Jesus was betrayed...

Happy National Doughnut Day!

Today was National Doughnut Day… but that's pretty much every Friday morning at WyldLife. As we are closing up the school year, I am enjoying these mornings more and more. Things change in the summer, and while we still have events, and get to spend time with our middle school friends, I always miss Friday mornings.

Before the madness!

The game today was one of the kids' favorites from last year with a twist. It was much like a classic game of "steal the bacon" with a twist. We had 4 teams, and then in the middle of the square, had two chalk balls, and two soft green balls. When numbers were called, kids with these numbers ran out to grab a ball and try to throw it at the other people inside the square. When the chalk balls hit, they leave a big white blob of chalk, but are softer than a pillow…

Maddie about to make a direct hit!

After the craziness of the game was over, Chris got to share about Jesus' betrayal and crucifixion. While things like betrayal and execution don't normally seem to be "good news," that is exactly what this is.

First the betrayal. Jesus was betrayed by one of his very best friends, Judas. I'm sure you have all heard of him, but what we don't normally remember is that Judas was one of the 12 closest friends of Jesus. Out of the many that followed Jesus around, this guy was in the inner circle. He was trusted by Jesus and everyone else close to Jesus… and he sold Jesus out to the people that wanted to kill him for a few pieces of silver.

The crazy thing is that Jesus knew this was going to happen. The Bible even tells us that on the night he was betrayed, Jesus told his friends that one of them was actually going to betray him. Jesus knew what was coming and did nothing to stop it.

He didn't stop it because it was a big part of the reason he was born.

In Mark 10:45, the author of Mark writes, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." When God created the world, he created humans to be in close relationship with himself. He didn't need us, and he didn't accidentally create humanity, but made us because he wanted us. Humans are at their best when they are in relationship with God, but things got off track early. Humans didn't trust God, and because of that, something we call sin entered into the world. While we often think of sin as specific actions that are "bad" or "wrong" it is much deeper than that. Basically, sin is a lack of trust in God that leads to acting out in a way that is contrary to how we were designed.

Sin, along with actually hurting us, makes the kind of relationship we were designed to have with God impossible. So, for that reason, Jesus came and made everything right by living a life of total trust and obedience to God, loving every person he came in contact with, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, and setting captives free… including us. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus made it possible for us to be in close relationship to God, our extremely loving and caring Father. He took all the blame, and cleared the path so that we can get to God!

This is truly good news.

Before Jesus took his last breath, he cried out, "It is finished."

IT IS FINISHED.

We do not have to earn our way to God, that would be impossible. We do not have to grovel at the feet of a vengeful being waiting for us to make a mistake. All we have to do is accept the gift of new life that Jesus made possible. It is a gift that is at our fingertips, and it is a gift that, once we open it, can never be taken from us.

Chris sharing the greatest news ever!