Day 45 - ‘Tis mercy all, immense and free

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC8HSEKtuio

Oh, head that once was crowned with thorns ... Is crowned with glory now ...

Lord, teach us to remember the words of Jesus, our Saviour:

If you want to be my disciples you must take up your cross and follow me.

Help us Lord as we follow Jesus into a world of rejection by the many and hopeful expectation of the few. Help us to humble ourselves as our Lord Jesus did, to empty ourselves of all that is self-serving so that we can submit to the call of God upon our lives, however long or however short the task asked of us.

Help us to realise that the road to glory is by necessity paved with thorns and suffering, that the road will not be an easy one but filled with potholes that can seriously damage our faith - if we are not prepared for negative reactions to the Gospel without and within.

As our thoughts turn towards Calvary on this most Holy Day we hear the mockery of the jeering noisy crowds, we see the Roman soldiers looking on thinking they are controlling the situation, the religious authorities basking in their mistaken belief that the trouble-maker is finally getting his come-uppance; and, of course, we look for Jesus’ close-knit disciples but we don’t see them because they are frightened, cowering out of sight. What we do see is the distraught family members feeling every agony that Jesus suffered. All types of people watching the same event unfold but each with different reactions.

And so today we pray for those who mock and scoff at the Gospel, for those who just walk by uninterested in anything religious, for those too we pray who feel that death is a fitting end for someone with differing views. We pray also for understanding for those who are confused by the meaning of Good Friday and what the death of Jesus achieved. And we feel the irony of those who are using today of all days to buy a new hammer or a bag of nails at the local DIY store without giving a second thought to the extra-long nails being hammered into Jesus’ body breaking the bones and skin on His hands and feet.

And we wonder

How can it be that Thou my God should’st die for me?

T’is mystery all immense and free but oh my God it found out me.

Divine Love that found a way when there seemed to be no way.

And for this we say, Hallelujah, what a Saviour! We ask for help as we take up our cross to follow him in whatever journey lies ahead. Amen.

Elisabeth Sweeney-Smith