The Word This Week
Matt 27:27…
And so the Creator of the Universe is led away to be crucified unjustly and unmercifully.
The irony of The Creator being murdered by His Creation must never escape us.
That He would submit to this is the most merciful act in human history.
All the way back in Genesis 3 - four thousand years earlier - this act had been prophesied, necessitated by the sin of man, followed later by the sin of all mankind.
Crucifixion is the cruelest form of execution ever devised by man. The very root of the word ‘crucifixion’ is the word ‘excruciating.’ If God is to be put to death by man, God devised it for Himself to receive the worst man had to offer.
The pain and suffering and shame of crucifixion was but a type of the suffering of bearing the sin of all mankind past, present, and future Christ bore on that terrible cross. What looked so terrible on the outside was but an illustration of what was taking place within the Godhead, as the Father looked upon the suffering and shame of His only begotten Son with restraint, and as the Son for the first time took the sin of mankind upon Himself that the wrath of His Father may be poured out upon Himself in the place of all those who committed those sins, too numerous and terrible to imagine – including all those involved in the terrible crime taking place this day.
Can you imagine the guilt of the murder of Christ and trying to escape that guilt? Jesus’ own words were meant to provide assurance that was indeed possible as unbelievable as that may seem. “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do,” were no idle words. They were meant to send a convicting seed into the hearts of the very men treating Christ so cruelly on this day.
Would any and perhaps even many hear of the forgiveness being offered so freely by Jesus on this day eventually receive it?
For any and all who have ever contemplated putting Jesus out of their lives and refusing His love for themselves, this should be all the reassurance required for any and all to know putting Jesus to death in your life is not the end of the story – but perhaps a beginning.
Pastor Bill
And so the Creator of the Universe is led away to be crucified unjustly and unmercifully.
The irony of The Creator being murdered by His Creation must never escape us.
That He would submit to this is the most merciful act in human history.
All the way back in Genesis 3 - four thousand years earlier - this act had been prophesied, necessitated by the sin of man, followed later by the sin of all mankind.
Crucifixion is the cruelest form of execution ever devised by man. The very root of the word ‘crucifixion’ is the word ‘excruciating.’ If God is to be put to death by man, God devised it for Himself to receive the worst man had to offer.
The pain and suffering and shame of crucifixion was but a type of the suffering of bearing the sin of all mankind past, present, and future Christ bore on that terrible cross. What looked so terrible on the outside was but an illustration of what was taking place within the Godhead, as the Father looked upon the suffering and shame of His only begotten Son with restraint, and as the Son for the first time took the sin of mankind upon Himself that the wrath of His Father may be poured out upon Himself in the place of all those who committed those sins, too numerous and terrible to imagine – including all those involved in the terrible crime taking place this day.
Can you imagine the guilt of the murder of Christ and trying to escape that guilt? Jesus’ own words were meant to provide assurance that was indeed possible as unbelievable as that may seem. “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do,” were no idle words. They were meant to send a convicting seed into the hearts of the very men treating Christ so cruelly on this day.
Would any and perhaps even many hear of the forgiveness being offered so freely by Jesus on this day eventually receive it?
For any and all who have ever contemplated putting Jesus out of their lives and refusing His love for themselves, this should be all the reassurance required for any and all to know putting Jesus to death in your life is not the end of the story – but perhaps a beginning.
Pastor Bill