Matthew 27:45-56, Mark 15:33-41, Luke 23:44-49, John 19: 28-37
It is done.
I can do no more.
I have given everything,
my life,
all that I am.
Given it to you.
Given it for you.
Given to all.
Given for all.
Lord,
as I look on your all,
your sacrifice,
your offering,
your giving
I stand in awe,
in worship,
in feeling unworthy
and incapable
of living up to it.
But you call me to you,
and you call me to follow,
to live,
to love,
to be
in your love
and in your name.
I kneel at your cross
and ask
that as your life flows from you,
it flows in and through me,
that I may
show some spark of you
in this world.
Only through you
From my book Voices Through Holy Week and Easter, available from Moorleys
Jesus was taken away, 17 and he carried his cross to a place known as “The Skull.” In Aramaic this place is called “Golgotha.” 18 There Jesus was nailed to the cross, and on each side of him a man was also nailed to a cross.
19 Pilate ordered the charge against Jesus to be written on a board and put above the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” 20 The words were written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
The place where Jesus was taken wasn’t far from the city, and many of the Jewish people read the charge against him. 21 So the chief priests went to Pilate and said, “Why did you write that he is King of the Jews? You should have written, ‘He claimed to be King of the Jews.’”
22 But Pilate told them, “What is written will not be changed!”
23 After the soldiers had nailed Jesus to the cross, they divided up his clothes into four parts, one for each of them. But his outer garment was made from a single piece of cloth, and it did not have any seams. 24 The soldiers said to each other, “Let’s not rip it apart. We will gamble to see who gets it.” This happened so that the Scriptures would come true, which say,
“They divided up my clothes and gambled for my garments.”
The soldiers then did what they had decided.
25 Jesus’ mother stood beside his cross with her sister and Mary the wife of Clopas. Mary Magdalene was standing there too. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and his favorite disciple with her, he said to his mother, “This man is now your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “She is now your mother.” From then on, that disciple took her into his own home.
19 God will bless you, even if others treat you unfairly for being loyal to him. 20 You don’t gain anything by being punished for some wrong you have done. But God will bless you, if you have to suffer for doing something good. 21 After all, God chose you to suffer as you follow in the footsteps of Christ, who set an example by suffering for you.
22 Christ did not sin or ever tell a lie. 23 Although he was abused, he never tried to get even. And when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he had faith in God, who judges fairly. 24 Christ carried the burden of our sins. He was nailed to the cross, so that we would stop sinning and start living right. By his cuts and bruises you are healed. 25 You had wandered away like sheep. Now you have returned to the one who is your shepherd and protector.
This letter is written to encourage the Christians who were suffering and being persecuted for their faith. Peter acknowledges that they are largely suffering for doing nothing more than following the way that Jesus had shown them. Their treatment is unfair. But, he reminds them, they are not the first to suffer unfairly – that is the way that Jesus went – and he really had done nothing wrong – ever!
They are suffering abuse and threats. What they have to stand firm in, is that Jesus has been there, to the ultimate end. He did it so that they, and we, know we are not alone. Whatever we may be subjected to in the name of our faith, Jesus has been there. His wounds, his scars offer us healing and his presence.
In the UK, we do not suffer for our religion. Yes we may get the occasional funny look or be challenged, we may even be required to remove a cross as jewellery or a badge, but that is not suffering or persecution. If we think it is we do a huge disservice to those who truly are suffering for their faith, places where people’s lives are in danger for what they believe. In fact I think we do more persecuting of one another than we receive from others!
Yet there are things we have done, that we will not be punished for. They are things we have got wrong, but yet we take no blame, because Jesus, the blameless one, has already done it. We have wandered, we do deserve punishment, but we are saved from it. He suffered and died, so that we might know life, freedom, a new hope and a new start.
So perhaps any time we think we’re suffering unjustly and feel like moaning; perhaps we should remember, not the things we haven’t done that we’re being condemned for; but the things we have done that we haven’t taken the blame for – quite a sobering thought. And then thank God, that Jesus did. The one who had never done any wrong took the blame of the whole world, of everything I have ever done wrong and offers me forgiveness, life and hope.
