Easter Family DevotionalSample

Jesus On Trial

Day 2 of our Easter devotional follows Jesus’ journey from the Garden of Gethsemane, where an angry crowd of soldiers arrested Him. On the lonely night preceding His death and into the following morning, the soldiers took Jesus to stand trial before the High Priest and Pilate.

Just imagine it. Jesus the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, God Himself, being arrested by the people He had created, being wrongly accused and lied about, being laughed at by those He loved, being left abandoned and deserted by His closest friends.

Jesus was about to endure the greatest physical pain in His death on the cross. However, in this part of the crucifixion story, we get a glimpse of the emotional pain and hurt He would have felt.

For us today, this gives us great peace as we realise that Jesus understands all the emotions we often feel, such as sadness, loneliness, or betrayal (as we talked about on Day 1). This is firstly because He created us (and He knows us better than we know ourselves), and secondly because He experienced them Himself.

• Have you ever felt that horrible feeling of loneliness? Jesus has felt that too.
• Have people ever lied about you and made up stories about you? Jesus had that too.
• Have friends ever left or deserted you when you felt you needed them most? The night before His death, Jesus again felt this too.
• Have you ever experienced the betrayal from a friend we heard about on Day 1 of our devotional? Jesus experienced that too.
• Have you ever been laughed at and hurt by people you loved? Jesus once again has felt and experienced this too.

This part of the crucifixion story gives us great comfort that Jesus can relate to us because in that horrible, sad, and lonely night preceding His death, He had felt all those horrible feelings we also feel. So, when you pray to Him, you can have confidence that, not only does He hear all your prayers, but He actually knows exactly how you’re feeling. He relates to you, and He’s able to comfort you through it all.

RESPONSE/ACTIVITY

Can you think of a time you have felt sad or lonely?

Why don’t you share what was happening to make you feel that way?

What can you do next time you face a situation when you feel sad or lonely or where people laugh and make fun of you?

TODAY’S PROMISE

Psalms 120:1 (NLT)
“I took my troubles to the LORD; I cried out to Him, and He answered my prayer.”

PRAYER

Jesus, I thank You that You not only died on the cross for my sins, but You also know exactly how it felt to be hurt, rejected, lonely, and sad. Next time I feel lonely or sad, please help me to remember that You know exactly how I’m feeling because at the very first Easter, You experienced it all too. Help me to remember that I can bring everything to You. Amen.