Take just a moment and imagine being a disciple of Christ on this day around 33 A.D. Imagine how horrified and confused you would have been as you prepared to see the Son of God be executed by your peers…by the same people He was sent to earth to save.
Jesus’ disciples knew He was God, their King. Even though Jesus referenced His death in parables He shared with His followers, I’m not sure they understood everything He said in the months and years that preceded His death, however. So, I cannot even begin to comprehend the horror the disciples must have experienced as they witnessed Jesus being taken from among them…as they witnessed their King’s violent, tragic murder.
Sometimes I think His disciples must have wanted to die with Him on that fateful day if for no reason other than to escape their own despair. They spent three years living with Jesus, after all…three years living with the living God as He performed miracle after miracle after miracle. Then they watched His execution and bore witness to His mother’s suffering.
In addition to wondering why these murderous events had transpired and grappling with their own grief, the disciples must have feared for their own lives because they had been His devoted followers. What they experienced on this day centuries ago must have been similar to what happens to us when we suffer great stress, worry, sorrow, and/or horror…when we seem to morph into external observers of our lives instead of being the actors in them. It’s almost like we can watch ourselves going through our daily routines but are no longer in our own bodies while in this state. It’s a coping mechanism that enables us to handle what’s happening around us and/or to us.
The disciples couldn’t have had any idea of what this particular day would eventually come to mean to so many people in the years that followed Jesus’ death. They probably didn’t even have an idea of what the 12 months following Jesus’ death would have in store for them, either.
Understanding that Christ had to die upon the cross for our sins is mysterious or even fleeting for me. I understand it on one hand, but on the other I wonder why His death had to occur the way it did. But I know it doesn’t matter if I can grasp the brutality of the way He died or not. The reason why He had to die at all is clear to all of us now, including me.
Jesus shed His blood as the final sacrifice for everyone that came after Him, meaning all of us. There will never be a need for another sacrificial altar as Christ was the last sacrifice we needed to be saved. All we have to do now is believe that He died for us, for our salvation. It’s simple really, but we humans tend to complicate things, even our own salvation, beyond the point of confusion.
Thank you, Jesus! Thank you for dying for me. Thank you for being my God. I truly love You.
No comments:
Post a Comment