R³ Devotional - Day 316

In both Matthew 27 & Mark 15 we see the picture of Jesus’ sufferings, beatings, and eventual crucifixion, from being handed over to Pilate to being mocked by the whole battalion of guards, but not before being scourged and witnessing the people choosing Barabbas over him.  Take a moment to collect your emotions, it’s ok we will wait.  The Saviour of the world has just been put to death in the most gruesome way ever, every prophesy that has been told since the beginning of the Bible, from the Garden to the Grave, has just come true, from the arrest, to Judas sending the silver back to the priests, to his suicide and the priests buying the Potter Field with the blood money, to the veil being torn in the Temple.  All of it came true and ALL of it had to happen to save you and I, his gruesome death HAD to happen so that we horrible sinners could one day live in eternity with Jesus and God in Heaven.  I don’t know about you, but I feel horribly unworthy of such a sacrifice to be made for my eternity, and yet He willingly did it.  He willingly died for you and for me, knowing that we are never able to be worthy enough, we will never be good enough, we will never be “clean” enough, we will never be anything enough to join Him in Heaven by our own merit, we needed a Saviour…and we killed Him.  To add insult to injury, His clothes were gambled off to a soldier, one thief mocked Him, while the other cried out to Him for salvation, which of course He granted because Jesus was still Jesus the Son of God right up to the end of His life, full of grace and love and truth.  Upon His final breath, He was buried in a tomb that was cut out for someone else (side note…do you think Joseph of Arimathea, being a follower of Jesus, knew that Jesus wasn’t going to inhabit his tomb for too long, decided to let Jesus crash there for a few days knowing he could still use it in a couple of years when he died?), and the chief priests and Pharisees sealed the tomb and put a guard at the stone, just in case the ramblings of Jesus were true and He was going to resurrect Himself or best case the disciples of Jesus were going to steal the body to claim He was resurrected.  Spoiler alert – His final prophecy came true, just like the others.

Real Life Principles:
We aren’t going to always get it right, we are going to mess up, we are going to forget the sacrifice that was made, however His love for us will always be right, will never mess up, will never forget the sacrifice that was made.  

Relevant Life Applications:
If you feel like you aren’t good enough, or clean enough for Jesus, feel like you can’t come back to Him because of a past or a sin that you can’t quite let go no matter how hard you try, or the dread that you will never be enough, it is ok, just take that first step back, Jesus already knows and is willing and ready to welcome you back with open arms.  

Being Ready with Life Action Steps:
Take that first step back…it’s the easiest and yet the hardest step to make.
Repent and come back to Jesus…He loves you!