Luke 23:35-43
Lead in: As we sit in the stands at a sporting event, we all cheer for our team. We want them to win. Defeat is a hard pill to swallow. Yet we see that on the cross. It’s Jesus our hero who experiences utter defeat. This is a hard pill for us to swallow. We want our hero to go out with a blaze of glory.
Prompt: How do you relate Jesus’ seemingly utter defeat on the cross to your own life?
Lead in: As Jesus hung battered and helpless on the cross, he accepted his defeat. Only in doing so was he able to completely give his life over to his Father, and there in is the paradox. In accepting utter defeat on the cross, Jesus experiences ultimate victory, the triumph of love over darkness.
Prompt: Reflect on a time in your life when you experienced the paradox of the cross, a time when all looked like utter defeat but, out of nowhere came ultimate victory, a time when love triumphed over darkness.
Lead in: The story of Jesus is our story. On the cross he modeled how we, as followers of Jesus, are invited to live. Letting go is what we are called to do every day of our lives.
Prompt: Reflect on your life when you were invited to let go and die to the very thing everything in you wanted to hang on.
Lead in: As Jesus hung dying on the cross, a man known as the “good thief” hangs on a cross beside Jesus. Seeing the incredible courage and humility of the man who hangs beside him, he is moved to say, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” His request makes me ask, “Can the ‘good thief’ in me ask the same of Jesus?”
Prompt: What is it about the “good thief” that most touches your heart?
Lead in: If we look around the world today, we see that there are bad kings and good kings. Bad kings use their power to control and dominate. They are driven by a desire to enhance their own image to puff up their own self-importance. Good kings use their power to bless and affirm. They are driven by a desire to serve others. Humbly self-aware, they do not let their ego get in the way of what the situation needs. In 2 Samuel 5, we hear of a good king (David) and a not so good king (Saul) who, in his own insecurities, acted out of desperation.
Prompt: Reflect on a time when you used your power as a leader to be in service of others.
Prompt: Reflect on a time when your own insecurities got in the way of you being the leader you want to be.