Life In Jesus Is Designed

…to be lived outside the gate of the given culture and its expectations.

“So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” Hebrews 13:12-14

“And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they (Romans) put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And (crowd) those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the (religious leaders) chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Matthew 27:33-44

His rejection was complete

1. Outside Jerusalem. For no legally convicted convict could be crucified in Jerusalem inside the walls.

2. By the Romans.

3. By the crowd.

4. By the religious leaders.

5. By the robbers who were crucified with him.

“Crucifixion in the Graeco-Roman world was not a pleasant form of execution, nor was it administered to nice or refined people; it was reserved for the worst criminals, which is why it was such a shameful thing for Jesus Christ to be crucified. If, therefore, we are to ‘crucify our flesh, it is plain that the flesh is not something respectable to be treated with courtesy and deference, but something so evil that it deserves no better fate than to be crucified.”) John Stott, The John Stott Bible Study is taken from The Message of Galatians).

Let us go outside the walls of present day human experience with Him. Bearing the shame where need be. Identifying with the lost, as once lost ourselves.

In counter distinction to all who gaze upon us and wonder why we should care. Or, why we should not prioritize ourselves. Let us embrace the eternal promise as greater than this moment in human history.