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| My morning necessities- my Bible & my coffee! Notice the snow scene reflected in my coffee. |
This morning, while reading my devotions a few thoughts came
to mind that I thought you may like. I have been reading through the book
of Mark and today have arrived at the best part – Christ’s crucifiction.
Leading up to this I have been reading about Christ’s earthly ministry as He
clearly shows He is the Son of God. Now He is taken by the Roman soldiers
and brought before Pilate. Pilate is appalled, by His reply of nothing
(15:2). Finally Christ says, “why should I reply, you are already saying
who I am”. Isn’t it funny that the heathen know who God is. Some people look to themselves as gods to make their own life
choices, yet, they accuse His people of being God’s people (“Oh, you are one of
‘them”!”).
Next, I saw how God even used the sinfulness of a man named
Barabas to bring glory to Himself. God sometimes uses our sin to point
others to the Savior. Christ dying on the cross spoke heavily to His
people when one of the worst sinners was set free. Christ died in this
awful man’s place and He has died for me! I wonder what Barabas thought
of all of this.
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| How beautiful! The snow on Saturday & Sunday. |
What led the people to let this man go? The awful sin
of envy (15:10) by the high priests. Even what I consider little sins can
culminate in something as big. Wow, be careful Christians when we give
one thing over to satan!
As I read further, I saw how the soldiers mocked Christ,
dressed Him up as King, and then they cast lots for his garments (15:24).
The unsaved mock Christ and laugh at His name, but they still want a part of
Him, only when it is of some profit to them. If it was modern times, they
probably would have gambled for His clothes and then sold them on EBay to the
highest bidder. Sadly, the world we live in and the world Christ lived in
has not changed.
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| The Cottage- where I used to live. |
The best part of my reading today was in verse 34. Christ’s words – “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” This last week, I have been reading about Christ’s time in the garden praying and His teaching to the disciples about His coming death, but now here He is. The moment He has prepared His disciples for and He asks His Father why He is forsaken. He knew what would happen because He has told it so many times. He told the people that God cannot look on sin and yet He wonders why God has forsaken Him.
This is the most triumphant moment of all – He is humanity! This is so sweet and precious to me. The God-Man has truly shown His love and the affect it has on Him to be separated by sin from His beloved Father. This is what made the centurion standing by finally believe (15:39). The Bible says that when He cried out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me”, that is when the centurion believed.
How powerful this message is to us!
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| View across the field to my neighbor's farm. |
The last thing that I gathered today, in this chapter, was
God’s perfect timing. Joseph of Aramathea came to claim Christ’s body on
the day of preparation for the Sabbath (15:42). The Lamb of God had been
slain and now it was time to take His body to prepare for burial. Pilate was
astonished that Christ was actually dead. He was also amazed that Joseph
came so quickly for the body of our Lord. God’s people were used to show
Pilate their faith and dedication to our God. The saints reacted to the
death, burial, and resurrection in a faithful manner. They trusted Christ
in life and in death. Oh, to be seen as one of those saints.
I am sure there is much more to glean,
but these are just
some of what specifically stuck out to me today.
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| My house in the ice & snow on Sunday. |