ALL SCRIPTURES POINT TO JESUS (PART XI)

“Baker, Cupbearer, and Two Thieves on the Cross”

By Akin Ojumu

Right from its inception, Christianity has always had to stave off attacks from the enemies of God. From powerful emperors and mighty rulers of nations to the lowliest of the low and the scum of the earth, the adversaries of the faith come in all shapes and sizes.

One of the earliest archenemies of the Church was a man by the name, Celsus, a Greek philosopher in the 2nd Century. In 178 A.D., Celsus wrote a treatise titled, The True Word, in which he mounted malicious and loathsome verbal attacks against Christianity with the intention of discrediting the faith. Celsus, in his obnoxious letter, painted an unflattering portrait of the Believers. 

He described Christians as being constituted by a bunch of uncultured, uncivilized, and unlearned buffoons.

“Let no cultured person draw near. None wise and none sensible. For all that kind of thing we count evil. But if any man is ignorant, if any man is wanting in sense and culture, if anybody’s a fool, let him come boldly.”

He went further calling Christians hewers of wood and fetchers of water of the society.

“We see them in their own houses, wool dressers, cobblers, the worst, the vulgarist, the most uneducated persons.”

Unable to contain his contempt, Celsus really laid into the Christians in the most vicious terms, equating them to bats, ants, frogs, and worms.

“They are like a swarm of bats or ants creeping out their nests or frogs holding a symposium around a swamp. Or worms convening in mud.”

Celsus’s scathing rebuke of Christians reflected the general attitude of people in this period to the burgeoning sect. This unflattering view of Christ followers is reflected in the name they were derogatorily called, Christians, which means, “Those of the Party of Christ”. In the culture of this time, giving groups of people satirical names was the way the ancient Greeks liked to ridicule and dismiss those they believed were inferior to them. So, it’s not all that surprising that Celsus, a Greek philosopher, had such contempt for Christians.

Since the First Century, however, God’s enemies have radically refined their strategy of attack against Christianity. Instead of overt ridicule and open hostility, such as the one displayed by Celsus, Satan seemed to have realized that the most effective way to bring the Church down is surreptitiously from within. 

As a result, the Devil has dispersed his agents to infiltrate Christian assemblies everywhere. Adversaries of Believers have immersed them in leadership positions in the Church. They are General Overseers, Bishops, Apostles, Prophets, and Pastors of megachurches and with massive following. 

Jude 1:4

“For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

From their exalted spiritual positions, these impostors do violence to the Word of God. By twisting and distorting God’s Word, they lead the undiscerning into error. Through their heretical teachings and false doctrines, they poison the souls of the saints of God and lay waste to the faith of many.

This commentary is written not only to combat these wolves in sheep’s clothing who are lording it over the souls of men, but also to defend the fidelity of God’s Word and show those who would listen the way back to the purity of Scriptures.

As we continue to explore the parallels between the life of Joseph and Jesus, today’s commentary will pick up from where we stopped last time. 

Connection 27

Last time, we said that the hanging of the Chief Baker on a tree was symbolic of Jesus being hanged on the Cross for our sins. On the other hand, the restoration of the Chief Cupbearer back to right standing with the king is a type and shadow of the restoration of the dead sinner to a right standing with the King of kings and LORD of Lords by virtue of the shed Blood of Christ.

Another symbolism of the restoration of the Chief Cupbearer and the execution of the Chief Baker is their parallel to the two thieves who were crucified alongside Christ on the Cross. The thief on the right had his sins forgiven. By the grace of God, he was restored to a right standing with God, and he went to meet the Lord in Paradise. On the other hand, the thief on the left stood condemned. Because of his unbelief, he went straight to hell.

Luke 23:39-43

“One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Connection 28

Joseph pleaded with the Chief Cupbearer to remember Him when he is restored to his position. In like manner, Jesus asked His disciples to observe the Lord’s Supper as a remembrance of Him.

Genesis 40:14-15

“Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”

1 Corinthians 11:23-25

“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

We’ll take it from here next time.