so yesterday i was having a bad day. nothing really happened, i was just in a funk almost from the moment i got up. feeling sorry for myself for certain things, stupid things really. but for some reason, it was really affecting me...must be hormones or something. anyways, it lasted pretty much the whole day, so i was really considering not going to life group last night. i think i would have ditched if someone had been home last night, but when i got in, the house was empty, so i figured it'd be too depressing to stay home alone. so i went.
these past coupla weeks we've been preparing for easter...two weeks ago we talked about some of the foreshadowing of Christ's sacrifice in the old testament, then last week we talked about Jesus' triumphant entry into jerusalem and the Lord's supper. yesterday, chris talked about the betrayal and the trial. we talked about the fact that judas was one of the twelve, someone who had shared intimately in the life of Christ for 3 years...what might have motivated Judas and how it must have felt to be betrayed by someone so close to Him. in discussing this, chris asked us about times that we've felt betrayed - and we talked about how betrayal is defined by wrongdoing done to us by someone trusted and close to us. betrayal isn't used when complete strangers do something against us...and because of that, it hurts all the more.
then we talked about the trial and Pilate being pressured to execute Christ - and the fact that of all the people there accusing and judging, Christ was the only blameless and innocent One...the injustice of it all. so then we discussed the fact that His suffering was not only physical, but included this time of betrayal and injustice and His whole life. so many times, we consider His suffering and have a mental picture of Him hanging on the cross...yet in considering this time before His dealth, even before they laid a hand on Him, He was suffering so much.
put my whole bad day into perspective...