The Journey to the Cross

 
I wanted to take a break from my EPIC story telling to share some words I came across while reading about God's Epic story.  I found myself falling short and was compelled to read at that moment.  I have this bible that my parents gave me for my birthday last year.  It's put together by Max Lucado and is called Grace for the Moment.  It has readings for 365 days starting with January 1st and ending with December 31st.  Each day takes a little from the Old Testament, Psalms, Proverbs, and then from the New Testament.  Each day's reading also has an excerpt from one of Max Lucado's many inspirational books and a single verse right above the excerpt.  I regrettably missed a few days over the weekend.  So tonight, as I begin the selection of passages for June 18th (in an attempt to catch up to today), the words really hit me and I felt a conviction to share what I read.  It's something that we may often forget in our daily lives and even as we worship.  Max Lucado puts it so well.  God really has given him a gift for writing; a gift for the right words.  The verse that was used above these words was:

"God said through the prophets that his Christ would suffer and die.  And now God has made these things come true in this way." (Acts 3:13)

and the words are these:

Jesus died...on purpose.  No surprise.  No hesitation.  No faltering.

You can tell a lot about a person by the way he dies.  And the way Jesus marched to his death leaves no doubt: he had come to earth for this moment.  Read the words of Peter.  "Jesus was given to you, and with the help of those who don't know the law, you put him to death by nailing him to a cross.  But this was God's Plan which he had made long ago; he knew all this would happen" (Acts 2:23).


No, the journey to the Cross didn't begin in Jericho.  It didn't begin in Galilee.  It didn't begin in Nazareth.  It didn't even begin in Bethlehem.


The journey to the Cross began long before.  As the echo of the crunching of the fruit was still sounding in the garden, Jesus was leaving for Calvary.
                                                                         from And The Angels Were Silent