Lent @ EBC - Part 5: Crown of Thorns

This Sunday, Rob lea brings us the talk in the latest of our EBC Online services. Once you have watched the video, we encourage you to reflect on the bible text and join us in the prayer that follows below.

To listen to the talk click here.
 
Readings:

John chapter 19 verses 18 - 24, 28 - 35 (New Living Translation)

Finally, Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
“They divided my clothes among them
  and cast lots for my garment.”
So this is what the soldiers did.

(Verse 28) Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 


 

Prayer & Reflection

Lord God just saying thank you for your amazing grace and love revealed by Jesus when he took the punishment that we deserve seems inadequate, but we do say thank you, nevertheless. We confess that, although we can so easily see the sin in the lives of others, our attitude to sin in our own lives is often shallow, pleases forgive us.
Lord God we recognise that on our own we will inevitably succumb to the temptation to sin. So, we ask that you fill us with your Holy Spirit to enable us to resist sin however it masquerades in our life. We ask this in the precious name of Jesus. AMEN.



Questions to Consider

1. Do you agree that pride and self-centredness are the ‘root cause’ of sin? If you do, can you give an example in your own life, or others? If you don’t agree, then what is?
2. Is sin something that you ever discuss with your friends, family or life group? (If you’re a member of one) If no, why do you think that is?
3. The bible tells us that every human has sinned, but that can’t include babies can it?
4. John 3:16, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” What do think is meant by ‘perish’?
5. On the cross, when Jesus said, ‘It is finished’, what did he mean by saying that?
6. Can you give an example of grace from your own life, or one that you’ve heard about or read about within the last year?