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Broken and the Blessed, Lent Day 35

by David Joynt on April 04, 2017


DAY 34

PSALM 90:1-12 | MARK 8:31-32

 

 

The cross, despite its shame and trauma, did fit with the predictions of Jesus. This is important in several ways. First, it means that the cross was willingly embraced by our Lord, and not unexpectedly imposed on Him. Golgotha was not a surprise ending but a destination toward which Jesus deliberately moved. Second, it undergirds the truth that the cross was a divine necessity, connected to the long-term purposes of God. The cross fits with God’s great plan for the renewal of creation.

 

 

Jesus’ first prediction of the cross comes in the exact middle of Mark’s gospel.  How do you think His knowledge of the coming end affected his life and thoughts?

 

FAMILY TIME:

The psalmist suggests we “count our days” and so gain wisdom of heart. What does this mean?

 

 

Tags: cross

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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