21/05/2026
https://youtu.be/pApIxr977Zk?si=gEsJhOwlk4FTM5AH
*METHODIST CHURCH NIGERIA*
DAILY REFLECTION FOR
_THURSDAY MAY 21, 2026_
*THEME: _JESUS' JOURNEY TO THE CROSS_*
*TEXT: _JOHN 19:6-18_*
⁶ When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no crime in him."
⁷ The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he has made himself the Son of God."
⁸ When Pilate heard these words, he was the more afraid;
⁹ he entered the praetorium again and said to Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave no answer.
¹⁰ Pilate therefore said to him, "You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?"
¹¹ Jesus answered him, "You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore he who delivered me to you has the greater sin."
¹² Upon this Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, "If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend; every one who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar."
¹³ When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, and in Hebrew, Gab'batha.
¹⁴ Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Behold your King!"
¹⁵ They cried out, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar."
¹⁶ Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
¹⁷ So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Gol'gotha.
¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.
*THE MESSAGE:*
Jesus' journey to the cross was painful. However, without going to the cross to pay the price for our salvation, mankind would have become lost forever. Jesus had to journey to the cross to make our Salvation a reality. The cross of Jesus is the place of redemption of man from the curse of the law. Galatians 3:13 says; "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that is hangeth on a tree". This means that but for Jesus' journey to the cross, we would have remained under a curse and therefore unfit for any blessings whatsoever from God.
The cross is the place of the total and final defeat of Satan and his cohorts by Master Jesus for as many as believe in Him. In Luke 10:18-19, Jesus said "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." This calls for every day celebration for every child of God.
For all the benefits mankind derived from Jesus' death on the cross, we should resolve to live for Him daily in eternal gratitude, consecration and dedication to do His will. We should also be willing to pass through any pain or shame by which members of our family and other people would benefit hereafter. "For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." (Hebrews 2:10)
Your labour of love is certainly not in vain. Move on courageously today, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Hebrews 12:1-2 12 says "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
*HYMN: MHB 183* _(8.7.8.7.)_
1: In the cross of Christ I glory:
Towering o’er the wrecks of time,
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.
2: When the woes of life o’ertake me,
Hopes deceive, and fears annoy,
Never shall the cross forsake me:
Lo! it glows with peace and joy.
3: When the sun of bliss is beaming
Light and love upon my way:
From the cross the radiance streaming
Adds more luster to the day.
4: Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure,
By the cross are sanctified;
Peace is there that knows no measure,
Joys that through all time abide.
5: In the cross of Christ I glory:
Towering o’er the wrecks of time,
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.
*MEMORY VERSE:*
And He, bearing His cross, went out to place called the Place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, –John 19:17
*PRAYER:*
Lord Jesus, thank You for enduring all the pain at Calvary for my sake. Help me daily to live for Thee, always doing Your will. Amen.
_READ:_
DAY: 1 Chron. 23-24
NIGHT: 1 Chron. 25
