As Easter Approaches

Somebody asked me why the cross had to be violent. Did the death on Christ have to violent? Was it something that speaks to the character of God? Does he require violence? If he does require violence, what does that say about the character of God? These are my thoughts on the matter.

Throughout the Bible it is clear that “the wages of sin are death” and that sin entered the world and thus death entered the world. I think that this is of paramount importance when viewing the cross and the events of the crucifixion.  So, sin equals death, not only physically, but spiritually. I believe that is one of the most important things to remember whenever talking about the payment of sin, or of sin on its own.

To look at the cross, I think it is important to look at the world that Jesus lived in. The context of any situation is one that must be examined if we are going to understand what is being examined. In the Roman World the cross was a symbol of death and destruction, and was meant to humiliate the person that was being crucified. It was the worst way that someone could die. So with that in mind, God used the worst form of death in that world for the death of Jesus. This was used to symbolize how awful sin is. It gives us a representation that sin was equivalent to the worst thing that was available. By looking at actions of the cross in this fashion, we are able to see that it was the best tool for what was being accomplished.

So to show us the awfulness of sin, it had to be death on the cross, and even a gruesome and particularly awful death on the cross. The awfulness of what we can see when Jesus is on the cross shows us what we deserve at sinners. Satan sought to thwart the coming of the King to the world by killing him in the worst way possible, and showing his own power and authority over Jesus. He used man to kill the King. God allows Satan to make his move, but only so that good could come of it! Christ takes on the sin of the world and so God allows Christ’s violent, awful, gruesome death so that the Father can demonstrate that no matter how broken and terrible death is (and sin), the redemptive power of Christ and God is more, and more powerful. Christ can overcome!

It was not God that needed the death to be violent so that Christ could redeem the world, but it was the world that needed the worst possible death and then resurrection to see who Christ was. To see the power of God and so believe that He is who he says He is and so that we would believe! The terrible death on the cross shows that God has power and authority over all things!

That is the solution that I have to the violence of the cross. God did not need it; we needed it to see God. 

Today is Thursday.

Today is Thursday. I have been in New Mexico for a total of 5 days now. In those 5 days, I have lost my grandfather. I have not been able to be with my family in this time of pain and suffering, and that has been hard for me. My grandfather was an important man in my life, in the lives of my siblings, and in the lives of the rest of my family. He was always there, in all of my memories, he has been a part of it. The one place that I feel more at home is in the river that his house was on. I learned to swim in that river, learned to fish, to use a boat. I spent hours, days, on that river growing up. The last few years I have not been able to spend much time on that river, but even so, it still feels like home. When I am away from home, all I have to do is see a river to feel at peace, to feel as if I am home again. That river, and everything it represents to me, are all tied up with who my grandfather was. I remember all the time that I was able to spend on that water with him. I know that I will always be able to see him out there on that water, pushing that push boat better than I ever could. He died on Sunday, on my first day in New Mexico.

You see, I am in New Mexico student teaching at a school called Rehoboth Christian School. I got here on Saturday, and woke up Sunday morning to heat the news. To find out that my grandfather had gone home. It was not an easy moment for me, to know that he was gone. To know that I would not be able to go home, I would not be able to see him one last time. I would have to be here, even when my heart desired to be there. It was a hard moment. That day I did not feel like going to church, I did not feel like doing much of anything.

I went to church. I went out of a sense of duty rather than a desire to go there. While I was there though, I experienced and was reminded of something that in that moment I had forgotten. My family was here, in this strange place. This place with red dirt, red rocks, no grass, and mountains. This place that I have never been before. My family was here, here in this strange place. As I sat in that church service I was astonished to be greeted and welcomed. I was accepted without anyone knowing a thing about me, though many desired to know why I was there that week. During the service I heard much about life and death, maybe it was because that was what I needed to heat that morning. I felt the weight of my grandfather’s life, his death, on my shoulders. We sang a song, one that I have sung a thousand times before. We sang In Christ Alone. And during that song, I felt Christ’s love, and I felt my family. I knew in that moment that family is more than blood, more than distance, more that death. Christ died and then defeated death, Christ is a strong man.

I felt at home, I felt family here. Even though I am 1441 miles away from where I want to be, I still feel at home, and I still was surrounded by family. Christ’s love, and the family that we have all become a part of, exists in all places at all times. Though my first week here has been hard (I got the flu too) I still feel at home, and at peace. I am still excited to be here, where God has placed me. Excited to see what God has in store for me.