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¹⁶ Now the five kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah. ¹⁷ When Joshua was told that the five kings had been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah, ¹⁸ he said, “Roll large rocks up to the mouth of the cave, and post some men there to guard it. ¹⁹ But don’t stop; pursue your enemies! Attack them from the rear and don’t let them reach their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.”

²⁰ So Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely, but a few survivors managed to reach their fortified cities. ²¹ The whole army then returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah, and no one uttered a word against the Israelites.

²² Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me.” ²³ So they brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. ²⁴ When they had brought these kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had come with him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came forward and placed their feet on their necks.

²⁵ Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.” ²⁶ Then Joshua put the kings to death and exposed their bodies on five poles, and they were left hanging on the poles until evening.

²⁷ At sunset Joshua gave the order and they took them down from the poles and threw them into the cave where they had been hiding. At the mouth of the cave they placed large rocks, which are there to this day. (NIV)

‘The cave of Makkedah was a perpetual reminder of this wonderful victory which God gave His people. The details as to the placing of the princes’ feet on the necks of their foes are related with this precision to indicate the completeness of the conquest.’ F.B. Meyer

The picture painted in verse 24, of the army commanders with their ”feet on the necks” of their defeated foes, calls to mind Paul’s great words about God in Ephesians 1:19:23. He writes about”… the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

The day that Jesus died on the Cross was ‘D Day’. That’s when the decisive battle against the powers of darkness was fought and won. Nevertheless, there is still the ‘mopping up operation.’ These powers are still active and resistant and can cause damage. But we need a clear vision of the true nature of things. They are under the feet of Jesus, and because we are in Him, they are under our feet also.

So, as someone said, it is not so much that we are fighting for victory but from victory. How we need this perspective. It can help us to ”Be strong and courageous” and live without discouragement.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    so that sinners will turn back to you.
¹⁴ Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
    you who are God my Savior,
    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
¹⁵ Open my lips, Lord,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶ You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
¹⁷ My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise.

¹⁸ May it please you to prosper Zion,
    to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
    in burnt offerings offered whole;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar. (NIV)

This beautiful psalm of contrition and confession, one with which we all can identify, seems to take on even greater wonder in the light of the great Easter events.

As we noted previously, David did not seek to justify his sin. He didn’t deny it, nor did he blame anyone else. He owned up. He came clean. He confessed. I remember someone saying, ‘The only way sin can leave the body is through the mouth, as we confess it!

”Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13)

That was David’s experience.

In a recent edition of ‘The Plough’, Graham Tomlin wrote an excellent article about the conversion of the French philosopher Blaise Pascal. In it, drawing on Pascal’s transformation, he highlighted a number of characteristics of genuine Christianity, as opposed to merely ‘cultural’ faith. One of these is this awareness of personal guilt and shame:

”Yet there is another part of Pascal’s encounter that is a mark of all true Christian experience: Pascal describes experiencing his own shame. “I have cut myself off from him, shunned him, denied him, crucified him.”

Amidst the ecstasy of encountering divine love comes this profound sense of inadequacy, of ignominy – not to put too fine a point on it, of sin. Pascal is aware of the abyss within his own soul, the shallowness of his life, the way he has ignored the God on whom his life depends, and how he has wasted God’s gifts.

Some time ago I listened to a conversation between Richard Dawkins and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Muslim fundamentalist turned hardcore atheist. She had recently announced her conversion to Christianity. Dawkins assumed that her conversion was to a genteel cultural Christianity like his, but as she told her story it gradually dawned on him that something deeper had taken place. Hirsi Ali described an episode of prolonged suicidal depression, which no psychological treatment or scientific reasoning had helped. A therapist diagnosed her problem not as mental or physical but spiritual, suggesting she might even try praying. When she did, she began, mysteriously, to encounter the same God that Pascal had.

Reluctantly, he had to admit that it sounded like she was a proper Christian. The nub of the issue for Dawkins was his objection to the idea of sin. It was, he said, “obvious nonsense…. The idea that humanity is born in sin, and has to be cured of sin by Jesus being crucified … is a morally very unpleasant idea.”

Of course it’s unpleasant. Crucifixions were. From the perspective of those who have no sense whatsoever that they need saving, it is distasteful, embarrassing, not the kind of thing that you bring up in Oxford Senior Common Rooms. I too find unpleasant the notion that I am sinful, stubborn, deeply flawed, in desperate need of forgiveness and healing. I would much rather think I am fine as I am. Yet there are many things that are unpleasant but necessary. Like surgery. Or changing dirty diapers. Or having to admit addiction.

And that was ultimately the difference between Dawkins and Hirsi Ali. They were each as clever as the other; they had both read the same books; they knew the same people. Yet Hirsi Ali, like Pascal, had been to a place where she knew she needed help, a help that no human being could provide, whereas Dawkins, it seems, had not.

This is the second factor that marks out real from cultural Christianity. The cultural Christian has little sense of having a spiritual sickness that needs healing, has not looked into the abyss, or owned his part in the darkness of humanity, and has no notion of needing any kind of salvation. True faith involves a searing honesty about the despair that lurks in our own hearts, the self-centeredness that plagues our lives, our society, and our politics. It knows we cannot solve it ourselves.’

 Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, ⁵¹ who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. ⁵² Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. ⁵³ Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. ⁵⁴ It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

⁵⁵ The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. ⁵⁶ Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. (NIV)

Joseph’s action was one of courage and generosity. How brave he was to take a stand at the council, and to ask for the body of Jesus, when there was such tension and menace in the air. He is immortalised in this little paragraph (see also Mk.15:43 and Matt.27:57). Although he had been a secret disciple, out of fear of the Jews, he stepped forward at the moment that was arguably the most dangerous.

Here was one man making a difference. (Although we must bear in mind that John’s gospel shows Joseph and Nicodemus working together John 19:38).

We might say Jesus only ‘loaned’ Joseph’s tomb. It was to be ever such a short stay. Presumably Joseph got it back (rather like Joseph’s brothers getting their silver back in their sacks). We cannot outgive God.

‘God has His agents everywhere. They are not known to us, but are well known to Him, and one word from Him will bring them and their resources to His help. How many are unsuspected lovers of His Kingdom! Who would have thought that Joseph was waiting for the kingdom of God, or that he would have identified its advent with the death on the cross!’ F.B.Meyer

PRAYER: Lord, please forgive me for my cowardly fear. Enable me to always identify with you and your Cross.

 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵ for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

⁴⁷ The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” ⁴⁸ When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. ⁴⁹ But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. (NIV).

Surely a supernatural darkness is inferred here?

The tearing of the temple curtain is also significant. Matthew and Mark add the detail that it was torn ”from top to bottom” (Mt.27:51; Mk.15:38). This too was supernatural, and it shows God’s initiative in opening the way to Himself through the Cross. When Jesus died, the veil in the temple was torn in two and ”the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph.2:14) came down. Through Jesus we can be reconciled to God and to each other.

The process of individuals being impacted continues. This time it is the Centurion. He recognised that Jesus was not the law-breaker He was charged with being. Wouldn’t we like to know how his life story unfolded after this?

In addition to him, those who came for the ‘show’ were profoundly affected by what they witnessed (48).

For us, another Easter has come and gone. But its wonder and mystery remains. It is always there. It never goes away. As someone observed, those of us who believe are ‘an Easter people.’ We don’t have to be able to fully explain how we can be saved through the Cross. Probably no-one can fully explain it all. What matters is that we know its saving significance in our own experience.

 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. ²⁸ Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then

“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
    and to the hills, “Cover us!”’

³¹ For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

³² Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. ³³ When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. ³⁴ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

³⁵ The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

³⁶ The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar ³⁷ and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

³⁸ There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.

³⁹ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

⁴³ Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (NIV)

As we come to read Luke’s account of Jesus’ crucifixion, we find that his descriptions are simple, matter of fact. They are sparse in terms of graphic detail. He focuses on personal interactions and responses.

I note that Jesus is central. The entire world is either side of that middle Cross, rejecting or accepting. On which side are you?

Again, we have the assertion of Jesus’ innocence (40).

Again, we note the emphasis on one (43). We witness the saving of one lost sheep. In what looked like defeat there was victory. He came to seek and to save that which was lost, and He succeeded! If anything shows that salvation is by faith and not by works, this does. The ”criminal” had no time to earn anything. He was ‘a debtor to mercy alone.’ As are we all. We are all ‘criminals’ before God’s law, but the Kingdom of God is open to everyone who will sincerely repent and believe.

By the way, there is irony in verse 39. In order to save others, He could not save Himself.

‘There was no other good enough…’

‘The signs of renewal, wrought in the heart of the penitent thief, showed the sure work of the Holy Spirit. These were the fear of God, the sense of justice in His suffering, the confession of evil deeds, the recognition of our Lord’s sinlessness and dignity, and the anticipation of His coming Kingdom. We may begin a day under the dull skies of earth and close it where there is no need of sun or moon.’ F.B.Meyer

 Now Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and had become their allies. ² He and his people were very much alarmed at this, because Gibeon was an important city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were good fighters. ³ So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem appealed to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish and Debir king of Eglon. ⁴ “Come up and help me attack Gibeon,” he said, “because it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”

⁵ Then the five kings of the Amorites—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon—joined forces. They moved up with all their troops and took up positions against Gibeon and attacked it.

⁶ The Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us.”

⁷ So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men. ⁸ The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.”

⁹ After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. ¹⁰ The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹ As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.

¹² On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel:

“Sun, stand still over Gibeon,
    and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
¹³ So the sun stood still,
    and the moon stopped,
    till the nation avenged itself on its enemies,

as it is written in the Book of Jashar.

The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. ¹⁴ There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!

¹⁵ Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal. (NIV)

It is beyond the scope of this simple devotional thought, to go into the complexities of what actually happened that day. But I will say that if we believe in the living God of the Bible, who created and controls all things, we will accept that all things are possible for Him. Once allow that there is such a God, and you don’t have problems with the idea of the miraculous. ‘The Canaanites worshiped the heavenly bodies, so this miracle must have impressed them greatly. If we are doing the will of God, prayer has tremendous power.’ Warren W. Wiersbe

Verse 14 says this ”…was a day when the Lord listened to a human being.” Thank God, that was not the only day. I have just been in a ‘Zoom’ prayer meeting with fellow-Christians who live in another area several miles away. By the ‘miracle’ of technology we are able to come together like this. But wonderful as it is, it is not truly a ‘miracle’. It can be explained in scientific terms. But what is miraculous is that we human-beings can talk to God, and He listens.

Furthermore, as William Temple observed, coincidences happen when Christians pray. Sometimes big coincidences!

 Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them. ¹⁷ So the Israelites set out and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim. ¹⁸ But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel.

The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders, ¹⁹ but all the leaders answered, “We have given them our oath by the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. ²⁰ This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that God’s wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them.” ²¹ They continued, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers in the service of the whole assembly.” So the leaders’ promise to them was kept.

²² Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you deceive us by saying, ‘We live a long way from you,’ while actually you live near us? ²³ You are now under a curse: You will never be released from service as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

²⁴ They answered Joshua, “Your servants were clearly told how the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this. ²⁵ We are now in your hands. Do to us whatever seems good and right to you.”

²⁶ So Joshua saved them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them. ²⁷ That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water carriers for the assembly, to provide for the needs of the altar of the Lord at the place the Lord would choose. And that is what they are to this day. (NIV)

I have long thought (and some of my own past experience comes into this) that when you see an obvious warning light on the ‘control panel’, as it were, and you ignore it, you will end up paying for it. I believe this speaks to the experience of the Israelites at that time. There was evidence that something was amiss, but they pressed on with their treaty with the Gibeonites regardless. They were deceived. We must ‘test the spirits’ to see whether they are from God.

Our sins may be forgiven, but we may have to live with the consequences. William Culbertson said, ‘How sad it is to have to live with the consequences of forgiven sin.’ Nevertheless, it’s been pointed out that the Israelites made their mistakes work for them. This, by the grace of God, is something for all of us to hold on to.

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
² Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
⁵ Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
⁶ Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity. (NIV)

Who of us has not sat here in the dust with David? Who among us does not need to? David had been like a rabbit, caught in Nathan’s prophetic headlights. He knew he was the ”the man” (2 Sam 12:7). This psalm is David’s ‘Mea Culpa’. He doesn’t try to divert attention elsewhere, or argue someone else’s responsibility for his circumstances. He doesn’t blame it on his genes. No, he keeps on saying ”my”: ”…my transgressions…my iniquity…my sin…” His sincere prayer is ”Cleanse me…wash me…” He knew that although his sin had affected others terribly and tragically, ultimately, and above all, it was against God. Only God could forgive. He felt dirty – besmirched by sin. He was dirty. But he knew God could make him clean.

‘However much God longs to forgive, He cannot, until confession is made. We must acknowledge our lapse from virtue! Blot out, as from a record; wash, as foul stains from linen; cleanse, as a leper by the touch of Christ. Our only plea is the multitude of God’s tender mercies.’ F.B.Meyer

Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

⁵ But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”

⁶ On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. ⁷ When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

⁸ When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. ⁹ He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹ Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. ¹² That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies. (NIV)

I want to return to this little cameo; a story within a story we might say. I didn’t comment on it yesterday, but I want to highlight two things:

• It is possible to have an interest in Jesus – to be fascinated by Him even – yet not really want HIM. I have witnessed this and no doubt you have too. I have seen excitement about Jesus, but at the end of the day hearts unchanged. I am reminded of Kyle Idleman’s book title, ‘Not a fan’. Jesus wants followers, not fans. Not that I’m suggesting that Herod was even a fan, but maybe you can see why this came to mind? ‘Herod’s moral nature had become almost extinguished by a long course of immorality and cruelty. While the Baptist lived, he had “done many things” and heard John gladly; but when the beheading of this faithful witness on his own orders had taken place, the royal sinner went headlong to ruin. He treated this incident with flippant levity. The gorgeous raiment, being an imitation of the royal apparel of the Jewish kings, may have suggested the inscription affixed to the cross.’ F.B.Meyer;
• In verse 12 there is a kind of prophetic foreshadowing of the achievement of the Cross. As Paul outlines in a majestic passage (Eph.2:11-22), God in Christ, through Calvary, reconciles people to Himself, and to each other, in the ”one new humanity” that is the church. I am not suggesting that Herod and Pilate were converted. They clearly were not. But this is surely significant: a foreshadowing of Christ’s reconciling ministry