Journey to the Cross: Week Seven

This Week's Scripture:
Luke 23:50-58 & Matthew 27:62-66

Join us as we Journey to the Cross, a nine-week study designed to prepare our hearts for Easter. 

This study comes to us from The Daily Grace Company. Originally designed to be an eight-day study, we’re going to stretch it out over nine weeks and meditate on Scripture as we enter the season of Easter. I hope you’ll join us!

Last week we looked at Good Friday​​. This week we're looking at Sunday is Coming!

​In the coming weeks, we'll study topics like He is Risen, and finally Follow Me.

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CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD JOURNEY TO THE CROSS

​​Sunday is Coming!

"Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God." Luke 23:50-51

Joseph of Arimathea is an extraordinary man in Scripture. A member of the religious council, he somehow managed to be a good and upright man and keep his devotion to Jesus quiet. Luke 23:51 says that Joseph was looking for the Kingdom of God. While some of Jesus' own men missed Jesus' real mission on earth, looking for an earthly kingdom to overthrow Rome, this man knew that there was more to Jesus than politics. What faith he had! It is likely that he and Nicodemus hid in the tomb that Joseph had prepared until Jesus died, and then they approached Pilate asking for His body.

After Jesus was laid in the new tomb, the Pharisees asked Pilate to guard the tomb with soldiers for three days so that they could ensure that Jesus' prophecy wouldn't come true. They remembered that He said He would rise again in three days.

​While the disciples were hiding and mourning in a locked room, the chief priests were remembering the Words of Jesus. Sisters, we can know Scripture and not believe it. The Pharisees refused to accept that Jesus was the Messiah. We can also believe who Jesus says He is like His disciples did, and simply... forget. His own disciples mourned without hope, simply because they didn't remember what He said.

In our difficult circumstances, we can do one of three things:

1. We can be Pharisees, hearing God's words and not accepting and applying them.
2. We can be the disciples, focusing on our own misery and mourning without hope.
3. We can be like Joseph and Nicodemus, studying Jesus' words and digesting them. We can cling to them for hope and peace and joy despite the things in our lives that don't make sense.

Are we women who look for the Kingdom of God more than we look for our own benefit? Do we seek His Kingdom above all else and let God take care of the rest (Matthew 6:33 )? Instead of caving to self-misery and even self-preservation, Joseph sought Jesus' Kingdom. What a miracle he got to be a part of!

I don't want to miss what God could do through me because I'm self­ absorbed. I want to keep my eyes open, searching for the Kingdom and how I can help bring it here on earth.

Tucked into the crucifixion story, we find a subtle parallel to the story of Creation. Just as God rested on the seventh day after creating the earth in six days, Jesus finished the "new creation" after six hours on the cross, and He rested on the Sabbath. What a beautiful reminder that every piece of this plan of redemption was orchestrated by God, down to the minutes. Nothing passes His notice. Nothing happens by coincidence with the Lord. 

And so, it is no coincidence that God wasn't in a hurry to raise Jesus from the dead. While the women and the disciples grieved, we know how the story ends. Things may have looked bleak on Saturday, but Sunday was coming!

Wait on the Lord. His plan is best and He has not overlooked us in our time of need. Let's meditate on His promises and memorize His Word. Let's seek for the Kingdom of God in the places no one else would think to look. And let's take hold of the hope that our Sunday is coming.

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Are we looking for the Kingdom of God? Do we seek His Kingdom above all else and let God take care of the rest? ​I love these questions! I too don't want to miss what God could do through me because I'm self­ absorbed. I want to keep my eyes open, searching for the Kingdom. How about you?