Daily Verse: John 19:31

Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.

 

The text above was pulled from the portion of the Gospel of John that describes Jesus’ crucifixion. The request by the Jewish leaders was made after Jesus spoke his last words…”It is finished”…and gave up his spirit (John 19:30). I won’t pretend to be well versed in the historical significance of the Sabbath in the Jewish culture, but I will venture to say that they probably wanted the men (Jesus and the two others crucified with him) removed from the crosses so as to not dishonor God on the Sabbath…perhaps to in some manner keep the Sabbath “holy” by not having such a difficult or disturbing sight in plain view. What is so saddening about this situation is how deeply sin had blinded the leaders at this time. Here they wanted to make sure these men were removed from the crosses before the Sabbath…in order to honor the Sabbath…in order to honor God…and yet there was God, in the flesh, as man, hanging from that cross, regarded as just another “ordinary” man that received a “justified” punishment. How so incredibly blinded they were by their sin that they failed to realize that it was the one true God standing before them this whole time…the one true Savior, speaking and teaching the true wisdom of God…uncovering the true path to salvation and freedom from sin and death…and yet they could not see it. And not only could they not see the Lord, but they took it a step further in doing everything they could to rid the world of this man they labeled as a criminal. In our world today, we too fail to see God standing right before us. We fail to notice when he is leading us in a particular direction…we fail to notice his attempts to steer us from sin…we fail to seize the opportunities he places before us to follow him…we fail to do his will. Unfortunately we are blinded by our sin in much the same way as those leaders were so many years ago. Thankfully, there is forgiveness, mercy, and grace from our Lord…for each time we make a mistake, we can return to him, acknowledge our sin, and receive his incredible love…the same love that gave him the courage, discipline, and obedience to die on that cross. It was a sacrifice by One so that so many may live. May we truly live our lives today in gratitude for this incredible sacrifice made on our behalf…no more pretending, no more posturing, no more delaying…only true obedience, discipline, and commitment to the one true living God! To God be the glory!