In view of the cross, a sorrowful gaze turns to praise…after Jesus’ crucifixion and before His resurrection…

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On this fateful day, which turned out to be a crucial spiritual fight,

I looked again towards Jesus’ cross, but it was very dark and out of sight.

It was on that cross, that He whom I called “the Master” died,

and when I saw Him suffering there, I cried.

He’d done nothing wrong, but only what was good,

It was there that He was crucified, upon its rugged wood.

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You see, I once was sick, but this Man, Jesus, made me whole,

and His words of love and forgiveness touched my very soul.

He spoke of His Father in heaven, to whom, He would always pray–

and said that for us to come to the Father, ourselves, He was the only way.

I remember hearing that Jesus foretold about His own coming demise,

but that it would only be temporary, for He said that He would rise.

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Immediately, after His death, the heavy temple veil was torn in two…

This must signify access to the Father and that because of His Son’s sacrifice, no more payment for sin is due.

The earth quaked and the rocks were split, affecting even the graves…

The centurion said, “Truly this was the Son of God,” thereby acknowledging that Jesus saves!

Jesus was such a miracle worker!  He said that His resurrection would occur in three days.

I’m not just hopeful but confident of that…even now, I can’t wait to give God praise!

P. A. Oltrogge

Golgotha…

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.. John 2:18-22

But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:39-40

From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Matthew 16:21

“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” John 10:17-18

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. Matthew 27:51-53

On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard. Matthew 27:62-66

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