Over the past few days I have spent much time thinking about the cross that Jesus died on to pay for my sins. Today I remembered a “playlet” (don’t ask me what this means, by the way) that I found referenced in John Stotts book The Cross of Christ. I read this book a few years ago now and this particular passage is one of the few that I remember as it really impacted me then and still does today. In light of Holy week and Resurrection Sunday, I thought that I would share it with all of you.
“At the end of time, billions of people were scattered on a great plain before God’s throne.
Most shrank back from the brilliant light before them. But some groups near the front talked heatedly- not with cringing shame, but with belligerence.
‘Can God judge us? How can he know about suffering?’ snapped a pert young brunette. She ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp. ’We endured terror… beatings… torture… death!’
In another group a Negro boy lowered his collar. ’What about this?’ he demanded, showing an ugly rope burn. ’Lynched… for no crime but being black!’
In another crowd, a pregnant schoolgirl with sullen eyes. ’Why should I suffer’ she murmured, ‘It wasn’t my fault.’
Far out across the plain there were hundreds of such groups. Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering he permitted in this world. How lucky God was to live in heaven where all was sweetness and light, where there was no weeping or fear, no hunger or hatred. What did God know of all that man had been forced to endure in this world? For God leads a pretty sheltered life, they said.
So each of these groups sent forth their leader, chosen because he had suffered the most. A Jew, a Negro, a person from Hiroshima, a horribly deformed arthritic, a thalidomide child. In the centre of the plain they consulted with each other. At last they were ready to present their case. It was rather clever.
Before God could be qualified to be their judge, he must endure what they had endured. Their decision was that God should be sentenced to live on earth- as a man!
‘Let him be born a Jew. Let the legitimacy of his birth be doubted. Give him a work so difficult that even his family will think him out of his mind when he tries to do it. Let him be betrayed by his closest friends. Let him face false charges, be tried by a prejudiced jury and convicted by a cowardly judge. Let him be tortured.
‘At the last, let him see what it means to be terribly alone. Then let him die. Let him die so that there can be no doubt that he died. Let there be a great host of witnesses to verify it.’
As each leader announced his portion of the sentence, loud murmurs of approval went up from the throng of people assembled.
And when the last had finished pronouncing sentence, there was a long silence. No-one muttered another word. No-one moved. For suddenly all knew that Gold had already served his sentence.”
Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that He could have “street cred.” He died because He LOVES me and because He LOVES you. He died so that we, you and I, can have LIFE. Not just life here on this earth, but ETERNAL life, with Him in a place where there is no sin, no pain and no suffering. Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? I am challenged and convicted that I can so easily forget the price that Jesus paid on my behalf. Dang. His goodness is truly overwhelming. I pray that I wouldn’t be convicted of the true meaning of the cross once a year but rather on a daily basis. I pray that I would always remember that apart from Him I am nothing.
Oh to see my name, written in Your wounds,
For through your suffering, I am free.
Death is crushed to death, life is mine to live.
Won through Your selfless love.
This the power of the cross
Son of God, slain for us
What a life, what a cost.
I stand forgiven at the cross.
