究竟是谁杀害了耶稣? 其实大家不需再找下去了……. 是你和我! 为了替你和我的罪孽作救赎, 耶稣死在十字架上。罗马书3:23-25 很清楚地写道:

“因 为 世 人 都 犯 了 罪 ， 亏 缺 了 神 的 荣 耀 。 如 今 却 蒙 神 的 恩 典 ， 因 基 督 耶 稣 的 救 赎 ， 就 白 白 地 称 义 。神 设 立 耶 稣 作 挽 回 祭 ， 是 凭 着 耶 稣 的 血 ， 借 着 人 的 信 ， 要 显 明 神 的 义 。 因 为 他 用 忍 耐 的 心 ， 宽 容 人 先 时 所 犯 的 罪 。”

The bloodshed and gore depicted in The Passion Of The Christ may be criticized for being superfluous violence but the wickedness surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus that day was in fact a necessary evil.

Indeed it was a conspiracy by wicked men driven by ambitious and selfish reasons to hold control.

But really, did they have control? They did what they did only because God allowed it. There was a reason and a plan behind it all. It was a plan written by an omniscient God and executed by his obedient son.

In order to understand this, we must examine this drama in its proper perspective. Seeing this in its larger scheme of historical and cultural events reveals how and why this was part of a divine set-up which fell perfectly in place for godly purposes.

How can one man’s death pay the price for our sin? That is just how God set it up ever since he created the earth – that there is a price for sin and it is death. From the time of Adam and Eve, only the sacrifice of an animal could put us right with God again. The feast of Passover was so special and important because that this day signifies that a perfect lamb was sacrificed to deliver us and make amends for our sin. Jesus came as our sacrificial lamb.

So my friend, it is because of you and me that caused Jesus to die on the cross for our sin. But wait a minute! God presented him as a sacrifice.

“The Passion Of The Christ” claims to be a version closest to the truth, but again as in history, the suffering and death of Jesus creates such extreme passions for and against him and what he came for.

Then why was this prophet and rabbi from Galilee executed in the most inhumane manner of crucifixion? Who bears responsibility for this outrage and injustice? Who is guilty for this condemnation?

• • •

"You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days,
when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress.
"Seven days you shall . . . surely rejoice."
(Deuteronomy 16.13-15 NKJV)

Asking this question of ourselves can profoundly impact the way we live. It can reorient our priorities and fill us with a sense of divine purpose in an otherwise mundane life. It can enlarge our understanding of the great salvation we have in Messiah Jesus and transform the way we relate to our Father, the mighty Creator and gracious King of the Universe.

For a long while, I always wondered what was the big deal with the lost coin in Luke_15:8-9. Why did Jesus use a illustration of a lost coin, and why would a woman take the trouble to look for one lost coin, and after finding it, throw a party for the neighbours?

Well, if you are interested to know...

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The restoration of the Jewish homeland, Israel, and the reconnection of the Church to its Jewish roots are not unrelated phenomena. Many sectors of the Body Of Messiah today are being stimulated and enriched by the “nourishing sap” of Israel’s faith, scriptures and scholarship. We are discovering that there is scarcely a single NT subject that cannot be amplified, deepened, or balanced by a Hebraic perspective. As disciples of Yeshua, we are deeply indebted to Israel.

Recently, we published the Ten Commandments. One reader wrote to us that he did not think the commandments were meant for us to keep. Rather, he believed it was to show us how sinful we are that we may cry out for a savior. He said he thought Jesus came to remove the old and establish the new.