From the Book of Luke Chapter 23:50-56 And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God; this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
Did Their Dream Die?
When brought down from the cross, Their Savior was dead, What could have been the thoughts That went running through their heads?
No tomb of His own To bury Him in, Some "Son of God" What freedom did they win?
When they placed Him there, Did their dream die too? They didn't know He would rise, And leave an empty tomb.
They didn't know what we now know, That their King would arise, That they soon would know true freedom For the first time in their lives.
Freedom from sin, From sadness and shame, Soon their hearts and their lives Would never be the same.
How dark was the darkness On the night they all mourned? Not knowing the joy That would come in the morn.
A reason to hope or believe Must've been so hard to find, They didn't know what I know In the Truth is where my hope, I find.
They didn't know what I do But their faith they still held, But I know His death saved me From going to hell.
No grieving in my life As they did that dark night, For I know the truth And now live in the Light.
What more do I need Than what He gave me on the cross that day? Innocent, but HE paid the price for me And washed ALL my sins away.
Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” They shouted back, “Crucify Him!” But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” 15Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.
The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led* Him out to crucify Him.
They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross.
Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man should take. 25It was the third hour when they crucified Him. The inscription of the charge against Him read: “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
They crucified* two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.” Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. 32“Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.
When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” 35When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.” Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
What Were You Thinking?
Jesus came to share the message of grace, and prophecies to fulfill, He came to walk upon the earth and to do the Father's will.
He had the message of how from the bondage of sin we could be free, He came to make a better way for all, for you, for me.
He walked among the people, speaking of truth, of peace and love, Sharing, living and showing, the Father's message from above.
No thanks or love for Him they had, they wanted Him to die, When asked what they wanted done to Him, they screamed out, "Crucify!"
My Jesus, beaten and mocked, ridiculed and abused, Was there no other way to save? No other way He could have been used?
Still even as He hung on the cross, in His heart He did forgive, Willing to suffer so much up there so even these might live.
Sinless, He hung up on the cross, all our sins He bore, Sacrificing Himself to atone for all we need forgiveness for.
Father, how it must have hurt Your heart, could You have even cried? When You had to turn Your back on Him the day that Jesus died.
Father, what were You thinking when You sent Him here to die? Did it have to take His sacrifice for me to find eternal life?
He broke down all the walls that stood between God and me, So I could be reconciled to the Father for all of eternity.
Lord Jesus, I can't say "I'm sorry" and "Thank You" just won't do, Only way I can repay what You did is to make my life a sacrifice for You.
You committed Your Spirit to the Father's hands, my life I commit to Yours, Having only one prayer that I will pray, "Jesus, I want to love you and know you more."
The Book of Matthew Chapter 26:36-46 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said* to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me." And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said* to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. “Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!” (NASB)
"If we are faithless, He remains faithful, He cannot deny Himself." II Timothy 2:13
From the Book of Mark Chapter 14:3-9 While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? “For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. “For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. “She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. “Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”
Will You Pour Out Your All?
Will you pour out your all? Give the best that you have? Do whatever it takes to honor the Son of Man?
Will you sacrifice your best, give Him all you have to give? Make him your purpose? Your reason to live?
Others will look down upon you, unable to understand, Why you have this devotion to the Son of Man.
Are you willing to give back all that's been given to you? Do whatever it takes to give Him the honor He's due?
This is such an incredible week. I keep thinking about what it must have been like to have walked with the Lord during His time here on earth. I wonder what it must have been like to BE Him, knowing what was coming. Although He was fully God, He was God incarnate, and therefore fully human. He did not escape the pain of what He went through, and not only had to go through it, but had the absolute anticipation of its coming.
I think about how He prayed to the Father in the garden, "let this cup pass from me..." I can only imagine it was out of the knowledge of the suffering to come, and yet He finished the prayer, "not My will but Yours be done." He was saying, "I don't want to suffer, but I will for Your glory, for their salvation, to accomplish what needs to be done." For my salvation, He was willing to suffer beyond anything I can comprehend. I wonder if I would have the strength or purposefulness to suffer for another. I guess it is sort of loosely similar to the labor in childbirth. In my case I had many things to alleviate the suffering that came through that process both times in my life, but even if I had not, I would have been willing to suffer it to give life to my children.
Likewise Jesus suffered, but to a much greater degree so that we might have life. The bible says so we might have "life abundant," or "life to the full." Not only that but He suffered so that we might have life eternal, with Him and in the presence of the Father, not only after our death, but as we live our lives as well.
I know how much I love my children, so much that I was willing to suffer through a little labor, and I am humbled at the fact that it does not begin to compare to the love the Father and the Son have for me. It is almost impossible to comprehend.
More than a decade ago the Lord gave me five poems for Easter devotionals, one for each day from Wednesday leading up to Easter Sunday, and starting tomorrow I will come back and share them. I would love if you would come and read them, I know they were a gift to me and I would love to share it with you.
Tonight I want to share with you a video I found on YouTube. Someone put together portions of the movie The Passion of the Christ with one of my favorite worship songs. I thought it would make a nice transition from the post about Palm Sunday and the devotional poems I'll start sharing tomorrow.
As I watched the video I remembered how in the scene of Christ's crucifixion, the hands that nail Jesus to the cross are those of the film's producer/director Mel Gibson. When I watch that scene in the movie, I was struck by the sound of the hammer hitting the nail. I think it was profound that Mel Gibson would choose to play that role, because the fact of the matter is, any one of us could do so, because it was our sin that truly hung him on the cross. It amazes me that He suffered all He did so willingly and knowingly for me and for you.
