Daily Prayer Guide - Passion Week - The Trial of Eternity

Read:  John 18:1-11; Luke 22:66-23:25; Matt 27: 32-56

Mark 15:16-25

¹⁶ The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. ¹⁷ They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. ¹⁸ And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁹ Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. ²⁰ And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

²¹ A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. ²² They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ²³ Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴ And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

²⁵ It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶ The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.

Listen: “You Gave Your Life Away”;  P Baloche   

The Trial of Eternity

Consider:  Jesus was arrested and His trial immediately began very early in the morning, while it was still dark.  The trial of all eternity, that took place in three courts, was over by mid-morning.   Jesus allowed rulers that He had established to condemn Him, soldiers that He had knit together in their mother’s womb to beat Him mercilessly then nail him to a tree that He created, and carried to the hill.  Jesus experienced the rejection of his followers, the pressure of arrogant men, the pain of senseless beatings, the humiliation of a naked crucifixion and what he cries out for is the pain of separation from His Father (Matt 27:46). 

Restoring your relationship with God is the reason He went to the cross.   The pain of the brokenness of that relationship is what cost Him his life.  There is no life apart from the Father, because He is the source of all Life.   When Jesus died, the earth shook to exclaim, “This is the Son of God”.  

Jesus was condemned to death so you and I wouldn’t have to be.  He did what only he could do.  He went to the cross to bear the sin of our rebellion, though he had committed no sin of his own.  He was sinless yet took on the guilt of the sinful.  He was perfect in everyway and yet allowed himself to be broken for every kind of our sin.  No sin of humanity would be left out of his crucifixion in his Father’s sight.   The death of the perfect God-man was required and sufficient restitution to satisfy the penalty of our offense before our creator.   All who would look to the God-man on the cross and exclaim with the thief “remember me when you come into your kingdom” would find the compassionate hope of forgiveness of the Father.  All who would seek the forgiveness purchased by Jesus’ death would find grace of life that only the Father could give.  The scars of the cross will mark the life of the believer for eternity.

Prayer:

Father, Thank you that you loved the world so much to send His son to die for it.  Thank you that Jesus endured the pain that paid the price for my sin so I might be in a right relationship with you…

• Confess that your sin required Jesus’ death on the cross.
• Ask Him to help you never loose sight of the cross
• Thank Him for loving you so much.
• Ask Him to help believers everywhere to speak words of hope and truth to those struggling with the effects of coronavirus. 

Help us live in faith that Jesus’ death on the cross was sufficient to set us free from the power of sin and death.  May we never forget what Jesus has done for us and the price he paid for us so we can be with you, now and forever.   Amen. 

Meditate:

Isa 53:5-6

 But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,

and by his wounds we are healed. 

 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to his own way;

and the LORD has laid on him 

the iniquity of us all.