Holy Week favorites - Cause for Celebration

Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse. And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham’s blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to receive God’s life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way Abraham received it.
Galatians 3:13-14 The Message

This weekend, we celebrate the Death and Resurrection of Christ. 

Have you ever set out to actually celebrate the Crucifixion? The Cross? We don't like to think about the suffering of Christ during Passion Week. We definitely don't like to watch the event either, now that "The Passion of the Christ" has brought it to life in all its horrible detail.

How many of us truly realize that it was because of the beatings, the whipped stripes on His back, the crown of thorns, the nails that pierced His flesh, the spear that ripped open His side that we even have a cause for celebration?!? It is His SHED blood that pays the debt of our sins. It was the stripes that bought and paid for our healing. Isaiah 53:5-6 NLT reads, ...he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

The work that was accomplished and finished on the Cross - Christ's blood spilled out - was the only power to wash away our sin stains. Without His death on the Cross, there would be no Resurrection. The Cross and the love that held Jesus on it are the true causes for celebration. Hallelujah!

Prayer:

Father,
           In and of ourselves, we haven't the words to express our gratitude. Reveal Your Word to us and give us grateful hearts to celebrate what Your Son has done for us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen