I decided yesterday, Good Friday, when reading an article with a picture of Jesus hanging on the cross that I do not like clean Jesus. And this is what I mean:
This is not the way Jesus looked when He took His last breath. I know I wasn't there, but this is not what a man who was beaten and crucified looks like. And I'm sorry if that picture doens't fit nicely into the clean cut view of Christianity but the TRUTH is not always pretty. Please someone tell me who thought it was a good idea to give us this image to tuck away in our heads when we try to grasp the reality that Jesus hung on a cross to save us from ourselves?
No wonder people forget about it until those delicious ridiculous marshmellow peeps stare at us with their beady little eyes in stores everywhere February 15th.
No wonder people aren't phased with the thought of their sin costing a perfect man his life.
No wonder that a furry bunny that was CREATED by the man who hung on the cross has taken over this holiday that we call Easter.
What if you hurt someone really bad, did something awful, and when they came to pay you back a completely innocent person stepped in and took all the blame, and in fact, took a physical beating? What if when they were finished he looked like this:
Would you be thankful? Humbled? Honored? Ashamed? Remorseful? Because you should be. We all should be. Because it happened. Not today, in this lifetime where you could witness it with your own eyes but IT happened. An innocent man, a perfect sacrafice, and pure and righteous Son of Man stepped in and took all the blame for our sin. He saved you. He saved me. He saved generations that haven't even been born yet.
As I sit and reflect on Jesus' death on the cross I think about how selfless His love is. How a sinless man, who was sent to Earth to save us, faced the harsh reality of human fleshly desire to save himself, yet still fulfilled the will of God.
No one else could do this. No human could harness the pride that wells up when falsely accused. Time and again Jesus was questioned. He was told to prove himself, to save himself, and not only did he humbly hang there and accept his fate, but he pleaded to God in his dying breath to forgive us. Who does that? Jesus does.
I love bloody Jesus. He's the real deal. He's the one who took the blame for all of my transgressions. He is who deserves the glory, the respect, the love, and my whole life.
Is it painful to look at bloody Jesus? Sure it is, but when I look at bloody Jesus I am reminded of his sacrafice and driven to glorify him.
This Easter, let's not forget that the Jesus in a beautiful, snow white robe is the Jesus that fulfilled the promise by first being the Jesus on the cross.
Jesus paid it all/ all to Him I owe/ sin had left a crimson stain/ He washed it white as snow
