Advent Devotional: Day 19 – Part 2

As we walk to the crucifixion I don’t want to miss a few highlights of the life of Christ.  One which brings a lot of symbolism to me is the cleansing of the temple (Luke 19:45-48). Our bodies, including our minds, are the temple of God: what tables would Jesus be flipping over in your body  to cleanse His home?

We then have a parable about the tenant who did nothing with what he was given.  This one hits me hard at ties. God has given me much and there have been times I have done nothing with that.

The highlight of the Passover and the Lord’s Supper will come next week for a very personal reason.

Judas has betrayed the man he spent time with, he watched miracles.  In Luke 22:3 we see how he was able to betray his teacher: Satan entered into Judas.  The events from this point happened quickly, as did His trial. Sent from Pilate to Herod and back, the crowd at this point demanded He be crucified. Like most politicians, Pilate washed his hands of the whole matter and gave the crowd what they wanted: Jesus’s life.

Luke 19:26-56

Beaten beyond what any human could withstand, Jesus carried his cross with some assistance. Then he was nailed to it. The two standout moments from the cross that get me are first, the two men on each side of Him. One joined the crowd and scorned Him, but the other man saw something (as did the centurion) and rebuked the other man. He saw an innocent man hanging on a place he had not earned. Jesus rewarded his faith with a place in paradise with Him.  The second event are the words spoken by Jesus as he watched the soldiers cast lots for his garments.  “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”  These words softened my heart when I have had to walk through forgiveness. Hurtful actions of others are hard to forgive, but Jesus reminds us here that others may not understand how their actions or words affect us. But it is up to us to forgive without being asked to forgive by those who hurt us.

Where do you find forgiving difficult?  How do the words spoken by Jesus from the cross change the difficulty in forgiving?  (Ask God to reveal those areas, soften your heart so that you can walk through forgiveness.)