Reflections On The Cross - A Passion Week Devotional 2021

Reflections
On The Cross

A Passion Week Devotional
          2021

Reflections On The Cross
                  PASSION WEEK DEVOTIONAL 2021

Dear Friends,

Passion Week (also known as Holy Week) begins on Palm Sunday and
concludes with Easter Sunday. It is referred to as Passion Week because in
that time, Jesus Christ truly revealed His passion for us in the suffering He
willingly went through on our behalf.

Passion Week is described in Matthew chapters 21-27; Mark chapters 11-15;
Luke chapters 19-23; and John chapters 12-19. Passion Week begins with
the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday on the back of a colt as prophesied in
Zechariah 9:9.

Passion Week contained several memorable events. Jesus cleansed the
Temple for the second time (Luke 19:45-46), then disputed with the
Pharisees regarding His authority. Then He taught on the end times and
many other things, including the signs of His second coming. Jesus ate His
Last Supper with His disciples in the upper room (Luke 22:7-38), then went
to the garden of Gethsemane to pray as He waited for His hour to come. It
was here that Jesus, having been betrayed by Judas, was arrested and taken
to several sham trials before the chief priests, Pontius Pilate, and Herod
(Luke 22:54-23:25).

Following the trials, Jesus was scourged at the hands of the Roman
soldiers, then was forced to carry His own instrument of execution (the
Cross) through the streets of Jerusalem along what is known as the Via
Dolorosa (way of sorrows). Jesus was then crucified at Golgotha on the day
before the Sabbath, was buried and remained in the tomb until Sunday, the
day after the Sabbath, and then gloriously resurrected.

What should our attitude be during Passion Week? We should be
passionate in our worship of Jesus and in our proclamation of His Gospel!
As He suffered for us, so should we be willing to suffer for the cause of
following Him and proclaiming the message of His death and resurrection.

The sufferings of Jesus on the cross for our sins and our salvation is,
without question, the greatest of all spiritual mysteries.

This devotional is created to be a guide for us to reflect on the cross of
Christ. I pray that the Lord will give you and your family new insights into
the purpose, the passion and the power of the cross of Christ in your life.
May we as a church family resolve to knowing but "Jesus Christ, and him
crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2).

All world religions have beliefs, ethics and worship, but only one religion
has the cross! At the cross, Jesus atoned for the sins of the world that we
might be forgiven of sin, reconciled to God and have eternal life.

Thank you so much for your faithful partnership in ministry. Now, let's
reflect on the cross!

Pаt" Kev#

PALM SUNDAY
                  "THE MYSTERY OF THE CROSS"

While we know the cross of Christ is a historical reality, we still struggle
over the question of "why?"

First of all, we have to accept the fact that the thoughts of God and the ways
of God are higher than ours. Whatever we do understand about the cross
and why God chose to use the cross, is still beyond our comprehension.

God's ways are perfect! "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous
altogether!" (Psalm 19:9). The word judgment means his decisions and
ordinances.

Whenever I reflect on any great spiritual truth in the Bible, I approach it
with humility. The ways, purposes and plans of God are far beyond my
ability to understand. Paul the apostle reminds us that "we see but a poor
reflection as in a mirror" (1 Corinthians 13:12).

I live by this truth: "The secret things belong to the Lord our God but the
things that are revealed are for us and for our children" (Deuteronomy
29:29). We must come with humility to the foot of the cross and pray,
"Lord, I don't fully understand why you died for me but I accept your
atoning sacrifice that takes away the sins of the world, even my sins!"

Personally, I don't have to understand everything to believe it. I don't fully
understand how certain technology works or medical procedures heal or
scientific laws function, but I believe them because I see their effects.

You will never understand every divine detail of the mystery of the cross but
you can understand this: "This is how God showed his love among us: He
sent his one and only Son into the world, that we might live through him.
This is love: not that we loved God but that God loved us and sent his Son
to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10).

Today, we stand in awe at the foot of the cross and declare, "Beyond all
question, the mystery of godliness is great!" (1 Timothy 3:16).

Prayer: "Heavenly Father, today on this Palm Sunday, we join the crowd
that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem. We too shout, 'Hosanna! Blessed is
He who comes in the name of the Lord.' We stand at the foot of the cross
with the humility and reverence that come with true faith and declare,
'Lord, I believe!”

HOLY WEEK MONDAY
                    "THE POWER OF THE CROSS"

At the cross, Jesus atoned for ours sins and saved us from its penalty and
power. When you accept Jesus Christ by faith as your Savior, He saves you
from the power of sin. The word saved means to deliver, to set free and to
make whole. Spiritual healing comes into your soul when your sins are not
only forgiven but you are saved from its power and its destructive force in
your life.

Paul the apostle explains the power of the cross of Christ to save us. "When
we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly...God demonstrated his
own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for
us" (Romans 5:6, 8).

What are we powerless to do? The answer is to save ourselves. We don't
have the power to forgive sin, or to overcome guilt or to deliver ourselves
from sin's control over us. Jesus said, "Whoever sins (habitually) is the
slave to sin" (John 8:34). A Christian hymn says, "He breaks the power of
canceled sin, He sets the prisoner free!"

We are all born in sin. David the psalmist wrote: "In sin did my mother
conceive me" (Psalm 51:5). The Scripture concludes: "All have sinned and
fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

"As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one
who understands, there is no one who seeks God"' (Romans 3:10-11). The
good and the bad, the religious and irreligious, the rich and the poor, the
strong and the weak, all stand at the foot of the cross as sinners in the need
of the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

At the cross, the Son of God became "The Lamb of God who takes away the
sins of the world" (John 1:29). He takes away the penalty and power of sin
from us when we give him our sins and receive his salvation. He takes away
our guilt and says to us, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and leave your life
of sin" (John 8:11).

Only the death of Jesus on the cross can provide an atoning sacrifice for our
sins and save us from our sins. He paid our sin-debt at Calvary and now we
are debt-free! There are many religions but only one Savior!

Prayer: "Lord Jesus, we praise you today because you have saved us from
the guilt, judgment and control of sin. We are now forgiven and free to
walk in newness of life. There is now no condemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus!"

HOLY WEEK TUESDAY
                  "THE OFFENSE OF THE CROSS”

The cross of Christ is the number one item of jewelry worn in the world!
The cross is a sign of hope and healing to everyone. So, who could possibly
be offended by the cross?

Today, some people are so sensitive about everything and take offense over
the most insignificant thing. Yet, the cross comes with a specific kind of
offense.

Paul the apostle writes about the offense of the cross: "In this case, the
offense of the cross has been abolished" (Galatians 5:11). The word offense
is the Greek word skandalon and means a scandal! We hear about personal
scandals, political scandals and financial scandals every day in the news.
We hear the phrase "they are engulfed in a great scandal."

The word scandal means to put a snare, like bait for fishing or a trap used
for hunting or to put a stumbling block in the way to trip
a person. Paul the apostle explains the offense of the cross: "We preach
Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks" (1
Corinthians 1:23).

The cross offends our pride. When he says the cross is a stumbling block to
his own people the Jews, he meant that many religious leaders took pride in
their rituals, rules and self-righteousness. Pride tells us we don't need a
Savior.

We don't want to admit that we are sinners in need of God's grace. The
cross confronts the reality of our utter sinfulness and calls us to repentance
and humility. No wonder we are told, "pride goes before destruction"
(Proverbs 16:18). Our pride deceives us and destroys us.

The cross offends our intelligence. The cross is foolishness to Greeks who
prided themselves on philosophy. We live in the information age. We
mistakenly believe we are so smart that we don't need the cross. The cross

is crude, primitive and unsophisticated in light of our great knowledge and
science. The fact is, "the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom,
and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength" (1 Corinthians
1:25).

So, don't let your pride and your intellect make you stumble over the cross
and keep you from the saving grace of Christ. The cross is the wise plan of
God to take away the sins of the world. The cross is also the power to save
you from your sins!

Prayer: ''Heavenly Father, my foolishness and pride keep me from your
saving grace. I renounce my self-righteousness and humble myself at the
foot of the cross. The cross of Christ is the place where your power can
truly save me and heal me. I am powerless before you. I receive the power
of your grace to set me free!"

HOLY WEEK WEDNESDAY
                    "THE GLORY OF THE CROSS"

Did you know there is a healthy sense of pride that we can display? We brag
about our kids for their achievements. We celebrate the success of our
friends. We brag about our church as we invite others to join us. We even
brag about ourselves and we like the attention! That's why most photos are
selfies!

Such bragging is okay. It's more celebration than actually bragging.
However, we never boast spiritually in anything other than the cross of
Christ. "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the
world" (Galatians 6:14).

The word praise means to boast and to brag about God! When we praise
God, we are boasting to the world about His grace, glory and goodness.
"Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!"

Paul explains further what it means for us to boast on the cross. "Where,
then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing
the law? No, but on faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith
apart from observing the law" (Romans 3:27-28).

The one place we can never boast is at the foot of the cross of Christ.
Justification means to be pardoned from sin and acquitted of guilt. It
means God declares us righteous! Not because we keep the law or do good
works or practice religious rituals. God declares us righteous when stand in
humility at the foot of the cross. We give the suffering Savior our sins and
we receive him as our Savior by faith. At that very moment, God declares
us, "Not Guilty!"

We glory in the grace of God to forgive our sins and to declare us righteous.
We glory in the cross for that is the only place where the saving grace of
God was poured out on the world!

Passion Week is a time for everyone to go back to Calvary, stand at the foot
of the cross with Roman Centurion of old, and declare of Jesus,
"Truly, this was the Son of God!"

Prayer: "Heavenly Father, may we never boast in ourselves, our good
works or religious acts but only boast in the cross. Today we lay down our
pride and we boast of you - To God be the glory, great things He has
done!"

HOLY WEEK THURSDAY
                    “THE PEACE OF THE CROSS"

A successful businessman said to me over lunch, "All the success and
wealth in the world means nothing without peace of mind." We tend to
think of peace as the absence of war, poverty or stress.

Peace comes in many forms. There is the peace of military occupation in
times of conflict. There is the peace of chemical substances to numb our
senses and dull our pain. There is the peace of temporary pleasure to help
us cope with life's pressures. There is the peace of :financial prosperity that
frees us from worry. These are temporary fixes to a deeper problem.

The underlying problem of humanity is our separation from God. Only
when we are reconciled to God do we experience peace. The peace of God is
powerful and permanent. "Therefore, being justified by faith we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1).

The peace of God comes to those who are justified by faith in Jesus. The
word justified means to be pardoned of sin, acquitted of guilt and declared
righteous in God's sight. Our underlying problem of guilt and alienation
from God is the root cause of our anxiety.

How can we ever be righteous in God's sight? How can we in our sinfulness
stand before a holy God? God is so great and we are so small! The fact is we
are God's children. We are sons and daughters of God. We are the prodigal
sons and daughters of God.

We, like the prodigal son in Jesus' story, need to come to our senses, go
home to God, ask Him to forgive us and to give us a new start. As soon as
the prodigal son stopped running away from his father in rebellion and
went home, his father restored him to his full inheritance.

Jesus took away our sins at the cross and has reconciled us to God, "making
peace through his blood shed on the cross." Once you were alienated from
God ... but He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death

(on the cross} to present you holy in his sight" (Col 1:20-22}. Go home to
God today - He's waiting for you!

Prayer: "Heavenly Father, I feel so unholy and so unworthy at times. But
the cross of Christ reminds me how valuable I am to You and how much
You love me. I find peace today through the blood of Jesus that was shed
on the cross to wash away all my sins. I am Yours and You are mine
forever!"

HOLY WEEK FRIDAY
                 "THE SUFFERING OF THE CROSS"

Today is Good Friday - the very day that Jesus carried the cross to Calvary
and died for the sins of the world. When Jesus spoke about his death on the
cross, he did so with victory. "'And I, when I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all people to myself.' He said this to show what kind of death he
was going to die" (John 12:32-33).

Notice the phrase: the kind of death he was going to die. You see, the death
of Jesus was unlike any other death in history. All of us die eventually. We
die from natural causes and we believe that our soul lives with God in
heaven. That's what Holy Week and Easter is all about.

However, Jesus didn't die from natural causes. He didn't die as a criminal
on the cross condemned by the Roman Government for his sins. He was
sinless, pure and perfect. No, the kind of death Jesus died is one of a kind -
He died for our sins!

He suffered the Roman scourge, the crown of thorns, the pain of the nails in
his hands and feet and six hours of agony on the cross for us. It was for us!
Truly, we say, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us!" (1 John
3:1).

After Jesus rose from the dead, he presented the signs of his suffering with
honor. He showed the nail prints in his hands and feet and the scar on his
side from the spear to Thomas and said, "Put your finger here; see my
hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and
believe!" (John 20:27).

Jesus bears the wounds he suffered in his eternal body in heaven today!
The only thing Jesus took out of the world back to heaven were the wounds
we inflicted on him! Yes-you and I put the crown of thorns on his head. You
and I drove the nails in his hands and feet. You and I thrust the spear in his
side. "He was wounded for our transgressions," not for His!

Jesus didn't have to go to the cross and suffer for our sins. He told the
disciples in Gethsemane not to fight to save him. He said
he could call twelve legions of angels to rescue him from the hour of
suffering. A Roman legion had 6,000 soldiers so that equals 72,000 angels
(Matthew 26:52-54). Just one angel destroyed 185,00 soldiers in a battle
recorded in the Old Testament. Think of what 72,000 angels would've done
to the Romans and the mob had Jesus called them but he didn't.

Jesus didn't come into the world to save himself. He came to save us! He
chose the cross. He suffered willingly. He laid down his life. He died for us
that we might live through him. He suffered a vicarious death that we might
share a victorious resurrection!

PRAYER: "Lord Jesus, I want to truly know you today in the power of
your resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in your sufferings,
becoming like you in your death and so, somehow, to attain to the
resurrection of the dead. I praise you for suffering the judgment I
deserved that I might live a new life!"

   Join us this evening at 6:00pm for an ONLINE Good Friday
   Worship Experience. We invite you to prepare elements to
                receive the Lord’s Supper with us.
             Visit cccofgod.org/easter to learn more.

HOLY WEEK SATURDAY
                  "THE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS"

As a pastor, I am often asked what is my main message? I answer in the
words of the apostle Paul, "I resolved to know nothing while I was with you
except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2).

I preach the person and work of Jesus Christ - the only Son of God, the
Savior of the world and the Lord of all! At the center of our faith stands the
cross of Christ. Jesus didn't redeem the world through his prayers, his
parables or his miracles. He redeemed the world through the cross. "The
message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who
are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).

The cross was predestined by God. There was a cross in the heart of God
long before there stood a cross on a hillside of Calvary. Jesus is "the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world" (1 Peter 1:19).

While the cross is a great spiritual mystery, it remains the central place
where the love of God for us is most clearly seen. "God so loved the world
(that's you and me) that He gave his only begotten Son" (John 3:16). Such
divine love that gave so much.

The cross is very personal to me. I'm not a Christian because Jesus died for
the sins of the world. I believe in Jesus and love him because he gave
himself on the cross for me. "Christ loved me and a gave himself up for
me!" (Galatians 2:20 ). I will always be faithful to him!

The cross is the ultimate measure of a person's self-worth. People struggle
with low self-esteem and a negative self-image. Loneliness is an epidemic
where people feel isolated, invisible and irrelevant. God loved you so much
he gave his only Son to save you. The cross reveals how much God loves
you! Your identity crisis is resolved at the cross.

So, my message to you and your family this Holy Week is - "Behold the
Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!"

PRAYER: "Heavenly Father, as I reflect this week on the cross of Christ. I
ask you to heal me by the power of your love that drives out all fear,
anxiety and self-doubt. The cross of Jesus is the measure of my worth as it
stands to remind me every day how much you love me and how important
I am to you. Today, I choose to rest in your great love!"

EASTER SUNDAY
                  "THE VICTORY OF THE CROSS"

The greatest battle ever fought took place at the cross. Calvary is the
battlefield between good and evil. Just as there is war on earth, the Bible
speaks of"war in heaven" (Revelation 12:7). A heavenly war was waged at
the cross.

Jesus defeated Satan, demonic powers and the forces of evil when he died
on the cross. Listen to what Jesus did with our sins and the law that
condemned and judged us at the cross: "He took it away, nailing it to the
cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public
spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross" (Colossians 2:14-15).

Satan is called the Accuser in the Bible because he slanders us and
condemns us. Christ took away our sins and today we are forgiven and free.
He also broke the power of evil off our lives. "If the Son of God sets you
free, you are free indeed!" (John 8:36).

When we received Christ as Savior, God "rescued us from the dominion of
darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his Son" ( Colossians 1:13).
The word dominion means the rule of spiritual darkness and demonic
powers. We are completely free and protected from the forces of evil that
lurk in the shadows of this fallen world.

When you are in Christ, you are free from your past, free from generational
curses, and free from demonic influence. Jesus came "to open their eyes
and turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God and
to give them an inheritance" (Acts 26:18).

Christ defeated the powers of darkness. Satan is a defeated foe. As Paul the
apostle reminds us, Jesus was "triumphing over them by the cross." When
Jesus said he would be lifted from the earth on the cross and that all people
would be drawn to him he also said: "Now is the time for judgment on this
world; now, the prince of this world will be driven out" (John 12:31).

The prince of this world is Satan, and he was driven out at Calvary. That
means he lost all control, power and influence over the world. When you
enter the kingdom, you are completely free from any evil influence. "They
(believers) overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word
of their testimony" (Revelation 12:9).

Today is Easter Sunday! Christ is risen! The victory has been won. Let us
live in the spiritual victory secured for us at the cross for we are "more than
conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37).

PRAYER: "Lord Jesus, today in my heart I go back to the empty tomb
where the stone was rolled away. Like Mary Magdalene who stayed in the
garden until you appeared to her, I wait to see you one day face to face. I
praise you that I no longer have to fear the powers of evil in this world
because I am more than conqueror!"

 Join us today at 8:30am, 10:30am, and 12:30pm for our Easter
 Sunday Celebration Worship Experience. Joins on campus in a
                 safe, sanitized environment at:
         Cooper City Church of God | 9191 Stirling Road
                     Cooper City, FL | 33328
    You can also join online via the website, the church app,
    Facebook and YouTube at the same times as listed above.
            Visit cccofgod.org/easter to learn more.

  Portions of this devotional were used with permission thanks to Dr. David Cooper,
                Lead pastor of the Mount Paran Church in Atlanta, GA.

CCCOFGOD.OR G
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