Advancing Life and Liberty Through Action

What Cross is God Calling You to Today?

Apr 11, 2020



The moments leading up to the cross hold a powerful message for us today. Caesarea Philippi had an evil history. Ancient Canaanites sacrificed children to Baal in this location. When Jesus stood there, King Herod's son had just built a massive expansion to the temple for Pan the god of lust. Nearby was a huge cave with endless water known as the Gates of Hell.

It was in this pagan place where Jesus—surrounded by the filth and debauchery of false worship—turned to his disciples and revealed that He is the Messiah who will suffer, die, and rise again.

It was in the middle of a community known for evil pagan worship that he shared his plan to sacrifice himself to build His church. He assured the disciples that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail. Satan would be unable to stop His plan.

There is an incredible connection that our work on earth reflects and affects what is happening in heaven. Your actions today and in the tomorrows to come have a real, powerful impact on earth and in heaven! It is here that Jesus admonished Peter for thinking earthly instead of from God's perspective.

On Good Friday some 2,000 years ago, our Lord was beaten and excoriated. The stress upon his mind and body was so great that He exhibited two rare medical conditions.

In the night leading up to Jesus' betrayal the weight was so crushing that during his prayers, the physician Luke noted that in "being in anguish, he [Jesus] prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." This is a real condition (hematohidrosis) where blood vessels near the sweat glands are broken by severe stress. It actually causes a person's skin to be extremely tender and fragile. So even before our Savior began the road to the cross his body was especially vulnerable to the intense suffering he was about to experience.

Yet in the face of this pain, He prayed asking God if there was any way he could avoid this suffering. But it was even in this moment that He was able to say, "Not my will, but yours be done."

In addition, when the solders pierced his side, the water flowing out of that wound revealed a condition (hypovolemic) showing that His body was under extreme stress and significant loss of blood.

When our Lord breathed his last breath, His followers were in great distress. Peter had denied him, and everyone fled. They were terrified. Their hopes and dreams shattered.

But all that changed on Easter morning. The first eyewitnesses were women. Everything was transformed. Even James, who thought his brother Jesus was out of his mind, was radically changed. He became the leader of the Jerusalem church.

No matter what we face, be it fear, anxiety, or not knowing how you can survive another day, the Resurrection assures us that even the Gates of Hell shall not prevail.

On this day between the Cross and the Resurrection, I encourage you to read the Gospel of Matthew from Gethsemane to the Great Commission. Put yourself in the shoes of the followers of Jesus. And then as we move into Easter morning, rejoice that He is risen! He is not in the tomb. Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

In Christ,

Mat Staver, Chairman
Liberty Counsel Action


P.S. Thank you for your support of Liberty Counsel Action this year. My staff and I wish you a Happy Easter.

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