The Arms of Jesus

I emailed this to someone today and thought I would share it on here...

Woke up this morning thinking about the arms of Jesus and some things in the Bible which might not necessarily mention Christ's arms, but the imagery is there.

Deuteronomy 33:27a
The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms

When you hold a baby, the safest place to hold them is underneath them - you wouldn't grab a baby by the head or grasp their ankles and dangle them upside down, no, the hands go underneath, to offer security and protection. God's arms are always underneath His people offering protection and security. We cannot fall and we are given the assurance that He will never leave us nor forsake us - in other words, He will never let us go.

Song of Solomon 6:2

My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.

Isaiah 40:11b
he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom

When I'm in work I sometimes have to put lilies through the till and they are rather large flowers. The other week after reading SoS 6:2 I imagined Christ gathering us (His people) in His arms. Lilies are not like roses with big thorns so that Christ holds us gingerly, they are not weeds which Christ would pull at roughly, no lilies are delicate flowers, to be handled with care and gentleness and so Jesus gathers us in His arms, holding us close to His bosom (that's the best way to carry lilies, rather than by the bottom of their stems - in the crook of your arms, close to your heart). What a beautiful picture of Christ holding His people - holding YOU!

The other verse (is probably a bit more famous); - Christ called Himself the Good Shepherd and that He is! A lamb is such a small creature, helpless and needs protecting. The bosom is the place close to the heart - Christ carries His people close to His heart. Even the wayward lambs, the hyper-active lambs (that's me!), the shy lambs, the injured and hurting lambs - each one of us is carried close to Christ's heart. Can you imagine Him giving you a massive hug as you hurt, as you are stressed as you are poorly - feels those arms drawing you closer and closer to His heart.

Matthew 11:28
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

I have always imagined Christ with a gentle tone in His voice (obviously we don't know what He looks like or sounds like, but I'm talking about in my soul), His arms outstretched beckoning so gently, for us to come into His arms. The 'Come' isn't one of an angry parent telling a child off, it's someone calling in a meek and gentle way those of us who are weak, heavy laden, hurting, ill, suffering etc. Again when we go to Christ we rest close to His heart - as He calls 'Come!' His arms are open wide but when we do come to Him, He closes them around us and holds us with an everlasting grasp which cannot be opened again - Nothing shall seperate us from the love of God in Christ - Nothing shall open His arms so that we fall from His grasp!

John 19:18
Where they crucified him

Years ago (in the late 80s) someone gave me a card which said something like - I asked Jesus how much He loved me and He opened His arms and died (I can't remember it exactly). Those arms which hold us close, also hold the wounds of His love. For every chosen person, Jesus was willing to have His hands/arms nailed to that cursed cross. Those arms which hold us close, were once outstretched so that He could hold a chosen people in them again, knowing that His death availed for every single one of them. In Hebrews 12:2 it says:

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Why did He count it a joy? Because He knew that He was saving a people, He knew that once His work was complete, He could have His everlasting arms underneath His people, He could hold them in His arms, close to His bosom and He could love them, guide them, minister to them (through the Holy Spirit). He did it because of love - it has often been said - love held Him there, not the nails - that is so true. He endured mocking, scourging, being spat upon, having nails driven through His nerves, flesh, muscle, tendons - the pain, searing pain so that we could never endure the pain of hell, He even had His Father turn His back on Him - many people find this difficult to comprehend - how could God turn His back on God? Well He could because Jesus HAD to be our 100% complete Substitute - if God hadn't turned His back on Christ then we would be lost into a Christless eternity, because in our Christless, sinful state - God would turn His back on us. The depth of the love, pain and suffering to win a people for Himself is beyond our comprehension, but He has risen victorious - Christ is (to put it in the words of William Williams [Pantycelyn] ) Death of death (He has destroyed [eternal] death, it no longer lives in His people) and Hell's Destruction - for His people Hell is destroyed - we will never taste the foulness of it, we will never be cast into a Christless eternity because of those arms, spread out on the cross.

Acts 7:56

And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

Stephen saw the Lord Jesus at the right hand of God (this is a bit of license now, but I wonder if Jesus had His arms wide open, ready to receive Stephen into His presence - the Bible doesn't say, but I like to think of it that way. And notice that Jesus is standing to welcome Stephen into eternal rest - elsewhere in Scripture it says that Jesus is seated at God's right hand, but He longs to welcome His weary traveller home to His side - what a wonderful picture)!

The Cup, Nails, Darkness, Skull, Sitting and Watching

The Cup 
“O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 26:39
Jesus drank the bitter cup to the last dregs and sometimes as partakers in the sufferings of Christ we too must go through bitter times we too must drink from the cup! Not just sip, but drink even the dregs.

The Nails
Then they crucified Him Matthew 27:35
By the hands of wicked men Christ was crucified! They hammered the nails into His hands - sometimes the Lord brings people into our lives who are like the nails - painful, they grieve us but we are partakers of His sufferings! As Christ suffered so do I!

The Darkness
Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land Matthew 27:45
Christ was taken to a very dark place at Calvary - separation from His Father, but He waited! He could have easily come down from the cross, but He stayed in that dark place, waiting. When God takes us to dark places He allows that darkness, then we must sit and wait upon Him not try to free ourselves and jump this way and that. Our comfort must come from God alone, not from the world or our emotions.

The Skull
And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, Matthew 27:33
The skull is an empty place - no sight, no hearing, no thought, nothing at all - emptiness. We can go to the place of the skull - sometimes we have little understanding of God's purposes - we cannot see His ways, we cannot hear Him speak, but we wait! This is part of partaking in the sufferings of Christ.

Sitting and Watching Jesus
And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads Matthew 27:39
Sitting down, they [the soldiers] kept watch over Him there Matthew 27:36
At Calvary some passed by, blasphemed Him and wagged their heads - they weren't interested in sitting and watching Jesus, they wanted to mock Him (v39) but in verse 36 the Roman soldiers sat down and kept watch over Him. Those who walked past didn't see who Jesus truly is, they weren't interested in Him, only mocking Him, but the ones who sat down and watched Jesus were the ones who came to the conclusion that He is the Son of God! Even as believers we have to watch Jesus, fix our eyes upon Him, to become like Him we have to observe Him through the Word (ie Scripture).