(contributed by Bro Adrian)
Question 1 – What is one of the greatest sacrifices another person has made for you?
I am sure that you know that the biblically correct answer is Jesus… But the author says that this is not the intention of this question.
Question2 – How does Hebrews 13:11-16 portray a) animal sacrifices, b) the sacrifice of Jesus and c) the sacrifice we should offer to God?
a) In OT times, shedding of animals’ blood were offered as a sacrifice for sins but the animals are burnt outside the camp..
b) Similarities were drawn between the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins who was crucified outside the city..
c) In the Good News bible, “Let us, then, go to him outside the camp and share his shame”… KJV says “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.”
What does “outside the camp” mean? Could it mean that we are to be separated from the world and its way of thinking and acting? Does it mean leaving the Old Covenant behind and taking on the New Covenant?
How about “share his shame” or “bearing his reproach”? The crucifixion of Christ is a humiliating act. Are we being called to endure humiliation for our faith as John 15:18 reads "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”
Question 3 – What are the results of the sacrifice of Jesus?
When a prisoner escaped from the camp in Auschwitz, the Nazis selected 10 others to be killed by starvation in reprisal for the escape. One of the 10 selected to die, Franciszek Gajowniczek, began to cry: My wife! My children! I will never see them again! At this Maximilian Kolbe (a Polish priest) stepped forward, took off his cap, and stood before the commandant and said, 'I am a Catholic priest. Let me take his place. I am old. He has a wife and children.' His request was granted ...
Gajowniczek later recalled:
'I could only thank him with my eyes. I was stunned and could hardly grasp what was going on. The immensity of it: I, the condemned, am to live and someone else willingly and voluntarily offers his life for me - a stranger. Is this some dream?
I was put back into my place without having had time to say anything to Maximilian Kolbe. I was saved. And I owe to him the fact that I could tell you all this. The news quickly spread all round the camp. It was the first and the last time that such an incident happened in the whole history of Auschwitz.
For a long time I felt remorse when I thought of Maximilian. By allowing myself to be saved, I had signed his death warrant. But now, on reflection, I understood that a man like him could not have done otherwise. Perhaps he thought that as a priest his place was beside the condemned men to help them keep hope. In fact he was with them to the last.'‘
When I was introduced to the above historical event, it moves the cross from my head to my heart. Whilst it should have been in my heart decades earlier; but I have to humbly accept that it is better late than never…
Sacrifice of our lips
Praising God is not just thanking Him for all the good things which He has blessed us with but also for being our guide, bringing opportunities to share of His goodness, etc…
Nicky Gumbel says “When we appreciate what good news the gospel is, we shall be bursting to tell others.”
Sacrifice of our hands
This involves our spiritual gifts as well as our talents and skills in doing good for others…
Sacrifice of our resources
Whilst everything we have is from God but there is a call to good stewardship. So, simply giving it all away and hoping that it will end up in the right place is not, in my mind, good stewardship. And not having any idea on what to do with your blessed resources, and not consulting Him for directions, is neglecting our responsibility to “bear his reproach”…
To all those who thinks like me or worst (if that’s possible), my suggestion is to get yourself into an Alpha course as quickly as possible and start working with the jewels of His Kingdom…
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