Reading:
Mark 14:1–15:47
Devotion:
Today He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the Cross
He who is King of the angels is arrayed in a crown of thorns.
He who wraps the Heavens in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery.
He who in Jordan set Adam free receives blows upon His face.
The Bridegroom of the Church is transfixed with nails.
The Son of the Virgin is pierced with a spear.
We venerate Your Passion, O Christ.
Show us also Your glorious Resurrection.
–Sēmeron Kremātai Epí Xýlou, 15th Century Greek Orthodox Hymn
Today’s passage is long, covering the entire sequence of events from the woman anointing Jesus with perfume all the way through His burial. In many Good Friday traditions and services, we spend hours considering these moments in the story, pausing to consider and reflect on the effort and anguish of Christ. The Way of the Cross, for example, presents fourteen images of Christ as He experiences His condemnation, crucifixion and burial, arranged on a path, each offering a moment to stop and pray.
In our reflection and retelling of the sequence of events, we get a larger picture of all that Christ is experiencing. As the woman anoints him, the effort is ridiculed, its expression of devotion fully misunderstood. As Judas plots to hand over Jesus, he experiences backstabbing, even denial and disbelief from the other disciples. He is betrayed with Judas’s duplicity. He experiences accusation, lies, injustice, powerlessness, voicelessness, disrespect, abuse, assault, violence—all as he is with his accusers. He is abandoned, deserted and renounced by Peter. The crowd casts merciless hatred and rejection toward him before Pilate, mocking and despising Him as he carries the cross. He is taunted and disregarded in his pain before his death and burial. The range of sorrows is wide.
And near the middle of this passage, Jesus is in the garden, also taking moments to stop and pray. Anxiety, distress, grief, discomfort, exhaustion, frustration… the emotions aren’t hidden in the story, but palpable. He says directly, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death.”
Then He prays a curious request to the Father, one that should make us stop and pause a little longer. “All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” All things are indeed possible for Him. The option for this to happen a different way seems reasonable. Because, really, is God indebted or enslaved to sin? Is God beholden to any rule system that He doesn’t have complete authority to overturn? Of course not.
Even at the cross, when Jesus cries in desperation, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”, this isn’t a statement of God being powerless to engage with sin. After all, it was “we” who thought of him as smitten by God. No, God hasn’t forsaken Him. This is a declaration of trust, the affirmation that trust in God does not disappoint (as it says a few verses later in the passage Jesus quotes). Of course God doesn’t reject him. It only makes sense that sin didn’t—can’t—coerce God into a change of character; redemption and resurrection have always been His heart.
So in the garden Jesus asks to do this another way, but it’s not a desperate, dead-end ask where the outcome can’t change due to a requirement of sin. It’s a sincere request, which means the question here isn’t a question of what can be done about sin—all things can be done. It’s a question of for whom is Jesus taking this cup? Why this path?
There’s no trick answer here: it’s still for us, just a changed motive. As we explored yesterday, Jesus models how to follow Him, and therein how to follow the Father, explaining that it’s demonstrated in our love for one another. Is the cup, the journey to the cross, an expression of love to us like we’ve always known it, but offered to us freely instead of as a demanded price? And if solely offered in love, how now do we look at the Sorrows of the Cross?
Loving one another endures a lot, often silently, even from those closest to us. It’s not just Jesus’s enemies that mistreat him, but it’s his friends and disciples too, misunderstanding and misrepresenting, doubting and denying. Over and over, Jesus chooses to respond with love, to endure the painful moments before Him.
Loving one another, following Christ, allows us to endure much, for the joy set before us. The moments of miscommunication, the real and painful wounds, the falling out and lost contact in our relationships—all become moments we may choose to offer our love instead, following the example and inheritance Christ gives.
Today, may we read the story of Christ’s suffering, the events leading up to His death, and see the hope of the Resurrection already unfolding. May we take heart when we endure in love for one another, anticipating the life yet to come.
A Prayer for Each Moment:
Gracious Father,
We remember tearfully the journey of sorrows that Christ took to the grave, His expression of love that stoops to us in our needs and demands. As we imagine the weight of Christ crucified and in the tomb, remind us of the new and living way inaugurated for us, that we might live carrying each other in love, just as Your Son carried our own sins.
Amen
A Prayer for Each Other:
Our Father,
You hear our prayers of anguish and praise, and You listen to the real feelings in our hearts without turning away. Grant us sincere faith, trusting in You without disappointment, that we might have hope and encourage one another in Your faithfulness to us.
Amen
Blessing:
May today bring us gentle reminders of the kindness of God toward us and the ways His love endures on our behalf.
Mark 14:1–15:47
Devotion:
Today He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the Cross
He who is King of the angels is arrayed in a crown of thorns.
He who wraps the Heavens in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery.
He who in Jordan set Adam free receives blows upon His face.
The Bridegroom of the Church is transfixed with nails.
The Son of the Virgin is pierced with a spear.
We venerate Your Passion, O Christ.
Show us also Your glorious Resurrection.
–Sēmeron Kremātai Epí Xýlou, 15th Century Greek Orthodox Hymn
Today’s passage is long, covering the entire sequence of events from the woman anointing Jesus with perfume all the way through His burial. In many Good Friday traditions and services, we spend hours considering these moments in the story, pausing to consider and reflect on the effort and anguish of Christ. The Way of the Cross, for example, presents fourteen images of Christ as He experiences His condemnation, crucifixion and burial, arranged on a path, each offering a moment to stop and pray.
In our reflection and retelling of the sequence of events, we get a larger picture of all that Christ is experiencing. As the woman anoints him, the effort is ridiculed, its expression of devotion fully misunderstood. As Judas plots to hand over Jesus, he experiences backstabbing, even denial and disbelief from the other disciples. He is betrayed with Judas’s duplicity. He experiences accusation, lies, injustice, powerlessness, voicelessness, disrespect, abuse, assault, violence—all as he is with his accusers. He is abandoned, deserted and renounced by Peter. The crowd casts merciless hatred and rejection toward him before Pilate, mocking and despising Him as he carries the cross. He is taunted and disregarded in his pain before his death and burial. The range of sorrows is wide.
And near the middle of this passage, Jesus is in the garden, also taking moments to stop and pray. Anxiety, distress, grief, discomfort, exhaustion, frustration… the emotions aren’t hidden in the story, but palpable. He says directly, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death.”
Then He prays a curious request to the Father, one that should make us stop and pause a little longer. “All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” All things are indeed possible for Him. The option for this to happen a different way seems reasonable. Because, really, is God indebted or enslaved to sin? Is God beholden to any rule system that He doesn’t have complete authority to overturn? Of course not.
Even at the cross, when Jesus cries in desperation, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”, this isn’t a statement of God being powerless to engage with sin. After all, it was “we” who thought of him as smitten by God. No, God hasn’t forsaken Him. This is a declaration of trust, the affirmation that trust in God does not disappoint (as it says a few verses later in the passage Jesus quotes). Of course God doesn’t reject him. It only makes sense that sin didn’t—can’t—coerce God into a change of character; redemption and resurrection have always been His heart.
So in the garden Jesus asks to do this another way, but it’s not a desperate, dead-end ask where the outcome can’t change due to a requirement of sin. It’s a sincere request, which means the question here isn’t a question of what can be done about sin—all things can be done. It’s a question of for whom is Jesus taking this cup? Why this path?
There’s no trick answer here: it’s still for us, just a changed motive. As we explored yesterday, Jesus models how to follow Him, and therein how to follow the Father, explaining that it’s demonstrated in our love for one another. Is the cup, the journey to the cross, an expression of love to us like we’ve always known it, but offered to us freely instead of as a demanded price? And if solely offered in love, how now do we look at the Sorrows of the Cross?
Loving one another endures a lot, often silently, even from those closest to us. It’s not just Jesus’s enemies that mistreat him, but it’s his friends and disciples too, misunderstanding and misrepresenting, doubting and denying. Over and over, Jesus chooses to respond with love, to endure the painful moments before Him.
Loving one another, following Christ, allows us to endure much, for the joy set before us. The moments of miscommunication, the real and painful wounds, the falling out and lost contact in our relationships—all become moments we may choose to offer our love instead, following the example and inheritance Christ gives.
Today, may we read the story of Christ’s suffering, the events leading up to His death, and see the hope of the Resurrection already unfolding. May we take heart when we endure in love for one another, anticipating the life yet to come.
A Prayer for Each Moment:
Gracious Father,
We remember tearfully the journey of sorrows that Christ took to the grave, His expression of love that stoops to us in our needs and demands. As we imagine the weight of Christ crucified and in the tomb, remind us of the new and living way inaugurated for us, that we might live carrying each other in love, just as Your Son carried our own sins.
Amen
A Prayer for Each Other:
Our Father,
You hear our prayers of anguish and praise, and You listen to the real feelings in our hearts without turning away. Grant us sincere faith, trusting in You without disappointment, that we might have hope and encourage one another in Your faithfulness to us.
Amen
Blessing:
May today bring us gentle reminders of the kindness of God toward us and the ways His love endures on our behalf.
Recent
Archive
2026