If he ( Satan ) accuses us of being an imposter, is this where we can experience doubt in our faith?

Yes. Satan’s temptation of Jesus gives us insight into how he works. He began two of his temptations with “If you are the Son of God.” Satan’s primary attack is to question our identity. When he does that, and we buy his lies, we will doubt our salvation. 

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” (Revelation 12:10, ESV)

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44, ESV)

Since Satan is not omnipotent, omnipresent nor omniscient- how does he attack our mind? Can he put thoughts in our mind and or just expose the thoughts we have ourselves? (Unwanted thoughts) 

It’s important to remember Satan has a host of demons, who work with the world to partner with our flesh. Satan is the “prince and power of the air.” He is a spirit as are his demons. While they aren’t omni in any characteristic, they are numerous. And they have the world at their behest. So they can put thoughts in our minds through media, through unbelievers, and accentuate our own self doubts.

Notice our condition before Christ. We followed Satan. Most of the world is following him today and Satan works through them.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:1-3, ESV)

Can the devil send a person into your life to hurt you?

Yes, Satan can influence someone to hurt someone else. Those who are under his influence (see Ephesians 2:1-3 above) follow his bidding. He is the “spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” Also Jesus’ words about Satan are important here:  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10, ESV)

Can you speak on Matthew 17:14-20 about the demon the disciples could not cast out? How is this applicable to us today?

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:19-20, ESV)

Jesus’ words here are plain–they didn’t have enough faith. Different challenges require a different measure of faith. For example, it takes more faith to go on a mission trip than it does to go to worship on a Sunday morning. The disciples lacked ample faith to cast out the demon. The same can be the case for us. Lack of faith in God can lead us to unsuccessful interactions with Satan, the world and our sinful nature.

How can we help a believer who thinks or has been taught that they can be possessed that they can only be oppressed? And the difference between them?

Possession implies ownership. When we belong to Jesus we cannot be possessed (owned) by Satan.  We’ll discuss this in detail in July, but the answer is the truth of God’s word. Satan is on a leash (read Job 6:6-12). Satan can only do what God allows him to do. (Again the story of Job).  This can trouble some people…that God will allow Satan to oppress us. However, God never allows anything in our lives that he will not ultimately use to bring glory to himself and ultimate good to us.

Introduction & Section 1

from Azuza Pacific University

Each year Cathleen Shrier, associate professor at Azusa Pacific University presents a special lecture on the science of Christ’s crucifixion. She details the physiological processes a typical crucified victim underwent and teaches her students to see Christ’s death on the cross with new understanding. The exact events in this scenario may not have happened in Jesus’ specific case, but the account is based on historical documentation of crucifixion procedures used during that time period. Please be aware that the following is of a realistic and graphic nature.

It is important to understand from the beginning that Jesus would have been in excellent physical condition. As a carpenter by trade, He participated in physical labor. In addition, He spent much of His ministry traveling on foot across the countryside. His stamina and strength were, most likely, very well developed. With that in mind, it is clear just how much He suffered: If this torture could break a man in such good shape, it must have been a horrific experience.

Matthew 26:36-46, Mark 14:37-42, Luke 22:39-44

After the Passover celebration, Jesus takes His disciples to Gethsemene to pray. During His anxious prayer about the events to come, Jesus sweats drops of blood. There is a rare medical condition called hematohidrosis, during which the capillary blood vessels that feed the sweat glands break down. Blood released from the vessels mixes with the sweat; therefore, the body sweats drops of blood. This condition results from mental anguish or high anxiety, a state Jesus expresses by praying “my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38). Hematohidrosis makes the skin tender, so Jesus’ physical condition worsens slightly.

Matthew 26:67-75, Mark 14:61-72, Luke 22:54-23:25, John 18:16-27

Traveling from Pilate to Herod and back again, Jesus walks approximately two and a half miles. He has not slept, and He has been mocked and beaten (Luke 22:63-65). In addition, His skin remains tender from the hematohidrosis. His physical condition worsens.

Matthew 27:26-32, Mark 15:15-21, Luke 23:25-26, John 19:1-28

Pilate orders Jesus to be flogged as required by Roman law before crucifixion. Traditionally, the accused stood naked, and the flogging covered the area from the shoulders down to the upper legs. The whip consisted of several strips of leather. In the middle of the strips were metal balls that hit the skin, causing deep bruising. In addition, sheep bone was attached to the tips of each strip.

When the bone makes contact with Jesus’ skin, it digs into His muscles, tearing out chunks of flesh and exposing the bone beneath. The flogging leaves the skin on Jesus’ back in long ribbons. By this point, He has lost a great volume of blood which causes His blood pressure to fall and puts Him into shock. The human body attempts to remedy imbalances such as decreased blood volume, so Jesus’ thirst is His body’s natural response to His suffering (John 19:28). If He would have drank water, His blood volume would have increased.

Roman soldiers place a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head and a robe on His back (Matthew 27:28-29). The robe helps the blood clot (similar to putting a piece of tissue on a cut from shaving) to prevent Jesus from sustaining more blood loss. As they hit Jesus in the head (Matthew 27:30), the thorns from the crown push into the skin and He begins bleeding profusely. The thorns also cause damage to the nerve that supplies the face, causing intense pain down His face and neck. As they mock Him, the soldiers also belittle Jesus by spitting on Him (Matthew 27:30). They rip the robe off Jesus’ back and the bleeding starts afresh.

Jesus’ physical condition becomes critical. Due to severe blood loss without replacement, Jesus is undoubtedly in shock. As such, He is unable to carry the cross and Simon of Cyrene executes this task (Matthew 27:32).

Matthew 27:33-56, Mark 15:22-41, Luke 23:27-49, John 19:17-37

Crucifixion was invented by the Persians between 300-400 B.C. It is quite possibly the most painful death ever invented by humankind. The English language derives the word “excruciating” from crucifixion, acknowledging it as a form of slow, painful suffering. Its punishment was reserved for slaves, foreigners, revolutionaries, and the vilest of criminals. Victims were nailed to a cross; however, Jesus’ cross was probably not the Latin cross, but rather a Tau cross (T). The vertical piece (the stipes) remains in the ground permanently. The accused carries only the horizontal piece (the patibulum) up the hill. Atop the patibulum lies a sign (the titulus), indicating that a formal trial occurred for a violation of the law. In Jesus’ case, this reads “This is the King of the Jews.”

The accused needed to be nailed to the patibulum while lying down, so Jesus is thrown to the ground, reopening His wounds, grinding in dirt, and causing bleeding. They nail His “hands” to the patibulum. The Greek meaning of “hands” includes the wrist. It is more likely that the nails went through Jesus’ wrists. If the nails were driven into the hand, the weight of the arms would cause the nail to rip through the soft flesh.

Therefore, the upper body would not be held to the cross. If placed in the wrist, the bones in the lower portion of the hand support the weight of the arms and the body remains nailed to the cross. The huge nail (seven to nine inches long) damages or severs the major nerve to the hand (the median nerve) upon impact. This causes continuous agonizing pain up both of Jesus’ arms.

Once the victim is secured, the guards lift the patibulum and place it on the stipes already in the ground. As it is lifted, Jesus’ full weight pulls down on His nailed wrists and His shoulders and elbows dislocate . In this position, Jesus’ arms stretch to a minimum of six inches longer than their original length.

It is highly likely that Jesus’ feet were nailed through the tops as often pictured. In this position (with the knees flexed at approximately 90 degrees),⁴ the weight of the body pushes down on the nails and the ankles support the weight. The nails would not rip through the soft tissue as would have occurred with the hands. Again, the nail would cause severe nerve damage (it severs the dorsal pedal artery of the foot) and acute pain.

Normally, to breathe in, the diaphragm (the large muscle that separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity) must move down. This enlarges the chest cavity and air automatically moves into the lungs (inhalation). To exhale, the diaphragm rises up, which compresses the air in the lungs and forces the air out (exhalation). As Jesus hangs on the cross, the weight of His body pulls down on the diaphragm and the air moves into His lungs and remains there. Jesus must push up on His nailed feet (causing more pain) to exhale.

In order to speak, air must pass over the vocal cords during exhalation. The Gospels note that Jesus spoke seven times from the cross. It is amazing that despite His pain, He pushes up to say “Forgive them.”

The difficulty surrounding exhalation leads to a slow form of suffocation. Carbon dioxide builds up in the blood, resulting in a high level of carbonic acid in the blood. The body responds instinctively, triggering the desire to breathe. At the same time, the heart beats faster to circulate available oxygen. The decreased oxygen (due to the difficulty in exhaling) causes damage to the tissues and the capillaries begin leaking watery fluid from the blood into the tissues. This results in a build-up of fluid around the heart (pericardial effusion) and lungs (pleural effusion). The collapsing lungs, failing heart, dehydration, and the inability to get sufficient oxygen to the tissues essentially suffocate the victim. The decreased oxygen also damages the heart itself (myocardial infarction) which leads to cardiac arrest. In severe cases of cardiac stress, the heart can even burst, a process known as cardiac rupture. Jesus most likely died of a heart attack.

After Jesus’ death, the soldiers break the legs of the two criminals crucified alongside Him, causing suffocation. Death would then occur quicker. When they came to Jesus, He was already dead so they did not break His legs. Instead, the soldiers pierced His side to assure that He was dead. In doing this, it is reported that “blood and water came out” (John 19:34), referring to the watery fluid surrounding the heart and lungs.

While these unpleasant facts depict a brutal murder, the depth of Christ’s pain emphasizes the true extent of God’s love for His creation. Teaching the physiology of Christ’s crucifixion is a constant reminder of the magnificent demonstration of God’s love for humanity that was expressed that day in Calvary. This lesson enables me to participate in communion, the remembrance of His sacrifice, with a grateful heart. I am struck every time with the stunning realization that as a flesh and blood human, Jesus felt every ounce of this execution. What greater love than this can a man have for his friends?

from https://www.apu.edu/articles/the-science-of-the-crucifixion/#:~:text=As%20Jesus%20hangs%20on%20the,the%20vocal%20cords%20during%20exhalation.

by Adrian Early

Breathing. We typically think nothing of it and take it for granted. That is until we have a hard time with it, or until someone we love is on their last breath. When this happens we are saddened and grieved–because the last breath means death. The last breath brings life to an end. However, when we hear the last words of Jesus before He breathed His last, there is a different emotion that should come over us. His last words were…

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

Leading up to these words was a battle for the souls of humanity. From the garden of Gethsemane to the cross, Jesus had been feeling the separation from His eternal Father. This separation caused by the sin of humanity, punishable by death, was placed squarely on the shoulders of the perfect Son of God.

While hanging on the cross Jesus writhed in pain because of our sin. While hanging on the cross Jesus felt the consequences of sin for the billions who have walked this earth–and have yet to walk this earth. Yet His last phrase brought life and hope.

On the cross Jesus took His last breath, so that we could breathe our first. 

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sinsin which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:1-30

The spiritually dead cannot be raised to live unless someone who is able can raise them.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…” (Ephesians 2:4-5)

Because Jesus committed His spirit to His Father in death anyone who  commits their life to following Him will have the Spirit of life breathed into them. 

One word in the Greek. Translated into three words in English. It came at the end of oppressive physical darkness, brought on by the Father. For three hours sin loomed large. Satan surely thought he had won. The evil work he started in the Garden of Eden was brought to a climax on the side of a street outside the city gate.

When God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden, God didn’t hole himself in the Garden. A thousand times no! Jesus left the comfort of heaven for the discomfort of earth and died outside the city gate so that we could enter the city gate. Through his death on the cross, he opened a way into the new Jerusalem, a city that will one day come down out of heaven, with twelve gates that never close! Heaven on earth.

How did Jesus accomplish such a remarkable feat? What was finished?

John Stott gives great insight about this:

Being in the perfect tense, it means “it has been and will for ever remain finished.” We note the achievement Jesus claimed just before he died. It is not men who finished their brutal deed; it is he who has accomplished what he came into the world to do. He has borne the sins of the world. Deliberately, freely and in perfect love he has endured the judgment in our place. He has procured salvation for us, established a new covenant between God and humankind, and made available the chief covenant blessing, the forgiveness of sins. At once the curtain of the temple, which for centuries had symbolized the alienation of sinners from God, was torn in two from top to bottom, in order to demonstrate that the sin barrier had been thrown down by God and the way into his presence opened.

John Stott, The Cross of Christ

The work of man does not last. It is temporary. The work of Jesus Christ lasts forever. Our punishment delivered to a sinless king. Thank you Jesus.

When thinking through Jesus’ desperate cry from the cross, I went searching to see what would have contributed to his extreme thirst. I found the following. I do plan to include the entire article in Good Friday’s post. (https://www.apu.edu/articles/the-science-of-the-crucifixion/) What Jesus endured is beyond description.

Each year, Cathleen Shrier, Ph.D., associate professor at Azusa Pacific University, presents a special lecture on the science of Christ’s crucifixion. She details the physiological processes a typical crucified victim underwent and teaches her students to see Christ’s death on the cross with new understanding. The exact events in this scenario may not have happened in Jesus’ specific case, but the account is based on historical documentation of crucifixion procedures used during that time period. Please be aware that the following is of a realistic and graphic nature.

It is important to understand from the beginning that Jesus would have been in excellent physical condition. As a carpenter by trade, He participated in physical labor. In addition, He spent much of His ministry traveling on foot across the countryside. His stamina and strength were, most likely, very well developed. With that in mind, it is clear just how much He suffered: If this torture could break a man in such good shape, it must have been a horrific experience.

After the Passover celebration, Jesus takes His disciples to Gethsemene to pray. During His anxious prayer about the events to come, Jesus sweats drops of blood. There is a rare medical condition called hematohidrosis, during which the capillary blood vessels that feed the sweat glands break down. Blood released from the vessels mixes with the sweat; therefore, the body sweats drops of blood. This condition results from mental anguish or high anxiety, a state Jesus expresses by praying “my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death”. Hematohidrosis makes the skin tender, so Jesus’ physical condition worsens slightly.

Traveling from Pilate to Herod and back again, Jesus walks approximately two and a half miles. He has not slept, and He has been mocked and beaten. In addition, His skin remains tender from the hematohidrosis. His physical condition worsens.

Pilate orders Jesus to be flogged as required by Roman law before crucifixion Traditionally, the accused stood naked, and the flogging covered the area from the shoulders down to the upper legs. The whip consisted of several strips of leather. In the middle of the strips were metal balls that hit the skin, causing deep bruising. In addition, sheep bone was attached to the tips of each strip.

When the bone makes contact with Jesus’ skin, it digs into His muscles, tearing out chunks of flesh and exposing the bone beneath. The flogging leaves the skin on Jesus’ back in long ribbons. By this point, He has lost a great volume of blood which causes His blood pressure to fall and puts Him into shock. The human body attempts to remedy imbalances such as decreased blood volume, so Jesus’ thirst is His body’s natural response to His suffering. If He would have drank water, His blood volume would have increased.

These are harrowing words, cried out in anguish from a son to his Father. Never had he known anything but love from his Father. He had never experienced anything but sweet harmony. Now, with the sky darkened at midday, Jesus cried out in anguish. He felt completely abandoned by the Father, the one he loved and the one who love him. Why? Isaiah answers that question.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

isaiah 53:4-6

On the cross, he was smitten by God so that we might live, forsaken by God that we might be accepted, suspended in utter darkness that we might live in radiant light. His wounds led to our healing. Our sins were this costly.

Tim Keller writes:

Christianity is the only religious faith that says that God himself actually suffered, actually cried out in suffering. Now what good is that? To Jesus’s followers assembled around the cross, it certainly seemed senseless: that there was no good in it at all. But in fact, they came to realize that Jesus’s suffering was of immense good to them, as can we. Why? Because they would eventually see that they had been looking right at the greatest act of God’s love, power, and justice in history. God came into the world and suffered and died on the cross in order to save us. It is the ultimate proof of his love for us.

The King’s cross, Tim Keller

The cross was the great exchange: our sin for God’s righteousness, Jesus’ rejection for our acceptance, Jesus’ disgrace for our grace, Jesus’ suffering for our healing.

Take a few moments today to thank Him. Let your heart overflow in love to one whose heart was pierced in love for you.

from Kevin Halloran (openthebible.org)

Lord, help me worship you with an undistracted heart.

Heavenly Father, this morning—and all of history—is about you. Please help me worship you with an undistracted heart. You know how my mind wanders to my upcoming week, present worries, and thoughts of others and other things. Help me put those thoughts away and focus on you and your glory. Would your Spirit cause my heart, soul, mind, and strength to exalt your Holy Name in my singing, listening to Your Word, and interacting with your people.