Good morning Lord Jesus, I begin my work week put my life in the hands of the one who loved me from the beginning.
Above his head they put the charge against him, which read: “This is Jesus, the king of the Jews…. If he comes down now from the cross, we will believe in him! He trusts in God - let God, if he wants to, deliver him now because he said, ʻI am Godʼs Sonʼ!” (Matthew 27:37,42-43).
There is rich irony in the statements of those who were passing by, "save yourself!" and "come down from the cross!" They wanted Jesus to come down from the cross and save His physical life, but it was indeed His staying on the cross and giving his physical life that led to the fact that they could experience a resurrection from death to life. Those passing by only believed what they saw. All of Jesus’ disciples only believed what they saw and fled, hid themselves and abandoned Him. Jesus’ resurrection had not yet occurred in the world and they had no knowledge or faith in what was happening before them and what was to come.
However, we who today call ourselves “Christians“ have knowledge of the death and resurrection of Jesus and it is at the core of our faith. We also understand that it is only by dying to ourselves that we also can experience resurrection from the dead into eternal life. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-26)
When we read that verse we hum through it. We too want Jesus to come down from the cross. Because if we truly believe that Jesus had to die on the cross, if we truly believe that it was through suffering that Jesus would redeem the world, then we must truly believe that in order to call ourselves a “Christian”, a follower and imitator of Jesus, the “anyone” in the verse above Jesus is referring to is “Me”. And the “anyone” in the verse above Jesus is referring to is you reading this devotion right now. And we can either hum through the verse or truly read, understand, and believe it and then we too must also “Trust in God,” we too must also pick up our cross, and we too must also suffer.
Jesus asked His disciples, “Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?” (Matthew 20:22). This morning and every morning we are blessed to wake up to be part of another day on earth, as our feet are hitting the floor next to our bed Jesus asks the same questions of us. “Are you willing to drink the cup that I drink today?” When was the last time you can honestly say you picked up your cross and suffered for your faith? When was the last time you did something that made you even a little uncomfortable for your faith? What are your intentional plans for cross bearing today? Or do you plan on “humming” through the day.
My family, as we approach the end of reading through the Gospel of Matthew which will be tomorrow, our first book of the New Testament that we are reading through together. I pray you will reflect on your call to be cross bearers and the same irony that is only by you giving: giving up the safety and comfort of physical life that you and those you encounter in the world will experience a resurrection from death to life. In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I ask you to please share your reflections and prayers on your reflections from this mornings reading with us in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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Thank You!