He still died for us

During the last supper Jesus manifested many divine truths to his disciples. There is one in special that I really like. John 13:19 reads, “Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.” Christ knows all things. He knew that many of his disciples would deny him, yet He still died for them. He knows that I make mistakes, and I will make many more, yet He still loves me. One of the amazing characteristics of Christ’s love is that it will never end. He will never say something like, “sorry Pedro, I didn’t know you were going to do that, I am not sure anymore if I love you.” His love is perfect. It must have been a great comfort to his apostles, as it is to me, that regardless of all our follies, He still died for us, and loved us.

Jesus the Christ vs. Jesus Barabbas

Matthew 27:16 read, “And then had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas.” Barabbas was in prison for organizing riots against the Roman Empire. The writer of Matthew 27 draws a very interesting parallel between Christ and Barabbas. First, both had the very same name, one was Jesus of Nazareth, the other Jesus Barabbas. Both offered freedom to their people. Barabbas was a leader of an anti-roman group, and wanted to obtain political freedom through violence, whereas Christ offered freedom to the burdened soul. One last thing that we learned in class and that impacted me very much was the fact that we, as Barabbas, go free because Christ decides to stay and die for us. I am grateful for the sacrifice of our Savior, for His love, and for His compassion.

Not what we are looking for

As the arresting party came to seize Jesus, He came out to meet them and asked, “Whom seek ye?” They replied, Jesus of Nazareth. Then Jesus said unto them, “I am he.” As soon as they heard this, they went backward and felt to the ground. Perhaps He wasn’t what they were looking for. Perhaps they were looking for some sort of common thief who would try to escape as soon as he would see his end was near, but what they found was something completely different. As they met the Son of God, the only thing they could do was to fall to the ground in awe. This makes me think of life. Many times things are not what we are looking for. However, the things that bring the most joy in my life are those priceless treasures that come disguised in very simple things =)

At the Judgment Seat

I think every one has seen in movies or in paintings the sad scenes of Christ’s trial before Pilate and the angry mob. A particular painting comes to mind, I think I saw it in the front cover of and Ensign, of Pilate sitting on his throne, on one side Jesus, on the other Barabbas. I learned in class that things maybe didn’t happen quite like that. John 19:13 reads, “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement…” Who sat down in the judgment seat, Christ or Pilate? Even during his own mortal trial, Christ was the judge. As He sat on Pilate’ throne, He gave the people the chance to choose who would be their king. This new view completely changed my perspective of His trial.

The Best Gift

I have always been amazed by the account of the birth of our Savior. The King of kings, the creator of worlds without numbers, the Son of God, was born among the most humble circumstances Earth had to offer. The story of the birth of Christ makes me think of the humble of the Earth, those who struggle to obtain enough to go from day to day. It also makes me think of those who feel lonely, especially during this time of the year. Those who would benefit from a little of our help. Ok, I’m not gonna give the let’s solve global poverty kind of speech, but I think there are a few small things that we can start doing right now. Last night, I read in the Friends magazine the story of a family who decided that instead of worrying about getting gifts for themselves, they decided to secretly leave gifts in the porch of two families for the twelve nights prior to Christmas. Perhaps these gifts were not super fancy, but I’m sure that they made someone else’s Christmas a little better. So after reading that story I decided to star my own Christmas tradition of making somebody else’s Christmas a little better. Starting from this one.