Reading: Luke 23:44-49 NLT

By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle.

Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.

When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent. ” And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow. 

But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.

Prayer: Lord Jesus – It’s never too late to confess you as the Messiah, the Son of the living God… not for the thief, not for the soldier, and not for us. You alone are our Savior and Lord. You alone hold the keys to eternal life. Fill me with a deep sorrow that leads to worship… not from a distance, but at the foot of the Cross. Amen!

Hymn: “Beneath the cross of Jesus” – Elizabeth C. Clephane (1868)

Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand. The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land. A home within the wilderness,a rest upon the way, from the burning of the noontide heat and the burden of the day.

Upon that cross of Jesus, mine eye at times can see the very dying form of One who suffered there for me. And from my smitten heart, with tears, two wonders I confess: the wonders of His glorious love, and my unworthiness.

I take, O Cross, thy shadow for my abiding place. I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face Content to let the world go by, to know no gain or loss. My sinful self– my only shame, my glory– all the cross.