Ep. 12: When All Hope Is Gone | The Crucifixion of Jesus

It happens on Good Friday. Jesus dies. At this moment, it seems like all the hope is gone. Just like his life is over, it seems like the dream is over. The ambition is over. The hopes are over. And yet, there's a group of women who come to the cross. They come to the cross out of love and out of care. It's a moment that carries a lot of grief and pain, but it's not a moment we should skip past. My friend Choxton explained it to us right now. So this Good Friday, we're looking at the people who were a part of the story of Good Friday, the people who are a part of the crucifixion of Jesus. You know, I'm in an abandoned mall and there's just something sad about being in a place that used to be vibrant, full of people, full of commerce, providing jobs, all of the things that come with a place like this. But man, to see it cavernous and unused, it's just not a great place to be. And there's something about that abandoned word, right? It's an abandoned mall. And in many ways, this place embodies what I think the women who were with Jesus at the cross may have been experiencing and feeling. You know, the Bible records the crucifixion of Jesus and all four of the biographies of His life, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And there's a lot of details that only show up in one or the other. But these women show up in all four accounts. I think it was just so powerful that at this moment when all was lost, they were still there. We just have to understand there was no hope at the foot of the cross. I don't believe that these women thought realistically that anything was coming after this. They thought this was the end. And yet, Jesus had made these promises that after He laid down His life, He was going to rise again. But I don't think that's what they were experiencing in that moment. They were experiencing the grief and the pain that comes when you're at the end. Have you ever been at the bedside of a friend or family member when they're taking their last breaths, when every hope of prayer that they would get up off that sickbed and get healed is gone and you now have to prepare yourself for them transitioning away out of your life? I've been there. And that's where these women were. The Bible says one of the women who were there was actually Jesus's mother, Mary. Can you imagine being a mother, watching your

adult son be tortured, dying by one of the most heinous, most painful instruments of death that humanity has ever created in crucifixion? She was mourning at the foot of the cross. They were mourning at the foot of the cross. And so they weren't there because there was some hopeful thing they thought was going to happen. They were simply there because they loved Jesus. And maybe you're in a situation in your life where you're there because you love that person. Maybe there's someone in your life that is transitioning and you're there because you love them. It's not that there's going to be a miraculous ending to the story, at least not the one that you desire in this moment. But you're there and you're present because you love them. Maybe you feel that way in your life. Maybe there is something you feel like it's dying. There's a relationship that you thought was going to be more than what it is, but it's dying. Maybe there's something in your life health-wise and you're struggling with it. Maybe you yourself have gotten a diagnosis from which, at least at this point, it doesn't appear there's going to be a return. I want you to know that at the foot of the cross, those women were present and they were in pain, but they hung in there simply because they loved Jesus. And so I don't know who I'm talking to right now, but if that's you, I want you to know that in your powerful place of presence and maybe pain, maybe there's not hope that you see, but I want you to know you're not alone. You're not alone. Maybe one of those women remembered these words that Jesus said a long time before he got on that cross on the hillside when he said, Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. And I just want you to know if you're mourning, if you feel that sense of loss, if there's a heaviness in your life, there's a blessing that you can experience of God's comfort in that place. Even in our mourning, God is present. He's present with you.