When was the last time you really contemplated what Jesus suffered at the cross? If you are like me, I don't particularly like to think too much about it. I mean, He suffered in my place! It isn't a pleasant thought! Tomorrow marks the beginning of Lent, a time of...
Last week, in THE SUFFERINGS OF JESUS, Part 1, we learned from Jesus' garden experience that we can't always run from problems. We need to strengthen ourselves in prayer, and then meet them head-on! The focus of today's lesson centers around the suffering Jesus...
Are you someone who worries about what other people think? If you're not, then you are fortunate indeed. But if you are, then you know the pain that comes from being falsely accused. You know how much it cuts into the self-esteem when someone turns your own words and...
Let's focus for a moment today on the floggings that Jesus received: "Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified." (Matt 27:26 NIV) The Israelites had a law about flogging: "If the guilty man deserves to be beaten,...
History records that the Roman soldiers often played a game with their prisoners. They would strip them of their clothing, dress them in one of their red outer robes, twist together a crown of thorns, and place a staff in their hands, for a scepter. Then they would...
"Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away. And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either...
There are seven recorded utterances that Jesus made while hanging on that cruel cross. Each was short - no more than a few words, and each one showed complete devotion to mankind and to God. Except for one. One was a simple two word utterance, one that gives us a tiny...
We pick up the story with Jesus' troubles at their peak. His blood loss is incredible. He is weak with hunger, dehydrated, His bones are out of joint (see Ps. 22), and the pain is astronomical. He is slowly asphyxiating, and just when things didn't seem like they can...