Good Friday

"Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus away. There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them. The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it. And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”"
John 19:16,18-20

Good Friday is a difficult day to write a devotional for.  We remember today the passion of Jesus. His beating, ridicule, suffering and death by crucifixion.  I am without words.  Jesus, the God Man, Maker of all of creation, chooses to be tortured for my sin.  I cannot comprehend it.  Charles Wesley wrote a hymn where in the first verse it ends,
    "Amazing love! how can it be
     That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?"

That is where I find myself tonight as I consider the cross and the physical pain that Jesus suffered for me and the unimaginable suffering He experienced in having all sin poured on Him.  How can it be?  This is too great a gift.  This is too high a price.  This love is too great to understand.

However, God’s ways are not our ways.  God’s desire is not for us to walk around in the defeat of unworthiness.  This last verse that Wesley wrote in his hymn,
    "Bold I approach the eternal throne,
     And claim the crown, through Christ my own."

This is the response we should have as we remember Good Friday.  Praise God, and come before the throne of grace boldly and claim what Christ has given us.  Paul tells us in Galatians 5:1     "So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law."
 
  1. What is your reaction to the cross?
  2. Do you come boldly to the throne?
  3. Have you claimed the crown through Jesus Christ?
  4. If so, with who will you share the story of the cross with today?
  5. If not, it is our prayer that you will join us Easter Sunday for breakfast and worship.  We would love to introduce you to the story of the cross.

--Zine Smith

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