This week's devotion is entitled:

Thoughts on Easter


Submitted by: Eric


“No one was there to wipe away the tears
That burned the holy eyes of God
As He looked upon His one and only Son
Who never sinned nor lied, yet was crucified.”
-Michael Card: “Known By the Scars”

How did God show so much restraint?

Think about it: He watched from heaven as people brought false accusations against His Son. He watched as they plotted His murder. He watched His Son go through a form of execution so painful, it became a new word to describe pain: excruciating. He even had to turn His back on His Son, something He had never experienced. How did He not smite everyone involved?

It’s a serious question, and one I only just thought about. It just amazes me that God was able to show the restraint He did. Everyone talks about how Jesus could have come down from the cross at any time, but what about what God could have done? With one lift of a finger, He could have taken out all of Jesus’ accusers, leaving none but those who believed.

But He chose not to. He chose to let His Son die, because He loved us that much. God has been showing me a lot about the crucifixion that last couple of years. It all started with Mel Gibson’s masterful work on The Passion, a movie that brought the physical suffering of Christ to the light. Now, He’s showing me something different.

I don’t think I have ever really considered the spiritual suffering of Christ. Sure, we talk about how God had to look away from Him when He took the sin of the world on His shoulders, but have we really considered what that meant?

For the first time in His existence, Christ was separated from God! Think about it: He had never faced that. He had always had fellowship with the Father.

But while He hung there on the cross, He was separated for the first time from the truest part of Himself.

No wonder He cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He had never faced that separation, and it had to hurt. I think about the times I have felt separated from God. Those are some of the darkest times in my life. Thing is, I know I brought those times upon myself. It was because of my sin. Or because I had not spent time with Him.

But that wasn’t true for Jesus. He did nothing to deserve the separation. Something else: in those times when I felt separated from God, He was still there. I couldn’t feel Him, but He had not left me. But for a short time, He had to turn his back on Christ. Jesus felt the full weight of the separation.

I wonder if this was the true battle Christ was fighting in the garden that night. I’ve always been told He was afraid to die. I wonder, however, if that was really the case. After all, He knew He would rise again. He knew He had eternal life. But He also knew there would be a moment in time when He would be separated from God. He had never faced that. Would that have not been His greatest fear?

And yet He still died for us, even though He knew what it would cost Him. He still chose to take on our sins.

Why? We are not worthy of the sacrifice. As a local rapper by the name of The Rep says in one of his songs: “Why did He do it for me, I wouldn’t have done it for Him?”

The answer is simple.

He loves us. In His eyes, we were worthy of the worst thing He could ever face. He was willing to be separated from God in order that we would be so no longer. I’ve always liked the way Everybody Duck explained this in one of their songs:
"And in this world where something’s worth
Depends on what someone would pay
Its nice to know I’m worth one Jesus to You."

Lord, it’s nice to know I’m worth one Jesus to you.