The Crucifixion
I believe in Jesus Christ, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
Reading (Romans 8: 31-39)
If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but handed him over for us, will he not give us everything else along with him? Who will bring a charge against God's chosen ones? It is God who justifies; who is to condemn? It is Jesus Christ, who died and was raised and is at the right hand of the Father, who intercedes for us.What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? As it is written,
"For your sake we are being slain all the day,
We are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered."In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Song (Philippians 2: 5-11)
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God,
Did not regard equality with God
As something to cling to,
But emptied himself,
Taking the form of a slave,
Being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
He humbled himself,
And became obedient to the point of death,
Even death on a cross.
Because of this, God highly exalted him,
And bestowed on him the name
That is above every name,
So that at the name of Jesus,
Every knee should bend,
In heaven and on earth and under the earth,
And every tongue should proclaim
That Jesus Christ is Lord,
To the glory of God the Father.
Reflection
God chose the most unlikely way to overcome the forces of evil in the world and win salvation for his people. He gave his own Son up to death to show the depth of his love. When we gaze upon the crucifix, we contemplate the deepest mystery of faith: that God would empty himself and enter fully into the human condition, so that we might be raised up to share in the life of God. If God would do this, surely his love has no limits.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, we kneel before you weighed down with sorrow for our sins, but filled with hope by the sign of forgiveness that is the cross. We resolve to turn away from sin and follow you on the way to salvation. We ask for the gift of faith, that we may have the courage to take up the cross, for it is the only way to eternal life.
Read another reflection of the crucifixion