What historical event fascinates you the most?
I’m actually working on another post that deals with a reflection on the Cross. But, this prompt provides an opportunity to touch the subject more. Personally, it’s not something I would consider fascinating because that word feels more like looking at something or someone because it’s attractive to look at. The Cross is anything but that. The Cross is dark and ugly.
I started reflecting on the Cross the other day because I was looking for someone who could relate to the pain I was feeling. I thought about Jesus and asked how could He relate to me? Jesus may not have lived my exact situation, but He also hurt. My thoughts took me to the night at Gethsemane and the Cross.
Gethsemane: Abandonment Starts
It started at Gethsemane when He asked His disciples to pray with Him and they fell asleep. Perhaps Jesus was seeking comfort or support from His disciples in His moment of extreme anguish? Judas then betrayed Him. On the Cross Jesus cried out, “.. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus had effectively been abandoned. Not only by those closest to Him but by His own Father.
Here was Jesus that walked among us and healed the sick. The one who offered words of encouragement and eternal life. The one who cried for His friend Lazarus because He saw the pain His sisters were in. That same Jesus was now hanging on a wooden Cross, disfigured, humiliated, and abandoned by all. Bleeding out every single drop of His blood until He started to also bleed out water.
He Took Our Place on the Cross
I honestly can’t believe God loved me so much that He was willing to let Jesus take my place. We deserved the Cross. Jesus didn’t deserve it. We deserved the Cross. But, Jesus took our place because God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Praise Flows from the Ugly Cross
Praising God is great. I love to praise God when I’m in my car, at home, or at church. Singing worship songs to exalt and thank Him, that’s amazing. But the Cross is what breaks me because it reminds me of the price Jesus paid for me to praise Him. The Cross is ugly and it’s not attractive. But, it’s the one place we can understand just how much He suffered because of love for you and for me.
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