Journal Jn 19 (all references are from the ESV; changes in punctuation are mine)
Scripture: “This was to fulfill the Scripture which says…” John 19:24b
Observation: I see the works of Jesus. I see the ways of Jesus. What I don’t often remember is that Jesus’s works, ways, and experiences were prophesied thousands of years earlier—even as early as Eden.
Analysis: There are some that intimate that the Gospel, Jesus dying for the redemption from Sin and the penalty of Sin was somehow “Plan B”; that is, if Adam and Eve didn’t listen to the serpent and disobey God, that all of Mankind thereafter would be sitting up nice and pretty.
Far from it. The Cross was the Trinity’s Plan A from before time began:
“…all things were created through him and for him. And he (Jesus) is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the first born of from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” Col 1:16b-20
But God was pleased to give us the prophetic word to provide us hope in the coming of Jesus. He also told us what to look for (even if we had to remember things after the fact).
The point is that the prophetic word of the Prophets was written for our Hope and our Edification (support and education).
These last paragraphs up to the Cross and to the Ascension is to remind us of the Supremacy of His Word—that the Cross was planned, and that from before time. It is why I can stand in Awe of what happened; it is why I can praise his Majesty in what Jesus experienced, and it is why, at the End of Days all knees will bow and every tongue confess He is Lord of All.
Prayer: Father God: 4 times in this Chapter you remind me of fulfilling the prophetic Scripture. Throughout the New Testament You remind me of how you fulfill Your intents from the past. You remind me, that my hope is not found in my daily experiences, but in your Word.
My daily experiences can lead me astray; they can fool me into stinking thinking and move me away from the unchangeable testimony of yourself and your Will, Works, and Ways. My daily experiences can make me forget your Goodness and Promises.
I am struggling with forgiveness in my feelings and experiences—even though I KNOW WHAT TO DO. Help me to overcome my sin, O God, even as you have set me free.
AMEN.