Text : Mark 15:16-24
Topic : JESUS CRUCIFIED BEFORE FRIENDS AND ENEMIES
“And they crucified him” Mark 15:24a.
At the funeral service of Pa Otimiri, his family shared how they have been comforted by the age and the way, their father had died. Pa Otimiri had died in his sleep surrounded by his loved ones at a full ripe age. Many of us would like to live long and pass on peacefully. Jesus’ death however was nothing near this. He was cut off young in life, just in His early thirties, died in a violent way, mocked by His enemies and abandoned by His friends.
There are many things about Christ’s suffering and death that we may recoil from. But two things are certain. One, Jesus’ suffering was God’s will for His life and was not because of any fault of His (Isa 53:10). Two, Jesus suffered in our place. Some people may accept the first truth but reject the second truth. Nevertheless, the suffering meted on Christ was our due because we had rebelled against God (Isa. 53:4). Out of His love, God sent His Son to receive the wrath due us and restore us back unto Him. Christ has not demanded anything in exchange for this. What remains is for you to gratefully accept Christ as your Lord and Saviour and live your life daily to please Him.
Birthday Blessing: “Because he loves me, says the Lord, I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him. With long life I will satisfy him…” Psalm 91:14.
RBT Passage: Psalms 1 – 8
“God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons that we could learn in no other way”. – C. S. Lewis
