Were you there when they nailed Him to the cross….Man of sorrows what a name…When I survey the wondrous Cross…Oh Sacred Head now wounded…Broken and Beautiful…And can it be…come ye sinners poor and needy…Just as I am…Nothing but the blood…Rock of Ages…The Old Rugged Cross…What wondrous love is this…Hallelujah what a Savior
Such powerful songs that leave me with a true sense of what Good Friday holds…
They are songs that remind me of the ache and the sacrifice, the cry of a soul and brevity of my sin…I find great depth in the music of Good Friday. It resonates in my heart and I can sing the words from memory…
And then I turn to reflect on Jesus on the cross. I found the following helpful in directing my thoughts today….
By all accounts Jesus didn’t do a lot of talking on the cross. He was silent during the hours he hung there, except for a very few words. But these Seven Last Words provide a window into Jesus’ soul, a way to understand what is ultimately important to this One who is dying on the cross.
These Words reveal his incredible love, his determination, his humanness as well as his divinity, his intimate relationship with his Father, and finally his trust.
1. Father, Forgive Them (Luke 23:34)
2. This Day You Will Be with Me in Paradise (Luke 23:43)
3. Woman, Behold Your Son (John 19:26-27)
4. My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me? (Mark 15:34)
5. I Thirst (John 19:28)
6. It Is Finished (John 19:30)
7. Father, Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit (Luke 23:46)
And as this day draws to a close, it seems appropriate that it is dark and stormy. That the wind and the thunder and the rain fit with what we commemorate today. I am thankful for Christ’s death on the cross. It offers me a purpose for living and an eternal hope in a world that is hard to understand sometimes. I am thankful that the story doesn’t end on the cross, but that Sunday’s coming and Because He lives…I can face tomorrow!
Hallelujah….what a Savior!
What a Savior, INDEED!