March 23

Crucifixion

            So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them… When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.”

John 19:16-24

            There has to be a better story than this.  The Creator of the Universe becomes flesh and walks among His children.  He heals.  He inspires.  He opens their eyes to the realities of the Kingdom of Heaven.  He challenges the status quo and conventional wisdom about who God loves and how God works.  The corrupt religious and political leaders feel threatened by his message so they set up a trial with fake testimonies.  They have the Man of God arrested and beaten and condemned to death.  He is stripped of his clothes, revealing his broken and bleeding body and hung between two common criminals to die a long, humiliating and tortuous death of suffocation.  He is to serve as a warning to others: do not defy the powers and institutions of this world.  He is alone with his pain and his thoughts as his friends have betrayed him and his followers have deserted him.  He dies quickly, surrendering himself to Death’s cold grasp.

            There has to be a better story than this.  If Jesus needed to go away, he could have been whisked away by a flaming chariot like Elijah.  If he needed to die, it could have been a heroic death, sacrificing himself to save his friends from the rampaging Roman Legion.  If he was to be called to a trial, he could have spoken on his behalf, revealing the corruption of his accusers and knocking them out of power in the process.  He could have taken himself off that cross and revealed God’s glory, winning the hearts and minds of the nation and bringing the Kingdom of God to Israel.  Instead Jesus meekly submitted to the injustice and the humiliation and the physical agony and the isolation that was laid out before him. 

            This is our hero?  This is our model for facing this life?  This is what one does with unlimited power, meekly submits to your enemies’ lies and tortures?

            What Jesus knew, that no one else saw, was that his true enemies were not the Romans or the corrupt politicians or the mob calling for his death.  His true enemy lay on the other side of the grave.  Death had a hold on humanity, binding and enslaving the children of God and this was an arrangement that the Almighty no longer held as being acceptable.  So He sent His son to infiltrate the enemy’s stronghold and break Death’s power because God longs for His children to be with Him.

            At its very core, the crucifixion story testifies to the worth of every single individual created in God’s image.  No matter our height or weight or IQ or diagnosis or bank accounts or job title or resume, God looks at us and says that we are worth the cost.  Jesus considered the pain and the isolation and the humiliation and the suffering and said that we were worth the price.  We were worth it.  You are worth it.  Your child is worth it.  Jesus looks at the terms, balancing out the experience of the crucifixion against the opportunity to be with you and being with you wins.  Every time.

            Every single time.

            The Crucifixion was awful.  There is no doubt about that. However it was the price tag that came with you.  And Jesus paid it willingly and gladly and feeling that he was easily getting the best end of that bargain.  That is how much he adores you in all of your beautiful imperfection. 

A moment to reflect:

Having a hard time believing and accepting how much you are worth to God?  What is your child worth to you?  What would you give to be able to be with them through eternity where they are completely whole and free?  Why would God consider giving anything less for you?