This morning I pondered the phrase, “Beware the Ides of March.” I remembered that it had to do with Julius Caesar but decided to do a little digging. As it turns out, this phrase was made famous by Shakespeare’s play when a soothsayer warns Caesar to be careful on March 15. The ruler, however, ignores the mystic with tragic consequences, namely his death. This moment in Roman history is also marked as the beginning of the downfall of Rome as three political factions began to rise to replace the vacuum of power that Caesar’s absence left. One other tidbit that caught my attention was that just a few years prior to Caesar’s death, he changed the Roman calendar New Year from March to January, so if we were still operating under the old calendar, we would be celebrating New Year’s right about now!
Ok, so you probably weren’t looking for a history lesson this morning, and to be honest, neither was I. However, as I pondered the plight of Caesar and how this day is typically marked as a, “Doomed Day”, I began to wonder how the life of King Jesus contrasted with that of King Caesar. What’s super fascinating and, oh my gracious a cool confirmation that God’s Word is alive and active and sharper than a double edged sword, is that when I opened my one year Bible this morning (March 12th), I discovered that I am at the tale end of the book of Mark that details the resurrection of Jesus!
I mean, just three days before the Ides of March, and three days before this blog will post in our Friday Forecast, the Lord saw fit to provide a platform to share about the third day! (Namely, the resurrection of our Most High King!) I mean, think about the contrast! On one hand, we have Caesar who was a Roman king that would be assassinated. He was given a warning that it might happen and yet didn’t heed the warning. Even on death’s door, he apparently proclaimed to his soothsayer that he had made it to the Ides of March, to which the seer responded that the day had not yet ended. Then when he died, his kingdom crumbled. How sad...
On the other had, we have an eternal King who willingly disrobed his holy, high and royal garments in order to come down to earth and live as a commoner for the sole purpose of our salvation! He too knew that his death was imminent however unlike Caesar, he didn’t ignore that knowledge, but used every moment He had in order to live a life worth following! And unlike Caesar, His death wasn't the final stop - He rose again on the third day! His death didn’t cause the downfall of an earthly kingdom but ushered in the gift of salvation, creating a way for ALL to enter the eternal kingdom! What?! The death and resurrection of Jesus did not create a vacuum of power but actually WAS the power that conquered death once and for all!
If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I want to share a few compelling things. First, did you know that for 40 days following his death, Jesus appeared 12 different times to groups of people ranging from one to 500! Secondly, his life, death and resurrection actually fulfilled over 300 prophecies spoken about him! Just wow!!! (See fascinating facts below for more!)
Unlike Caesar, Jesus willingly left his royal throne in order to become a blameless blood sacrifice so that we might be able to receive His free gift of salvation! You see, the bottom line is that we are all sinners – Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. God is so holy, so set apart, that He cannot even look upon sin. In the Old Testament of the Bible, the Jewish people sacrificed animals for their sin so they wouldn't have to die. With the death of Jesus, however, there is no more need for these sacrifices. He IS our sacrifice!
God initially created us sinless but then sin entered humanity through choices of Adam and Eve. I mean the Lord could’ve created us like robots who were forced to follow Him, but loves us SO much that He gave us a choice => and the choice is simple - it was to CONFESS that we are sinners, BELIEVE that Jesus was actually the Son of God who lived a sinless life and sacrificed himself as an offering to God on behalf of our sins, representing all sin, past, present and future, and lastly RECEIVE His free gift of salvation by placing our faith in Him! Jesus essentially bridged the gap between us as sinners and our holy and Most High God!
Years ago when a friend shared this Truth with me, I faced a decision. I felt like I was at a crossroads…I could appear
foolish and place my faith in this new-found Truth (Jesus) or I could remain in my logic-based uncertainty that this new-found revelation had unearthed. I made a decision that day to place my faith in God - the Author and Creator of all things - the one God that did not require anything of me - no religious to-do's. I simply had to confess that I was a sinner and accept His free gift of salvation of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and I did just that!
I am pretty certain that most of our community of readers have accepted this gift, but if there is just one of you reading right now that has not, I wanted to make sure you had the knowledge, wisdom and revelation in order to make a decision whether or not to accept the gift. I desire to see each of you on the other side of heaven when the Lord decides to bring me home. Here is a prayer that is similar to what I prayed the day I accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord. =>
As we go through the day this Ides of March, may we remember that we serve a risen King who is victorious even over death and that if we have accepted him as our Savior, that we too can boldly walk this earth fighting FROM a place of victory verses FOR it. It’s already done. 40 days with the King proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the cross was enough!
Just The Cross – Influencers Worship
This song was just released - so amazing! LOVE timestamp 3:30!
Fascinating Fact
A number of years ago, Peter W. Stoner and Robert C. Newman wrote a book titled, Science Speaks. The book was based on the science of probability and vouched for by the American Scientific Affiliation.
It set out the odds of any one man in all of history fulfilling even only eight of the 60 major prophecies of the Messiah (and 270 ramifications) fulfilled by the life of Jesus. The probability that Jesus of Nazareth could have fulfilled even eight such prophecies would be only 1 in 10 to the 17th power! That's 1 in 100, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000.
He gave this analogy to comprehend the significance. The probability of the fulfillment of these 8 prophecies is the same probability of this:
1) Fill the state of Texas with 2 feet of silver dollar coins
2) Drop one gold dollar coin into all of the silver coins
3) Blindfold a man
4) Tell him to reach down one time and pick up the gold coin
5) The chances that he will pick up the one gold coin amidst the cazillions of silver dollar coins covering the state of Texas in that one attempt is the same probability that only 8 prophecies of the Messiah would be fulfilled through the life of Jesus!
