Day 15: Grace at the Cross

Written by Bev Delgatty

Luke 23:32-43

32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him,“This is the King of the Jews.” 39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

In this passage, Luke describes how our Lord and Savior willingly sacrificed His own life in a most painful and humiliating way in order to fulfill God's plan for salvation so that we could receive God’s grace (forgiveness) if we only acknowledge our sin and believe in His Son.

There were two criminals also hanging on crosses on either side of Him, but they were not being ridiculed like He was. One of them 'acknowledged' that he was a sinner, and that Jesus had done no wrong. He asked the Lord to remember him, and Jesus replied, "today you will be with me in paradise.”

The cross removed the barrier of sin that separated people from God, and invites all people into a personal relationship with God. Grace gives us the power to live a new, holy life that we could not achieve on our own.

At the cross, grace is described as the "great exchange" - Isaiah 53:5 says "he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed" (NIV). Other passages in the Bible, such as 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24; and Colossians 2:14 also show Jesus as the substitute for our sin.

I am incredibly grateful that Jesus acted as our substitute, and bore the penalty of judgment for our sins on the cross to offer forgiveness and righteousness to all who acknowledge their sins, and believe in the Lord.

There is an old hymn that was written in 1910 called 'Grace That is Greater Than All Our Sin', and the lyrics to the first two verses are:

"Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
Threaten the soul with infinite loss,
Grace that is greater, yes, grace unfold,
Points to the refuge, the mighty cross!”

We have many things to be grateful for, but the greatest is our salvation at the cross, which granted us forgiveness, eternal life, and adoption into the family of God.

Prayer Prompts:

• Pray and tell the Lord how thankful we are for his sacrifice, and the grace of God, that we are now his heirs, and can call him our Lord and Savior.

• Pray that many people who aren't believers will come to Morgan Hill Bible Church this Easter and discover that Jesus died for them on the cross, and that they will acknowledge their sins and believe in the Lord.

Day 14: The Obedient Servant

Written by Keith Higgins

Isaiah 50:4-9

4 The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. 5 The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. 6 I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. 7 But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. 8 He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. 9 Behold, the Lord GOD helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.

After Israel was divided into two kingdoms, the prophet Isaiah wrote to the southern Kingdom of Judah after the northern Kingdom of Israel had been conquered by the Assyrians.  His writing preceded the Babylonian conquest of Judah and its subsequent 70-year exile in Babylon. He declared God's holiness and warned them about their disobedience and upcoming judgment.  Intermingled with Isaiah’s admonitions to repent and turn back to God were many promises of God's patience and future deliverance.  Many of these promises foretold the Messiah who would provide their ultimate deliverance and blessing.

Isaiah Chapter 50 begins in verses 1 through 3 with Isaiah questioning Judah regarding their previous disregard of warnings from him and other prophets.  He also rebuked them for their lack of assurance that God could and would protect and provide for them.  This is followed by verses 4 through 9, where Isaiah affirms his obedience to and trust in God regardless of the severity of their hatred and opposition. In verses 4 and 5 Isaiah says that God has given him wisdom and understanding through His word and Isaiah asserts that he is obedient to it. In verses 6 and 7 Isaiah says that He will not fear those who beat him, torture him, humiliate him and spit on him.  He will be unmoved and not be put to shame. In verses 8 and 9 Isaiah is confident that God is near to defend him and justify him and judge his enemies.

Hebrews 11 lists many Old Testament saints who trusted God to accomplish great works or suffer hardship to further His Kingdom.  In verse 37 it states that “they were sawn in two.”  This is attributed to Isaiah and demonstrates the extent of suffering that God’s witnesses may be called to endure, and the strength God gives to uphold them, even unto death.

The description of Isaiah’s suffering in verses 6 and 7 is also a prophecy of the sufferings of Jesus in Matthew 26:67 and 27:30.  Isaiah 53: 4-11 provides a more detailed description of Jesus’s suffering as well as its purpose – “ Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed...Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”

God's word tells us that those who desire to live a godly life will suffer persecution. Many examples are given in the Old Testament as described by Isaiah and summarized in Hebrews Chapter 11. Our ultimate example is Jesus himself, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. It is through his death his obedient life, suffering, and death that he bore our iniquities and he conquered death by his resurrection.

Prayer Prompts:

• Pray for God’s help to follow Isaiah's example, in being faithful to obtain wisdom through our own study and obedience of God’s Word.

• Ask God for the strength and courage to truly believe, obey, follow and proclaim Jesus and the gospel as Your servants that have gone before us.

Day 13: Not My Will

Written by Annika Van Keulen

Luke 22:39-46

39 And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

For the past few years - especially recently - I have been told that I need to rest. To slow down. To stop filling every moment of my life with something productive. To be honest, I never fully understood what that actually meant. Rest sounds relaxing in theory, but putting that into practice can make you feel uncomfortable. It feels unproductive. It feels like I’m wasting valuable time.

In Luke 22:39–46, Jesus withdraws from His disciples and goes to the Mount of Olives.He kneels and prays, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” The two things that stand out to me most are first that Jesusintentionally stepped away to be alone with God, and secondly, he got on His knees in order to surrender. Jesus went to a place where He could be found easily by Judas, because the Father told Him to go. He chose the Father’s plan, regardless of the outcome, because God sees the bigger picture, even when we don’t.

I think we misunderstand and complicate what rest really is. We treat the Sabbath like a box to check off on our list - going to church, being in fellowship, and then right back to our busy lives. But rest is more than inactivity. It is surrender. It is making the choice to trust God with whatever the outcome is instead of trying to control everything ourselves. And that surrender we choose isn’t a once-a-week practice, it’s an everyday choice to fixate our hearts on Him and slow down. It is choosing God in the midst of the chaos - the busyness, the distractions, the wants and needs of the flesh. If we only turn to God on Sunday, then we have missed the whole point.

Rest is waking up on Monday ready to choose Him before anything else - whether that’s listening to worship music while getting ready, going on a prayer walk, or opening your Bible before opening your phone. When I was dwelling on this passage, I immediately thought of the song Monday Morning Faith by Chelsea Plank and SEU Worship. It captures this idea so well - that it’s easy to worship when we aren't busy, and when it's convenient to us, but much harder to carry that same faith into the busy, ordinary moments of our week. Taking the Sabbath in a genuine way isn’t a once-a-week thing, it should become a rhythm. It’s learning to realign our priorities and make Him the focal point of every day.

If I’m honest, I wrestle with this, as I am sure some of you do, too. Being busy makes me feel useful. It makes me feel ahead. But sometimes busyness is just avoidance - avoiding silence,avoiding dependence, avoiding the uncomfortable space where God reshapes my heart. Rest forces me to admit that I am not in control.

There was a moment when even writing this devotional felt ironic. How can I write about rest when I struggle to implement it in my own life? But I think that’s the point. Rest is not something we can master by ourselves, it is something we need God to help us with.

Rest is not laziness. It is obedience. It is kneeling down and saying, “Not my will, but Yours, be done.” It is trusting that God can accomplish much more through my surrender than I ever could do alone, and humbling ourselves to that idea.

Prayer Prompts:

• When you think of rest, do you see it as uncomfortable and not being productive, or do you see it as a way to be obedient and surrender to God? Why or why not? As you work through that answer, pray and ask God to help you dwell in His presence and change your perspective on rest.

• Ask God for wisdom on spending your time wisely and discipline to make rest a proper priority in your life.