WHEN ALL SEEMS LOST
Opening Prayer
Lord, Your crucifixion still makes an impact.
Read LUKE 23:47–56
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
The Burial of Jesus
50 Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. 54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
New International Version (NIV)
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Reflect
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” (1 Peter 3:18)
One of the many ironies in Luke’s account of the passion is that the only people who recognize something of the truth, as Jesus dies, are a crucified criminal and the Roman officer in charge of the execution. Having heard the words from the cross and seen how Jesus entrusted himself to the Father, the centurion declares him innocent and righteous (the Greek word dikaios carries both meanings). This is the seventh time Jesus is declared innocent in this chapter (4, 14, 15 (twice),22, 41). He has suffered unjustly. His incarnation has involved a total immersion in the human condition. He has borne our sin while enduring the cruelest experience of being betrayed and sinned against. He has identified with us both as sinners and sinned against. Such is God’s commitment to justice and mercy.
Jesus was and still is the Messiah and Son of God, but not as his accusers understand it. He could be Messiah and Son only by also being the innocent Suffering Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12): “my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11). There is far more to see here than the centurion perceives. Jesus is doing much more than bearing our sins on the cross. He is revealing the very character of God (See Philippians 2:6–11). There is no deeper revelation of the nature of our God than is seen in the cross of Jesus.
Triumph is looking like tragedy to those leaving this execution scene beating their breasts while walking home and also to those who have nothing left to do but give their Lord a decent burial. But what God has revealed through the cross can be trusted, whatever our circumstances. He is still at work when hope seems gone. He is near when we suffer unjustly. While we wait for some resolution, we trust in the character of the one who sent his Son.
Apply
The rest of the resurrection story encourages us to face the most hopeless of situations and choose to trust our God, revealed in the cross.
Closing prayer
Lord, thank You for the hindsight to see Your death not as the end, but as the beginning.
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