”After this Jesus, realizing that by this time everything was completed, said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty!” A jar full of sour wine was there, so they put a sponge soaked in sour wine on a branch of hyssop and lifted it to his mouth. When he had received the sour wine, Jesus said, “It is completed!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Today is Good Friday, the day we remember the Passion (suffering) of Christ: His betrayal, trial, scourging, crucifixion, and burial. “ (John 19:28-30))
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
"Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull).... And they crucified him.... When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?' which means, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?'... Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed His last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing Him, saw that in this way He breathed His last, he said, 'Truly this man was the Son of God!" (Mark 15:22-39)
We truly have no idea of the suffering You endured for each one of us. For as much as we can take at a time, we begin to imagine the physical suffering and the emotional suffering, as You hung naked and rejected by the nails driven into Your hands and feet, gasping for breath and dripping with blood from Your shredded skin and nerves. And we can't even begin to comprehend the spiritual suffering You endured as the One who knew no sin became sin on our behalf, when You willingly took upon Yourself all the sins of the world (2 Corinthians 5:21).
In that moment, bearing the full weight of our sins, the full weight of my sins, You were forsaken by the Father and separated from the holiness of God, so that we would never have to be forsaken. In unimaginable anguish of spirit, You cried out to the Father in the most heart-wrenching cry of all eternity, as the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world by taking them on to Yourself in the passion of the cross, determined before the foundation of the world and prophesied long before the coming of that day (Psalm 22; Isaiah 53).
Carrying our sins, You descended into hell on our behalf to break the power of hell over our lives (Acts 2:31; 1 Peter 3:18-22 and 4:6). But hell couldn't hold You because Satan had nothing in You and no power over You (John 14:30). "Through death, (You defeated) the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and freed those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death" (Hebrews 2:14).
What an incomprehensible price You paid for each one of us. We may never fully comprehend for all eternity the depth of Your suffering for our sins so that we could dwell forever in the depths of Your love in the intimate presence of our holy God. But on this holy day, we stand amazed at the foot of the cross and in the Presence of God. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, a family born out of the blood of the cross, I pray you take time on our Holy Week journey to the joy of celebrating the resurrection of Christ, pause today to think on the suffering of Jesus and be filled with knowledge of the truth of how much God loves you and suffered for you to always be with you. In Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me.
Today is the day more Christians fast in prayer than any other and I ask you to join in with them. Scripture tells us Jesus hung on the cross from the sixth thru the ninth hour, and on the ninth hour he died. That converts to 12:00pm-3:00pm for us today. Be in prayer today.
Please share you reflections on Good Friday throughout your day in the comment box below.
ALL ARE WELCOMED!
CHANGE OF VENUE AND TIME OF GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE TONIGHT!
For the last 9 years we have held our Good Friday service and Stations of the Cross meditation outdoors at Indian Creek Greenway Park. Unfortunately, the weather will not allow us to have an outdoor service tonight. So we will be moving it indoors and it will be held in the community center on Cathedral Drive in Madison off of Hughes Road. And since we do not have to worry about daylight we are pushing the service starting time back to 6:30pm. All are welcomed to attend. I join with you today as we pray and reflect on the unimaginable love and unimaginable suffering Jesus went through today on our behalf.
WHAT: Good Friday Service and Stations Of The Cross Meditation
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