A Prayer of Gratitude For God's Great Love As We Remember Jesus' Death

 Let me just read us a few verses describing the moments when Jesus was breathing His last and dying on our behalf.

Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads  and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.  He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”  In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.  Matthew 27:38-44

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.  Luke 23:44-49

On this Good Friday we are stopped dead in our tracks, so to speak, in amazement, Lord Jesus, at the depth of Your love for us.  While we didn't care, while we scorned You and Your involvement in the earth and our lives You acted on our behalf at huge personal cost.  You were misunderstood and misjudged.  You were beaten and mocked.  You were discriminated against, falsely accused, and even though an innocent man, You were condemned to death.  Until the last moment you could have escaped becoming sin and the death and separation from Your Father that resulted, but You voluntarily laid down Your life.  We remember with amazement and our hearts are filled with gratitude.

We try to look today at all You did for us from our little pinprick of time and it's hard to take in. You did so much more for us than we will ever now until we see you face to face in heaven.  For some of us that may come sooner rather than later due to things like the covid-19 virus, or it may be a long time coming yet.  What we do know Lord Jesus, is that we can pray for one another in powerful ways and see our experience of You deepened in all of us. That’s all we know to do today and honestly, we know that’s all that really matters.

I bow in prayer to the Father because of my work among you. From the Father every family in heaven and on earth gets its name. I pray that he will use his glorious riches to make you strong. May his Holy Spirit give you his power deep down inside you. Then Christ will live in your hearts because you believe in him. And I pray that your love will have deep roots. I pray that it will have a strong foundation. May you have power together with all the Lord’s holy people to understand Christ’s love. May you know how wide and long and high and deep it is. And may you know his love, even though it can’t be known completely. Then you will be filled with everything God has for you. Ephesians 3:14-19

While we don't understand the depths of it all, we know that there is something new and different when we surrender our will and our life into Your care and begin to know and follow Your will for our daily lives.  These famous words in the Bible try to describe that in terms of the cross and Good Friday and we want this to be our affirmation today. 

I have been crucified with Christ. I don’t live any longer, but Christ lives in me. Now I live my life in my body by faith in the Son of God. He loved me and gave himself for me.  Galatians 2:20 NIRV

It’s a solemn day and a day to just try to be with God and let this deepest of all truths soak into our lives in life-changing ways.