June 07, 2004
The Wedding Song
"Today is the day..."
Darrell Mansfield fronted a band called Gentle Faith that had a hit song that is sung at many weddings. "Today is the day" is how it starts off. That is my segue to talk about the Rock Stars on God promotional stuff going on today.
I just returned back to the office after being on the "Dale and Bob" morning talk show on KLBJ FM this morning. It went fairly well. They have a very popular morning talk show. It went by fast and we talked a little about the Henry Rollins interview and Alice Cooper. It was weird talking for Alice Cooper, but paraphrasing his own words is about the only thing I feel comfortable doing, so that's what I did.
We'll do another radio interview this afternoon. This one will be for a local Christian radio station, called Power FM. Then at 2 o'clock is a little party for the book at the Hard Rock Cafe. That should be fun. It'll probably take up my whole day once it gets to be noon.
Today while reading the Word over breakfast (2 brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts, as usual), I read out of Mark 15 and Psalm 22. I pondered at how when Joseph of Arimathea came to ask Pilate for Jesus' body, that Pilate was surprised to hear that He was already dead. It says "...he learned from the centurion that it was so," which probably means he sent someone out to fetch the centurion to confirm this. All that probably means that Jesus' dead body probably hung there for a while. This is not something I've thought much about before. I'm so prone to go from one event (death) to another (prep for burial) to another (resurrection), that I don't really appreciate the time that has passed. The despair I've always sensed (and felt mild doses of compared to His followers who had to deal with it in real time)...it was always heavy, but short-lived. The loss of hope while He hung there on the cross for how long...a few hours? It must've been hard.
My estimation is based on the fact that these people were on foot. Joseph must've seen Jesus breath His last and then he walked to where Pilate was. After boldly asking Pilate for the body (and since he was a high ranking government official, he may have had to stand and wait awhile before he was given permission to talk to Pilate), they both waited for someone to walk back to golgatha to get confirmation from the centurion. So all that action took some time.
I next read Psalm 22, which is a favorite of mine. There are at least three major prophecies fulfilled from that Psalm. The "Eloi, Eloi" call that Jesus gave to His Father ("My God, My God...") was one. None of the bones being broken was two. His heart melting like wax was three. The guards casting lots to divide up His clothing was four. The people saying, "let God rescue Him now" was five. There's even more. Wow. Such a rich text.
The despair and ugliness of people saying, "If He's God, let Him save Himself" was such an insult. I can only imagine the hurt from hearing that. Where was His security blanket? What could He hold on to? Those around Him were cursing Him, the pain was unbearable. Were all his bones out of joint? If so, that is incredible pain. His family and friends being there probably offered some solice. I hope inside that He was able to look into the future and "see" the result of His accomplishment. How it must please Him now to see people turn to Him and express their love to Him. Such a Hero we serve. Praise His Name.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at June 7, 2004 09:17 AM