So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.”
John 8:28, ESV
When we look to the Cross, we see the greatest act of God’s love for us. He chose to enter creation, live, suffer, and die to redeem us from our sins. The Cross highlights the choice God made for us. It can be hard to face the brutality of the Crucifixion, yet amid that suffering, God cleansed us of our failures, our sins. When we peer at his suffering, we can weep, knowing that every lash, every pound of the spike, and all the ridicule that our Lord faced that day was for us. At that moment, we were cleansed of all that previously kept us from being in the presence of the Father. By his stripes, we are healed.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.