If you're like me and you've grown up in/around church your whole life, prayer, Jesus, the Bible are all things that are probably commonplace to you. You go to church every Sunday because that's what you're supposed to do. Your relationship with Jesus has lost some of the luster and wonder it used to have when it was brand new. I think that's one of the dangerous traps that Christians (myself included) fall into, we forget who Jesus is. Sure we hear about it all the time, but we've begun to tune it out.
Let's brush the dust off, rewind a moment, and remind ourselves who Jesus is and what he did and is doing for us.
"Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son."
Ephesians 1:4-6 (MSG)
"Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.”
Genesis 1:26 (AMP)
Before he laid the foundations of the earth, that means before he even said "Let there be light" God knew what Jesus was going to have to endure for us. And since Jesus and God are one in the same, he was right there with his dad, he also knew what he was going to have to endure on the cross. But here's the mind-blowing thing, HE CREATED US ANYWAY!!! You see God loved us so much and so desperately wanted to know us and us to know him that even though he knew what'd he'd have to endure, he still created us. And not only did he create us he took great pleasure in planning our futures. God got excited about our lives and what he was dreaming up for us.(Side note: That's a pretty cool word picture, God getting excited about me!) I don't know about you but if I knew that I'd have to endure something as gruesome as a crucifixion, mankind probably wouldn't exist at the moment...
And even after the incident in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were banished, God still provided for them by giving them clothes, food (albeit they had to work harder for it..but he still provided it), sons, and watching over them. Throughout the Old Testament, there are tons of times when God was faithful when his people were faithless. Like Moses and the slaves, they wandered in the dessert for 40 years because of their sin, but God gave them food and protection. David, after he sinned with Bathsheba, yes they had to pay for their sin, but afterward God blessed their relationship and their son Solomon was the wisest king in the Bible and he built the temple. Plus they're in Jesus' direct line. These are just a few of the examples that are in the Bible.
Fast forward to the day a young girl named Mary gets a visit from an angel, who told her about her now unborn child, who he was, and all he was going to be for mankind. Think about it, Jesus Christ, the SAVIOR of the world, the KING of Kings, came as a baby. Not the son of an earthly king either, he CHOSE to be born to a common town girl and a carpenter. And like his choice in earthly parents, he wasn't born in a beautiful palace or comfortable home, he was born in a stable among the animals.
Fast forward a few more years, and we see adult Jesus starting his ministry here on earth. He didn't enlist the people you'd think he would. He didn't go after who society thought of as brave, strong, popular to help him with his ministry, he went after the lowly fishermen and even a tax collector. These men traveled with him and helped him with his ministry wherever he went. That would have been really cool! Being able to physically have Jesus the MAN sitting across from you at dinner time! Asking you how your day went, listening to him talk, I mean I talk to him now all day long, but I mean that would have been really cool.
However, there were those who didn't think Jesus was "cool" and found the idea of listening to him detestable. In their minds, Jesus was a presumptive man who was speaking out way beyond his station in life. I mean come on, to them he was nothing but a carpenter from Nazareth! Who was he to say he was GOD?! To the religious leaders of the time, that was major blasphemy! These men were so blind, they were waiting for the Messiah prophesied by their forefathers but when he actually showed up, they hated him. They were expecting a conquering hero with lots of fanfare, not the humble carpenter that showed up. Instead of embracing his message, they became enraged and sought out every way they could to stop him. They even went as far as to seek the assistance of the Roman government.
Now the Romans and the Jews had a really sticky relationship. The Romans hated the Jews and the Jews hated the Romans. The very fact that the Pharisees went to the Romans for assistance in getting rid of Jesus shows you how desperate they were.
Now as we've established, Jesus knew what was about to happen to him. He knew exactly what he was going to have to endure. He even asked his father right before if there was any other way possible that we could be reconciled to him without him having to endure the cross, but he trusted his father, he submitted to his will because he knew there was no other way. Jesus WILLINGLY WENT TO THE CROSS FOR US!
I'm not sure how much you know about Roman Crucifixions, but they were VERY gruesome. The Roman culture was a very violent and brutal one. Everything from their art, architecture, sculptures, to their entertainment spoke of the might and supreme power of Rome and the Empire in large over the top ways. It wasn't unusual for them to crowd arenas to watch gladiators fight to the death with animals and other gladiators, and that was for fun. Their executions were just as ostentatious. Crucifixions were used to send messages to anyone who thought about going against the Roman Empire. It wasn't unusual to see crosses by the roadside leading into Roman controlled cities with the most recent victims still nailed to them. It was one of the best ways to say "You go against Rome, this is what happens to you".
Crucifixion itself was designed to be as excruciating and humiliating as possible. Not only were the people being crucified often beaten prior to being put on the cross, they were NAILED to the cross. Once the cross was placed upright, gravity would take over and the weight of the person on the cross would pull on the nails. For a little while, they would probably have had some strength and could support themselves allowing some relief. But as time wore on and the longer they were on the crosses the harder it would become until they became so exhausted they couldn't support themselves anymore. Also, because of the positions they were put in, fluid would collect in their lungs making it hard or nearly impossible to breathe. Again as long as they had enough strength they could push themselves up and get a breath, but that was also excruciating and usually only served to prolong the process.
Jesus had to endure even more than the typical crucifixion process. In addition to the physical pain, he was also in the throes of a great spiritual war, probably the greatest spiritual war of all history. While he was on the cross Jesus was taking on the sins of the world. Not just the people who were alive at the time but ALL the sins of EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER LIVED, WAS LIVING, and WOULD EVER LIVE, that's a pretty heavy thing. Another thing about Jesus that really blows my mind is at ANYtime he could have jumped off that cross and never looked back. He could have said, "You people are on your own. See ya!" But he didn't. He stayed on the cross suffering an excruciating death that he didn't deserve.
After he died, Jesus was placed in a borrowed tomb. His disciples ran and hid. After what happened to Jesus they were scared of what the government would do to them for just being associated with the man. And you would think the religious leaders would have been satisfied, after all they got what they wanted, Jesus was dead. But they had listened to Jesus' teachings and rumors about him more than they'd care to admit. They'd heard all about how he was supposed to rise again. In order to stop any activity that could fuel that fire, they again went to the Romans and requested that guards be posted at the tomb.
Now here's where it gets good ;)
"Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God’s angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightning blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn’t move."
Matthew 28:2-4 (MSG)
Picture it, the guards are doing their thing making sure that nothing from the OUTSIDE of the tomb would get in. I don't think they were expecting something from the INSIDE of the tomb getting OUT! So you're a Roman guard, it's your turn to stand watch at the tomb of this Jesus guy that everyone has been in an uproar about. Everything is quiet, as graveyards usually are, when all of a sudden the earth begins to shake all around you, lights are flashing and the stone sealing the tomb you're guarding suddenly rolls away! Not only does it roll away but there's a man wearing a brilliant robe sitting on the stone with an empty tomb behind him.
Final Thoughts: There are so many other details to the stories I've briefly touched on above. I highly recommend you check out each of the accounts written in the four Gospels. The story is a really good one and the most important one in history. See Jesus came and died to set us free from sin. Without his death on the cross, we'd still be slaves to our sins, but as children of God we're forgiven and free.
If you're not a child of God, I strongly encourage you to look at the page labeled: How to Join God's Family. There it will give you all the details you need to know about joining this really great family of God. I love my Jesus and I can't wait to introduce you to him!
Also for those of you who are relatives of mine, I hope that the above really helped reignite your excitement about Jesus, he's really easy to get excited about!
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