripture teaches that God has placed a MAXIMUM number of days on
our lives, there is nothing, Scripturally, that says that you cannot
SHORTEN your life by making wrong choices. For instance, if I were to
place a gun in my mouth and pull the trigger, I shouldn't be surprised
to wake up in eternity. The Scripture states:
Deuteronomy 6:16 "Ye shall not
tempt the LORD your God"
When Satan told Jesus to "cast
yourself down - God will save You", our Lord responded:
Matthew 4:6-7 "If thou be the
Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his
angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee
up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said
unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."
Human free will CAN override
the maximum limitation that God has set on the life. Though we know
that, if we are walking in Christ, and our enemy attacks, that:
Isaiah 54:17 "No weapon that
is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise
against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of
the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the
LORD."
This does not mean that we should
stand up on the battlefield and dance around in front of the machine
gun. To do so would be foolish, arrogant - and a certain invitation
to a shortened life.
God can and will deliver us
from untimely death, this is not to say that we cannot willingly end
our own lives, or make foolish life choices that lead to death. We are
to regard our lives as gracious gifts from our Creator, and, as Jesus
did, avoid tempting God. To do otherwise is to risk an untimely foreshortening
of our lives.
Is God Our Daddy?
Our pastor constantly uses the
phrase "daddy God" when preaching. It sounds irreverent to me, almost
disrespectful. I hear many in the church also pray to "daddy God". What
am I to make of this? I asked an elder to explain that to me and he
said the word daddy was the greek word for father, hence we could use
it to refer to God the Father. I am not sure of that. I would welcome
your perspective.
Our reply:
Hello in Christ, Dear Brother!
The word for "Father" as applied to God the Father in the New Testament
is the Greek: pater {pronounced pat-ayr'} and does, indeed, mean Father
or "Dad". I have used the term in referring to my Father (and my earthly
Dad) without meaning to be disrespectful to either ... though I normally
use the more formal "Father". Technically your Pastor and the others
in the Church who use "Daddy" in referring to God are not in error,
and perhaps use the term more to express the heart love they have for
Him. I would be more inclined to heed to tone of expression than the
words themselves - and that would let me know if they were tending toward
disrespect (which I doubt).
The beauty of the Body of Christ
is that each of us, though different, can work together to the glory
of our Savior Jesus Christ. Give them the benefit of the doubt, Brother.
Overlook the small things, and focus on the relationship both Godward
as well as manward: Love God, love your Brother. Rejoice in the difference
and, though your Brother's meat may not be the same as yours, as long
as that meat is not evil and against the Truth of God's Word, then let
it pass.
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