Key Thought

Our faith is built on the eyewitness accounts of those who saw Jesus daily and told his story at great personal cost. Our faith is built on the trustworthiness of God, who is faithful to fulfill his promises. We don't believe on a blind hope or a broken psyche desperately in need of some magic fix. While the human condition is sick beyond human repair, our faith in a heavenly solution is rooted in God, who became flesh and walked in our world and died our death to give us his life. The changes in ordinary men and women who watched that life are part of the chorus of testimony on which we build our faith. Believing in Jesus as the Son of God may be a leap of faith, but it is not a blind leap! It is a leap based on the testimony of witnesses who had seen this life and found their lives changed and enriched in the process.

Today's Prayer

Today's Verses in Context

Later, Jesus knew that everything had been done. To make the Scriptures happen he said, "I am thirsty." There was a jar full of vinegar there. So the soldiers soaked a sponge in it. They put the sponge on a branch of a hyssop plant. Then they lifted it to Jesus' mouth. Jesus tasted the vinegar. Then he said, "It is finished." Jesus bowed his head and died. This day was Preparation day. The next day was a special Sabbath day. The Jewish leaders did not want the bodies to stay on the cross on the Sabbath day. So they asked Pilate to order that the legs of the men be broken {to make them die sooner}. And they asked that the bodies of the men be taken down from the crosses. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man on the cross beside Jesus. Then they broke the legs of the other man on the cross beside Jesus. But when the soldiers came close to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead. So they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers stuck his spear into Jesus' side. Blood and water came out. (The one who saw this happen has told about it. He told about it so that you also can believe. The things he says are true. He knows that he tells the truth.) These things happened to give full meaning to the Scriptures that said: "None of his bones will be broken" and, "People will look at the one they stuck {with the spear}." Later, a man named Joseph from Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. (Joseph was a follower of Jesus. But he did not tell people, because he was afraid of the Jewish leaders.) Pilate said that Joseph could take the body of Jesus. So Joseph came and took Jesus' body away. Nicodemus went with Joseph. Nicodemus was the man who had come to Jesus before and talked to him at night. Nicodemus brought about 100 pounds of spices. This was a mixture of myrrh and aloes. These two men took Jesus' body. They wrapped it in pieces of linen cloth with the spices. (This is how the Jews bury people.) In the place where Jesus was killed on thecross, there was a garden. In the garden there was a new tomb. No person had ever been buried there before. The men put Jesus in that tomb because it was near, and the Jews were preparing to start their Sabbath day.

— John 19:28-42 (ERV)

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