Creating, collecting, and sharing thoughts and ideas. And learning along the way.
MORNING
“A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me.”
Song of Solomon 1:13Myrrh may well be chosen as the type of Jesus on account of its preciousness, its perfume, its pleasantness, its healing, preserving, disinfecting qualities, and its connection with sacrifice. But why is he compared to “a bundle of myrrh”? First, for plenty. He is not a drop of it, he is a casket full. He is not a sprig or flower of it, but a whole bundle. There is enough in Christ for all my necessities; let me not be slow to avail myself of him. Our well-beloved is compared to a “bundle” again, for variety: for there is in Christ not only the one thing needful, but in “him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily;” everything needful is in him. Take Jesus in his different characters, and you will see a marvellous variety–Prophet, Priest, King, Husband, Friend, Shepherd. Consider him in his life, death, resurrection, ascension, second advent; view him in his virtue, gentleness, courage, self-denial, love, faithfulness, truth, righteousness–everywhere he is a bundle of preciousness. He is a “bundle of myrrh” for preservation–not loose myrrh to be dropped on the floor or trodden on, but myrrh tied up, myrrh to be stored in a casket. We must value him as our best treasure; we must prize his words and his ordinances; and we must keep our thoughts of him and knowledge of him as under lock and key, lest the devil should steal anything from us. Moreover, Jesus is a “bundle of myrrh” for speciality; the emblem suggests the idea of distinguishing, discriminating grace. From before the foundation of the world, he was set apart for his people; and he gives forth his perfume only to those who understand how to enter into communion with him, to have close dealings with him. Oh! blessed people whom the Lord hath admitted into his secrets, and for whom he sets himself apart. Oh! choice and happy who are thus made to say, “A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me.”
EVENING
“And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.”
Leviticus 1:4Our Lord’s being made “sin for us” is set forth here by the very significant transfer of sin to the bullock, which was made by the elders of the people. The laying of the hand was not a mere touch of contact, for in some other places of Scripture the original word has the meaning of leaning heavily, as in the expression, “thy wrath lieth hard upon me” (Psalm 88:7). Surely this is the very essence and nature of faith, which doth not only bring us into contact with the great Substitute, but teaches us to lean upon him with all the burden of our guilt. Jehovah made to meet upon the head of the Substitute all the offences of his covenant people, but each one of the chosen is brought personally to ratify this solemn covenant act, when by grace he is enabled by faith to lay his hand upon the head of the “Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world.” Believer, do you remember that rapturous day when you first realized pardon through Jesus the sin-bearer? Can you not make glad confession, and join with the writer in saying, “My soul recalls her day of deliverance with delight. Laden with guilt and full of fears, I saw my Saviour as my Substitute, and I laid my hand upon him; oh! how timidly at first, but courage grew and confidence was confirmed until I leaned my soul entirely upon him; and now it is my unceasing joy to know that my sins are no longer imputed to me, but laid on him, and like the debts of the wounded traveller, Jesus, like the good Samaritan, has said of all my future sinfulness, Set that to my account.'” Blessed discovery! Eternal solace of a grateful heart!
“My numerous sins transferr’d to him,
Shall never more be found,
Lost in his blood’s atoning stream,
Where every crime is drown’d!”
Updated April 11, 2012, 2:28 pm
On April 12, 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Ga., at age 63. Vice President Harry S Truman became president.
Go to article »On April 12, 1903, Jan Tinbergen, the Dutch economist who won the Nobel Prize in 1969 for his work with econometric models, was born. Following his death on June 9, 1994, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1606 England adopted the Union Jack as its flag. 1877 The catcher for Harvard’s baseball team, James Tyng, wore a modified fencing mask behind the plate. It is believed to be the first time a catcher’s mask was used during a game. 1945 President Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Ga., at age 63. 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly in space, orbiting the Earth once before making a safe landing. 1981 The space shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on its first test flight. 1983 Harold Washington was elected Chicago’s first African-American mayor. 1999 U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright found President Bill Clinton in contempt of court for giving “intentionally false” testimony in a lawsuit filed by Paula Jones about his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. 2002 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez resigned under pressure from the country’s divided military. (He was returned to office two days later.) 2004 Barry Bonds hit his 660th home run to tie Willie Mays for third on baseball’s career list. (Bonds is now the career leader in home runs.) 2009 American cargo ship captain Richard Phillips was rescued from Somali pirates by U.S. Navy snipers who shot and killed three of the hostage-takers. 2011 Japan ranked its nuclear crisis at the highest possible severity on an international scale – the same level as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster – even as it insisted radiation leaks were declining at its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Country musician Vince Gill turns 55 years old today.
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
Actress Claire Danes turns 33 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini
1933 Montserrat Caballe, Opera singer, turns 79 1940 Herbie Hancock, Jazz musician, turns 72 1942 Frank Bank, Actor (“Leave it to Beaver”), turns 70 1944 John Kay, Rock singer (Steppenwolf), turns 68 1946 Ed O’Neill, Actor (“Modern Family,” “Married … With Children”), turns 66 1947 Tom Clancy, Author, turns 65 1947 Dan Lauria, Actor (“The Wonder Years”), turns 65 1947 David Letterman, Talk show host, turns 65 1949 Scott Turow, Author, turns 63 1950 David Cassidy, Actor, singer (“The Partridge Family”), turns 62 1956 Andy Garcia, Actor, turns 56 1964 Amy Ray, Folk singer, musician (Indigo Girls), turns 48 1971 Nicholas Brendon, Actor (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), turns 41 1971 Shannen Doherty, Actress, turns 41 1979 Jennifer Morrison, Actress (“House M.D.”), turns 33 1987 Brendon Urie, Rock musician (Panic at the Disco), turns 25 1994 Saoirse Ronan, Actress (“Atonement,” “The Lovely Bones”), turns 18
Historic Birthdays
Jan Tinbergen 4/12/1903 – 6/9/1994 Dutch Nobel Prize-winning economist (1969).Go to obituary »
74 Joachim Camerarius 4/12/1500 – 4/17/1574
German Lutheran theologian54 Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford 4/12/1550 – 6/24/1604
English poet and patron of the Oxford’s Men acting company75 Henry Clay 4/12/1777 – 6/29/1852
American politician; U.S. congressman and senator (1806-52)89 John Strachan 4/12/1778 – 11/1/1867
Scottish-born Canadian educator and first Anglican bishop of Toronto85 Grenville Dodge 4/12/1831 – 1/3/1916
American engineer; chief engineer of Union Pacific Railroad (1866-70)72 Sir James Mackenzie 4/12/1853 – 1/26/1925
Scottish cardiologist; pioneer in the study of cardiac arrhythmia93 Imogen Cunningham 4/12/1883 – 6/24/1976
American photographer of plants and portraits78 Lily Pons 4/12/1898 – 2/13/1976
French coloratura soprano78 Pete Desjardins 4/12/1907 – 5/6/1985
American diver; 1928 Olympic medallist
