Verse of the week

'Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads' Mark 14:29

The world will ignore Easter this Easter. If they think about Jesus dying on a cross at all, it won't be for very long, and with a metaphorical shake of their heads they'll get on with their life. Millions of people will walk past the cross and laugh this Good Friday; just as people did on the first Good Friday.
Jesus hung there on his cross, the innocent Son of God paying the price of the sins of a guilty world; and the world just laughed and insulted him. Do you do that? Perhaps once you stopped at the cross and knelt, and gave great thanks to the man on it for dying in your place; but recently you've stopped thinking about it, and you just walk by, and in your ignoring it in your life you're shaking your head at it. Why not stop and come back to the foot of the Son of God's cross and be blown away once more by the love he shows you, and stop your insults and say 'Thank you'.
The world still laughs and insults Jesus. Will we as Jesus' followers allow that to hurt us at this time of year especially; will we call people not to laugh but to weep, not to throw insults but to bow in reverence? As Jesus hung there, dying and derided, his friends were nowhere - rather than defending him, they had deserted him. If we are friends of Jesus this Easter, let's make sure we defend our God on his cross from the taunts and casual ignorance of our friends and families; let's stand up for his name and call people to stop at the cross this Easter and see what Jesus offers them as he dies on it.