Daily Devotional for Thursday 28th March
Jesus’ crucifixion
We begin the reading today walking with Jesus as He carries His cross to the place where He would be crucified. Lots of pictures of this scene show Jesus carrying a full cross, but it could have been just the horizontal beam as the vertical one was often fixed in the ground ready. Crucifixion was the most cruel and awful of punishments in the Roman world. And carrying your cross was a way to make it even worse. Not only was it heavy and awkward, especially when you had already endured being tortured, it was also a way to bring shame and humiliation.
We also see in today’s reading that Pilate finally has some authority over the chief priests. The sign Pilate has placed above Jesus says ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews’ in Aramaic, Greek and Latin so that it would have been understandable to lots of people. Unsurprisingly, the Jewish chief priests weren’t happy with the sign and wanted the wording changed to say that Jesus only claimed to be the King of the Jews. But Pilate puts his foot down. This is something he didn’t do while Jesus was being questioned and he instead let the Jewish priests and people make the decisions (take a look at John 19:12;15-16). Now he says, ‘What I have written, I have written’ (v.22).
Finally, we see Jesus’ compassion on His mother. Even while He was dying He was aware of the needs of others and made sure that Mary would be cared for. It’s hard to imagine how Mary must have felt, standing at the foot of the cross. It must have been so hard for her to have been there watching her Son die. When she had brought Jesus to the temple as a small child, she had met Simeon who prophesied many things about the life of Jesus. But he also prophesied to Mary that ‘a sword will pierce your own soul too’ (Luke 2:35). It most probably felt like a sword piercing her soul while she was watching Jesus die.
Time to reflect...
• Why was the sign above Jesus significant?
• When have you seen Jesus’ compassion in your life? How can you show compassion to those around you today?
Pause to pray…
As you prepare yourself to reflect during Good Friday and Holy Saturday, before the celebrations of Easter Sunday, ask the Lord for fresh insight into the events He endured leading up to His crucifixion, and ask for a renewed understanding of what He has done for you on the cross.
