Good Friday: Matthew 27:32-44
Today we will stay with Jesus as he is executed for crimes he did not commit. Read Matthew 27:32-44 prayerfully noticing anything that stands out as you read.
“Come down from the cross.” This is the cry of the oglers as they pass the site of crucifixion. It is a centrally located site strategically chosen by the Roman government to ensure that many people will pass by and witness the penalty for insurrection against the rule of law.
Some of the passersby are undoubtedly the same people who just five days earlier spread their cloaks on the road and waved symbols of victory as Jesus rode by on a donkey. On that Sunday they cried out, “Save now!” but now as they make their way past the gruesome, dying figure hanging on the center cross, they scream: “Come down from the cross.”
It is their bitterness and hostility that Jesus receives as his own in this moment. He remains on the cross for the sake of those who hurl their acrimony at him.
Stop to contemplate Jesus on the cross taking on the sins of the scoffers. Now consider the fact that on the cross Jesus took on everything you’ve ever thought wrong, said wrong or done wrong. Jesus stayed on the cross to make you right with God.
Stay with this for a while and then express anything you are thinking and feeling to Jesus.
“He saved others…but he can’t save himself! So he is the king of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him!”
He healed the sick and restored the broken, and to anyone who’s been watching, his power to set things right is unquestionable. He has every resource of heaven and earth at his disposal, but he chooses to stay on the cross. The people he healed will one day succumb to illness or old age, but what Jesus is doing on the cross to set things right between God and humanity will last forever.
Jesus not only took on the sins of every human for all time, he also took on the pain and suffering caused by sin. He stayed on the cross for every tear you have cried.
For the remainder of this time of meditation, pour out your heart to Jesus and then get quiet and listen to him.
What is Jesus saying to you today?
What will you do about that?
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