The Meaning of the Cross, part 1

Today we are kicking off a series in our devotional that is nothing like we have done here in the past. Beginning today and going through Good Friday, we are going to be walking through “40-days of the Cross,” looking into the Meaning of the Cross. If you do the math, we there are more than 40 days to Good Friday, but since we will not be having the devotional on weekends, we are beginning before Ash Wednesday and ending on Good Friday.

Welcome to our first day of our 40 Days of the Cross series. Each day we are taking just a few minutes to look at a word which will help us better understand the meaning of the cross. Today’s word is compassion. Compassion was shown throughout Jesus’ ministry, but nowhere was it more evident than when Jesus hung on the cross, on a hill, on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Jesus’ death on the cross was His greatest act of love.
 

Look at what Jesus Himself said in John 15:13: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus gave His life for us as a supreme act of love. No matter who you are, no matter how unlovely you might think you are, Jesus loves you. His compassion is shown in His sacrifice for you on the cross.
 

The cross was horrible. It was the most gruesome of all forms of execution. No one would have put a cross around their necks in the first century any more than you or I would put a little gold hangman’s noose around our necks today. But that first century church began to deal with the paradox of the cross as a symbol of horror, becoming a symbol of love. And now, almost 20 centuries later, we have grown accustom to a symbol of capital punishment hanging in just about every Christian church and adorning countless necks. That is because Jesus’ act of compassion was so great that we easily associate the cross with an act of love.
 

Now, the cross is still symbolic of death. We don’t often dwell on that very often - but we will talk about that more tomorrow. For now, let’s take a moment, wherever we are and pray.
 

Each day of these 40 days, I will share a prayer, but I encourage you, after you have read it, to spend a little time in meditation and prayer, thinking about the aspect of the cross we’ve discussed – in this week’s devotional, the aspect of compassion.
 

Heavenly Father, we thank you today for the gift of Your Son, Jesus. This act of compassion is our greatest gift. Help us to better understand the depth of Your love for us. Help us to see that Your compassion for us is not limited by our brokenness. For Your compassion is shown to us in that while we were still sinners, Your Son died on the cross for us. May you expand our own compassion as we consider Yours. In the Name of Jesus, amen.
 
Thanks for listening/reading today. Please take some time to consider the compassion of the cross.   Continued tomorrow