And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands...
When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.”
Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,
“They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
(excerpts from John 19 - ESV)
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I hope you find time to reflect on the cross today. What a sacrifice that has been made for us, what a price has been paid. When we stood condemned, Christ took our place, and there is now NO condemnation for us.
I have been listening to music all week to remind me of the weight of that sacrifice. I encourage you to do the same during this special weekend. Here are a few of the songs that have been in rotation. (I am putting the artists of the ones in my library, but a lot of them have been recorded by multiple artists)
Hallelujah, What A Savior - Shelly Moore Band
Arise, My Love - Newsong
Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me) - Casting Crowns
Stronger - Hillsong
He's Alive - Johnny Cash
Because of Your Love - Phil Wickham
Why - Nichole Nordeman
In Christ Alone - Matt Papa
In My Place - Village Church
Happy Easter weekend. Remember that you are loved in a big way by a God who endured the pain and the humiliation of the cross for you.
