Thursday 15th Aug 2019 - Daily Reading:
Matthew 27:45-66 The Cross - by Becky Brooks

Yesterday, we reflected on how easy it would have been for Jesus to prove himself to all the doubters without dying on the cross, and yet he chose to continue with his great sacrifice so that all of us could be saved.

Today we see that the events surrounding Jesus’ death were enough proof for many of those who saw what happened. The mockery faded once Jesus gave up his spirit. Immediately, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, the earth shook and rocks split apart. Nobody who was there could have missed these events.

It took two gentile witnesses to declare what so many before them had refused to believe: “Surely, he was the Son of God!” Despite all of the miracles, the healings, the deliverances, it was Jesus’ death and resurrection that most fully demonstrated that he was indeed the Messiah, and it is this that is the heart of the Gospel and the heart of our faith.

Miracles and wonders are exciting, but they do not save. Healing is marvellous, but it is not salvation. The people had witnessed all of these things, but they had not accepted their Messiah. It is at the cross that we find our salvation, and in his resurrection that we find our victory.

As we read these verses today, and meditate once again on the anguish of the cross, may God, by his Holy Spirit, renew in us our wonder at the miracle that was performed on that day that we may understand more fully how the cross is central to all that we believe and all that we are able to claim through Christ Jesus.

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NEWBOLD BAPTIST CHURCH