Jesus’ ministry was inclusive

 I have been studying the miracles of Jesus. I discovered something amazing that I have never caught before. In Jesus’ culture, the Jews were very exclusive. They thought that they were the only ones blessed by God, and everyone else was unclean. Well, Jesus performed at least 30 miracles that were recorded for us in scripture, and many more that weren’t. I was surprised to discover that many of these miracles were performed to bless “outsiders” or those that the culture of the day considered unclean and untouchable. 

We think that the gospel was sent to the gentiles by the apostle Paul, after Jesus returned to heaven. But clearly we see by Jesus’ own actions that the kingdom was available to everyone without prejudice all along. 

Psalm 22

 I had a new thought a couple of years ago that blew my mind. 

When Jesus was dying on the cross, he cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”  On first reading, this shows is Jesus feeling the separation from God that had to happen for Jesus to die for us. This is deep. But it goes deeper. 

Psalm 22 starts with this same cry. It then goes on to describe the scene of Jesus on the cross. So many details: his dry mouth, his bones not broken, casting lots for his clothing. 

I think Jesus, on the cross, is taking one last opportunity to show the onlookers, and us 2000 years later, what he was doing. Verse 31 ends this psalm: “They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, for he has done it.”

It is finished