Amen Pastor Sean. We who are repentant are brought to our knees as we contemplate the sufferings of Christ. Then Jesus lifts us up and we are filled with great joy. But, sadly, as it was in Israel, the suffering Lamb is seen as a ritual without understanding it is a symbol of God's great grace. Today's reading makes it so clear that none who have spiritual discernment need be ignorant of the constraining power of Christ's love revealed by the uplifted Savior. By beholding Jesus upon the cross we are transformed from sinner to saint. We become partakers of Christ's divine nature, we are bound up with Christ and our heavenly Father. We are filled with the Holy Spirit and manifest all of the fruits of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.
Pride cannot exist in the heart of all who "keep fresh in memory the scenes of Calvary." There is a false teaching that allows salvation to those who still have pride in their hearts. They do not understand that grace cleanses the heart from all selfishness and pride. "He who beholds the Saviour's matchless love will be elevated in thought, purified in heart, transformed in character," not only when at the end the 144,000 are sealed, but today when by beholding the loveliness of Christ hanging on the cross, he is transformed into His image by the Spirit of God (2 Cor. 3:18). All of the fruits of the Spirit are given at conversion to all who love Jesus supremely, not just the 144,000. Be warned about those who come teaching otherwise, no matter who they are, and how much truth they mingle in with their false gospel that allows unknown pride to remain in the heart of the converted Christian.
We wonder who so many have no spiritual discernment. It is because of the significant deceptions in the church that allow professing church members to believe they are converted when in fact they are not. In today's reading is another truth that reveals those who claim they have been given "new light" on the feast days are sadly deceived also.
Christ was standing at the point of transition between two economies and their two great festivals. He, the spotless Lamb of God, was about to present Himself as a sin offering, that He would thus bring to an end the system of types and ceremonies that for four thousand years had pointed to His death. As He ate the Passover with His disciples, He instituted in its place the service that was to be the memorial of His great sacrifice. The national festival of the Jews was to pass away forever. The service which Christ established was to be observed by His followers in all lands and through all ages.
Here we are clearly told that is was not only the sacrifices, but the "festivals" of the Jews that were to pass away. Festivals are the feast days that so many today claim to be obligatory. We who are beholding Jesus uplifted upon the cross, are constrained by this love to love as He loves. That all would understand the power of grace to constrain behavior to be in line with what we know of Christ and His ways. More than this, as partakers of God's divine nature while living in fallen flesh we manifest all of the fruits of the Spirit. What a miracle!! The greatest of all miracles!