Devotions this week are based on Week 6 Temptation to Triumph: Tension: King or Criminal? (WATCH HERE)
(You are invited! Join us in person or online tonight for our Good Friday worship which expands on this theme, “Punishment that brought us peace!” at 7pm – www.crosspointgtx.com)
Matthew 27:45-46; 50-51 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
Good Friday does not look like peace. It looks like suffering, injustice, and loss. The King who entered Jerusalem is now hanging on a cross. The crowds that once praised Him have turned. The disciples are scattered. Darkness covers the land.
Yet this is the very moment where true peace is secured.
The prophet spoke of a King who would proclaim peace to the nations.
Zechariah 9:10 He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Paul later explains that Jesus Himself is our peace, breaking down the dividing wall between us and God. Through the cross, hostility is put to death and reconciliation is made possible.
Ephesians 2:14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
This is not the peace the people expected. They wanted peace through victory. Jesus brought peace through sacrifice. They wanted the removal of enemies. Jesus addressed the deeper enemy of sin.
Through His death, we are justified by faith and have peace with God. The torn curtain symbolized the barrier between us and God had been removed. This is the foundation of all true peace. It is not dependent on circumstances. It is rooted in being reconciled to Christ.
When we have peace with God, everything changes. Trials may remain, but we are no longer alone. Fear may arise, but it does not define us. We stand in grace.
Good Friday invites us to look at the cross and see more than suffering. It invites us to see the cost of our peace. It invites us to trust that what looks like defeat is actually victory.
The King, Jesus, rode into Jerusalem and went to the cross for you. Not to meet your expectations, but to give you what you truly need…a Savior!
Reflect: Where am I seeking peace in my circumstances instead of in my relationship with God? How does the cross change my understanding of true peace?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the peace You secured through the cross. Help me to trust in that peace, even when life feels uncertain. Draw me closer to You and anchor my heart in Your grace. Amen.