Many Christians this week have focused their minds on the last few days of Jesus' life, and then on His trial and crucifixion. On face book this morning a Christian sister shared her thoughts regarding the disciples of Christ ... what they might be thinking as they mourn the death of their Master. His sacrifice is one we can barely comprehend.
The world has never seen such sacrificial love as our Savior's was. His entire life was a sacrifice. God's word tells us the plans were laid out "before the foundation of the world." Jesus knew from before the creation that He would eventually leave Heaven -- leave His place with the Father to come and live with men as one of us. He lovingly and willingly agreed to that long before it actually came to pass.
He was our perfect example and our perfect sacrifice. He didn't put His life on the line just for you and me but for all mankind - for all time. The scriptures give us details of His mercy and grace in action. God's Holy Word shows us the compassion Christ had for us all. We see it in every blind man He caused to see, in every deaf person to whom He gave hearing, in every demon He cast out and in every leper He touched and cleansed.
We see His love in action in every teaching He gave us. And we see it throughout His trial and crucifixion. We see His mercy when Peter pulled out his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus in an attempt to defend His master. He healed Malchus and did not allow them to fight for Him. He gave himself to the guards that night, even knowing the great pain He would endure before His eventual death.
No, Jesus was not here for a fight. Christ did not come to set up an earthly kingdom or cause a war between the Jews and the Romans. He didn't come to destroy all those who had persecuted Israel for so long. That was not His intent. Christ came to buy our souls with His precious blood. He came to build His church -- to create something that the gates of Hell itself would never prevail against. We should ever be thankful for this!
The greatest part of His sacrifice began with His prayer in the garden. He begged the Father for another way. The human part of Him knew what He was about to go through. He did not want to suffer the terrible things He knew lay just ahead of Him. We all know Jesus could have stopped this. He really didn't have to die. But the Father said the spilling of perfect blood was the only way we could be saved. Knowing this, Jesus was in complete submission to the Father. Even during this heart wrenching prayer He was alone, for the disciples had fallen asleep.
His death came through the betrayal by one of His own. How ironic that Judas chose the sign of a kiss as the sign for the betrayal of His Lord -- of our Lord. A kiss is supposed to be a sign of affection. What was Judas thinking? We will never know; but this kiss, the signal of his sellout, must have been heartbreaking to our Lord.
Then came the mock trial by the high priests and the council. Oh how much contempt they had for the Son of God! Jesus withstood their mockery and their disdain quietly - knowing even that in a few hours His death would be for them, too -- if they chose to repent. He could have caused the whole house to fall down on them. He could have .... but He did not. Love and mercy kept Him there while He was spit upon. Love kept Him there while they covered His face and slapped Him challenging Him to tell them who it was that had done this. He was quiet; but He knew who slapped Him. We know Jesus knew.
The blood that was spilling even here and now was spilled so that we could be clean... so that we could be reconciled to the Father. There was no other way. And Christ loved us -- so he bore it all. He was taken to Pilate and then to Herod and back to Pilate. He was scourged unmercifully -- more blood -- more cleansing for you and me. The purple robe, the crown of thorns, the shouts of "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" -- all this was endured by our Lord and Savior.
We've all read the scriptures. We know this story. We know He carried His own cross. As we read the gospels, we can almost hear the hammer pounding the nails that pierced His flesh. We can almost see the cross being lifted in the air and hear the thud as it dropped into the hole in the ground. These images are not new to our minds. As Christians we often remember His sacrifice. The inspired scriptures best tell us this beautiful story.
The six hours on the cross was not the beginning of our Savior's sacrifice, but the agonizing end of an entire life of sacrifice. From the time He gave up Heaven and was conceived of the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb to His last breath on the cross, He sacrificed for us -- because He loved us that much. None of us can begin to imagine the pain and the shame Jesus Christ suffered at Golgotha. Nor can we comprehend the great love behind the words, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."
As I started this post, it was not really my intention to go into such depth about our Redeemer's death on the cross. I only meant to use it as a springboard for another subject. Perhaps that post will come another time. Maybe even tomorrow, if the Lord sees fit to allow me the time to post again tomorrow. Sometimes though, my thoughts run away from me.
Think about this, no other faith can claim a Savior with so much love. No other faith has a God who gave so much (His own Son) for His children. No other religion gives us an example of such sacrifice. And none of them --- NONE of them can claim victory over death. Only the one true and living God does that. Only Christ our Lord gave Himself to die and only Christ has risen from the grave. And only Christ will come back one day to judge the world and take us home with Him.
Christ above all things,
Robin
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