READ MATTHEW 27

I took my place in the seat next to the window, opened the newspaper I’d brought along with me and soon got engrossed in reading the sports page.  I didn’t pay much attention to the middle aged businessman who got on the plane a few minutes later and sat next to the aisle leaving an empty seat between us.

Shortly after we took off I did notice that he had taken out a yellow note pad and started writing rather intensely.  After we took off and reached 10,000 feet altitude I turned on my computer and began reading and highlighting verses from Matthew 27 – the section of Scripture we’re studying this week.  The man next to me kept writing silently, methodically for almost an hour.

As I read over this passage I underlined all that Jesus went through for us. He was betrayed by a friend, arrested and bound by soldiers, forsaken by his disciples, lied about by false witnesses, mocked and spit upon by his enemies.  They struck him, scourged him, crucified him and ridiculed him some more. I marveled again at how much Jesus endured and wondered again how the Heavenly father could have tolerated such horrendous abuse heaped upon His Son.

Then the man next to me interrupted, ‘Pardon me, but you are Bob Russell, the preacher, aren’t you?”  When I answered affirmatively he handed me the five page essay he’d just written and said, ‘I didn’t want to disturb you because you probably don’t get much time to yourself, but would you please read this when you get a chance and pray for our family?”  Of course I began reading it right then.

What I read was heartrending.  It began, “I want to share something that is going on in our lives right now because we are dealing with things that are too big for us to manage.”  He went on to describe that while he had a lucrative job, a spacious house a wonderful wife and three healthy children their oldest son, age sixteen, was in total rebellion and creating havoc in the home.  Drugs, lying, profanity, abusive behavior and daily defiance had made their home a living hell.  This poor Christian couple had tried everything, including tough love and professional counseling but nothing seemed to work.

The last page of his written explanation listed several specific prayer requests for the family and nearly all of them concerned spiritual renewal for their wayward boy and a plea for exemption from potential disaster.  I turned off my computer and for the next hour we talked and then prayed together for his son.

I can’t stop thinking about that father’s love for his son.  He couldn’t get his mind off his boy.  He wrote for an hour just to get someone to pray for him.  He was willing to spend any amount of money and go to any lengths to persuade his son to repent because he feared that his present course was going to end in disaster.  He dreamed of the day when he could be reconciled to him.  “Love is patient”.  “Love always protects”. “Love never fails”, the Bible says.

And I thought again about the great lengths our Heavenly Father went in order to be reconciled to us and to protect us from the vile penalty of sin.  We have defied His will and rebelled repeatedly against Him.  We deserve to be kicked out of the family.  But, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10)

** If you are enjoying this study through the book of Matthew with Bob Russell, be sure to check out Bob’s “Falling In Love With Jesus Again” Bible Study DVD and resources for your small group or church.