WORDS FROM THE HEART
Opening Prayer
On this Good Friday, Father, speak to me in a fresh way as I read the familiar story of Jesus on the cross.
Read LUKE 23:26–43
The Crucifixion of Jesus
26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then
“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!”’[a]
31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[b] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[c]”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Footnotes
- Luke 23:30 Hosea 10:8
- Luke 23:34 Some early manuscripts do not have this sentence.
- Luke 23:42 Some manuscripts come with your kingly power
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ John 3:16.We’re taught from early childhood that our words matter. But what comes out of our mouths has its origin elsewhere. Earlier in his gospel, Luke showed Jesus teaching about the link between our mouth and our heart: ‘For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of’ (Luke 6:45). Here, the cruelty of the previous hours continued as Jesus was mocked and insulted. Until now Jesus had offered few words, often remaining silent to the frustration of those trying to send him to his death. Now, though, as we arrive at the most painful moment of Jesus’ life on earth, Jesus did speak—and his heart was revealed.
He first summoned energy to speak to the women mourning for him (vv. 28–30). It was men who had dominated this story, and yet it was women that Jesus first addressed on his way to the cross. He then spoke to God the Father, asking him to forgive his persecutors (v. 34), before granting the gift of eternal life to the repentant criminal (v. 43).
Giving dignity to women, asking for forgiveness for his killers, and promising eternal life to a convicted criminal: these were the priorities of Jesus’ heart, which he spoke at his greatest time of trial.
Apply
Take time today to reflect on the state of your own heart. Do your words reveal a heart in need of God’s care and correction?
Closing prayer
Jesus, my Savior, thank you for going to the cross and dying in my stead so that I may live. I want to follow you in all I think and do.
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