Good Friday Reflections.....

Reading "He Chose the Nails" this week of Easter had been deeply moving. There are so many parts of the Crucifixion that I've never looked at closely before.

Christ endured the soldiers spit. The soldiers assignment was simple: Take the Nazarene to the hill and kill him. But they had another idea. Strong, rested , armed soldiers encircled an exhausted, nearly dead, Galilean carpenter and beat up on him. The scourging was commanded . The crucifixion was ordered. But who would draw pleasure out of spitting on a half-dead man?

Spitting isn't intended to hurt the body-it can't. Spitting is intended to degrade the soul, and it does. Were they not elevating themselves at the expense of another? ( don't I do the same thing whenever I gossip, or roll my eyes in arrogance at a comment I consider foolish?)

The Crown of Thorns: Throughout Scripture thorns symbolize, not sin, but the consequences of sin. Rebellion results in thorns. The fruit of sin is thorns- spiny, prickly, cutting thorns. If the fruit of sin is thorns , isn't the thorny crown a picture of the fruit of our sin that pierced his heart?

God's Promise in the Cross: Why is the cross the symbol of our faith? To find the answer look no futher than the cross itself. Its design couldn't be simpler. One beam horizontal-the other vertical. One reaches out-like God's love. The other reaches up-as does God's holiness. One represents the width of his love; the other reflects the height of his holiness. The cross is the intersection. The cross is where God forgave his children without lowering his standards.

How wide is God's love? Wide enough for the whole world. Are you included in the world? Then you are included in God's love!

Thank you for including me Lord....I'm not rich, famous or even thin! Amen!