READING:
One-year plan: 2 Samuel 12-14, Luke 23:32-24:12
Two-year plan: Numbers 14:11-45, Mark 9:14-29
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Similar thoughts about Jesus echo throughout our New Testament readings for yesterday and today:
- Pilate said, “I find no grounds for charging this man.” (Luke 23:4)
- Pilate and Herod agreed, “Clearly, he has done nothing to deserve death.” (Luke 23:15)
- Pilate repeated, “I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty.” (Luke 23:22)
- One thief on the cross said, “This man has done nothing wrong.” (Luke 23:41)
- The centurion said at Jesus’ death, “This man really was righteous!” (Luke 23:47)
It’s doubtful any of these folks fully understood what he was saying, but we do know this truth: Jesus was tempted in all ways like we are, yet He did not sin (Heb 4:15). Indeed, “He [God] made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).
Jesus, the perfect Son of God, did not deserve to die, but He chose to do so to pay the penalty for our sin. That’s actually quite amazing!
PERSONAL REFLECTION: When was the last time you meditated on the death of Jesus?
PRAYER: “Thank You, Jesus, for dying for me—a sinner.”
TOMORROW’S READINGS:
One-year plan: 2 Samuel 15-17, Luke 24:13-53
Two-year plan: Numbers 15, Mark 9:30-50
