April 18, 2025

JESUS WAS THE SACRIFICE FOR US

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.

Luke 23:44-46 NLT

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TODAY’S THOUGHT

It is Good Friday—a day of suffering and death. You might think it interesting to call this day “good” but if you realize everything that was happening in the divine plan of God you will see it was a good day for humanity.

Let’s recap this day. Jesus is going to spend the early hours in trials before the Annas, the former high priest and father-in-law of the present high priest; then before Caiaphas, the present high priest, and the Jewish ruling council; then Pontius Pilate, Roman governor of Judea: then before  Herod, ruler of Galilee; and finally back to Pilate who was reluctant to pronounce a judgement of crucifixion but eventually gave in to pressure from the mob. 

While Jesus is undergoing the trials, whipping, humiliation, and torture of the Roman guards, Judas gets remorseful. He returns the money to the Jewish leaders and goes out and hangs himself. 

Peter is in the courtyard denying that he ever knew Jesus—not just once but three times. Exactly as Jesus had prophesied.

Early on Friday Jesus is sentence to the inhumane death of crucifixion and forced to carry His cross to Golgotha. He stumbles under the weight of the cross possibly because of exhaustion from the torture at the hands of the Roman guards. A man named Simon of Cyrene is forced to carry the cross. 

At about 9:00am Jesus is hung on the cross. He will hang there for six hours in agony. At noon there will be an eclipse of the sun as darkness covers the land. 

Jesus will make seven statements from the cross that are recorded in the scriptures. The first is, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

In His pain and agony Jesus offered mercy to those who caused His suffering. What a model for us.

His final statement is, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). With this statement of surrender and trust Jesus laid down His life for the sins of all humanity. Jesus had prophesied that no one would take Him life from Him but that He would lay it down willfully (John 19:30).

Matthew, Mark, and Luke record in their gospels that at His death the curtain in the Temple was torn. I believe this was the curtain, or veil, that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple. Behind this curtain was the Ark of the Covenant and the manifest presence of God. 

Only one man once a year could enter the Holy of Holies to offer the blood of the Passover Lamb as atonement for the sins of the nation. But now with Jesus’ death that curtain was torn. Matthew and Mark make a point that the curtain was torn from the top to the bottom. It was if Father God reached down and ripped open the entrance so that all humanity could come into His presence. 

Because of the death of Jesus, we can enter the presence of Almighty God. Hallelujah! This is not because of our goodness but because Jesus paid for our sins.

I encourage you to consider joining a Good Friday service and remembering the sacrifice of Jesus by receiving communion together with the family of God.

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TODAY’S PRAYER

Holy Spirit help me to remember the incredible sacrifice Jesus paid for me. Help me to live worthy of His death. 

“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”