Thursday

The Book from Isaiah (53:4-6)
Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.

The Gospel according to John (1:29)
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

The Gospel according to Luke (22:19) and Matthew (26:27-28)
And He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me."
And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

The First Letter from Paul to the Corinthians (15:3)
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

The Second Letter from Paul to the Corinthians (5:21)
For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Homily
I included more passages of Scripture than necessary to reinforce the importance God's Word gives to the fact that Jesus died as our substitute for our sins. Whether or not we agree with God that we needed a substitute, the sacrifice has already been made. Jesus who was without error or fault took the wrath of God that He did not deserve and we did deserve. It is upon us to decide if we wish to admit our need in order that we might receive from God the forgiveness for our wrongdoing against Him. In the end, all will recognize this fact. The only question then will be if we trusted and professed Christ in this life.

Prayer ...

Postscript
The Revelation of Jesus Christ as given to John (5:9-10)
And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."