Perspectives

Mark 15:33-34 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34) And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) (NIV)

Ever have the desire deep down in your heart to go to church, and you wonder why? Well, personally, it makes me feel kind of good inside; and besides, it puts a song into my heart. It makes us want to sing and to be joyful. It makes us want to be thankful. When we go to church, we want to praise God. We want to praise God because we know one day, He will come to Judge the World. He will come to make things right. He will come to let us know that Jesus died of a broken heart and that He, God the Father raised Him from the dead on the third day. He will let us know that when Jesus took our sin upon Himself on the Cross, that He, God the Father being Holy, could not look upon sin, and therefore, turned His face from Jesus Christ and that broke Christ’s heart.

Remember the story of Jesus; so weary from the flogging and beating that he was not able at that moment to carry the cross. Imagine! Jesus the Carpenter of Nazareth, who had carried many a burden on his shoulders, totally exhausted, he stumbled and fell to the ground. Simon from Cyrene came along, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. Mark 15:21… 21) A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. (NIV)

This must have been a real depressing day for Simon. First, a Roman soldier taps him on the shoulder with his spear and then tells him to carry the cross for Jesus. He hated the Romans for the way they treated him, and this Jesus, who is he? ‘I thought he was a criminal, now I am forced to carry his cross.’ It may be that it was Simon’s intention when they got to Golgotha to drop the cross and get away from there as quickly as he could. But something changed his mind. Simon had a strange feeling about this Jesus.

Simon carried the cross for Christ which had become too heavy for Jesus because of his humanity. All of us at times are asked to share the burdens of others, that sharing is fulfilling the law of Christ. But there is a burden which we must bear ourselves. Though Jesus was unable to carry the cross to Golgotha; once they arrived at the site the cross was again his to bear. That is a responsibility which nobody else can remove from us, that is a task that we all are personally responsible for. The cross on Christ’s shoulders was heavy enough, but added to that weight were the past, present, and future sins of the entire world. No one else but the Son of God could have carried that load.

Is it possible to feel the anguish of Christ’s heart, His passion as His soul is uncovered for us to understand His pain? Do we dare enter Jesus’ heart and mind as the spikes went through His hands and feet, nailed to the cross? He became the sacrifice for the sins of the entire world… hanging between heaven and earth. He became the staircase coming down from God in heaven to knock on the door of our heart that we might open our heart’s door and find salvation. As Christ was hanging their God, forsook Him for a moment; why would God do that.

We cannot understand all that happened between God and Jesus that day? I know that is true in my case. But my heart still overflows with praise when I think of the amazing grace that Jesus should end His life on the Cross, with a prayer that God should forgive “US” because we did not know what we were doing… that is amazing grace. We were lost and spiritually blind…. To God Be He Glory Great Things He Has Done.

Would you pray this prayer with me? “Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Forgive my sins. I want my life to change. My thoughts and my attitude need to change. I do not have the peace in my heart that I yearn for. I want that peace, joy and happiness that fulfills my heart’s desire. Please let the Holy Spirit help me be the kind of Christian that will honor Your Name. Amen”