GOOD FRIDAY DEVOTIONAL: Even Death On A Cross
Read Philippians 2:1-11
Paul wrote to the believers in Philippi that God had highly exalted Jesus and given him a name above every name. (Phil. 2:8 ESV)
- How high was Jesus exalted?
- How amazing was his name?
So high and so amazing that “every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10 ESV). How does this remarkable exaltation connect to Good Friday? The “Therefore” at the beginning of verse nine in Philippians 2 is preceded by this truth,
“And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Phil. 2:9)
Good Friday is the day we celebrate the “even death on a cross” obedience of Jesus. Good Friday reminds us of the glory of the cross and the glorification of the Father by the Son in the accomplishment of the mission.
Devotional Questions: As we prepare to gather this evening as a body let us prayerfully ponder the following…
- Do we really celebrate? Do we really think of Good Friday as good because of Jesus’ gruesome death, “even death on a cross”? Do we say to ourselves, “the servant Jesus humbled himself before the Father to accomplish the greatest rescue in the history of the world”?
- Do we think of those around us that do not know Jesus as being “captive?” Do we understand the significance of the cross as freeing captives?
* I read a book called Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of WW II’s Greatest Rescue Mission. I was enthralled and captivated by the story but what blew me away was the response of some of the POWs as they were being rescued. Some of the POWs refused to leave! They had been so brutalized, so brainwashed that they were afraid to leave and the rescuers had to literally carry them out of the prison camp. Are we willing to take the news of God’s great rescue to those around us who are too afraid to leave their “old life”?
End your time by prayerfully thinking of someone (a co-worker, a neighbor, a family member) that you will invite to Easter Services.