Listen to this newly converted lady’s story:

While I was Muslim, I was taught that Jesus crying out on the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me!”, was proof that he couldn't be God.

Because if He is divine, then why can't He save Himself?

But once I actually studied Scripture, my mind was blown because that line people use against Jesus is actually one of the strongest proofs that He is God!

When Jesus says, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”, He's actually quoting the opening line of Psalm 22.

Back then, psalms weren't numbered. So, 1st Century Jews didn't say, Psalm 22!

They referenced them by their first line!

So, by quoting the first line, Jesus was basically saying, “Go, read the whole thing!”

This is the overwhelming scholarly consensus among Christian and non-Christian scholars.

With this in mind, now, look at what that Psalm says! See https://www.bible.com/bible/59/PSA.22.ESV

We see:

It describes… hands and feet being pierced

… bones literally exposed

… intense thirst

… garments divided

… lots cast for clothing

… and mockers shaking their heads, saying: “He trusts in the Lord! Let God rescue Him!”

It literally describes what is happening to Jesus at that very moment while He was on the cross!

And the wild thing here is: The crucifixion didn't even exist yet when David wrote this!

It shows up centuries later under the Romans! Yet, the imagery matches the cross almost unnervingly!

Well, he's basically saying: This, right now, this is that prophecy happening!

And in John 10:18, He says: “No one takes my life from Me! I lay it down of My own accord!”

So, He chose to give his life for us!

He didn't want to save Himself!

That was the whole plan from the very first book of the Torah, from Genesis, from the story of Adam and Eve.

Because in Genesis 3:15, God says to the serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between her seed, and yours!  He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel!”

Notice how it says, the woman's “seed”, when usually it says the “man's seed” when referring to offspring!

That's because it's talking about Jesus!

And Jesus had no earthly father! He was born to a virgin, Mary!

He crushed the head of the serpent when He paid the debt of all our sins on the cross and then rose again on the third day!

And the serpent “striking his heel”, was His suffering during the brutal course of the crucifixion!

And Jesus even says, “Everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms, must be fulfilled!” (Luke 24:44)

So, He had to die on the cross, because it was written in Genesis 3, and Psalm 22, and in over 300 other places in the Old Testament!

He repeatedly predicted His death!

He stopped Peter from fighting and said, “Legions of angels” were available if He wanted out!

 And Psalm 22 doesn't end in despair!

It ends in victory and worldwide worship!

Which He fulfilled when He rose again on the third day!

And the good news spread across all nations!

The amount of evidence for Jesus being God is absolutely insane!

 He loves you and wants you to know the truth about Him!

This is most probably one of the best illustrations of what the essence of the Gospel Message is.

You can find all 4 Gospels telling you about what happened on that Wednesday, the 9^{th of} April 30 A.D., when Jesus the Christ, God the Son, was crucified for you and me.

Please go and read it yourself!

Matt. 27, Mrk. 15, Luk. 23, Joh. 19.

Here is an illustration of what happened here.

Once upon a time in a far-off country, there was an ancient king who was known to be simultaneously the most loving and just king who had ever existed.

Eventually, it was discovered that somebody was stealing from the King's treasury.

So, the king issued a decree that said that when it was discovered who was stealing from his treasury, a sentence of 10 lashes in front of the entire Kingdom would be visited upon them as the penalty for their disobedience.

The theft continued, and eventually the king issued a final decree: 40 lashes would be visited upon the person who was stealing from the King's treasury.

But 40 lashes was in reality a death sentence! So, this king issued a death sentence on the perpetrator.

As weeks went by, it was eventually discovered that none other than the daughter of the king was the one who was stealing from his treasury.

When that was discovered, a question began to ripple through the Kingdom: How could the most loving king who has ever existed kill his own daughter?

Some people thought that he would pardon such a person, but then, how would he just!

Some people thought that he would punish her, but then, how could he be loving then as well?

Eventually, the king examined it and said: Hey, the law is clear! Sin has taken place, and justice must fall! The sentence must be passed!

So, the King's own daughter was brought in front of the entire Kingdom. She was then laid over an executioner's table and was tied to the table. The executioner then ripped open the back of her shirt and stepped back to execute the punishment.

But then, just as the executioner lifted his whip to issue the first lash, the king stood up from his throne and yelled: Stop!

Everyone watched in dismay.

Silently, the king walked forward, bent over his daughter, wrapped his body around his daughter on the stump, ripped the shirt off his own back, and looked back at the executioner while saying: Now, hit her!

The executioner objected: No, I can't hit her without hitting you!

Now, hit her! the king said.

And so, 40 lashes fell upon the back of the king as he stood over the back of his daughter! And the king died, and the girl went free!

The core of the well-known message of the Gospel about Jesus’ crucifixion is that this is exactly what He has done for you!

Because God is just, punishment for sin had to be paid!

But because God is love, He chose to make that payment Himself!

And here's the good news!

What you must understand is that when Jesus hung on that bloody cross, and He pushed up on the nail-pierced hands, choking to death on His own blood, His final words through His choking breath were the words: Tetelestai! It is finished!

He did not cry out: I am finished. His words were: It is finished!

So, now, if He's not finished, you're not finished!

In the presence of God, we hear: “Peace be with you!” (“Sh-a-l-o-m-e-g-a”, in Hebrew).

Everything we told each other last time about what “jubilee” means is found in the Biblical concept of “peace,” or “shalom” in Hebrew.

Let me take you back to that day, three days after the crucifixion of Jesus, April 30 A.D. (according to our best calculations).

We read this in all four Gospels, as in Matthew 27:45 ff.; Mark 15: 21 ff.; Luke 23:26 ff.; and then also in John 19:17 ff.

Just a little background: The disciples heard from several people that Sunday, can you believe it, Jesus rose from the dead, and He is alive!

Then John tells us the following further there in chapter 20:19 ff., under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:

“That Sunday evening, the disciples were together. Although the doors were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, “Peace be with you!”

After he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

“Peace be with you!” he said to them again. “As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”

After he had said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of men, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Have you heard? The Risen Jesus says to each of us who believes in Him: “Peace be with you!”

“Eirene humin”, in Greek.

The Hebrew word that we have translated as “peace” in Afrikaans is the well-known word “SHALOM”.

You will immediately understand that “eirene” in Greek and “shalom” in Hebrew, in this context, entail much more than what we try to translate as “peace” in Afrikaans. Let me try to briefly summarize what “eirene” and “shalom” entail for me and you in Jesus.

I want you to understand that what I am talking about is not just a head thing. You and I must, as it were, together with the disciples of old, that Sunday evening after His resurrection from the dead, hear how Jesus says to us: Peace to you!

Experience where you find yourself how the Risen Jesus, the King of all kings, even stands before you and says this to you!

Just remember for a moment everything that He has also done for you because He loves you so much!

Taste and experience it in your whole being, in your spirit, soul, and physical-chemical body! Taste all the dimensions of this “peace” with which He wants to serve you anew!

Hear how God the Spirit says to you: “Because you believe that Jesus also died for you on the cross, and bore the full punishment for and on your behalf…

• Is there now “peace” between you and God! Experience how God’s arms of love wrap around you, and He presses you tightly to His heart.

• All your debts have been paid. Your sins have been forgiven, washed clean, removed, and taken away from God’s memory and presence, as far as the East is from the West!

• Your relationship with God has been completely restored. There is nothing between you that needs to cause distance, alienation, guilt, shame, or a feeling of condemnation.

• You are reconciled to God in Jesus! Nothing can separate you from the love of God. Choose to believe it fully again! Come to rest in that knowledge!

• You are God’s child.

• God's Spirit himself lives in you, in your body, to remind you every day that God is your Heavenly Father. He also reminds you of everything that Jesus came to teach us and promised. He also reminds you that you are now in Christ Jesus, heir of all the gifts of grace, privileges, and benefits that Jesus has worked for and on your behalf through His life, His words, His death, and His resurrection.

• In Jesus, because you have accepted Him and believed in Him, you have received 100% share in the Life and that in Abundance that He also came to work for you. Allow Him to flood you with this life in abundance, until it is as tangible a reality for you as you can feel the clothes on your body!

• In Jesus, through the working of God's Spirit in you, you are also part of a new creation that God is busy with here on earth. After all, this is what 2 Cor. 5:17 also says.

• God's grace is therefore sufficient for you every day! Because in Jesus, you have gained access to all of God's grace, which is always, in everything, not only enough for you and your loved ones, but more than enough!

Just go read again what I told you about “jubilee” last time.

Last time we reminded each other that the Lord tells us in His Word that “jubilee”, God’s year of grace, can happen in Jesus in the life of every believing follower!

Today, I want to look you in the eye and tell you: Allow Him to minister this to other believers around you through you now!

What a privilege to serve King Jesus to forgive others, acquit, set free, heal, or be used by the Lord to provide in their lives, restore and bring balance, and unlock prison doors!

Do you remember how Peter, after betraying Jesus three times, went back to being a fisherman because he was unsure whether restoration would ever be possible for him again? He felt he had disqualified himself for ministry! His self-confidence was gone!

Then Jesus steps into his life after His resurrection from the dead and forgives and restores him! Yes, Jesus even promoted him to be the leader of the Twelve other disciples!

Everything, everything, everything, by grace!

This is what “Jubilee” is!

It is all by pure grace and not the result of anything we can do. It is all only God, only Jesus, and based on His grace to us!

Perhaps you feel like Peter for one reason or another! Then hear the prophetic word of the Lord today and about your life and ministry: Jesus wants to be your “Jubilee” today! He stands before you today and offers you all these gifts by grace: Forgiveness, justification, restoration in every sense of the word, and yes, even a new ministry with accompanying anointing for the new season that lies ahead of you!

May I also remind you at this point that God’s grace, His forgiveness, His restoration in your life, does not only mean that God has forgiven you and opened heaven’s doors to you again! No, this grace also means that the Lord wants to give total restoration where sin, the enemy, and this broken world and worldly systems have robbed and belittled you!

The message that Jesus is our “Jubilee” is therefore a message to every believing follower of Jesus who currently feels burned out, without hope, and without a vision for the future.

If you still don’t believe me about this, go read Leviticus 25, Isaiah 61, and John 21 again, and hear what God’s Spirit himself says to you!

Just choose today to believe it again and ask Him to use you to minister it to others, too!