This Good Friday I am thinking of my friend Lee Hoffner whose dear wife Anne died on Monday from cancer at the tender age of 34. Word’s can’t express the depth of sorrow that many of us feel for the Hoffners, and yet we realize that our grief doesn’t begin to compare with the pain that Lee himself carries in his heart.
On such occasions there’s little that a pastor can say. All we can do is stand beside our brother, join him in shedding tears, and together look to the cross where Jesus died…
See the thick clouds overhead, sweet birds cease to sing. On the cross, pierced for transgression, shed blood, Jesus cries with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Alone, deserted, a sheep led to the slaughter.
Jesus on the Cross.
In silence, the bleeding Savior breathes his last.
It is finished.
Please pray for Lee.