Friday Coffee with PJ

Today is not just Friday ... it is Good Friday, the day we commemorate the death of God's Son and our savior upon the cross. To mark this day, I thought I would post several quotes about the cross. I encourage you to reflect on these and rejoice that our God so loved us that he sent his one and only son . . . !

“Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us.” (John R.W. Stott)

 "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink.  But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit." (Matthew 27:45-50)

“Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain. What was once foolishness to us—a crucified God—must become our wisdom and our power and our only boast in this world.” (John Piper)

Surely he has borne our griefs

 and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

    smitten by God, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions;

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

    and with his wounds we are healed.

⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;

    we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

    the iniquity of us all.

(Isaiah 53:4-6)

“Only those who are truly aware of their sin can truly cherish grace.”  (C.J. Mahaney)

"But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Galatians 6:14)

“Why is it that the cross has become the symbol of Christianity? It is because at the cross Jesus purchased our redemption and provided a righteousness which we could not ourselves earn.”  (Billy Graham)

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, 
 and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

    and you shall bruise his heel.”

(God to Satan in Genesis 3:15

“The world takes us to a silver screen on which flickering images of passion and romance play, and as we watch, the world says, ‘This is love.’ God takes us to the foot of a tree on which a naked and bloodied man hangs and says, ‘This is love.'”  (Joshua Harris) 

“Jesus has borne the death penalty on our behalf. Behold the wonder! There He hangs upon the cross! This is the greatest sight you will ever see. Son of God and Son of Man, there He hangs, bearing pains unutterable, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. Oh, the glory of that sight!”   (Charles Spurgeon)

"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Praise God that Jesus died ... but that he did not remain in the grave! He is risen ... He is risen indeed! A meaningful Good Friday to you all and a very blessed and happy Easter! 

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj