March 8th, 2023
by Jon Welch
by Jon Welch
Death
Jesus is identified to the crowd of people who have come to take Him away by Judas, who has come to betray Him. Judas kisses Jesus, and Jesus responds by calling him “friend” (Matt. 26:50). He was a friend of sinners until the end! Betrayed into the hands of the religious leaders, Jesus is led away to be questioned, lied about, treated unjustly, beaten, whipped, and, finally, hung on a cross between two criminals.
Read: Luke 23:26-49; Matthew 27:27-56; Mark 15:16-41; John 19: 13-30
As you read these passages, list all the ways in which Jesus suffered for us.
What is Jesus modeling for us about leadership?
As you reread the crucifixion story, what new insights do you discover?
There is not much I can say about the death of Jesus that has not been said hundreds of times, written about, and put up on the big screen. The obvious is that Jesus suffered in His humanity greatly in those last few hours. What may not be so obvious is how He suffered spiritually. He told His disciples the night before, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matt.26:38). Maybe the most significant suffering Jesus experienced was when He cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). God the Father, at that moment, had placed all of our sins on Jesus, for it is written, “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” (Isa. 53:5). I think one of the most significant ways Jesus suffered was being forsaken by the Father, who had to turn His back on Him because He was carrying all the weight of our sin. His Father could no longer look at Him. Once for all time, the sacrifice had been made. The Passover lamb of God had His blood shed, and the temple’s veil was torn. Because of that sacrifice, we now have access to the living God and face-to-face access to the throne room of heaven. Those who believe are adopted into this new family and have unlimited access to the presence of the Holy of Holies. Unbelievable.
The author of Hebrews puts it like this:
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
Hebrews 10:19-22
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice as the Lamb of God, we can now come to God the Father spotless because Jesus took our spots and washed them white as snow. The place that was once forbidden to enter, the Holy of Holies, was made available to all through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. How can it be that my God would die for me? It was the great exchange: I had a debt I could not pay; He paid a debt He did not owe. Jesus lived out His love as an example to us because “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). He laid down His life for you and me! You and I are considered friends, worthy of that sacrifice. At that moment, the innocent died for the guilty, the holy for the unholy. He died for us.
Let’s pause and remember that Jesus not only suffered for us at the end of His life, but He suffered His entire life for us. We’ve looked at this, but it’s good to remember what we’ve leaders over the past weeks. Think about it. In heaven, Jesus was worshiped all the time by angels that adored Him. He was obeyed and believed in all the time there. Then, as the greatest missionary ever, He left all that and came to earth to be hated, disobeyed, mistreated, rejected, and killed. The will of the Father was for Jesus to die on the cross. It was not the will of the Son, but Jesus was willing to submit to the will of the Father to show us the extent of His love. You see, the will of the Father is the same for us as it was for Jesus. The will of the Father is that we die to ourselves. This is the will of God for you that you die daily (1 Cor.15:31). Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). When we follow Jesus and Paul’s examples, we exchange our sinful, self-centered lives for His holy, pure, glorious life. What an exchange! Are you willing to die to yourself? Are you ready to submit yourself to the will of the Father?
According to Jesus, leadership dies to one’s desires, passions, and dreams and submits to the will of the Father. Have you died to yourself? Today, spend some time meditating on the following passages and see how Paul did it. The overwhelming message of the Apostle Paul is death to self and life in Christ. Then talk to your friends about this!
Romans 6:1-14
Romans 8:9-11
1 Corinthians 15:31
Galatians 2:20
Galatians 5:24-25
Galatians 6:14-18
Philippians 1:21
Philippians 3:7-11
Hebrews 12:3-4
Read: Luke 23:26-49; Matthew 27:27-56; Mark 15:16-41; John 19: 13-30
As you read these passages, list all the ways in which Jesus suffered for us.
What is Jesus modeling for us about leadership?
As you reread the crucifixion story, what new insights do you discover?
There is not much I can say about the death of Jesus that has not been said hundreds of times, written about, and put up on the big screen. The obvious is that Jesus suffered in His humanity greatly in those last few hours. What may not be so obvious is how He suffered spiritually. He told His disciples the night before, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matt.26:38). Maybe the most significant suffering Jesus experienced was when He cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). God the Father, at that moment, had placed all of our sins on Jesus, for it is written, “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” (Isa. 53:5). I think one of the most significant ways Jesus suffered was being forsaken by the Father, who had to turn His back on Him because He was carrying all the weight of our sin. His Father could no longer look at Him. Once for all time, the sacrifice had been made. The Passover lamb of God had His blood shed, and the temple’s veil was torn. Because of that sacrifice, we now have access to the living God and face-to-face access to the throne room of heaven. Those who believe are adopted into this new family and have unlimited access to the presence of the Holy of Holies. Unbelievable.
The author of Hebrews puts it like this:
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
Hebrews 10:19-22
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice as the Lamb of God, we can now come to God the Father spotless because Jesus took our spots and washed them white as snow. The place that was once forbidden to enter, the Holy of Holies, was made available to all through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. How can it be that my God would die for me? It was the great exchange: I had a debt I could not pay; He paid a debt He did not owe. Jesus lived out His love as an example to us because “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). He laid down His life for you and me! You and I are considered friends, worthy of that sacrifice. At that moment, the innocent died for the guilty, the holy for the unholy. He died for us.
Let’s pause and remember that Jesus not only suffered for us at the end of His life, but He suffered His entire life for us. We’ve looked at this, but it’s good to remember what we’ve leaders over the past weeks. Think about it. In heaven, Jesus was worshiped all the time by angels that adored Him. He was obeyed and believed in all the time there. Then, as the greatest missionary ever, He left all that and came to earth to be hated, disobeyed, mistreated, rejected, and killed. The will of the Father was for Jesus to die on the cross. It was not the will of the Son, but Jesus was willing to submit to the will of the Father to show us the extent of His love. You see, the will of the Father is the same for us as it was for Jesus. The will of the Father is that we die to ourselves. This is the will of God for you that you die daily (1 Cor.15:31). Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). When we follow Jesus and Paul’s examples, we exchange our sinful, self-centered lives for His holy, pure, glorious life. What an exchange! Are you willing to die to yourself? Are you ready to submit yourself to the will of the Father?
According to Jesus, leadership dies to one’s desires, passions, and dreams and submits to the will of the Father. Have you died to yourself? Today, spend some time meditating on the following passages and see how Paul did it. The overwhelming message of the Apostle Paul is death to self and life in Christ. Then talk to your friends about this!
Romans 6:1-14
Romans 8:9-11
1 Corinthians 15:31
Galatians 2:20
Galatians 5:24-25
Galatians 6:14-18
Philippians 1:21
Philippians 3:7-11
Hebrews 12:3-4
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2 Comments
What a great way to start the day! Remembering John 3:30! ❤️
It's amazing to me that God would send his Son down on this earth to live as a human then to die on the cross for the rest of humanity. Jesus' death on the cross proves God's love for each and every person he created. If only we would recognize what God has done and come to Christ as our Lord and Savior. But, many resist and don't recognize that sin means death and destruction.