Prepare: Fix your eyes on Jesus who endured the cross.. Heb.12:2,3
Read: Luke 23: 26-43
The Cross: Take time today to look at the cross and bow in humble adoration, as you remember that the Savior bore the mocking, insults, and pain for you. More than that! - He died, (the righteous for the unrighteous) to 'bring you to God.' (I Pet. 3:18). Luke highlights three incidents which are not mentioned in the other Gospels.
Prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem: Approaching Calvary, Jesus told the mourning women to weep not for Him, but for themselves. because of the impending doom of Jerusalem. 'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem.. I longed to gather you.. toghether as a hen... but you were not willing' (Matt.23:37)
Promise of life to the dying thief: The two criminals were guilty of violence and murder, but what a difference! On one side the robber joined those who hurled insults at Jesus. On the other side, the penitent thief confessed his guilt and recognized that Jesus was innocent. He saw beyond death, 'envisaging a spiritual kingdom' (A.E Cundall). What remarkable faith he showed! And Jesus responded, with His promise: 'Today you shall enter eternal life with Me.'
Prayer for His tormentors: "Father, Forgive...", another of the many details recorded which revealed the love Jesus had, even for His enemies. Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman Emperor and Stoic saint, used to say to himself every morning, "Today you will meet all kinds of unpleasant people; they will hurt you, and injure you, and insult you; but you cannot live like that; you know better, for you are a man in whom the spirit of God dwells."
Respond: 'Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.'
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