Our sin weighed so heavily on Jesus, the land became dark for three hours. From noon to 3 p.m., Jesus redeemed every sin, paid the penalty for all wrong and made a way for each person to find freedom. Our Savior didn’t make the first payment and put the rest on us, He paid the ransom in full. Every sin we have ever committed or will ever commit was covered by the precious blood of Jesus. When Jesus cried, “It is finished!”, we can believe Him! Even the centurion charged with Jesus’ execution was cut to the core after witnessing the way in which Jesus died as the earth shook, crying out, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Today as we talked about Jesus’ death and burial, we considered how Jesus paid for our mistakes, our wrong choices, our stubbornness, our willful disobedience, our pride, our sin. Yet, when we look to the cross and ask for forgiveness, we receive the freedom He secured through His death.

We took and tore pieces of black construction paper that represented our sin, and prayed for God to clean us, thanking Him for destroying sin’s grip on our lives at the cross. Then, we went out to our burn pile, and set our sin on fire. The flames made our “sin” disappear, just as when we our forgiven, our sins are separated from us forever.

Read about Jesus’ death and burial in Matthew 27:45-54, 57-61.

Learn more about 2 Weeks 2 the Cross and explore ways to experience Easter in a meaningful way with your family.