Do not let my deceitful enemies rejoice over me. Do not let those who hate me without cause look at me maliciously. For they do not speak in friendly ways but contrive deceitful schemes against those who live peacefully in the land. They open their mouths wide against me and say, "Aha! Aha! We saw it!"
You saw it, Lord! Do not be silent. Lord, do not be far from me. Wake up and rise to my defense, to my cause, my Lord and my God, in keeping with Your righteousness. And do not let them rejoice over me. Do not let them say in their hearts, "Aha! Just what we wanted!" Do not let them say, "We have swallowed him up!"
Let those who rejoice at my misfortune be disgraced and humiliated. Let those who exalt themselves over me be clothed with shame and reproach. (vs. 19-26)
As Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane the night of His arrest, His request of His Father was that the cup He knew He was born to drink be passed from Him. Jesus was perfect. Sinless. Compassionate and powerful to heal, restore and forgive. There was no reason why those who were plotting His death in that very moment should prosecute the Son of God. Mad that He exposed their self-righteousness and intimidated by His grasp of holy things of which they were only minimal partakers, His Jewish brothers made false and malicious claims against Him.
"Aha!" they cried, fingers pointed at the Lamb. "We saw Him doing miracles in the name of the devil and heard Him forgive people. Aha! We know He desecrated the Sabbath by healing on this holy day. A wine sipper and a friend of prostitutes! A blasphemer against the holy name of God. He must die!"
The next day, Friday, the Lamb was sacrificed outside the city of Jerusalem. On a hill with two criminals. Beaten almost to death, spat upon and ridiculed, God Himself wore a crown of thorns as redeeming blood oozed from His mutilated body. Above the head of Jesus was a sign: KING OF THE JEWS. Aha! Look at that and laugh! He thought He was the king of the Jews and He cannot even come down, Messiah-like, from the cross.
"Father! Father! Why have You forsaken Me?" Look, My Father! You see this! Why are You silent?
Get up and do something! But the Father looked away. And Jesus bore it. Our condemnation. The ridicule we deserve as the soldiers at His feet gambled over His clothing. As the rulers of the synagogue nodded their heads - Aha. Thinking they had swallowed Him up.
The thing is, God, the Father, of course, did see! He rose up when His Boy cried out: "It is finished!" The words His Abba was waiting to hear. God stood up! Shook the earth and turned out its lights! Ripped the temple veil in two and all but destroyed the sphere His Son came to save.
"Aha!" God cried. "I saw what you did! But did you see what I came to do? Are you watching now? Give me until Sunday and you will eat your words!"
Two disciples run to the tomb because Mary had seen her Rabboni alive! Peter careens into an empty burial site where only the resin-hardened grave clothes speak, like an empty cocoon, of only lately being vacated. Jesus was not there!
"Aha!"
Has victory ever looked so sweet? It is one thing to be saved from the cross. It is quite another to be raised from the dead. Bodily. No joke. How do you like Me now? Religious leaders all in a dither. Making up more lies in order to disguise the most amazing miracle of the Messiah's ministry. "Say the disciples stole the body! Say anything to make this go away!"
The Lamb now waits in heaven for the final vindication of His horrific death. One day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Everywhere! No one left out!
"Aha!" all will cry out, though some will weep and wail. "He was God!"
See in heaven the Lamb, freshly come from his slaughter, approaching the throne of Yahweh, His Dad. Angels are crying because there is no one worthy to accept from the hand of God the scroll sealed with seven seals.
"Stop crying! Look!" bellows one of the elders around the throne. "The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has been victorious so that He may open the scroll and its seven seals."
Then I saw One like a slaughtered lamb standing between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders....When He took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb...and they sang a new song:
"You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals because You were slaughtered and redeemed Your people for God by Your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation."
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne...their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands. They said with one voice:
"The Lamb Who was slaughtered is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the sea and everything in them say:
"Blessing and honor and glory and dominion to the One seated on the throne and to the Lamb, forever and ever!"
AHA!!!!!
You saw it, Lord! Do not be silent. Lord, do not be far from me. Wake up and rise to my defense, to my cause, my Lord and my God, in keeping with Your righteousness. And do not let them rejoice over me. Do not let them say in their hearts, "Aha! Just what we wanted!" Do not let them say, "We have swallowed him up!"
Let those who rejoice at my misfortune be disgraced and humiliated. Let those who exalt themselves over me be clothed with shame and reproach. (vs. 19-26)
As Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane the night of His arrest, His request of His Father was that the cup He knew He was born to drink be passed from Him. Jesus was perfect. Sinless. Compassionate and powerful to heal, restore and forgive. There was no reason why those who were plotting His death in that very moment should prosecute the Son of God. Mad that He exposed their self-righteousness and intimidated by His grasp of holy things of which they were only minimal partakers, His Jewish brothers made false and malicious claims against Him.
"Aha!" they cried, fingers pointed at the Lamb. "We saw Him doing miracles in the name of the devil and heard Him forgive people. Aha! We know He desecrated the Sabbath by healing on this holy day. A wine sipper and a friend of prostitutes! A blasphemer against the holy name of God. He must die!"
The next day, Friday, the Lamb was sacrificed outside the city of Jerusalem. On a hill with two criminals. Beaten almost to death, spat upon and ridiculed, God Himself wore a crown of thorns as redeeming blood oozed from His mutilated body. Above the head of Jesus was a sign: KING OF THE JEWS. Aha! Look at that and laugh! He thought He was the king of the Jews and He cannot even come down, Messiah-like, from the cross.
"Father! Father! Why have You forsaken Me?" Look, My Father! You see this! Why are You silent?
Get up and do something! But the Father looked away. And Jesus bore it. Our condemnation. The ridicule we deserve as the soldiers at His feet gambled over His clothing. As the rulers of the synagogue nodded their heads - Aha. Thinking they had swallowed Him up.
The thing is, God, the Father, of course, did see! He rose up when His Boy cried out: "It is finished!" The words His Abba was waiting to hear. God stood up! Shook the earth and turned out its lights! Ripped the temple veil in two and all but destroyed the sphere His Son came to save.
"Aha!" God cried. "I saw what you did! But did you see what I came to do? Are you watching now? Give me until Sunday and you will eat your words!"
Two disciples run to the tomb because Mary had seen her Rabboni alive! Peter careens into an empty burial site where only the resin-hardened grave clothes speak, like an empty cocoon, of only lately being vacated. Jesus was not there!
"Aha!"
Has victory ever looked so sweet? It is one thing to be saved from the cross. It is quite another to be raised from the dead. Bodily. No joke. How do you like Me now? Religious leaders all in a dither. Making up more lies in order to disguise the most amazing miracle of the Messiah's ministry. "Say the disciples stole the body! Say anything to make this go away!"
The Lamb now waits in heaven for the final vindication of His horrific death. One day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Everywhere! No one left out!
"Aha!" all will cry out, though some will weep and wail. "He was God!"
See in heaven the Lamb, freshly come from his slaughter, approaching the throne of Yahweh, His Dad. Angels are crying because there is no one worthy to accept from the hand of God the scroll sealed with seven seals.
"Stop crying! Look!" bellows one of the elders around the throne. "The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has been victorious so that He may open the scroll and its seven seals."
Then I saw One like a slaughtered lamb standing between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders....When He took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb...and they sang a new song:
"You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals because You were slaughtered and redeemed Your people for God by Your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation."
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne...their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands. They said with one voice:
"The Lamb Who was slaughtered is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the sea and everything in them say:
"Blessing and honor and glory and dominion to the One seated on the throne and to the Lamb, forever and ever!"
AHA!!!!!
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