And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. Mark 15:25
As we lift our hearts toward God today to celebrate “Good Friday”, let us ponder the cross. The death by which our Savior, our God chose to take upon Himself so that you and I could be free from the unbreakable bonds of our sin. The cross is not a pretty place; there are no fluffy little Easter bunnies there. No, if we could peer back in time to the crucifixion we would find a beaten, bruised and nearly unrecognizable Jesus. God in fleshly form suffering, hurting, heartbroken and dying; not for wrongs that He had done, no He the spotless Lamb had never sinned, but for our sins; all of our sins.
Jesus took upon Him no simple earthly death. He took upon Him the sorrows and failings, the sins of the whole world from start to finish. He took upon Him what no other living man has ever experienced: Hell on Earth. As the father God turned His head from His Son, the weight and shame of all our sins were laid upon Him; our penalty, our debt was being measured upon Holy God. As He gasped with His final breath, “It is finished!” and He died, all debts were paid, all penalties taken by the death of Jesus Christ.
The veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom, opening view to the Holy of Holies from the Holy place; signifying that once again man could become holy and enter into the presence of the Most Holy God. Jesus Christ, God incarnate made way for man to live in harmony with Him forever in the paradise of Heaven. He paid a debt He did no owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. He loves us so deeply that He gave everything so that we could be with Him.
Reflect and dwell today on the magnitude of what God has done for us through the Cross!
If you have never accepted the forgiveness of your sins which Jesus suffered and died to pay on the cross, let today be the day. What better day to enter into the family of God then on the celebration of His gracious gift to you. He loves you so much that He conquered death, Hell and the grave so that you could have the choice of redemption. Will you love Him back?
I want to leave everyone with this poem that is so dear to me. It appeared many years ago in a church bulletin and has since been permanently affixed to the inside front cover of my Bible. The author is unknown.
The Cross
The cross was never dear to me,
Until I knew His grace –
Taking my sin and shame, on Him,
Dying there in my place.
How long I failed to realize
He died that I might be
The righteousness of God in Him,
Since He was sin for me.
I cannot understand it yet,
No matter how I try –
But to the cross I go to live,
Since He went there to die.
Thank you Jesus for Calvary ’s Cross! For now I am free!
