Did you ever stop to ponder what was nailed to the cross? You may think the answer is obvious.
Like when the pastor visited Sunday school, thinking that he’d start off with a joke to connect with the children: “What’s brown, bushy-tailed and jumps from tree to tree?” After a long silence a brave kid raised his hand: “Normally, I’d say a squirrel, but since you’re the one asking, it’s probably Jesus!”
Well, you’d be right, of course. About Jesus. The answer is Jesus. Not the squirrel. You can go back to breathing normally again.
We have just celebrated Easter and the death and resurrection of our Savior. We have seen the paintings of our suffering King, and we have envisioned his bloodstained, crucified body.
But Jesus carried more than his own body at the cross.
He carried the weight of the world.
Sometimes phrases are repeated so many times that they lose their meaning. We need to take a step back, observe from a distance, and remind ourselves of what their original contents were.
When Jesus died on the cross, he died in your place.
For you. As you.
When he took your place, paying the consequences for your life, you gained access to his.
He paid the price in full for your sin, your health, and your future.
I need to be reminded of this regularly, if not daily. It’s beyond my understanding.
I just can’t fathom the love required for such a sacrifice.
God’s love has a very physical expression in our family.
I am reminded of it every time Adrian has a meal or goes to school. I remember how Jesus bore every single one of our son’s pains and symptoms on His tortured, dying body. Heaven’s devotion shines through every time Adrian hangs out with his friends or makes plans for his future. All these were things he was unable to do for 12 years. But Jesus paid the price for his healing.
We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.
How? you ask.
In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.
2 Cor 5:20-21 MSG