Christ’s suffering for us is not a mere theological dodge but the supreme case of the law that governs the whole world; and when they mocked him by saying, ‘He saved others, himself he cannot save,’ [Matthew 27:42; Mark 15:31] they were really uttering, little as they knew it, the ultimate law of the spiritual world.
Good Friday
Skip Heitzig
The veil [in the Jerusalem Temple] separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies and was enormous, thick, and very tall. There weren’t ladders high enough to get up there and rip it. It was ripped from top to bottom, not bottom to top, implying God tore the veil. God was making the statement, “You who were on the outside, you can come in, you can draw near by faith. I’m giving you access to me by the death of my Son.” The only way the sacrifices could have continued after that day was for the veil to be sewn up again. That’s what religion does. God rips open the veil and says come close; mankind says, Let’s sew it back up. Let’s take the freedom that we have and get rid of the freedom and go back into bondage, into religion, into rites and ceremonies. Man always has the tendency to take the veil that God ripped and sew it back up; putting things in reverse instead of moving forward.
Admin
This Holy Week as I reflect on all that Jesus did for me, I am forever grateful, but I won’t camp under the empty cross.
This week’s blog by Katherine can be found here: Be Grateful but Don’t Camp Under the Empty Cross
N.T. Wright
Any claim to tell from world events when the ‘second coming’ will occur is a claim to know more than Jesus himself (Mark 13.32). Jesus himself is the reason why people should turn from idolatry, injustice and all wickedness. The cross is where all the world’s sufferings and horrors have been heaped up and dealt with. The resurrection is the launch of God’s new creation, of his sovereign saving rule on earth – starting with the physical body of Jesus himself.
Katherine Walden
April 11, 2020
Psalm 30:5 Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
This Easter Saturday, reflect on the dashed dreams and hopes of the disciples as they awoke the morning after Jesus’ death. Peter’s heart was crushed, for he denied the One he loved most. John tried to console an inconsolable Mary as he held the mother of the one who died a seemingly shame-filled, gruesome death. Other disciples cringed as they remembered their desperate dash into the night, abandoning Jesus. Others dealt with the death of their revolutionary dreams; Jesus wasn’t going to take the physical throne of Jerusalem, ousting their oppressors once and for all. Yes, it was a dark time for the disciples. However, It is only in the darkest of nights that the stars shine their brightest. Joy comes in the morning.
John Fletcher
April 10, 2020
Good Friday
Only look to Jesus. He died for you, died in your place, died under the frowns of heaven, that we might die under its smile. Regard neither unbelief nor doubt. Fear neither sin nor hell. Choose neither life nor death. All these are swallowed up in the immensity of Christ and are triumphed over in His cross.
Brian Simmons
March 4, 2020
The very first words of Jesus while on the cross: “Father, forgive them.” Even the soldiers were shocked to hear those words. A river of love unquenchable poured from His heart. When we suffer, we think only of ourselves, our pain, our desire to be relieved from affliction. When Jesus suffered, His heart was focused on others, making sure they would be forgiven. They were harming themselves, not just Jesus.
Oswald Chambers
The Cross didn’t just happen to Jesus: He came on purpose for it. He is ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’…The Cross is the centre of time and of eternity, the answer to the enigmas of both. When we get to the Cross, we do not go through it; we abide in the life to which the Cross is the gateway.
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Author Unknown
Men try to fix problems with duct tape. God did it with nails.
Lynne Hundley
With God, we make no deals. God sets all the terms; set them long ago with us in mind (while counting the potential hairs on our potential heads being formed even then within the womb of the universe). God said, “This is the contract: I will die for you if you will let me.” Who could have imagined those terms?