Because all was not yet finished.
Lord, you were given a mock trial where injustice ruled the hearts of treacherous men in the night. I would have screamed “unfair” and lost heart. But you did not utter a word to your accusers
Because all was not yet finished.
Lord, soldiers took you and had their way with you. They whipped you, slapped you and spat upon you. Worse yet, they mocked your royalty by dressing you in a crown of thorns that they violently pressed upon your bleeding brow.
I would have sought revenge in that moment to crush them and render them impotent. But, you. You willingly received their torment. Instead of retaliating you endured the pain of rejected love
Because all was not yet finished.
Lord, they placed a heavy wooden beam on your bruised back. They herded you, like an animal, to the place they had assigned for you. The insults and murmurings of the crowds. The soldiers insults…roughly goading you onwards. You stumbled and fell and rose again.
I would have given in. I would have given up. But you, You got back up and pressed on to the place of the skull
Because all was not yet finished.
Lord, they stripped you naked. You were stripped of your dignity, stripped of your honor, stipped of your diety…They stripped you too of your clothing. Any act of decency and humanity gone. Must they take everything? You layed bear before the world.
Had they taken everything from me. I would have given them something in return. I would have offered insults at all the on-lookers, I would have cursed and screamed damnation on them. But, you, you forgave your oppressors further leaving yourself vulnerable to those who would strip the King of Kings
Because all was not yet finished.
I would not have made it to where you did Lord. I would have said “It is finished” long before you. I would have said it in defeat, in disguist, in disappointment, in despondency. But you O Lord, went all the way to the end. In that last sacred moment, when all had been given Lord and nothing more could be expended as you gave your life you uttered
It is finished.
You are Jesus the Christ. You God’s servant.
You are the one who accomplishes what I could not and can not
You complete what is lacking in me…you complete what is lacking in us.
You have finished what we started.
And, brought resolution to our calamity.
We praise you Christ!
Because of you our faith begins not with a big DO, but a big DONE.
You have done what we could not do for ourselves. You became sin for us. Once and for all our sins are atoned for and we are reminded today that it is not what we do Lord, but what you have done and what you accomplished on our behalf when you cried the words,“It is finished”.
Amen.
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An hour ago I sat down at the table, the pile of bills I've been avoiding to my left, my computer in front of me. It was 11 o'clock pm; do I start my bills (it's the 3rd, mind you), or do I indulge myself in a little internet surfing and leave them till morning? Or maybe I should pray. I prayed yesterday for time alone with God, now's my chance. With a little resignation, I prayed, "Lord, how would you like me to spend this time?" Then I remembered-it's Good Friday. I hadn't made it to church, the day is almost over. Am I going to let this day pass without any sort of remembrance of Jesus' brutal suffering for my sins nearly 2000 years ago?
I pictured the story. My mind can't visualize the events for too long--imagining the pain Jesus experienced is overwhelming, mind blowing. I cry, struck by the ruthlessness, brutality, destruction, confusion, rejection, abandonment-the pain-sin causes. In the midst of these thoughts, God inserted one--it's not about the pain. Many people have endured brutality. It's about Jesus emptying himself of his power to correct these things out of submission to his Father's greater purpose. Though he dreaded his crucifixion, he accepted the full experience--no angry rebellion, for the joy set before Him.
Perhaps the way I'm explaining sounds a little churchy or trite. I'm struck by this aspect of Good Friday because I have been aware lately of just how rebellious I am. There's a strong demandingness about my heart, the energy of a bucking stallion, that drives me into indulgence when I am uncomfortable. I can feel the words, "I won't submit. I'll take care of myself. You can't control me." And in certain areas, I cling to control, which leads to bondage.
Yet Jesus submitted (notably, with compassion and grace toward the ignorance of His enemies) to a greater purpose, for the joy set before Him. I must be missing something. Could it be that if I submit to God though it causes me pain, I have the potential to participate in the deep purposes of God, which ultimately bring me joy too?
You know, the longer I am a Christian, the greater my awareness is for the magnitude of what Jesus did on the cross. I can't explain it in words, and I get only glimpses, but it's an internal knowing that brings repentance and reverance for God's loving purpose. How foolish of me to rage against the pain of obedience, when the potential outcome is partnering in a personal work of God that is exponentially greater than the comfort I give up. I pray that I will have the faith to submit, to take up my cross in all the details, for the joy set before me. May Gods' kingdom expand and fill our lives through our submission.
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