Scripture Readings
1 Corinthians 5:6-8
Your boasting is not a good thing. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Colossians 2:13-14
And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.
2 Corinthians 5:17
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
Mark 15:22-24
They brought him to the place of Golgotha (which is translated Place of the Skull). They gave him wine drugged with myrrh, but he did not take it. Then they crucified him and divided his garments by casting lots for them to see what each should take.
Please take time to reflect on the image below.
Meditations from the preachers
By Uwe Brammer
Story: Huge nails are hammered through the hands and feet of Jesus, our Saviour, to fix him on the cross. He is bleeding much more seriously now. As the cross is lifted up, the weight of his life hangs on those nails. Every time he struggles to pull himself up to breathe, his ability to cling to life slips away.
Prayer: We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed this broken world.
Meditation: With hands in front of my face I peer through my fingers and I make myself watch, the nails being driven through his flesh. The trembling and beaten and frail Body of Jesus is stretched out across the cold cross. And I watch his face. A soldier, hammer in hand, selects some large nails from a rusty bucket. Breathless, Mary, his mother watches. The pounding of the hammer begins, interspersed with shrill cries. Jesus prays aloud, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” As He had taught His disciples, Jesus forgives and prays for His enemies.
I contemplate the completeness of his entry into our lives. Can there be any pain or agony he would not understand? This is for me, nailed to a cross to forever proclaim liberty to captives. What sorrow and gratitude fill my heart!
Father of Mercy, Your Beloved Son, nailed to the Cross, prayed to you for me. I know you always hear and answer Your Son. I, too am your son! Answer my prayer! Give me your Son’s forgiveness. Forgive all those who cause me pain. Amen
Reflection
Having arrived at the place called Calvary, Jesus laid himself down on the Cross and willingly stretched His hands and feet to be crucified. This sacrifice opened up the gates of heaven for all believers who accept the reality of the cross and are willing to obey Christ’s commands. Jesus said, “Take up my cross and follow me.”
This means that my actions, my will, my personal freedom, and my opinions must be offered up to the crucified Lord. It means that we must rejoice in the inconveniences and sufferings that accompany daily life. This means loving God above all things and loving my neighbour as myself. All this is a means of personal crucifixion offered up to Jesus because we love Him more than we love ourselves. It was our sins that nailed our beloved Jesus to the cross. If we desire the salvation offered by His crucifixion, we need to obey Jesus’ commandments by our personal crucifixion.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, sign of God’s love,
help us to realize all the ways you pour love
and mercy into our lives.
Open our eyes to see your presence
in all we are,
in all we do, in every person we encounter.
Make us ever thankful for your willingness
to show us the love of God.
We pray this through Christ, our Lord.
Amen.