Jesus Dies on the Cross.

It is finished…

Luke 23:44-49
44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”[e] When he had said this, he breathed his last.

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.

In these verses, we learn what we are to do as believers in Him. We are to be with Him, even as we feel the need to beat ourselves and walk away. Those who believed in Him stayed with Him, even after all others thought He was gone. They knew He would return.

Leading up to these verses, I caught myself feeling distraught and saddened by the events that took the Earthly life of our Lord. I would wonder why He did this, why He had to endure so much for me, why He suffered for the nothing man who writes this very commentary. Why He suffered for me. It would pain me, and my heart would break.

Then I read this, and my heart fills with expectation, for I know that God the Father is watching His son. Watching His son with plans to resurrect Him in three days. For it is in the waiting that we find strength. It is in the expectant believer that we find power. It is in us that Jesus poured His blood into. Each one of us being the new wine sack, prepared to carry His message to the world. Ready to proclaim His love for us.

He died for me. He died for all. The rich man and the beggar, the sinner and saint, the Jew and the Gentile. Because of this there is no need to beat our breasts and walk away. Instead, it is time to open our hearts and let Him in. As we stand watching Him and listening to Him, we are filled with the strength of the Holy Spirit. A strength that will allow us spread the Good News that He is risen, and that Christ will come again.

Amen.
DK