Read John 19:16-30; Psalm 22
Jesus used His mind during His crucifixion, and we don’t have to wonder all that was going on in His mind.
He wasn’t focused on the pain. He wasn’t focused on His own suffering. He wasn’t focused on the perpetrators. He wasn’t focused on any what-ifs.
Jesus used His mind to consider others and to love the Father.
He provided for His mother’s future as He said to her and John, “Woman, behold your son!” and “Behold, your mother!”
He reassured the dying thief, “Today, you will be with Me in paradise.”
He cried out a portion of Psalm 22, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” A Psalm which ends, “they shall come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn, that He has done it.”
The writer to the Hebrews tells us that He thought about eternity at the right hand of the Father: “for the joy set before Him, endured the cross.”
He used His mind to forgive His enemies, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
In the midst of horrendous suffering, when all was finished, the Lord still loved the Father with All His Mind.
Lord Jesus, help me to use my mind to love you and to love others. Help me, even in the midst of difficult circumstances, to forgive my enemies, to reassure those who are also suffering, to provide for the needs of others, to hope in eternity with You, and to pray Your Words.
When Jesus spoke His last words, “It is finished,” darkness cloaked the land, and it seemed like the end of the story.
Like the intricate pattern of a turtle’s shell, God wove Light into darkness, preparing to astound the world with a spark, even after all hope seemed gone.
Sarah Dixon Young 