Day 16: Raised Up Out of Fear
Questions 1 and 2
In His ministry on earth, Jesus' kind hands touched and tended the many sick and hurting, like Jairus’ daughter. And when the time came, Jesus gave His hands voluntarily to Roman soldiers to be bound and chained as He stood falsely accused before the Sanhedrin and the Roman courts. Next, His hands were tied to the flogging pole as lashes rained down on Jesus' back. Then Jesus' bloodied hands were forced to hold a reed as a make-believe royal scepter to satisfy the spite and contempt of a legion of soldiers (Matthew 27:29-30).
In a horrible balancing act, Jesus' shaking and holy hands then steadied a heavy cross on His shoulder and headed out for the hill of Golgotha. Finally, the Son of God offered no resistance to His tormentors on the hill of Golgotha as His hands were nailed to the cross. The holes in His palms stressed for six hours by the weight of His body as Jesus hung naked, beseeching His Father to forgive us all for "they did not know what they were doing" (Luke 23:34). Through the work of our Messiah, Mediator, and Savior, God has engraved the names of His adopted children on the palms of His own hands, never for one moment to be forgotten (Isaiah 49:16).
Through the death and rising of Christ, we have been brought to ‘proskyneō,’ the ‘kissing ground’ between believers (the Bride) and Christ (the Heavenly Bridegroom), Here we are raised up not in fear but worship and joy.
“When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul” Psalm 94:19
Considering the love, blood, and grace that brought us into the fold of God in Christ causes sinful responses to fear to flee and dread to vanish:
In Tenderness He Sought Me
By W. Spencer Walton (1850-1906)
In tenderness He sought me,
Weary and sick with sin,
And on His shoulders brought me
Back to His fold again.
While angels in His presence sang
Until the courts of heaven rang.
O the love that sought me!
O the blood that bought me!
O the grace that brought me to the fold,
Wondrous grace that brought me to the fold!
He washed the bleeding sin-wounds
And poured in oil and wine;
He whispered to assure me,
"I've found thee, thou art Mine;"
I never heard a sweeter voice;
It made my aching heart rejoice!
O the love that sought me!
O the blood that bought me!
O the grace that brought me to the fold,
Wondrous grace that brought me to the fold!
He pointed to the nail prints,
For me His blood was shed,
A mocking crown so thorny
Was placed upon His head:
I wondered what He saw in me
To suffer such deep agony.
O the love that sought me!
O the blood that bought me!
O the grace that brought me to the fold,
Wondrous grace that brought me to the fold!
O the love that sought me!
O the blood that bought me!
O the grace that brought me to the fold,
Wondrous grace that brought me to the fold!
Question 1: Would you please reflect on the lyrics of the hymn: “In Tenderness He Sought Me” and share your thoughts?
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Question 2: “And he raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with him in the heavens. He did this for those in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6 NCV). How does being raised up in Christ change your response to fearfulness in your life?
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Sinful fear dissipates as we believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection for us.