As I read Matthew 27, my voice goes from being strong and learned to shaky and tearful. Most of us know what it feels like to be ridiculed and rejected, mocked and some us have even been beaten. But can you imagine these things being done to you and your only goal was to love, serve and save?
I remember a painful day as a young girl, when all my friends, (the only 3 I had), decided not to talk to me for the whole school day. I was SO hurt! I wasn’t innocent in the matter, but I felt empty and rejected and heavy. Do you know that feeling? When it feels like the whole world is against you?
Can you imagine Jesus, the One who had just been celebrated with shouts of “Hosanna”, meaning ‘save, rescue, savior’ being turned on and now having the people shout “crucify Him” and “nail Him to the cross?” Can you imagine being innocently sent to an agonizing, shameful death? One where the people chose you to go instead of a known murderer? We know this was God’s plan to redeem us, but wow! Can you imagine how much love Jesus had for us to endure such a course of events?
I still have days where I feel rejected and persecuted, but I’m so thankful that Jesus went before me and was given dominion and power and a Name that is above all names so that no matter what I face in this life, my true life is hidden in Him and in His work on the cross. I am more than accepted. I am HIS. In light of this Resurrection Sunday, let’s take a fresh look or even a first look at what He sacrificed so that we could be whole, in this life and in the next.
Jesus’s Arrest and Crucifixion Old Testament Prophesy of How Jesus Would Die