Matthew 27:47-49

Matthew 27:47-49

And some of the ones who have stood in that place after hearing Him were saying that this one calls out for Elijah.  And immediately after one out of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with sour wine and placed it upon a reed, he was giving Him a drink.  And the others were saying, “Separate yourself.  We should see if Elijah comes while saving Him.” 

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

After so many days of ridicule and mocking, we finally get a moment of grace.  A person nearby hears Jesus crying out.  He goes to give Jesus a drink.  He runs to give Jesus some relief.  Surely the man knew that he could not save Jesus from a final result.  But the man believes that Jesus still can be comforted in the midst of His suffering.  Here is a man worthy of looking to see what we can learn and imitate.  We may not be able to save people.  We may not be able eliminate the consequences of thought or action.  But we can strive to ease their suffering in the midst of it.

Do you look to ease the burdens of the people around you?  Do you find it easy or difficult to be around people who are in the midst of suffering so that you can ease their burden?

Second Thought:

At the same time we see a third perspective on humanity.  There are those who are still undecided.  There are those who are watching.  Some mock.  Others give aid.  But some are still in the middle, figuring out where they will fall.  We might call them fence sitters.  We might also call them late-adopters.  But the reality is that they have not turned against God and therefore the possibility of turning towards God is within their grasp!  We should not be quick to consider as opponents those who are still waiting and watching and evaluating.

Are you ever guilty of considering those who are still deciding to follow Christ as opponents?  What is ever gained by that choice?  What is ever lost?

Third Thought:

In this passage, we also once more see the difference between the perspective on mankind and the perspective of God.  The humans watching this scene evaluate victory based on whether Jesus lives or dies.  In other words, Jesus is only the Messiah if He escapes death and wins.  However, God knows that if Jesus does another other than die it is not victory.  God sees the big picture.  God sees beyond death.  We only see this world.  In fact, the truth is that we don’t even really see life.  Most of the time we see today, we maybe see tomorrow, and rarely do we often see too much further than that.

Where is your focus on a daily basis?  What is victory to you?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 27:50