WOULDA's, COULDA's, SHOULDA's

"Today's Devotion" For April 7, 2007

Read: Luke 23:50-56; Revelation 5:1-14

WOULDA's, COULDA's, SHOULDA's

"You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain, and with Your blood You purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation." (Revelation.5:9)

Have you ever second-guessed yourself? I suppose most of us could say we'd like to have the opportunity to do something over again. Maybe we could have done it better; maybe we could have prevented a problem from occurring. How often don't we live with recriminations, either from ourselves or others as our actions and the actions of others come under the scrutiny of hindsight? It's a scenario that plays out in our lives all the time. We see it in our communities as we face the issues of suffering, poverty, crime, and the other maladies of society. We experience it as news media and others question the judgment and actions of those chosen to lead communities, states, and the nation. How often don't we hear the "woulda's, coulda's, and shoulda's" from the critics. No doubt it's easier for us to see what might have been after the fact, than it is for us to make the correct decisions all the time.

I suspect that this was true of Jesus' disciples on the first Holy Saturday. About that first Sabbath following Jesus' crucifixion we don't hear anything in Scripture. After the drama of Holy Week - Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, His driving out of the merchants and sellers from the Temple, His celebration of the Passover and institution of the Lord's Supper, His arrest in Gethsemane, His trial before the Sanhedrin, being questioned by Pilate, sent to Herod, returned to Pilate and subsequently handed over to His accusers to be, crucified on Golgatha, and then buried in a new tomb - that Saturday (Sabbath) was quiet and tame. Perhaps, on that particular Sabbath Jesus' disciples were filled "woulda's, coulda's and shoulda's" as they wondered what they might have done differently to prevent Jesus' Crucifixion. If only they had foreseen that the hatred of the members of the Sanhedrin would result in Jesus' arrest, false accusations, mock trial, and death sentence. Perhaps Peter, filled with bitterness and remorse following his denial of Jesus, found himself second-guessing himself and his failed courage. And, what recriminations might there have been over Judas' betrayal of Jesus and Judas' subsequent suicide? It seems reasonable that Jesus' followers were in turmoil and confused.

Some 50 years later, in a time of intense persecution, John receives a marvelous vision from God which he delivered to the Church in the Book of Revelation. Jesus gives John this vision in the Book of Revelation so that God's people might be comforted as they faced increasingly deadly persecution for their faith and their refusal to worship the Emperor Domitian. Jesus shows John that God is fully in charge of His creation and Jesus' suffering and death serves God's ultimate purpose of saving His people and the world from Sin. John uses a powerful picture of God sitting on His throne to assure the readers that God is in total control - no matter what is happening, He's not pacing the floor or worried about anything - after all, He is God. No matter how active evil is in the earth and the mass confusion it brings with it, spiritually and physically, God has triumphed over Sin and the devil; Christ has won the ultimate, final victory and the angels cry out in praise and adoration of the "Lamb who was slain" and who lives again and forever.

How blessed we are, that in the midst of all the confusion and danger in the world we can have the hindsight that God has done great things for us and has saved us for Himself! How blessed we are that we have the "present sight" that we receive God's love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness by faith in Jesus every day! How blessed we are that by faith, we have the foresight to know and believe that nothing can ever separate us from God's love for us in Jesus Christ which will have it full and complete reality in heaven! It's true that we often second-guess ourselves with the "woulda's, shoulda's, and coulda's" that plague our sinful condition. Yet, because Jesus has died for our sins, we know that God has wiped the slate clean and remembers our sins no more. Our Lord Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the Cross in our place means that we are no longer enslaved by the "woulda's, coulda's, and shoulda's" of our sinful nature, but are now free to know God and have a relationship with Him, both now and forever in heaven. This "Holy Saturday" is a really good day for us to look back at God's work on our behalf and to look forward to the ultimate end of that work as we dwell with Him forever in Paradise.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, You accomplished Your saving Will in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Your Son, my Savior and Lord, Jesus the Christ. Help me to look back at my life to see clearly You hand at work in making me Your own child. Help me to look forward with confidence and complete trust that You are always with me in Christ and that my promised inheritance of heaven is sure and certain in Him. You have forgiven me of all my sins. Let that forgiveness be so powerful in my life that I may live fully and completely Your own, a witness to Your great and merciful love, and a testimony to Your amazing grace. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright © 2007 by Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.