My God, why did you love me so much? Deuteronomy 13:9

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But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. (Deut. 13:9)
I always struggle when I read all of the law: They can seem like such harsh words.

Yes, they can be quite beautiful, too. Some of them even seem easy to obey: Laws like Deuteronomy 6:5 -- You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

That doesn't sound so onerous, does it? We love to love, don't we? Loving God, who created everything? Praise be to God! What a wondrous creation we live in. It's easy to love the God who gave us majestic mountains and spacious skies and amber waves of grain. Right?

Then we hit Deuteronomy 13:9.

You shall kill him, the Lord declares. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death. And then the people must join in. Stone the fool. Stone him. Kill him, the one who leads you astray, who leads you away from loving the Lord, your God, with all your heart.

Those words sound so harsh, especially today, just a few years removed -- in God's time any way -- from the decade of love and peace and coexistence. Love. Everyone loves to love. So why, Lord? Why should I kill him? Isn't that harsh, Lord? I mean, wasn't he just saying, hey, look over there.

You fool, God declares. Don't you remember what happened to Adam and Eve? And don't you remember what happened to the people in Ninevah?

Reading Deuteronomy gives new meaning to Hebrews 4:12. A sword, two-edged at that? Sharp? Yikes! Is it any wonder some people turn away from the Bible, turn away from God? Watch the video, if you haven't already. (Maybe watch it again.) Some people will tell it's foolish to believe there is purpose in Deuteronomy 13:9.

I have to wonder, though, did they read the rest of the story? And if you haven't, why not?

Haven't you heard the good news?

Jesus fulfilled Deuteronomy 13:9.

In other words, Jesus took our place at the stoning.

The law reminds us that the one who leads us away deserves to be stoned. The law reminds us that the one who cheats on his wife deserves to be stoned. The law reminds us that those who are greedy deserve to be stoned. The sinner deserves death, the law reminds us.

And so we picked up the stone, and threw them at Jesus.

We plucked out his eyes. We pulled his teeth. We took his life. We beat him. We whipped him. We spit on him. We stabbed him. We mocked him. We tortured him. We offered him vinegar to drink. We called him a liar. We called him a cheat. We called him a drunkard and glutton. We spared the murderer's life. Then, we killed Jesus.

The lamb -- a pure, innocent, white, spotless lamb -- died for you.

And so God has reversed everything we did wrong.

God so loved the world that he gave us a new way of thinking. He gave us Jesus. He sent his only son to live for us, to heal us, to give to us, to be a servant to us, to die for those who will believe in him, for those who will confess their sins to God the Father, for those who will seek God's forgiveness, for God's mercy, for God's grace.

And all he asks of you is to trust him.

The rest of the story shows us the truth of the harsh law. If you don't believe, come Judgment Day, you will wish that your punishment would be as simple as being stoned. Those who refuse to love God, who refuse to love their neighbor, who refuse to believe in Jesus, will face weeping and gnashing of teeth for eternity, and certainly death. Hear the truth of Deuteronomy 13:9 and fear God. Hear the law and turn to God, before it's too late.

My God, my God, why did you love me so much?

Now ... how can you turn away from the Gospel of God: He loves you and took your place in the stoning. He loves you, asking only that you place your faith, hope and love in Jesus.

The Spirit of the One True God lives for us ... nd gives us thee ability to believe. Hear the Gospel, and believe. The Spirit of the One True God comes upon us and overwhelms us with uss gifts, producing the amazing fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. He transforms us and reverses our thinking so that we can share the Gospel too.

There are no strings attached.

Hear the words of the Deuteronomy: Love the Lord. Believe in him. Hope in him. Have faith in him. And he will bless you.

He isnfaithful. He has delivered us from the law as promised.


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