I FELT THE EXCRUCIATING PAIN THE ROMAN SOLDIERS INFLICTED ON JESUS, from the unceasing and cruel landing of the whips on his back, the hammering of nails on his palms, the weight of the cross he carried, the thirst and hunger and fatigue he sustained on the way to Calvary, and above all the humiliation placed upon him, as portrayed in the movie The Son of God that Elvie and I saw yesterday. What a horrific suffering he went through for us, and yet it remains unfathomable to us men, whose sin he paid for, him who was righteous, sinless, taking our place before the wrath of God, that we the guilty ones, might be declared righteous before God the Father. His face was marred beyond recognition, his skin ruptured, and blood flowing down so that there was no beauty in him. He had no stately form or majesty, that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He did it all for us. This Jesus, Christ , suffered once for or sins, the righteous for the unrighteous (1Pet 3:18) , to bring us to God. He did it once – through pain and death on the cross – that no one needs to go through it for him as he said, finally, before giving up his Spirit, “It is finished!” (There is therefore no reason one has to hung himself on the cross, or to mimic his carrying of a cross, year after year during Holy Week, to vicariously experience what Christ did once and for all, in a complete and sufficient sacrifice … as though doing it all over again, would add to or replace WHAT CHRIST HAD DONE.). LISTEN TO WHAT HE SAID, “IT IS FINISHED!” AND TO ADD TO WHAT HE HAD DONE - BECAUSE OF TRADITION, PRACTICE OR FAULTY TEACHING - IS AN INSULT TO HIM. Jn 19:30. PstrEDeLeon
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 21:53:26 +0000