Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

• Matthew 4:1-11

As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.
Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”
Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

• Matthew 27:32-56

A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.
They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” 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.
At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

• Mark 15:21-41

Boilerplate

I’m Harold Dykstra.  I’m retired, but I go to food bank distributions all over Tracy and talk to people that need someone who will listen to their story.  My time is well spent.  A police lieutenant suggested that I write down the conversations that I had with an angel.  I did not know she was an angel at the time.  The angel, for a little over a year, indwelled a life-sized posable action figure my children bought me, so that I would not be perceived as travelling alone.  And in a way, she was training me for what I do while talking to the needy.  She probed my heart to find out what I believed and how I express love for others.  She changed my life.  Since she was a doll that had come to life, we came up with the term ‘other living.’  She was not a human, an animal, or even a plant, but she was definitely living, and very vibrant.  Oh, excuse me, angels have no gender, but the angel indwelled a doll named Bountiful Babs.  After seeing the angel in that form for over a year, I cannot see her in my mind in any other form.

This Week’s Question

In the last episode, Babs wanted peace, but today, Good Friday, she was inconsolable.

I asked, “What is wrong, Babs?  We don’t have to go anywhere.  We will be in Southern California for some time, a lot of customers, all commuting distance from here, Rancho Cucamonga on Monday.  And it is a three-day weekend.  It’s Good Friday.”

Babs, through her tears asked, “What is so ‘good’ about it?  Jesus died!”

I answered, “But Babs, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin.  Through His sacrifice, we as humans can gain an eternal life with Him in Paradise.”

Babs shrugged, wiping away tears, “Sure, but what about Jesus on that Friday?  What about Jesus’ followers on that Friday?  They had no idea what all this meant then!  They just watch helplessly as the man that they loved, the man they thought was the King of kings died.  Sure, Jesus rises from the dead.  Sure, the Holy Spirit comes upon them, and they finally figure everything out.  But for that day, they were sorrowful.  They were inconsolable.  But what about the others that were there?”

I asked, “The ones yelling ‘Crucify Him?’ ”

Babs wiped her eyes.  She called it being broken, and for a doll that was at least partially inflated, a leak was a serious thing, but she seemed to have ceased being a doll a long time ago.  She replied, “No, Silly.”

I asked, “The Pharisees and the religious leaders?”

Babs spit out the words, “You mean the cruel people who wanted the sign to read ‘The One who claimed to be King of the Jews?’ No, not them either.”

I asked, “The peasants? The guy that carried the cross after Jesus was beaten, Simon from Cyrene?  The Romans?”

Babs chided, “Thanks for just giving a laundry list of everyone else, everyone human that is.”

I asked, “Then who, Babs?”

Babs again wiped away the tears.  “What about the angels?  What about them?  When Jesus prepared for His ministry, the angels followed everywhere He went in the wilderness.  He had not eaten in a long time.  The angels were prepared to help, but Jesus had to call them, or the Heavenly Father had to call them.  The angels could see He was weak, but Satan had not yet tested Him.  But then, the testing came, and just as soon as Satan went away, the angels that had been there all the time were allowed to swoop in and tend to their commander in chief.  The angels were in pain, seeing Jesus go that long without anything to sustain Him, but the angels got the call.”

Babs continued, “But here it was three years later.  Was this just like before?  Was Jesus going to be tested and then the angels could tend His wounds?  No, it wasn’t.  Jesus nearly died when He was scourged, but His destiny was Golgotha.  Just picture it, as people taunted Him, as people cast lots for His clothing, as people teased Him with mixtures of wine and myrrh, as the women who had been faithful to Jesus all along stood there weeping…  While all that was going on the angels, in the tens of thousands stood around that stupid rock and they did nothing.  Their task was to swoop in when He called or the Father called, but the call never came.  Angels have feelings too!  They sat there, unable to help the One who had created them.  They had to watch Him die.  And when they had endured that great pain, their job was still the same, to glorify and praise God.  How was that day ‘good’ for the angels?”

Babs continued, “Do you know how people die from crucifixion?  They get to the point when they cannot breathe.  The pain in their hands and feet is so horrible that they slump down, but hang there with your arms rigid above your head for a long period of time and fluid builds up in the lungs.  So, you endure the pain in your hands and feet by pushing yourself up.  That way, your posture is better, and you can inhale a full breath of air.  But then the pain is too much so you slump down again.  This standing up and then slumping happens until you just cannot do it anymore.  Then you die.  Why do you think they broke the legs of the rebels?  They wanted them to die quicker, but because Jesus was near death to begin with, He was already dead.”

Babs gasped for air as her sobs continued, “And Jesus said before they did that that no one takes His life.  He gives it up freely for others.  And look at what Matthew said.  Jesus gave up His spirit.  Even in the moment of death, Jesus chose to die.  No one had the power to do that.  Jesus gave up His life for His friends, but that whole time, tens of thousands of angels stood around Him, emotionally spent.  They were at the ready and the call never came.  Harold, the call … never … came.  How do you think it got so dark?”

I shrugged, “There have been a few theories of natural events that seem to only partially explain it.  It had to be something supernatural.  An eclipse is just too short of a time.  A terrible storm might not get things dark enough.  A volcano erupting would mean the volcano would have to be nearby.  Sure, Walla Walla, Washington was shut down when Mount St. Helens erupted at the other end of the state, but I think there was some light even then.”

Babs sniffled, “Nice try, engineer.  Maybe it was tens of thousands of angels turning around so they did not have to look?  I know.  You are going to say they are spirits, and they cannot block the sun, but in that moment when their life is at its darkest, maybe they could?!”

I was at my wit’s end.  I had no idea what ‘other living’ was.  Why was she hurting so?  I had no idea why Babs became so sorrowful thinking about the angels.

All I could do was hold her in my arms and weep with her.

Credits

All these conversations remind me of my conversations with my wife.  We would talk about anything and everything.  And most of the time, it sounded like a discussion in a Sunday school class.

This one is a little different, however.  This is fictional.  Yes, angels rejoice, but do they feel sadness?  Do they ever feel the agony when unable to help?

In a way, I was giving one angel that, when on a different assignment than being Harold’s guardian angel, stood watching Jesus give His life to save sinners, ever so excruciatingly slowly.  I gave that one a chance to grieve.

But do we consider the pain and agony that Christ went through to that extent?  Have you ever thought of that one gift and how much pain was involved, and how long it took, and all you could do was sob uncontrollably.

Jesus would have gone through that if you were the only one.

Sorry, these are usually lighthearted, but I started thinking about what the angels saw, those assigned to comfort Him, but only when called.  And I am still weeping.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.