"Our God Is In The Heavens" - Shai Linne ft. God's Servant (Lyrics)
It's been a while since I've written a #FridaysWeeklyRapUp post, so what better time to feature an entry than Holy Week, awaiting the celebration of Easter.
This past Sunday, Palm Sunday, at Sojourn, one of our pastors, Dods Pengra, covered the events leading up to Jesus' arrest in John 18, verses 1-11. At this point of John's gospel, Jesus has just prayed his high priestly prayer, knowing what is about to take place. He is about to be betrayed and arrested. Jesus, knowing what was about to happen, gathered his disciples and went to a garden. John tells us that this garden was a familiar place for Jesus and the disciples, so it wasn't as if Jesus was avoiding his impending arrest, which is actually a contract to many other parts of scripture where Jesus flees large crowds or retreats.
Judas, his former apostle, brings bands of soldiers and officers for Jesus' capture. As Dods mentions at just before the 8:00 mark of his sermon, this would have been about 700 soldiers, plus Jewish officers, up to about 1,000 men, all to capture Jesus. This scene is akin to the scene at the end of The Blues Brothers, where hundreds of Chicago Police officers, Illinois State Police and National Guard soldiers convene in the Honorable Richard J. Daley Plaza to intercept Jake and Elwood Blues before depositing their money for the tax assessment of the St. Helen of the Blessed Shroud Orphanage with the Cook County Assessors Office. Now, those events are nothing to compare, but the scale of reaction is. (Plus, The Blues Brothers is one of my favorite movies, so I figured I'd work that in somehow.)
Jesus gives answer to the questions of the soldiers by responding "I am he", a familiar response given many other times throughout the book of John. Jesus' claims confused and offended many. Finally, in verse 11 Jesus says, "Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?", as to say, "Alright, I know what's coming, I'm ready, and here I am."
Here's our connection to Shai Linne's "Our God Is In The Heavens": The life of Jesus wasn't taken; He freely offered it up. It is actually God's Servant who performs the verse with this particular reference, but the entire song speaks to Jesus' life through his death. The second half of the second verse includes:
He never will suffer defeat, He’s precisely the Truth and the Life and the WayWe are reminded that Jesus gave himself up, and that he welcomed his capture, knowing through it, we as sinners would be set free. Keep mind of that this weekend as Christians celebrate this Resurrection Sunday.
So even when He died, they never took His life but He gave His life away
To see when they crucified Him, nobody had imagined it
Not only was a part of the plan to save but the climax of it
He’s gonna get glory, we’re created to be His instruments
His reign’s inexhaustible- His rule is truly infinite
