"On the eve of the cross, Jesus made his decision. He would rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you." Max Lucado (1955 - ), bestselling Christian devotional writer, pastor, speaker

"He drained the cup of God's wrath bone dry, leaving not a drop for us to drink." Richard Allen Bodey (1931-2013), Presbyterian pastor and seminary professor

"Mark 14:36 He said,'Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.' Gethsemane is where He died; the cross is only the evidence." Leonard Ravenhill (1907-1994), English Christian Evangelist and author who focused on the subjects of prayer and revival

"Christ died He left a will in which He gave His soul to His Father, His body to Joseph of Arimathea, His clothes to the soldiers, and His mother to John. But to His disciples, who had left all to follow Him, He left not silver or gold, but something far better - His PEACE!" Matthew Henry (1662-1714), an English Presbyterian minister and Bible commentator

"Everyone who lined the streets had a different reason for waving those palms. Some were political activists; they'd heard Jesus had supernatural power, and they wanted him to use it to free Israel from Roman rule. Others had loved ones who were sick or dying. They waved branches, hoping for physical healing. Some were onlookers merely looking for something to do, while others were genuine followers who wished Jesus would establish himself as an earthly king. Jesus was the only one in the parade who knew why he was going to Jerusalem - to die. He had a mission, while everyone else had an agenda." Bill Hybels (1951- ), author, founding and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, and leader of the Willow Creek seeker-style movement

"The only way you can be delivered from that sin is to have your false expectations destroyed, once and for all. And that is precisely what happened between Palm Sunday and Good Friday. Jesus drew the false, sinful expectations of the world unto himself, absorbed them, and bore them on the cross. His death was the death of all of our false expectations, and therefore his death was the death of sin itself. The false piety of Palm Sunday is crucified on Good Friday and buried that night, in order that true faith in God might be created on Easter through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." Attributed variously to Edwin Peterman, Lutheran pastor and theologian

"The blood of Jesus Christ has great power! There is perhaps not a phrase in the Bible that is so full of secret truth as is 'The blood of Jesus.' It is the secret of His incarnation, when Jesus took on flesh and blood; the secret of His obedience unto death, when He gave His life at the cross of Calvary; the secret of His love that went beyond all understanding when He bought us with His blood; the secret of the enemy and the secret of our eternal salvation." Corrie Ten Boom (1892-1983), Dutch Christian who was sent to a concentration camp for having helped many Jews escape the Nazi Holocaust during World War II

"No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown." William Penn (1644-1718), English Quaker theologian who was given the charter to found the new colony of Pennsylvania, named in his honor

"All heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, all hell terribly afraid of it, while men are the only beings who more or less ignore its meaning."  Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) early twentieth-century Scottish Baptist andHoliness Movement1 evangelist and teacher, best known as the author of the devotional My Utmost for His Highest

"The cross is a one time, visual representation of God's grief over sin." Dean H. Harvey

"No scene in sacred history ever gladdens the soul like the scene on Calvary. Nowhere does the soul find such consolation as on that very spot where misery reigned, where woe triumphed, where agony reached its climax." C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), English Baptist minister known as the Prince of Preachers, reputed to have preached to more than j10,000,000 people

"Death was not Jesus' penalty; it was His destiny. It was not His lot in life; it was His mission. It was not His unavoidable fate; it was His purpose statement for coming to earth that first Christmas: 'Born to die.'" Bill Crowder, American pastor and teacher, and a regular contributor for the popular Our Daily Bread devotional, as well as the teaching chaplain for Sports Spectrum, a weekly national sports radio program, as quoted in The Path of His Passion

"Christ has not only spoken to us by his life but has also spoken for us by his death." Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be t