“Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near…” – Joel 2:1
“And Jesus went throughout the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’ And He called to Him His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.” – Matthew 9:35-10:1
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.'” – Isaiah 52:7
“One of the criminals who were hanged railed at Him…But the other (criminal) rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.'” – Luke 23:39-41
This morning I was suddenly awaken from sleep by the sound of my alarm. This is unusual because, most of the time, I wake up before it goes off. However, I still set it every night…”just in case”. Occasionally I am enjoying the my slumber just a little too much and I have to experience that uncomfortable wake up call that reminds me that I have things to do today! Sleep is nice but, it’s time to get up and get to it!
Our meditation on the cross and on the words of Jesus this Lenten season are not only a reminder of the wonder of our salvation, it is a wake up call for us that there are still many who do not believe…many who are lost…many who are on the path to suffer the consequences for their own sinful condition…death.
The words of the second criminal have been a source of comfort for believers for thousands of years for many of the reasons that we have looked at this week. The last minute salvation of a dying sinner gives us hope. The promise of Jesus about Paradise and His presence gives us peace…and we enjoy the “blessed of assurance” of our salvation. This is good and a gift from the Lord, but…this short dialogue between these three men is also a startling alarm that there are those who still do not know. Those who have not heard. Those who do not understand.
The second criminal…the thief…was preaching the good news to the other on the cross! His faith was revealed in his words and the response of Jesus but they were spoken to the other man who had not yet believed.
“Hey, don’t you know who this is? He is who He claims to be! He is the Christ and He is saving us at this very moment even though we don’t deserve it. You just need to believe it and you can live!”
Sometimes we need the alarm to wake us from the comfort of our salvation and realize that there are still people who need to here the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s time to get up! Today is a good day to share the good news! Blessings!