Welcome to Day 38 of our 40 Day challenge! Matthew 27:45-56

(Catch up with us, with our reading list March, reading list for April,  and Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21, Day 22, Day 23, Day 24,
Day 25, Day 26, Day 27, Day 28, Day 29, Day 30, Day 31, Day 32, Day 33, Day 34, Day 35, Day 36, Day 37)

Today we are reading Matthew 27:45-56

Matthew 27:45-56

The Death of Jesus

⁴⁵ From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. ⁴⁶ About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,^[c]lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).^[d]

⁴⁷ When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”

⁴⁸ Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ⁴⁹ The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

⁵⁰ And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split ⁵² and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³ They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and^[e] went into the holy cityand appeared to many people.

⁵⁴ When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵ Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. ⁵⁶ Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph,^[f] and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

Over these 40 days, I’ve been reflecting on John, the disciple of love, being the only of the 12 not to desert Jesus.

When Aidan was a baby, a mom friend told me that her goal would be to show her kids so much love that it would make them bulletproof to the world’s judgment. That phrase, a love that makes them bulletproof, has stuck with me for all these years.

I had a fear, my whole upbringing, that I could never be good enough to be loved by God. The expectation was perfection; even as a kid, I knew I could never be that. And then I met Jesus for real, and that love changed everything. I already had that love, the whole time, I just didn’t know it.

John’s greatest confidence was Jesus’ great love for him. John’s revelation of being the one Jesus loved made him strong enough to stay when things got scary, to be a witness when the rest fled. He had experienced a love that made him bulletproof to the fear and judgment the rest caved to.

We see the three tiers of responses here. Mary and John are up close. The rest of the women were present, but at a distance. And the rest of the men? They were so close to Him just before, but now they have gone.

Lord, help us have a revelation of your love so strong that nothing the world throws at us matters in comparison.

Options for further  journaling or discussion throughout the challenge:

• Choose a part of the passage to write out by hand. Writing by hand helps us slow down and focus on what the Lord might highlight for us in the passage. Our brains can focus and remember better by writing than just reading alone.
• Journal about what the passage brings to mind. Does the passage tell us anything about God? Does it tell us anything about our response to Him?
• Does your heart respond in gratitude to any part of the passage? Write or pray your gratitude to the Lord.

We’ll see you next time, for Day 39 and John 20:1-18

♥ Samantha