Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

Attending Jesus - Friday

Friday, March 25, 2005

John 19:17...42
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull. Here they crucified him. They took his clothes, dividing them into four shares. Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

Knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." When he had received the (vinegar) drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. One of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.

Taking Jesus' body, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus wrapped it, with spices, in strips of linen, in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Since he began his ministry Jesus had said, "I am living water. Drink from my well and you will never be thirsty again." He said to the multitudes, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." And they followed him. He led the way out of earth into the kingdom of God.

Now Jesus is dead. He told Pilate he spoke the truth and Pilate scoffed resignedly, "What is truth?" In the dark moments after Jesus' head falls to his chest, breathing his last, thirsty himself, his words and miracles and life on earth seem to have changed nothing. Life moved along that day like it did the day before, like it would tomorrow. This "day of preparation," like all the others, actually prepared the Jews for nothing more than a few extra hours of fallen, sin-filled existence on earth.

Jesus was buried in his tomb, like every other man. Wrapped in swaddling cloths at birth, now he was wrapped in burial linens. Like every other man. His body would rot and so it was covered with spices to reduce the odor. Like every other man.

How victorious must Jesus' opponents have felt on this joyless day - this avowed prince of God humiliated and dying, dying, and finally dead. No angel shook the hill, climbed the cross or rescued Jesus. His body finally just hung there limp, pierced by a Roman sword, carried off for burial by his friends. It was over.

Wailing and weeping fill my chest and throat, Lord, knowing you are gone. There is nothing here left to shine, landscape bleak and empty, no hope. The darkness is my closest friend. Why am I still talking to you, anyway? You're dead, Jesus. Aren't you?

Devotions Archive

Attending Jesus - Friday

Friday, March 25, 2005