That We May See And Believe

Mark 15:31-32 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved other,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

Just reading the Mark 15 passage above makes my head hurt. The words are not difficult to read. No, the words are very simple and to the point. It is the message contained in the words that makes my head hurt.  The completely two-faced statements, the outright hate towards Jesus is so beyond cruel. It makes my head hurt.  On one hand the chief priests and teachers of the law acknowledge that Jesus saved others.  They mockingly call Him “this Messiah, this king of Israel’ and in the very next breath they taunt Him to come down from the cross so that they can see and believe.  The world really has not changed all that much in the past 2000 or so years. 

Even today we have those in this world who mock Jesus. They chose to ignore the prolific evidence that Jesus Christ is Lord.  They distort the truth in an effort to elevate their own belief system.  They go to considerable effort to remove any evidence of the cross from memorials or public forums.  They will seek to blame inanimate objects to the cause of evil in this world while pointedly ignoring an entertainment industry rife with violence, immorality, and any reasonable sense of decency.  Friends of the risen Savior, our world is truly broken.

            And just when you think things could not get any worse, along comes “The Bible”.  As a very wonderful counterpoint to the usual Hollywood violence filled offerings, The History Channel runs a mini-series based on the bible.  The episodes I have seen are just filled with great illustrations of how blessed we are to have a loving God.  The episode that airs Easter Sunday evening covers the trial, crucifixion and resurrection.  At just the right time a well done production comes out that allows those who may not know or believe to see that they may believe.  The funny thing I have seen is the number of people talking about “The Bible.”  It even made it onto the Sirius-XM satellite radio NASCAR channel show “The Morning Drive.”  The two hosts of the show had an interesting discussion on the episode that had run the night before.  If you have not taken time to watch, do so, please.

Often we do not know what it will take to change the heart of an unbeliever or someone with a weak faith. It may be our words or words someone else has written. It may be a movie or a TV show.  The one constant is that when we pray for change, God hears our prayer and we can ask for His will to be done in our lives and the lives of those we pray for.  Let’s all take the time to offer up a prayer for a fundamental change in the hearts of those who are lost in this world.

Prayer:  Father our world is corrupt in sin. It is lost in worship of false idols, false gods, and even the worship of itself.  Help us Lord for without You we are lost. Guide those who are lost to follow the Good Shepherd.  Fill their hearts with the faith to change their lives and to follow the light of Christ.  This we ask in the name of the Good Shepherd, our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.