March 20 – Matthew 27:45-56
Our Jesus, we praise You, for You are Salvation. You are Hope. You are Peace! We love You and want to draw near to You. Be with us as we come together to spend time with You and worship You.
Was. Past tense. Matthew 27:54, “When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” Today, this is now a famous line of admission, clarity, understanding, and possible faith. It is that word ‘was’ that gave me pause today in my quiet time.
He understood part, but missed the fact that Jesus still IS. He didn’t end there on the cross. But clearly, the Spirit was at work within Him and caused Him to recognize Jesus’ identity. I pray that the realization that Jesus never was ‘was’ but always ‘is’ blew Him away and to faith. We all come to Jesus and faith at different points, places, and times. And while this one person was seemingly surrounded by a buncha people whose eyes were still veiled, the Spirit started to unveil his.
I heard a testimony not too long ago that described their journey to Jesus as always searching for Him without knowing it was He they were searching for. They looked for Him high and low, chased after so many things and ideologies while being completely surrounded by those who did not yet know Jesus either. And yet, He called to them, in the middle of all of that, as if saying, ‘search no more, I am here,’ And they answered by telling Him, I had no idea it was YOU I was searching for! And they have spent their days learning about this Jesus.
Jesus can find you no matter where you are, who you are with, or what you are doing. You may not yet see Him, but He sure sees you. If you are here and you don’t yet know Jesus for yourself, today is the day. Did you, like the centurion, discover Jesus today? Did you see that Jesus IS the Son of God? Don’t know the next step in your faith? Reach out to us; we’d love to walk you through it, pray with you, and welcome you into the family of God.
My Verse: Matthew 27:54, “When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
My Response: Jesus, my Saviour, how I praise Your greatness, Your love, Your sacrifice. I owe You my life to You, for You alone have pulled me from the pit of despair and darkness. You alone ripped me from the talons of death and chains of slavery. I owe You everything.
1 Comment. Leave new
My verse: Matthew 27:45 “At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.”
My response: This morning, I’m pondering the three hours. Matthew tells us nothing of what went on during that terrible time of darkness and horrible pain Jesus felt. Verse 46 picks up three hours later with His cry of abandonment. Oh Lord – what fathomless suffering occurred during those dark hours? I shrink from pain. Even five minutes has me horrified when I feel even mild pain … I can’t imagine (and shrink from trying) how awful that time of darkness truly was. And yet You chose it out of love for Your foolish, wayward people. Thank You.