John 19:16-30
16Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus; 17and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. 18There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. 21Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.'” 22Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says,
“They divided my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
25And that is what the soldiers did.
Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” 27Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
28After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” 29A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
As I went for my walk this morning, there was a point that it suddenly got very cloudy and the wind began to blow. I suddenly had this chill come over me as I thought about how it was Good Friday, the day that we remember and reflect when our Lord was crucified.
In John 19:16-30, Jesus is hanging on the cross, just about to take His last breath. “Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were His mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene” (v.25). I am a mother of four children. I cannot fathom what Mary, the Mother of Jesus, went through on that day. My guess is that when Mary became pregnant with the Son of God, she never dreamed this would be the way it would end. As a mother watching her Son, not only be crucified, but also watched him as he was flogged, spat upon, and mocked, had to be absolutely horrifying.
In all honesty, I cannot watch the movie, “The Passion of Christ.” It just hurts way too much. But, we need to remember. We need to reflect on what Christ did. We need to know that Jesus could have said, “no.” We need to mourn the death he died. Because the thing is, Jesus didn’t just die. He went to hell! He went to hell and fought Satin head on – And, he did it to break the barrier of death! He went to hell so that you and I would never have to!
Take this day to remember our Lord and what He did for us! And, Jesus did it for every single human being on this earth – whether they believe or not – all have been included in Jesus’ saving act on the cross.
Let us pray…Gracious God, thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ. While it is so hard to understand, grasp, and even at times, truly believe – we give you thanks and praise. You give us hope! You give us hope for a better tomorrow. You give us hope for a future that is beyond our imaginations. Thank you Lord Jesus! Amen.
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