The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!” ~ Matthew 27:39-40 (NLT)
Lord Jesus, your trip to the cross is complete. Even so, people don't understand the journey. They are eager to either hijack the whole thing to advance their own goals or they mock you. But you just carry on -- undeterred. And that's a good thing. I am directly benefiting from your faithful determination. Thank you for securing forgiveness, reconciliation, and victory through it all. You are my hero. You are my life. Amen!Challenging Words
- mock, mockery -- to make fun of, to scorn, to say something insincere about someone. If you do that, you are making a mockery of them or their situation.
- hijack -- to take over control either by deception or force. For example, Arnold would hijack every conversation so that he could talk about his girlfriend.
- undeterred -- showing determination, ignoring the people or circumstances which would try to get you to change your course of action
- determination -- resolve, sticking to the plan, resolute, stubborn