March 12 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Luke 22:31-38:

³¹And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
³²But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
³³And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
³⁴And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.
³⁵And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.
³⁶Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.
³⁷For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.
³⁸And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.

Devotional

What a strange thing! Christ, the Holy One of God, who could say to the Jews, Who of you convinceth me of sin? Reckoned among the evildoers! How did that come about? Who dared to regard him as a transgressor? True, the Jews strove hard to attach blame to him. But they did not succeed. Even Pilate, the heathen governor, found no fault in him. How then was He reckoned among the transgressors? My friends, it was God that reckoned him among the transgressors. He cast on him the iniquity of us all. Christ became our substitute, the man in our place. He took the place of the sinner before God and his holy law. He bore the punishment for sin, and fulfilled all righteousness. Now all who believe in Him shall be accounted righteous before God. Christ our righteousness. How simple! He took our sins, and bestows upon us his righteousness. And now transgressors, malefactors, criminals (and such we all are before God) may enter into the Paradise of God, through faith in him. Jesus was crucified between two evildoers. One believed, the other railed on him. The cross of Christ separated the two. So it is today. The cross makes separation between man and man. At the final judgement it will depend on what our attitude has been to the crucified Saviour. Where in that day will be your place, on his right hand, or on his left?

Prayer

O God, Thou art righteous and holy, and we are sinners, who have done wickedly, and have transgressed Thy holy law. We have deserved Thy divine wrath. But it has pleased Thee to show us Thy mercy in giving us a Saviour. We thank Thee for Jesus, who became our Substitute, the man in our place, who made full satisfaction for all of our transgressions, and obtained for us righteousness and life. We thank Thee that He was reckoned among evil doers, that we might be reckoned among Thy saints through faith in him. Thine alone be the glory. Amen.

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