Easter.

Sadly, it has become another commercialized holiday.  Even in our churches, it seems to have lost some significance.

Do we even remember what Jesus endured for us?

In remembrance of what Jesus went through for us, I encourage you to read the account again.

Jesus Arrested

⁴⁷While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, ⁴⁸but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”⁴⁹When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” ⁵⁰And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.

⁵¹But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.

⁵²Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? ⁵³Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.”

Peter Disowns Jesus

⁵⁴Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. ⁵⁵But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. ⁵⁶A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”⁵⁷But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.

⁵⁸A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.

⁵⁹About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”

⁶⁰Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. ⁶¹The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” ⁶²And he went outside and wept bitterly.

The Guards Mock Jesus

⁶³The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. ⁶⁴They blindfolded him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” ⁶⁵And they said many other insulting things to him.

Jesus Before Pilate and Herod

⁶⁶At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. ⁶⁷“If you are the Christ,” they said, “tell us.”Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, ⁶⁸and if I asked you, you would not answer. ⁶⁹But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”

⁷⁰They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?”
He replied, “You are right in saying I am.”

⁷¹Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.”

¹Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. ²And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.”

³So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.

⁴Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

⁵But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”

⁶On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. ⁷When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

⁸When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle. ⁹He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. ¹²That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.

¹³Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, ¹⁴and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. ¹⁵Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. ¹⁶Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.”

¹⁸With one voice they cried out, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” ¹⁹(Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

²⁰Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. ²¹But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

²²For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”

²³But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. ²⁴So Pilate decided to grant their demand. ²⁵He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

The Crucifixion

²⁶As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. ²⁸Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰Then
” ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!” ‘³¹For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”³²Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. ³³When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. ³⁴Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”^[e] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

³⁵The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”

³⁶The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar ³⁷and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

³⁸There was a written notice above him, which read:  THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

³⁹One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

⁴⁰But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

⁴²Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

⁴³Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Jesus’ Death

⁴⁴It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, ⁴⁵for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.⁴⁷The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” ⁴⁸When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. ⁴⁹But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Jesus’ Burial

⁵⁰Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, ⁵¹who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. ⁵²Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. ⁵³Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. ⁵⁴It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

⁵⁵The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. ⁵⁶Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

Luke 22:47-71 and Luke 23:1-56

Thank God the crucifixion and death of Jesus was not the end.

Sunday is coming!

They’re finally here! The Beta Version t-shirts are finally here and available.

I got home from work and there was the box on the front porch.  The full design looks like this.

The front has “Beta Version”.  The back has the following verse:

¹² I do not mean that I am already as God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal, but I continue trying to reach it and to make it mine. Christ wants me to do that, which is the reason he made me his.

Philippians 3:12 (NCV)

The shirts are $15 plus shipping up to an XL.  Shirts 2XL and larger are $16 plus shipping.  All proceeds will be going toward my mission trip to Romania later this year.

If you choose to buy one, thank you for your support.

As a part of my job, I have the opportunity to spend some significant time behind the wheel.  Over the years, talk radio has become my passenger.  It’s true, I could chase my favorite music across the dial or use my iPod, but I like listening to what people are thinking on various topics.  Listening to many different opinions on a subject will force you to decide where you stand.  One of the shows I listen to is the Tara Servatius show on WBT out of Charlotte.

Yesterday, she discussed an article from Newsweek by George Will called The Basement Boys: The making of modern immaturity. The article focused on “culture of immaturity among the many young men who are reluctant to grow up.”  Some key quotes from the article:

• Women now receive almost 58 percent of bachelor’s degrees
• 28 percent of wives between ages 30 and 44 have more education than their husbands
• only 19 percent of husbands in the same age group have more education than their wives
• 55 percent of men 18 to 24 are living in their parents’ homes
• 13 percent of men 25 to 34 are living in their parent’s homes
• Only 8 percent of women do the same

Additionally, George Will writes:

Gary Cross, a Penn State University historian, wonders, “Where have all the men gone?” His book, Men to Boys: The Making of Modern Immaturity, argues that “the culture of the boy-men today is less a life stage than a lifestyle.” If you wonder what has become of manliness, he says, note the differences between Cary Grant and Hugh Grant, the former, dapper and debonair, the latter, a perpetually befuddled boy.

The discussion on Tara’s show was fascinating.  Men and women of all ages had opinions on what has caused this emerging trend.  The conclusion reached by most listeners was that this is a rising problem.  Men have become more unreliable, less willing to work, more dependent and overall, less willing to emerge from childhood and accept the responsibilities of adulthood.  Callers gave potential reasons ranging from mother-led single households to lax parenting.  In both arguments, the callers stated that boys are not being given strong male role models to learn from.

Something else that concerned me was the number of women callers that expressed the sentiment that they couldn’t count on men today because “they’re all boys”, or “they just won’t grow up”.  Could this be a contributing factor to the increase in single parent households led by women?  I have no idea.  Now, to be clear, I am all for women and girls striving to be the best they can.  This includes going to school, earning a degree and being able to think and act for themselves without HAVING to be dependent on men.  My wife has told me that women are looking for stability and security for their families.  The immature man-child is not going to provide these things.

So, what’s going on?

My opinion?  Expectations.  Or more truthfully, a lack of expectations is one of the root causes.   I believe we have lowered our expectations of what we expect from boys as they become men.  Just look at popular media.  Men are often portrayed as bumbling, immature (even childish) characters.  In many sitcoms, the wives/girlfriends are portrayed as the strong, mature leaders of the households.  To be fair, I’m all for having fun and goofing off – but there is a time when responsibility and maturity should be at the forefront.

At home:

• Men, are we as dad’s demonstrating to our sons what a strong, responsible figure looks like in the home?
• Men, are we teaching our sons how to BE men of responsibility and character?
• Women, are you teaching your children what a strong female figure looks like?
• Women, are you are you showing your husbands the one thing they need – respect – and ensuring that your sons and daughters see this?
• Parents, do we have high, low or no expectations of our kids (both sons and daughters)? Kids will live up to the lowest expectation. If we don’t expect much, then they will deliver in equal measure.

Here are the questions I want to discuss with you?

• Do you agree with the article? Are there men who just refuse to grow up and take on responsibility?
• What’s causing this?
• What do we do?