Just Three Words

 

 

There are several statements

Which comprise three words

Significant words indeed:

Most of them you have heard.

 

“I love you” is one of them

And “Keep it up” is another,

Don’t you dare” and “You’d better not”,

These are two of the others.

 

“Hurry up child”

Sounds pretty much like a parent

And “Excuse me please”

That’s one’s way of getting clearance.

 

“Give God praise” and why not?

“Who is he?” as in I want to know,

“Are you saved?” a critical question

And yet another is “Do not go”.

 

In chapter 1 of Genesis we have

“Let There Be”,

The three words

Upon which hang all the galaxies.

 

Can you imagine that?

Let there be light

And throughout the entire universe

Light came into sight.

 

Let there be this

And let there be that,

God simply called it into being

And it became a fact.

 

I have a little problem, though

With these millions of years

When the Bible simply says

In just six days all appeared.

 

On day No. 7 God rested

For in six days all was set,

Let there be occurred three times

And there after, it was simply “let”.

 

Thirteen times in Genesis 1

God uses the word “let”

Three times He said, “Let there be”

And the other ten he said “let”.

 

Upon God’s “let”, the universe was made:

The galaxies and all within,

It took more than words however,

When God dealt with our sin.

 

 

It took the blood of Jesus

God’s precious begotten Son:

An infinite cost to the blessed Trinity

When He purchased our freedom.

 

“Let there be” was not used

When God had fashioned Adam,

And certainly not with Jesus Christ:

He was fully God yet man.

 

“Let there be” has its place,

It demonstrates God’s creative power,

Upon these words creation stands

Created in six twenty-four hours.

 

But there are three more words

Upon which hangs our re-creation

“Father forgive them,” Jesus cried,

And therein lies our salvation.

 

“It is finished,” he also cried

Signifying his work was complete

And all that is left for us to do

Is to kneel at the Saviour’s feet.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2018

 

Father Forgive Them

 

 

“Father, forgive them

For they know not what they do.”

These words were spoken by Jesus

And the ‘them’ were the Jews.

 

He had come to his own

And his own had not received him,

Blinded by their self-righteousness

To them Jesus was the sin.

 

In co with Beelzebub

Was how they saw his works

And throughout his earthly ministry

They treated him like dirt.

 

Herod attempted to kill him

Two years after his birth

And the Jews wanted to stone him,

The Lord of all the earth.

 

They plotted against him

Morning, noon and night

And would not rest, they had decided,

Until he was out of their sight.

 

And when they ran out of ideas

They turned to one of his own,

Judas Iscariot, you would recall

Was right in their zone.

 

A fence-straddler, I’d call him,

Committed only to himself

And scheming so that one day soon

He’d come into wealth.

 

 

You’d recall he carried the bag

And with it he was obsessed

And once, when Jesus was anointed,

He was not impressed.

 

 

He suddenly felt for the poor

And pretended that he cared

But Jesus rebuked him indicating

The poor is always here.

 

Well, for thirty pieces of silver

Jesus Christ was betrayed

But as far as the proceedings went

It did not go all Judas’ way.

 

Jesus was captured

But he did not try to escape

So that Judas’ plan went horribly wrong

After he had taken the bait.

 

We know how that concluded

Regarding the infamous Judas

Who ended up in the potter’s field

On account of his lust.

 

A miscarriage of justice followed

Encouraged by the Jews,

Their leaders wanted Christ crucified,

To them he was bad news.

 

They eventually got their wish

Much against Pilate’s reasoned mind,

Both Pilate and his wife felt

Jesus was not that kind.

 

She said he was innocent

And he said in him was no fault

But in those exacting circumstances

The crucifixion he could not halt.

 

 

He made one final offer:

A criminal named Barabbas

But the people called for the criminal

And crucified Jesus.

 

Crucify him, crucify him, they said,

His blood be on us and our children,

We have no king but Caesar,

To them Jesus was the problem.

 

Like the harlot, Jerusalem was,

She rode on the beast called Rome

Ignorant of the fact that very soon

Jerusalem would not be home.

 

Jesus was aware of her demise

Which he prophesied in Matthew 24,

John in the Revelation confirmed it!

It was even at the door.

 

 

Hence, “Father forgive them,

For they know not what they do.”

For while it was on a Roman cross,

The real culprits were the Jews.

 

Their house was left desolate,

Their blood flowed in the streets,

The temple and Jerusalem were laid waste

And for them the times were bleak.

 

The tribulation was Jacob’s trials

Rachel had wept for her children,

As Jesus had meticulously prophesied

It all happened in Jerusalem.

 

First the Jews were ignorant

Because they knew not redemption’s plan,

Secondly, they were ignorant

Because they knew not the God-man.

 

Thirdly they were ignorant

Because they knew not the future,

The future that was about to unfold

Presenting a horrid picture.

 

 

“Father forgive them

For they know what they do.”

Thus, Jesus ever intercedes in heaven

For his children: me and you.

 

Stewart Russell © April 6, 2023