Gracious Savior, we come boldly to the throne of grace to thank you. You lived a sinless life and took on sin for our sakes. You took the worse the world had to offer and transformed it into salvation for the whole world.
We pray that as we follow in your footsteps again through street filled with jeers and rejection; as we stand silently with you before your accusers; as we feel the thorns pierce our foreheads and nails impale our hands and feet, that we see once again the significance of your suffering and sacrifice. Here is the ultimate expression of God’s love for us. God so loved us, that he gave his son as a sacrifice to take away our sins and through him we might be saved. Thank you transforming the cross, a symbol of death and defeat into a symbol of hope and salvation. Now, empower us to live resurrected lives, Amen.
-Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, African Methodist Episcopal Church