Sitting with the Lord and remembering His sacrifice. Good Friday was anything but good to our Savior. Reading about the many trials that Jesus went through from Thursday night into Friday. There were six trials that culminated into His crucufixion. He was beaten, accused, starved, sleep deprived, mocked and ridiculed. And then made to carry His own cross up a hill to die while being abused. He was then brutally murdered, bruised, pierced, and continuously mocked while sacrificing His life. I’m like the disciples this morning and saying to myself in awe, “What manner of man is this?!” Who would give up his divinity and power to call down 10,000 angels for his rescue. Who would endure the cross, despised and rejected yet offer up not only His life but pronounce forgiveness for His offenders. Who in complete humanity endured such pain to the point of death and never shrank back from His mission? What manner of man? Who hung on that cross for 6 hours of torture sweating blood and tears knowing that He had to be separated from His Father so that our sins could be forgiven. What manner of man!!! As I reflect and allow myself to feel His sacrifice deeply. I feel His passion for us. I feel His mercy for us. I feel His grief. And right behind those feelings, I feel joy! Yeah as I reflect on the egregious attacks against the Savior and His reason for enduring, I feel joy. Because I know that the resurrection is just around the corner. Jesus told the disciples, I tell you these things so that your joy may be full! So these mixed feelings of pain and joy because of what Jesus did for us are exactly His point. Yes I’m going to suffer and yes I am going to bring great joy to your life because of my sacrifice. Because he laid down His life, I know that a new day is coming. I know that what Jesus did for me, for us is irreversible. I am forever forgiven, forever reconciled, forever loved by God. And nothing I do or anyone else does can change that truth. It brings me joy on this Good Friday!

Just sharing my morning musings. What a loving friend we have in Jesus. Greater love has no man than this…that He would lay down His life for a friend!