Lips overflowing with Grace

Psalm 45, one of the Messianic Psalms written for Solomon but looking beyond him to Christ reads in verse 2, “You are the fairest of the sons of men; grace is poured into Your lips; therefore God has blessed You forever.” The thought is contained that not only is grace poured into the lips of the Messiah, but that this grace overflows and pours out from His lips. Christ was able to answer all people at all times with grace, He was able to bridle His tongue and was thus truly the perfect Man (James 3:2). In this post I would like to look at just how Christ showed lips of grace, so that we can see how far we often fall short of it and learn to be like Him. Since what a man is truly like is most often manifest in times of difficulty – George Washington was a man of very guarded temper, yet he forgot himself at Monmouth and when first hearing of St. Clair's debacle and these two instances are the only times when he was ever known to swear. Even the Apostle Paul did not always respond perfectly in his tests as we will see later here, but Christ shows His divinity in that the harder the trial the more admirable was His speech. I would like to look at a few instances in Christ's life now and if nothing else we will learn why the inhabitants of heaven cannot help but cry, “worthy is the Lamb!” 1. How He handled betrayal Christ's response to Judas in the garden is amazing. While He had spoken strong words of warning to him in the upper room prior to the betrayal (Matt. 26:21-24) perhaps as a last measure to save his soul or at least leave him without excuse, yet in the garden His response could not be more mild. He does not revile him, but instead gives the most mild expostulation possible, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” Judas is that really what you are capable of, to use the closest sign of friendship as a sign of betrayal? There was no vindictiveness or rancour in Christ's behavior to Judas, but rather sorrow for who Judas was – what he had willingly become. 2. How He responded to gross injustice The trials of Jesus are interesting if for no other reason than that they show a total and complete disregard for law. The two legal systems that antiquity passed on to modern society and are recognized as most just are the Jewish and Roman, and both legal systems were entirely set aside by the judges in Christ's trial. Roman law required strictness of accusation. If a man was tried it had to be for a specific offense, at a specific time, yet when Pilate asked what charge was to be brought against Christ he received a reply that would have been grounds for dismissal in any ordinary trial, “If he were not an evildoer, we would not have brought Him here” (John 18:30). Other anomalies of this Roman trial include but are not limited to: pronouncing a not guilty verdict but not releasing the prisoner but instead offering Him in an exchange; followed by another not guilty verdict, and a flogging; and finally a third not guilty verdict resulting in the crucifixion. Christ's demeanor through all of this was outstanding. Actually He was not the one on trial, it was the whole world system and all its hypocrisy and time serving that was on trial and it and its ministers were found sorely wanting as the came up close to the Judge of all who brings forth His righteousness every morning. Prior to the Roman trial (in this small post we will not be examining the minor trial before Herod, which was really Pilates first hand-washing attempt) were the Jewish trials. These were likewise highly improper by Jewish law. The most notable irregularities involve the timing and secrecy of the trial (night time trials and secret trials were unheard of, because it was necessary that witnesses be able to come forward, this was especially true in regard to capitol crimes). Another major irregularity involves Christ being asked directly concerning His doctrine. All legal proceedings in following Mosaic law required two or three witnesses, and unlike in Roman law, torture and intimidation could not be used to extort a confession. It is from this Mosaic legal basis that the United States gets its fifth ammendment in the bill of rights. Yet Christ was directly questioned concerning His teachings in a deliberate attempt to trap Him in His words, was given no advocate, and had the judge also playing the part of prosecutor. When He brought attention to the illegality of the proceedings and requested that witnesses be produced to His words since He had never taught secretly, He was struck on the face. At this point Christ shows His divine dignity, rather than becoming rightly indignant, as even the Apostle Paul later did in a similar situation (Acts 23:1-3), He merely asks that if He had said something wrong let it be shown Him. After the false witnesses had been produced and had contradicted each other without suffering the ordinary consequences, Christ as the faithful and true Witness indicted Himself by His response to the oath of the High Priest, because to not come forward at that point would have been sin (Lev. 5:1). Through all of His trial He shows Himself to be above reproach in everything He did. While Paul had to apologize for his outburst, though it was honestly deserved, Christ kept His composure throughout His longer and even more unjust ordeal. 3. His Words to the Mourning Women Another amazing outflowing of grace from the lips of Christ is found in His address to the women who were customarily mourning for His death, because He was dying without offspring. He looked beyond His own suffering of the time, which had included a merciless flogging and beaten face, and plucked out beard, and had compassion for what His people who had rejected Him would endure, saying, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover us.' For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?" (Luke 23:28-31). Furthermore Christ while on the cross asked for forgiveness for those who killed Him, and welcomed the first penitent sinner, who had formerly reviled Him into His kingdom. All of these acts of grace flowed out in His time of greatest anguish. May God grant that we also are able to show a small measure of the grace that poured from Christ's lips in our own speech. Amen.