Today we see Joseph of Arimathea caring for the body of Jesus. Jesus has just died at the hands of the Roman soldiers, under the DIRECT influence of the whole religious council. His blood is on their hands. When we looked at this scene in Matthew we became first hand observers in our story. That […]
In our reading today Jesus mercifully and finally meets His death. Mercifully, because crucifixion often takes much longer. And finally, because it is the crowning moment of His work. We looked at Jesus’ process and words during His final ordeal when we were going through Matthew’s gospel. We actually combined accounts from all four gospels […]
Today brings us to the foot of the cross. Here Jesus bled and died for each of us. The physical pain of the cross was not all He had to endure, but even that pain he endured fully. We looked at Jesus’ crucifixion in Matthew’s gospel too. In that blog article titled, “On the Cross” […]
We will be viewing the ugliest hours in Jesus’ life in the next few days. These hours were brutal and filled with resentment. Not on Jesus’ part but on the part of those inflicting pain on Him. We start off with Jesus’ scourging at the end of yesterday’s reading then we jump right into the […]
We are continuing on with Jesus as He moves ever forward towards the cross. We join Him in the presence of Pilate at the annual feast ceremony. This is where and when Pilate customarily releases one prisoner back to the people. As this is an important event, Matthew also included it in his narrative. We […]