Wood and Nails

Good Friday, April 10, 2020

Scripture – John 19: 16-19 (NIV)

¹⁶ Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. ¹⁷ Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). ¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

¹⁹ Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews.

Wood and Nails

by Lt. Colonel Diane O’Brien

Jesus had carried wood for Joseph to shape. He had probably had his share of splinters too. He sorted the nails, which to use for which job. He learned how to select them for the strongest joins.

This was different. The wood he carried had a harder and higher purpose. It would be seen for all time by all people. Splinters from the crude shaping dug into his skin but there was no abandoning of the weight.

The soldiers needed to place the nails correctly too, to do their job. But it was not the nails that held him to the cross. The Son of God could have stepped down in great spectacle, like some majestic magician.

But he knew the purpose of the wood and the nails. And he knew the purpose of his suffering. It was not for anything he had done.

It was all for me.

Lest I Forget Gethsemane
Salvation Army Songbook #179

1.
King of my life I crown Thee now
Thine shall the glory be
Lest I forget Thy thorn-crowned brow
Lead me to Calvary

Lest I forget Gethsemane
Lest I forget Thine agony
Lest I forget Thy love for me
Lead me to Calvary

2.
Show me the tomb where Thou wast laid
Tenderly mourned and wept
Angels in robes of light arrayed
Guarded Thee whilst Thou slept

3.
Let me like Mary through the gloom
Come with a gift to Thee
Show to me now the empty tomb
Lead me to Calvary

4.
May I be willing Lord to bear
Daily my cross for Thee
Even Thy cup of grief to share
Thou hast borne all for me

Jennie Hussey

Commissioner Kenneth G. Hodder invites you to join him for worship on Easter Sunday @ 7:00pm PDT.

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