²⁶ As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.  ²⁷ A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him.  ²⁸ Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.  ²⁹ For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’  ³⁰ Then “‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”  and to the hills, “Cover us!”’  ³¹ For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”  ³² Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.  ³³ When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.  ³⁴ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.  ³⁵ The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him.  They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”  ³⁶ The soldiers also came up and mocked him.  They offered him wine vinegar ³⁷ and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”  ³⁸ There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.  ³⁹ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”  ⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him.  “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.  But this man has done nothing wrong.”  ⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  ⁴³ Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:26 – 43)

 

And so, we come to the crux of the matter, as some would say.  “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21).  As we think about current world events, a pandemic cure would be great, the eradication of poverty would be spectacular, and the end of all wars and conflicts would be phenomenal.  If all these global problems were permanently solved the world would still need the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to satisfy man’s essential need.  Ultimately, what the world needs is the complete payment for sin so that a right relationship with God can be restored.  Just like the Jewish rulers who sneered, the Roman soldiers who mocked, and the criminal on the cross who doubted, the world doesn’t see that Jesus is the answer to their existential problem.  Praise God, we know that He is and that makes today a Good Friday!

We are God’s ambassadors and through the power of the Holy Spirit we are empowered to let the world know that Jesus saves.

Please prayerfully read the passage above consider the suggestions below.

 

Suggestions

• Publicly share on our blog your gratitude for what Jesus did for you on the cross.
• Recommit to sharing the good news with your corner of the world.