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The Hope and Fears of All The Years...
Now is the day when Jesus died for you and me. From John 19: 1 Then Pilate had Jesus taken and whipped. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple robe. 3 Over and over they went up to him and said, "Greetings, king of the Jews!" And they slapped him in the face. 4 Pilate came out of the palace again and said to the Jewish leaders, "Look! I'm bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no grounds for a charge against him." 5 When Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, "Here's the man." 6 When the chief priests and their deputies saw him, they shouted out, "Crucify, crucify!" The soldiers took Jesus prisoner. 17 Carrying his cross by himself, he went out to a place called Skull Place (in Aramaic, Golgotha). 18 That's where they crucified him—and two others with him, one on each side and Jesus in the middle. 19 Pilate had a public notice written and posted on the cross. It read "Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews." 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. 28 After this, knowing that everything was already completed, in order to fulfill the scripture, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." 29 A jar full of sour wine was nearby, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it, placed it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. 30 When he had received the sour wine, Jesus said, "It is completed." Bowing his head, he gave up his life.
It should have been me on that cross, dying to pay for my own sins, but it was not me, it was Jesus. Since Jesus' death on the cross nothing nor no one has had to die for my sins. Jesus paid it all.
The hymn writer said it best, "On a hill far away, stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame; and I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain."
PRAYER: God of life, this day reminds us again of the suffering and shame that Your Son endured for us. We can but only thank You for that great love shown in that way. We pray in Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Make your life count because of today.
