At the Cross

Today as I ran with my husband I was reflecting on how unimaginable it is that Jesus not only died for me on the cross, but He would have died for just me, even if I was the one hammering in the nails.  It was in that moment when I really started to think about the character list involved at the crucifixion that I clearly saw that I was at the cross and at one point or another in my life I have been every single one of the characters there that day.  My heart tried to grasp the heaviness of it all, and I felt Gods love even stronger in that brutal reality!

We are Pilate when we decide to go along with what society says for the sake of not stirring up the crowd.  How often do we say things like, "Well I would never personally do that but who am I to tell someone else what they cannot do" that is a Pilate moment, a moment when we know what is right but we hide behind fear of rejection and refuse to stand against what society is force feeding us.

We are the Pharisees when we get so caught up in legalism that we lose sight of everything that Jesus has shown us.  When we start to trust works and ritual for our salvation instead of trusting God that His grace is sufficient.  That our sins have been forgiven by Christ alone and that there is no payment to be made.  We become the Pharisees when we get far to caught up in doctrine that we miss the point, that it is our job to trust completely in the Lord for deliverance and to lead others with love and not judgement.

We are the fleeing disciples when we aren't willing to speak the truth in the face of rejection.  When we remain quiet over what God is telling us to do instead of being bold.  When we hide and hope that the moment will pass us by instead of being willing to face the scorn of unbelievers.

We are the soldiers who laugh and jeer at Jesus when we openly defy Him, when we say "sorry God not this time, I'm doing this my way."  When we choose to stray but still hold on to a tether of truth, when we put God in our back pocket because we just aren't quite ready to fully surrender.

We are the women at the foot of the cross when we cling on to Jesus in the moment of our deepest fear and loss, when we are sure that nothing good can come from the situation even though Jesus has promised that He can use everything for His purpose and plan.  In that desperate moment when fear and sorrow over take we draw as near to the savior as we possibly can.

We are the angry crowd cheering for Jesus crucifixion when we pull back from God and allow the world to latch on.  When we give ourselves over completely to the madness that is driven by the enemy, the lies, the deceit, the desperation.  We join the crowd when we are willing to give up on faith and claim our spot in the flesh.

So many characters, and yet in my life I have been almost every last one at least for a time.  I was at the cross, I condemned Jesus with my fear of rejection, I battered and bruised him by acting out my sinful desires, I rejected him with my satisfaction in things of the world, I abandoned him when the path got scary, and finally I ran to him in my moments of desperation where he opened his nail pierced hands and wrapped his loving arms of redemption around me.  We have been to the cross, and the only question is will we rise up and accept His gift and give our lives over to Him for eternity or remain in the cast of characters still desperate for peace in a world that offers none.

We can let our sins and failures consume us or we can let God consume them with His loving redemptive fire.  All we have to do is turn and face him, He took our shame to the cross and rose victorious all so that He could have eternity with us.  He died on that cross for everyone and He wants us to come as we are, battle scarred, weary, broken, and lost so that He can show us how beautiful His plan is.....

Ephesians 2:8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--

John 1:4
In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this:  to lay down one's life for one's friends.