{"id":3151,"date":"2021-03-18T06:00:40","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T06:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/?p=3151"},"modified":"2021-02-24T19:08:15","modified_gmt":"2021-02-24T19:08:15","slug":"thursdaythought%e2%80%8b-lent-week-4-a-sacrificial-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/thursdaythought%e2%80%8b-lent-week-4-a-sacrificial-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"#ThursdayThought\u200b: Lent Week 4 &#8220;A Sacrificial Journey&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"660\" height=\"372\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/V1Jo9huBqak?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-GB&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<h2>Jesus\u2019 Sacrifice<\/h2>\n<p>Welcome to Thursday Thought, a short devotional series which compliments our Sunday services as we journey though the season of Lent, based on material produced by Engage Worship. To begin, take a moment to be still, to be in the presence of God, and to ready yourself to hear from Him.<\/p>\n<p>Today, we reflect on the theme of Jesus\u2019 Sacrifice. Our Scripture Reading is Matthew 27:45-53:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><sup>45<\/sup><\/strong>From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. <strong><sup>46<\/sup><\/strong>About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, \u2018Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?\u2019 (which means \u2018My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?\u2019).<\/p>\n<p><strong><sup>47<\/sup><\/strong>When some of those standing there heard this, they said, \u2018He\u2019s calling Elijah.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><strong><sup>48<\/sup><\/strong>Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. <strong><sup>49<\/sup><\/strong>The rest said, \u2018Now leave him alone. Let\u2019s see if Elijah comes to save him.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><strong><sup>50<\/sup><\/strong>And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.<\/p>\n<p><strong><sup>51<\/sup><\/strong>At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split <strong><sup>52<\/sup><\/strong>and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. <strong><sup>53<\/sup><\/strong>They came out of the tombs after Jesus\u2019 resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. Amen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Lent is the season leading up to \u201cHoly Week\u201d when we remember Jesus\u2019 last supper, betrayal, trial and crucifixion. For many of us the story is almost too familiar. We have read it so many times, sung about it in hundreds of songs, and seen countless images of the cross or crucifixion. It is important to ask God to give us a fresh glimpse of what Jesus has done for us.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most striking sections of the piece is the setting of Jesus\u2019 cry: \u201c\u2018Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?\u2019 (which means \u2018My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?\u2019)\u201d (Matt. 27:46)<\/p>\n<p>The word \u201cforsaken\u201d means \u201cabandoned\u201d or \u201cdeserted\u201d. It describes the wilderness experience of Israel, and the wilderness we all feel from time to time. Jesus is taking upon himself all the laments of Israel through the ages, quoting the desperate lament of Psalm 22 in his moment of deepest despair (read Psalm 22:1-18 for yourself).<\/p>\n<p>Take a moment to reflect: have you ever felt forsaken, abandoned or deserted? How does it feel to know that Jesus experienced the most extreme version of that?<\/p>\n<p>Jesus was fully human, entirely identifying with our brokenness. But we miss the full implications of this picture if we do not remember that he was also fully God, eternally the second person of the Trinity. What must it have felt like for that everlasting relationship to be broken, cut off, \u201cGod-forsaken\u201d? Theologian Tom Wright comments:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201c&#8230; the whole point of the cross is that there the weight of the world\u2019s evil really did converge on Jesus, blotting out the sunlight of God\u2019s love as surely as the light of day was blotted out for three hours&#8230; the sin of the \u2018many\u2019, which he is bearing, has for the first and only time in his experience caused a cloud to come between him and the father he loved\u201d Tom Wright, Matthew for Everyone, page 190.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This week, as we consider the \u201csacrifice\u201d of wilderness worship, let us begin by kneeling at the cross. Here Jesus makes the ultimate, once-for-all sacrifice for us. He deals with every consequence of our sin, our shame, our wilderness.<\/p>\n<p>To finish, make this prayer your own: Jesus, God-forsaken God, I kneel at your cross in wonder. Perfect love, perfect sacrifice, poured out for your Father\u2019s glory, for the sake of the world, and even for me. May I live in the light of this wonderful cross. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jesus\u2019 Sacrifice Welcome to Thursday Thought, a short devotional series which compliments our Sunday services as we journey though the season of Lent, based on material produced by Engage Worship.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3152,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[336],"tags":[429],"class_list":["post-3151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reflections","tag-lent-2021"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Week-4-Dev.jpg?fit=960%2C540&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8z2vw-OP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3154,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/thursdaythought%e2%80%8b-lent-week-5-a-truth-speaking-journey\/","url_meta":{"origin":3151,"position":0},"title":"#ThursdayThought\u200b: Lent Week 5 &#8220;A Truth-Speaking Journey&#8221;","author":"Stuart Love","date":"25 March 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Words of Eternal Life Welcome to Thursday Thought, a short devotional series which compliments our Sunday services as we journey though the season of Lent, based on material produced by Engage Worship. To begin, take a moment to be still, to be in the presence of God, and to ready\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Reflections&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Reflections","link":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/reflections\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Week-5-Dev.jpg?fit=960%2C540&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Week-5-Dev.jpg?fit=960%2C540&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Week-5-Dev.jpg?fit=960%2C540&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Week-5-Dev.jpg?fit=960%2C540&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3145,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/thursdaythought%e2%80%8b-lent-week-2-a-simple-journey\/","url_meta":{"origin":3151,"position":1},"title":"#ThursdayThought\u200b: Lent Week 2 &#8220;A Simple Journey&#8221;","author":"Stuart Love","date":"4 March 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Simplicity: Freedom From Distractions Welcome to Thursday Thought, a short devotional series which compliments our Sunday services as we journey though the season of Lent, based on material produced by Engage Worship. To begin, take a moment to be still, to be in the presence of God, and to ready\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Reflections&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Reflections","link":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/reflections\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Week-2-Dev.jpg?fit=960%2C540&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Week-2-Dev.jpg?fit=960%2C540&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Week-2-Dev.jpg?fit=960%2C540&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Week-2-Dev.jpg?fit=960%2C540&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":768,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/message-from-our-locum-joan-kilpatrick-feb-2016\/","url_meta":{"origin":3151,"position":2},"title":"Message from our Locum \u2013 Joan Kilpatrick \u2013 Feb 2016","author":"admin","date":"10 February 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear Friends We seem to be moving along at quick at a pace this year mainly due to the fact that Easter is very early, by the time you read this Lent will almost be upon us \u2013 Shrove Tuesday on the 9th and Ash Wednesday on the 10th! Our\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":987,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/ministers-letter-march-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":3151,"position":3},"title":"Minister&#8217;s Letter &#8211; March 2017","author":"Graham Shankland","date":"6 March 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As I write this, it is Shrove Tuesday, and I am looking forward to justifiably having some pancakes for my supper! That means that tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, is the start of the season of Lent: the period in the Church calendar which leads us towards Easter. I wonder if you\u2019ve\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3148,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/thursdaythought%e2%80%8b-lent-week-3-a-sorrowful-journey\/","url_meta":{"origin":3151,"position":4},"title":"#ThursdayThought\u200b: Lent Week 3 &#8220;A Sorrowful Journey&#8221;","author":"Stuart Love","date":"11 March 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Man of Sorrows Welcome to Thursday Thought, a short devotional series which compliments our Sunday services as we journey though the season of Lent, based on material produced by Engage Worship. To begin, take a moment to be still, to be in the presence of God, and to ready yourself\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Reflections&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Reflections","link":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/reflections\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Week-3-Dev.jpg?fit=960%2C540&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Week-3-Dev.jpg?fit=960%2C540&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Week-3-Dev.jpg?fit=960%2C540&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Week-3-Dev.jpg?fit=960%2C540&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4055,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/lenten-reflections\/","url_meta":{"origin":3151,"position":5},"title":"Lenten Reflections","author":"admin","date":"24 March 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"We are now in the period of 'Lent', which is what we call the 40 days leading up to Easter. 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