Over these past days we have focused on Jesus’ final hours before his death. Today we hit bottom. Have you had a time in your life when you felt like you have hit rock bottom? Perhaps you’re stuck in the muck at the bottom of the pit of hopelessness and can’t find your way out. Don’t spend much time there, but do remember the feeling you had. Hopelessness.
Sometimes it’s hard to insert ourselves in the crucifixion and burial part of the story because we know what happens next. I’ve been really focusing on trying to set aside my knowledge of the final victory to feel the hopelessness his friends and followers felt. Continue reading “Luke 23:44-56 – Hopelessness”
Crucifixion is such a horrible way to die. Sometimes we forget. We wear crosses to signify our Christian heritage, but we are wearing a symbol of extreme torture. We can not forget what Jesus endured for us. The cross can be our reminder.
Jesus is now on trial for his life. Those in authority, Pilate, the Roman governor, and Herod Antipas, king over the Galilean region, could find nothing wrong with Jesus. They would have been happy to have him flogged and released. They were at least of the right mind – Jesus was not a criminal deserving of death.
So in today’s reading we are witnesses to Jesus questioning by the council. This is an intermediary step we are not familiar with in our culture today. We are generally not questioned by the “church” before the “state.” But these are the disgruntled individuals who brought a claim against Jesus, the very claim that led to his arrest.
There are many people in the world that don’t know Jesus yet. It’s tragic to realize they don’t know the life giving promise Jesus means for us. Do we sometimes take Jesus’ love and protection for granted? What would we say if we were asked if we knew him?
