GOOD FRIDAY – DON’T MISREAD THE MIDDLE

GOOD FRIDAY – DON’T MISREAD THE MIDDLE

 A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery.  “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”

 The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him!  He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

Matthew 27:37-43

Trust: peitho (pi’-tho); to convince, to rely on with inward certainty, have full confidence, or complete trust.

At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

Matthew 27:45-46

WE ONLY SEE PART OF THE STORY

Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

I Corinthians 13:12

BIG IDEA: Faith isn’t built when life makes sense — it’s built when you God when it doesn’t.

WHAT TO REMEMBER WHEN YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND

1. God is .

Only God is truly good.

Mark 10:18

If God is good, then even what I don’t understand is still in .

         2. God is .

If God is for us, who can ever be against us?

Romans 8:31

The cross settled this —God isn’t against you, He gave everything for .

         3. God is .

… “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”

Hebrews 13:5

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Proverbs 3:5

Even when GOD feels , He is never .

THE BETTER I KNOW GOD

• The less I ask .
• The more I ask .
• The sooner I say .

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

II Corinthians 5:21

Jesus said, “I thirst!” Then He said, “It is finished!

John 19:28-30

If God can be trusted on the worst day in … He can be in whatever you’re walking through .