Good Friday

The Soldiers Mock Jesus
27Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and he gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. 30They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

The Crucifixion
32As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). 34There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"
41In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42"He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' " 44In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus
45From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
47When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah."
48Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him."
50And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
51At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. 52The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
54When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!"

Can you imagine that day? The despair... Even his followers--who had been with Him and told what would happen, didn't fully get it. Even if you were there and DID get it...how do you watch? I could barely handle the movie, The Passion of Christ, much less the real thing. I think of how little we are willing to sacrifice for others and yet He laid down His life----WILLINGLY----simply so that our sins could be forgiven. And then God FORGIVES us.

I think of hurt, anger, frustration that I harbor. I think of people in my life who have done things---my first fiance' who beat me up, a ex co-worker who spread some lies about me, my mother in law who hurt my husband with her behavior, people I thought were my friends who most obviously were not...and those things hurt so bad...took a while to forgive...and they were such little things. In the scheme of life---compared to what He has had to forgive us all of.....forgive ME of.....it's crazy to me. We are such selfish beings. We hoard material things. We worry about what we have. We desire and covet and worry about ourselves soooo much. We do one small act of kindness and thinks that it makes us great people. We look around at our life with smug satifaction. We look at people who "REALLY" sin--those addicts, thieves, murderers, abusers...and think we are so fine because we certainly don't behave that way. But we are so lost. We have nothing aside of Him. Without accepting His love, His sacrifice.....without turning to Him and fully believing that He is our Savior....we are destined to an eternal death in Hell. We will miss the opportunity and it will be too late. Satan is banking on it.

If you've never experienced an Easter where you can truly rejoice in the Risen King---I encourage you this year to attend a service somewhere---where the bible is taught in its truth---and truly listen with an open heart. What does that mean? Try not to bring in your "religious" baggage. Just enter in the sanctuary and allow yourself to truly hear the words, sing the songs, realize the ultimate sacrifice He made.

Enjoy your Good Friday. Rest in the knowledge that today is not the end of the story!

He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!!