Who Put Jesus on the Cross?
There
is a great silence in Christian circles today about man’s responsibility for sin. This basic human responsibility, that people
are trying to evade, is a shadow cast over all of us— that the Lord was bruised and wounded and crucified
for the whole human race.
We
can blame Judas or pity Pilate or be shocked how the Jews turned their backs
and put Jesus on the Cross. They and we,
put him on that Cross, not they alone.
That basic dishonesty that comes to light when you cheat “a little” on
your tax return—that put him on the Cross. That hating, backstabbing, jealousy,
prideful, carnal,fleshly love of pleasure—all of
these in natural man, put him on the Cross.
All of Adam’s race share in putting him
on that Cross.
How
can I even come to the Communion table and participate without becoming
overwhelmed with shame and feeling such intense pain, “I, too, am among those who helped put him on the
Cross!”
As
Andy also reminded us several weeks ago, how common is the characteristic of
man to keep himself so busy with unimportant trifles, so that he is able to
avoid deeper matters relating to life and existence. We will gather with friends to chat of latest fashions, money woes and world issues
but an oppressive silence comes when we bring up spiritual subjects. There seems to be an unwritten rule in polite
religious society that we shouldn’t get
too personal. It’s not politically correct.
All
the while, there is only one thing that is of vital and lasting importance—the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ “was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our
iniquities. The punishment that brought peace for us was upon Him, and by his
wounds we are healed.” We can’t deny it. We don’t like to
hear it. But the evidence is against
us. He was profaned for our sakes. Isaiah says, “the
punishment that brought us peace, was upon Him.”
How
few of us realize that it is this peace— which restores us to God. The chastisement fell upon Him so that we as
individuals could experience peace with God, if we so desired. But the chastisement was on him. Beaten, scourged in public by Roman decree,
whipped, bruised , bleeding—this was the answer to the
peace of the world, to the peace of the human heart.
I
am a forgiven and justified sinner. As a
truly penitent person who has realized the enormity of their sin and rebellion
against God, I can feel so overwhelmed and disgusted with myself—I couldn’t possibly dare to ask God to let me off. But peace has been established for those
blows that fell on Christ Jesus.
It
was not for punishment for any wrongdoing.
But he was willing to suffer in order to correct me and perfect me so
that his suffering would not end in suffering, but end with healing!
This
is the Glory of the Cross! The Glory of
this kind of atonement allows the repentant sinner to come into a peaceful and
gracious fellowship with his God and Creator!
It began in suffering and ended in healing. It began in His wounds and ended in our purification. It began with his bruises and ended in our
cleansing. As a believing child of God,
I must follow that holy longing and desire for a pure heart and clean hands
that are a delight to the Lord. Seek for
your own, periods of wonder and amazement at this mystery of godliness—this willingness of the Son of Man to take our place
in punishment.
Realize
God’s peace through His stripes. This is how God assures us we will be all
right inside. Let us treasure the purity
of His cleansing and not make excuses for our wrongdoings. God still seeks
humble, cleansed and trusting hearts through which to reveal His divine power
and grace and life.
Desire
and know and cherish the presence of the Living God today.
—Adapted from The Radical Cross by A.W. Tozer
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