Broken Hearts, Broken Dreams

John 19:16–30

Mary held a friend’s arm to steady herself. She and Jesus’s friends were sad. Soldiers were taking Jesus away to be crucified.

A Roman soldier slapped a whip across Jesus’s back. “Get moving!” the soldier shouted. Jesus picked up his cross and plodded down the road. People lining the road shouted, “Hey, King of the Jews, why don’t you call angels to save you?”

Mary and Jesus’s friends followed the crowd to a hill outside of town. The soldiers threw the cross to the ground and nailed Jesus’s hands and feet into the wood. Mary was sad when the crowd cheered, “Come on, King of the Jews. Save yourself! Where’s your miracle power now?”

Mary watched in silence. She knew Jesus had never done anything wrong. But she remembered what the angels had told her and Joseph before Jesus was born: “This baby is the Son of God, Savior of the world.” Mary knew that was why this terrible thing was happening.

Mary moved closer to the cross. She looked into Jesus’s eyes—the eyes of her son—God’s Son. In spite of the terrible things that had been done to him, his eyes were filled with love, even for the people who were hurting him. Then Jesus said, “It is finished.” She knew that even though her son was dead, her Savior would live forever.

Becoming a Man of God

A man of God knows that Jesus died for him.

One of the reasons Jesus came to earth was to make a way for people to be able to live in heaven with God. His death paid the price for our sins. He loves us so much that he was willing to die for us.

Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins? Have you thanked him for doing that?

A Verse to Remember

Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will be saved.

Acts 16:31