Milo

KING AND SON OF GOD
Matthew 16–17

” ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’ ” (Matt. 16:15–16).

These chapters mark a turning point in Matthew’s Gospel. From now on, Jesus spoke less of the kingdom, and more of the Cross.

Overview
Jesus rejected an official demand for a miraculous sign (16:1–12). Only His disciples acknowledged Him as Son of God (vv. 13–16). Jesus commended Peter (vv. 17–20), and began to instruct the disciples concerning the Cross (vv. 21–28). Christ’s transfiguration displayed His glory to the disciples (17:1–13) before an unbelieving generation failed to see Christ’s glory in an act of healing (vv. 14–22). Even then Jesus did not insist on His rights as the Son of God (vv. 23–27).

Understanding the Text
“The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested Him” Matt. 16:1–12. These two groups were at odds theologically and politically. Yet both saw Jesus as a threat. As both were represented on the Sanhedrin, this is very probably another official demand that Jesus prove His claims by a “sign from heaven.”
It’s amazing that this demand would be made, in view of the hundreds of healings and other miracles Christ had performed in Judea and Galilee. When I was in college I worked in a mental institution, and taught a Bible class there. One of the other attendants was a philosophy major at the University of Michigan like myself, and not a believer. I suggested that fulfilled prophecy provided the proof he said he needed of Scripture’s supernatural origin, and he took up the challenge. After studying for several months he agreed. Fulfilled prophecy did prove Scripture’s claims. But he still refused to accept Christ. He had not really been open or wanted to prove Christianity true. He had hoped to prove it false. Though all the evidence pointed in the opposite direction, he persisted in his unbelief.
Don’t be surprised when some you witness to keep on in disbelief, even though they see answers to prayer and evidence of God at work in your life. Miracles didn’t produce faith in Jesus’ day.
All we can do is what Jesus did. Confront unbelief and keep on ministering to those whose minds are not yet made up.

“Who do people say the Son of man is?” Matt. 16:14 After years of ministry in Israel, Jesus sent His disciples to circulate among the crowds and listen to what people were saying about Him. They were full of praise of Jesus; all identified Him with some Old Testament great.
It was a clear case of damning with faint praise. It’s as if you or I looked at a portrait by Rembrandt, and said, “Oh, it’s a nice picture.”
This is almost worse than the religious leaders’ open hostility. And moderns take the same stand! “Oh, Jesus is all right. He was sure a good Man, and a wonderful Teacher. We’ve got a lot to learn from Jesus all right. Too bad He was crucified and died before His time.”
People can respect Jesus as a good Person. But God calls us to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Anything short of worshiping Him as Son of God is rejecting Him completely.

“Who do you say I am?” Matt. 16:15–20 Jesus didn’t send out His disciples because our Lord was curious about what the crowds thought. He sent them out to listen, so they would be forced to make a decisive personal decision.
It doesn’t matter what others say about Jesus. It doesn’t matter if our parents, or our friends, or our whole family are Christians or if they are not. Each one of us must answer for himself or herself the question that Jesus asked His followers then. “Who do you say that I am?”
If we say, with Peter, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and thus trust ourselves to Him, we experience salvation and pass from death to life. If we side with the crowd, no matter how much we may approve of Jesus as a moral and spiritual Leader, we are lost.
There has been much debate about the meaning of Christ’s words to Peter, “On this rock I will build My church.” There has also been debate over the “keys of the kingdom of heaven” of which Jesus spoke. There is no grammatically compelling reason why Christ was not referring to Peter as the “rock.” What is important is that Christ said “I will build” and “My church.” Christ had been pouring His life into His disciples, including Peter, for years. Peter clearly was “first among equals” of the Twelve. Nothing Jesus said here suggests apostolic succession or that Peter was “pope.” The church was then, is now, and always will be Christ’s, and He its ultimate builder.
What about the “keys.” The teachers of the Law in Jesus’ time had “taken away the key to knowledge” (Luke 11:52) and bound the Jewish people to multiple rules that actually “hindered those who were entering [God’s kingdom].” Peter, in preaching the first sermon to Jews (Acts 2) and Gentiles (Acts 10) used the key of knowledge of the Gospel and “loosed” those who had been bound, by directing them to Jesus.

“Jesus began to explain . . . that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” Matt. 16:21–27. Peter, commended just above, is now rebuked by Jesus. Peter didn’t like the idea of Christ facing death by crucifixion. So he urged Jesus to avoid it! Jesus angrily pushed him away. Peter’s attitude lacked the perspective of God.
Jesus went on to explain that every disciple must learn to look at his or her life from God’s perspective. Each of us must “take up his cross and follow.” Not that we will literally be crucified. Instead, each of us must, like Jesus, find and do the will of God for him or her. The believer’s cross does not represent suffering, or death, but the plan and purpose of God for him or her.
Jesus went on to point out that God’s purpose frequently seems negative to us rather than positive. It often seems to us that if we do the will of God, we will “lose our life.” What we need to understand is that rather than losing our life, we will “save” it. Only in doing the will of God do we become our own better, purified selves.
So let’s take up our cross. Daily. And gladly. If you and I determine to do God’s will each day, whatever the cost, we will each become what we most yearn to be.

“See the Son of man coming in His kingdom” Matt. 16:28–17:8. The promise Jesus made was not that some would live until Christ’s second coming. It was that some who had believed in Him as Son of God would see the glory that was temporarily masked by His humanity.
The chapter division is unfortunate, for 17:1 tells us that just six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John to a mountaintop where He was “transfigured before them” (v. 2). In the rays that blazed from His familiar form, in the bright cloud that enveloped them, and in the voice announcing Jesus as God’s Son, Christ’s essential glory was glimpsed.
It’s significant to note that only those who knew Him as Son of God were given this vision, and then not all of the disciples shared it. Sometimes believers today go through life without ever an intuition of the surpassing glory of Jesus, while others seem to live in His presence. Let’s take time to study and meditate on who Jesus is. As we do, Christ will show us His glory too.

“They could not heal him” Matt. 17:14–21. When Jesus returned to the valley, He found the nine disciples left behind had tried to heal an epileptic boy and failed.
Jesus healed the boy, and rebuked His disciples for their “little faith” (v. 20). The Greek word, oligopistia, is better understood as poor or defective faith. A number of failures of the disciples’ faith are mentioned in this section of Matthew (14:26–31; 15:16, 23, 33; 16:5, 22; 17:4, 10–11). It was not the size of the faith, but a flaw in the faith that was to blame.
How do we know this? Because immediately Jesus said that “faith as small as a mustard seed” can move mountains! (v. 20)
What then was the flaw? Here the flaw was in the object of the disciples’ faith: “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” The disciples had begun to trust the power Jesus had earlier given them, and to think of it as their own. Actually any power they had, flowed from Jesus, and Him alone.
This is actually an encouraging story for us. Often we hesitate to reach out to help others, dreadfully aware of our inadequacies. It’s then we need to remember that our faith is in Jesus, not in our own strengths or resources. The flawed faith of the disciples serves as a reminder that even mustard-seed sized faith in Christ is enough to work miracles!

The first-century priesthood required the use of this silver coin to pay the half-shekel temple tax required annually of every Jewish male. Jesus reminded Peter that kings only collect taxes from strangers, not family (17:24–27). If Peter had remembered this, he would have realized that Jesus, God’s Son, owed no temple tax to the Lord!

DEVOTIONAL
No One Except Jesus
(Matt. 17:1–13)
The Christian mystics have an important contribution to make to each of our lives. This is illustrated in the story of the Transfiguration—and in its immediate aftermath. Notice how the disciples fell down before the transformed Jesus, and how when they looked up they “saw no one except Jesus.” What a mountaintop experience that was. They were deeply, completely, totally immersed in worship.
They started back down the hill and almost immediately they became sidetracked. “By the way, Jesus,” you can almost hear one of them say, “I’ve always wondered about that Malachi 4 passage. Does it really mean what the teachers of the Law say: that Elijah must appear before the Messiah can?” The moment of worship had passed and was replaced by questions about the Bible and theology.
I know. The Bible and theology are important. I’m so convinced of that that I spend my life studying and teaching Scripture. But there are times when getting another answer from the Book, or asking another question, detracts from a person’s spiritual life.
Just like asking that question about Elijah must have drawn some of the wonder from the memory of their worship, and diluted some of their awe of our Lord.
That’s what the mystics have to teach us. That ultimately what is vital is not having all the answers, but worshiping Christ. Not knowing more, but knowing Him. Not study, but kneeling in awe before the One we meet in God’s Word.

Personal Application
Study of God’s Word will nurture your spiritual life—if it is accompanied by contemplation and adoration of Jesus.

Quotable
“If you desire to know how these things come about, ask grace, not instruction; desire, not understanding; the groaning of prayer, not diligent reading; the Spouse, not the teacher; God, not man; darkness, not clarity; not light, but the fire that totally inflames and carries us into God by ecstatic unctions and burning affections.”—Bonaventura

MORE MINISTRY
Matthew 14–15

“Great crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb and many others, and laid them at His feet; and He healed them” (Matt. 15:30).

In His healings and in feeding the 5,000 and then the 4,000, Jesus met the physical needs of His people. But would they let Him meet their spiritual needs?

Biography: Herod
The Herod mentioned here is not Herod the Great, who died shortly after Christ was born. This is Herod Antipas, his son, who was only tetrarch of Galilee, though addressed by the courtesy title “king.” This Herod had married his half brother’s ex-wife, who was also his cousin, and was denounced by John the Baptist for incest. Herod imprisoned John the Baptist, but then vacillated. He wanted to kill John, but worried about the reaction of the people, and was himself in awe of the austere prophet. Herod and his wife Herodias remind us of Ahab and Jezebel. He, wicked but weak. His wife, wicked and brutally tough. In the end she saw to it that John, whom she hated, was killed. Later Herod’s guilty conscience and superstition combined to convince him that the Miracle-worker, Jesus, was John the Baptist come back from the dead.

Overview
Events moved rapidly. John the Bapist was beheaded (14:1–11). Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 (vv. 12–21) and walked on water (vv. 22–36). But official hostility grew. Jesus openly condemned a delegation from Jerusalem (15:1–20). In contrast to the doubt in His homeland, a Canaanite woman believed (vv. 21–29). Back in Galilee Jesus fed another great crowd (vv. 29–39).

Understanding the Text
“Because of his oaths and his dinner guests” Matt. 14:1–12.Herod had political as well as personal reasons for wanting John dead. Yet he held back from executing the prophet—until he made a drunken promise in front of dinner guests.
The situation reminds us of an inner tug we all feel at times. We want to do something we know is wrong, but hold back. Until something pushes us over the edge. What provoked Herod to act against his better judgment? A foolish remark. And fear of what others might think.
Herod wasn’t thinking clearly when he gave in to what clearly was peer pressure. He had other options. He might have rebuked his stepdaughter. He might have announced that the life of one of God’s prophets was not his to give. But under the pressure of the moment he did what he knew was wrong.
That’s the danger in peer pressure. Our concern for what others might think or say so clouds our thinking we can’t come up with other options. We give in, and do what we know is wrong.
The story of Herod and John the Baptist reminds us that there is always one option open when others pressure us to do what we feel is wrong. We can say no and choose to act on our convictions. Only if we make this choice can we avoid the sense of guilt—and the judgment—that Herod later faced.

“When Jesus heard . . . He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place” Matt. 14:13. The text tells us that after John the Baptist was beheaded, his followers came and told Jesus. It was then Jesus went privately to a “solitary place.” We’re not told why. But usually when the Gospels report that Jesus went to a “solitary place” it was to pray and commune with the Father.
What a comfort talking with God is when tragedy strikes. If Jesus needed to withdraw and spend time with His Father just then, we surely need such a retreat when we experience hurt.

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick” Matt. 14:14. Jesus tried to be alone, to meet His own need. But the crowds followed Him and were at hand when He landed! This time, as many others, Jesus set aside His own needs because He “had compassion” on the crowds.
The word “compassion” is a significant one. It indicates not only a deep emotional concern for others, but also an effort to meet others’ needs. When the hurt others feel forces you or me to set aside our own concerns to meet their needs, we need not feel imposed on. We can rejoice. We are walking in the footsteps of our Lord.

“You give them something to eat” Matt. 14:15–21. The disciples showed a concern similar to that of Jesus when they encouraged Jesus to send the crowd off to buy food. But there was a great difference, one underlined by Jesus’ suggestion that the disciples give the crowd food. The disciples felt for the crowd, but they could not meet their needs!
You and I often find ourselves in a similar situation. We feel deeply for others who suffer in destructive relationships, who struggle financially, who are in the grip of illnesses, or who are experiencing the consequences of their own unwise choices. Yet again and again it’s driven home to us that there is really nothing, or so little, that we can do. That’s undoubtedly how the disciples felt when they objected, “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish” (v. 17).
What happened next is a great encouragement to us. Jesus took the little His disciples had, and miraculously multiplied it. Those five biscuit-sized loaves and two fish fed 5,000 men. Adding women and children, perhaps 20,000!
Jesus still performs miracles. If we have the compassion and the willingness to offer what we do have to others, Jesus can miraculously multiply our little to meet the needs of many.

“You of little faith . . . why did you doubt?” Matt. 14:22–35 This is undoubtedly one of the most familiar stories in the Gospels. The disciples saw Jesus walking on the waters of a stormy sea. Peter cried out, “Lord, if it’s You . . . tell me to come to You on the water.” Peter jumped out of the boat, and walked on the water toward Jesus. Then he took his eyes off the Lord and gazed at the frightening seas—and began to sink.
The story is the basis of hundreds of sermons, most reminding us to keep our eyes on Jesus not our circumstances.
But it’s important to note something else. Peter here is an example both of faith and unbelief. He alone trusted Jesus enough to step over the side and venture out on the waves. If later he flinched at the fearful waves, it was only because he had faith enough to dare.
Faith isn’t a static thing in any of our lives. It is constantly tested by our circumstances as we journey through life. We should not be surprised if those with great faith sometimes falter. And we should not be too hard on ourselves if, at times, fright leaves us sinking and in doubt. When times like this come, we need to remember Jesus’ words to Peter: “Why did you doubt?” These words aren’t a rebuke, but a reminder. When we, like Peter, retreat for a moment to “little faith,” all we need do is ask, “Why doubt?” Jesus is here, with us, as He was there on the sea with Peter. The waves may crash all around us. But we will walk on them, not sink under them, if we keep our eyes fixed on our Lord.

“Some Pharisees and teachers of the Law . . . from Jerusalem” Matt. 15:1–9. The note “from Jerusalem” suggests that this may have been an official delegation of members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, come to interrogate Christ. They challenged Christ directly, charging Him with not teaching His disciples to “wash their hands” before they ate. This washing was not hygienic, but a matter of ritual “cleanness.”
By the first century many detailed rules for washing before eating had been developed. One entire tractate of the Mishnah, the codification of Jewish practices organized by Rabbi Judah the Prince in the last half of the second century, discusses “hands.” It tells just how they must be held when washing, the amount of water that must be used, etc., for a Jew to be ritually “clean” for eating.
Christ sharply attacked the delegation, not on this one issue, but on the approach to biblical religion that they represented. He pointed to one area where such rabbinic hair-splitting served to avoid a clear Old Testament command given by God, and said, “You nullify the Word of God for the sake of your tradition” (v. 6). Jesus condemned these men who came to judge Him as hypocrites: They followed a pattern that Isaiah condemned long ago of honoring God with their lips, while their “hearts are far from Me.”
If there is anything we learn from this incident, it is not to stand in judgment on others for their practices. Faith in Christ isn’t a matter of externals. It is a matter of the heart. Convictions may differ in Christian traditions and communities. But what counts is this: Do we love God, and does what we do express that love? If our hearts are right, our practices are irrelevant.

“These are what make a man unclean” Matt. 15:10–20. In Old Testament religion to be “clean” meant to be in a state of ritual purity that permitted a person to approach and worship God. Such things as touching a dead body, having sex, or a body rash, made a person temporarily “unclean.” This disqualified him or her from attending worship at the temple until a state of ritual purity had been restored. The Pharisees and teachers of the Law (rabbis, or sages) had multiplied the rules governing ritual purity, and treated them as though their rules had the force of Scripture.
Jesus directly attacked this whole way of thinking when He taught that “what goes into a man’s mouth” (externals) cannot make him unclean. What really disqualifies a person for worship are those things which “come out of the heart.” The list Matthew gave makes it clear that right living, not right ritual, is the key to a believer’s close relationship with the Lord.
We need to make sure our own approach to faith mirrors the principle Jesus laid down here. Let’s keep our lives free of those sins that flow from the heart, and not be concerned about the “do’s” and “don’ts” that to some people are criteria of spirituality.

“Son of David, have mercy on me!” Matt. 15:21–28 This story puzzles many. But the clues to help us understand are right there in the text.
Jesus had temporarily withdrawn from Jewish territory. A Canaanite woman came and begged for mercy and healing for her daughter, addressing Jesus as “Son of David,” His Jewish, messianic title. At first Christ ignored her pleading. Then He seemed to reject her appeal, saying, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. . . . It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”
In saying this Jesus reflected an important reality: no Gentile had a claim to Israel’s blessings, for God’s covenant promises were given to Abraham’s seed. The woman did not argue or plead special need. She simply noted that the children and dogs both eat bread at the table. The difference is that the children eat until they are satisfied, and the dogs receive the crumbs that are left. This display of faith was rewarded. The daughter was healed “from that very hour.”
The incident emphasizes the priority Jesus gave to the Jews in His earthly ministry. He was their Messiah: They had first rights to every blessing He offered. Even today many believe that Paul taught Christians should give Jewish evangelism priority when he spoke of the Gospel being “first for the Jew, then for the Gentiles” (Rom. 1:16).
Yet Jesus did heal, in response to the woman’s faith. Faith in Christ is the great leveler. Through the one principle of faith both Jew and Gentile are welcomed into the one family of God. Today no one can claim God’s favor exists beyond that claim established by faith.
But do note this. Jesus had just been examined by the skeptical and antagonistic men who represented Israel. And, unexpectedly, he found faith in a Canaanite woman—a descendant of those pagan peoples Israel had been charged to drive from the land. That’s the exciting thing about faith. It crops up unexpectedly! Sometimes those who we think should believe hold back, and we become discouraged. And then, suddenly, faith appears in a person we would normally write off, and the revolutionizing power of God transforms his or her life. Then we thank God and, with fresh enthusiasm, continue to do His will.

DEVOTIONAL
Eat, but Don’t Be Satisfied
(Matt. 15:21–39)
Food plays a part in the two incidents reported here. A Canaanite woman begged for crumbs from the table of God’s covenant people, and her strong faith was rewarded. Her daughter was healed “from that very hour.”
Back home in Galilee Jesus was met by great crowds, who were amazed as He freely healed their lame, blind, crippled, and dumb. When they’d been with Him for three days without anything to eat, Jesus performed another miracle. He multiplied seven loaves and a few small fishes, and fed some 4,000 men “besides women and children.”
And the text says, “They all ate and were satisfied.” And the crowd went away.
What a contrast. The woman’s daughter, healed “from that very hour,” had her life changed forever. The Galilean crowd, satisfied with the meal, all left—and within a few hours would be hungry again.
It’s wonderful that Christ in grace met the momentary physical need of the crowd. It’s grand that He satisfied their hunger. But it’s tragic that they then “were satisfied.”
Yes. I know. All the text means is that they ate all they wanted; that they were full. Even so, it reminds me that so many people are satisfied if their material needs are met. If they have a place to live. Food to eat. A nice car. Money in the bank. How tragic that so many never feel the urgency that gripped the Canaanite woman and drove her to Jesus. Because in Jesus, and through faith in Him, we experience a spiritual transformation that makes life forever different, “from that very hour.”

Personal Application
Expect more from your relationship with Jesus than meeting your material needs.

Quotable
“It is as easy for God to supply the greatest as the smallest wants, even as it was within His power to form a system or an atom, to create a blazing sun as the kindle of the firefly’s lamp.”—Thomas Guthrie

Charles Wesley, 1707–1788
I am the First and the Last, I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! (Revelation 1:17, 18)
What a glorious truth to ponder—Jesus is not the “Great I WAS” but rather the “Great I AM!” He is not only a historical fact but a present-day, living reality. The whole system of Christianity rests upon the truth that Jesus Christ rose from the grave and is now seated at the Father’s right hand as our personal advocate.
“Christ the Lord is Risen Today” has been one of the church’s most popular Easter hymns since it was first written by Charles Wesley just one year after his “heart-warming” experience at the Aldersgate Hall in London, England, in 1738. The first Wesleyan Chapel in London was a deserted iron foundry. It became known as the Foundry Meeting House. This hymn was written by Charles for the first service in that chapel.
Following his Aldersgate encounter with Christ, Charles began writing numerous hymns on every phase of the Christian experience, some 6,500 in all. It has been said that the hymns of Charles Wesley clothed Christ in flesh and blood and gave converts a belief they could easily grasp, embrace with personal faith, and if necessary, even die for.
If all of our eternity is to be realized on this side of the grave, we are hopeless and to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:19). But for the Christian, the resurrection assures us of God’s tomorrow. This anticipation makes it possible to live joyfully today, regardless of life’s circumstances.
Christ the Lord is ris’n today, Alleluia! Sons of men and angels say: Alleluia! Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth reply: Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia! Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia! Dying once He all doth save, Alleluia! Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!
Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia! Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia! Death in vain forbids Him rise, Alleluia! Christ has opened Paradise, Alleluia!
Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia! Foll’wing our exalted Head, Alleluia! Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia! Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

For Today: Matthew 28:1–9; Acts 2:24–28; 1 Corinthians 15:4, 20; 55–57
The message of the resurrection is to “come and see”—to personally experience the transforming power of the living Christ. Then—“to go and tell.” Carry this hymn of triumph with you—

John of Damascus, early 8th century
English translation by John M. Neale, 1818–1866
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:14 KJV)
This hymn from the early eighth century is one of the oldest expressions found in most hymnals. Its origin is rooted in the liturgy of the Greek Orthodox Church. It was written by one of the famous monks of that church, John of Damascus, c. 676–c. 780.
The celebration of Easter has always been a spectacle of ecclesiastical pomp in the Greek Orthodox Church. Even today, as a vital part of the ceremony, the worshipers bury a cross under the high altar on Good Friday and dramatically resurrect it with shouts of “Christos egerthe” (“Christ is risen”) on Easter Sunday. With this announcement begins a time of joyous celebration. Torches are lit, bells and trumpets peel, and salvos of cannons fill the air. The following account describes such a scene:
Everywhere men clasped each other’s hands, congratulated one another, and embraced with countenances beaming with delight, as though to each one separately some wonderful happiness had been proclaimed—and so in truth it was; and all the while rising above the mingling of many sounds, each one of which was a sound of gladness, the aged priests were distinctly heard chanting forth a glorious hymn of victory in tones so loud and clear, that they seemed to have regained the youth and strength to tell the world how “Christ is risen from the dead, having trampled death beneath His feet, and henceforth they that are in the tombs have everlasting life.”
John M. Neale is generally regarded as one of the leading translators of ancient hymns. He was recognized as one of the most learned hymnologists of his day and had a knowledge of twenty languages.
The day of resurrection! Earth, tell it out abroad—the Passover of gladness, the Passover of God! From death to life eternal, from this world to the sky, our Christ hath brought us over with hymns of victory!
Our hearts be pure from evil, that we may see aright the Lord in rays eternal of resurrection light; and, list’ning to His accents, may hear, so calm and plain, His own “All hail!” and, hearing, may raise the victor strain.
Now let the heav’ns be joyful, let earth her song begin, let the round world keep triumph and all that is therein; let all things seen and unseen their notes in gladness blend, for Christ the Lord hath risen, our joy that hath no end!

    For Today: Matthew 28:1–9; Acts 2:24; 13:29, 30; 1 Corinthians 15:54–58.

Determine to make this Easter a spiritual highpoint celebration in your life and in the lives of your family members. Reflect on this portion of the hymn—

Mrs. Cecil Frances Alexander, 1823–1895
Finally Pilate handed Him over to them to be crucified. (John 19:16)
The full understanding of the depth of suffering that our Savior endured at Calvary for our redemption is difficult to grasp. When Mrs. Cecil Alexander, one of England’s finest hymn writers, was attempting to explain to her Sunday school class the meaning of the phrase from the Apostles’ Creed, “suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried,” she felt inadequate. She had always believed that one of the most effective ways to teach sound spiritual truths to children is through the use of appropriate hymns. She decided, therefore, to put the details of Christ’s suffering and death on the cross into a simply worded but appealing song that could be easily understood by the children in her class. Although the hymn with its direct style of wording and clearly expressed thoughts was originally intended for youth, it had an immediate appeal to adults as well. After the lilting melody was composed for the text in 1878 by George C. Stebbins, the hymn became widely used in the Moody-Sankey evangelistic campaigns, as it has been in church services since then.
Friends of Mrs. Alexander said that her life was even more beautiful than her writing. After her marriage to William Alexander, archbishop and primate of the Anglican church for all of Ireland, she engaged herself in parish duties and charity work. Her husband said of her, “From one poor home to another she went. Christ was ever with her, and all felt her influence.” Mrs. Alexander had been active before her marriage in the Sunday school movement, and her love of children and interest in their spiritual instruction never diminished. Almost all of the 400 poems and hymns that she wrote were prompted by this concern.
Adults as well as children have loved this particular hymn, written by a devoted woman who had a sincere desire to help others to truly appreciate the extent of Christ’s agony on the cross and the magnitude of His love.
There is a green hill far away, outside a city wall, where the dear Lord was crucified, who died to save us all.
We may not know, we cannot tell, what pains He had to bear; but we believe it was for us He hung and suffered there.
He died that we might be forgiv’n. He died to make us good, that we might go at last to heav’n, saved by His precious blood.
There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin; He only could unlock the gate of heav’n and let us in.
Chorus: O dearly, dearly has He loved! And we must love Him too, and trust in His redeeming blood, and try His works to do.

For Today: John 19; Romans 5:6–11; Ephesians 1:7, 8; Titus 2:13, 14
Express your gratitude for Christ’s “redeeming blood.” Let the truth of His great love motivate you to “try His works to do.”