Devotion by Pastor Audrey
April 10, 2020
We’ve been following Jesus’ last week on earth. We come now to his last day on earth. A day filled with deceit, betrayal and unspeakable pain and suffering. What Jesus went through on that Friday is inconceivable. When I reread the accounts of that day I found myself focusing on the horror and the torture Jesus went through. But then I realized I was only focusing on the unimaginable agony and not the unimaginable love of that day.
As John 3:16 reminds us, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God loved us, all of us, so much he sacrificed his only son so never again would we be separated from him because of our sin. And Jesus loved us, all of us, so much he would follow his father’s will no matter what it cost him. As Christians, we have heard and read this verse from John many times. But have you ever stopped and spent time considering the depth of this kind of love? As a parent, I would readily give my life for my children; but would I give my life for a person who exploited and harmed others? That is what God did through Jesus. He had his beloved son die for everyone no matter how/or how much they have sinned, so they would always share in God’s love and eternal life with Him.
On this Good Friday, may we never forget the unconceivable agony, physically, emotionally and spiritually, Jesus went through on that dark day two thousand years ago. However, let us also never forget the unbelievable love that was demonstrated and given to us on that same day.