By Pastor Greg
A poor vagabond, traveling a
country road in England, tired and hungry, came to a roadside Inn with a sign reading: "George and the
Dragon." He knocked. The innkeeper's wife stuck her head out a
window. "Could ye spare something
to eat?" he asked. The woman
glanced at his shabby clothes and apparently
poor condition. "No!" she said
rather sternly. "Could I have a
pint of ale?" "No!" she
said again. "Could I at least sleep
in your stable?" "No!" By
this time, she was fairly shouting. The Vagabond
said, "Might I please... ?"
"What now?" the woman interrupted impatiently. "D'ye suppose," he asked, "I
might have a word with George?"
Did you ever look back on your
life and wish you could have a “do-over”? Boy, I do. I am haunted by careless words spoken and selfish deeds; they were so disrespectful
and arrogant. And I hurt a lot of people
because of this. I wish I could make these memories go away, or at least go
back and do what was right.
But I can’t. There is no such thing as a time
machine.
Oh, I know we would like one; a device that allows us to go back and right
our wrongs. But this simply cannot
happen. These moments of sin are a
blemish which has stained the portrait of our lives. What was once beautiful and innocent has
become tattered and torn. They will be
with us forever.
Or will they?
(John 19:17-27) 17 Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the
place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). 18 There
they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either
side, with Jesus between them. 19 And Pilate posted a sign on
the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 The
place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in
Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many
people could read it.
21 Then the leading priests
objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He
said, I am King of the Jews.’”
22 Pilate replied, “No,
what I have written, I have written.”
23 When the soldiers had
crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also
took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24 So
they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.” This
fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and
threw dice for my clothing.” So that is what they did.
25 Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister,
Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus
saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her,
“Dear woman, here is your son.” 27 And he said to this
disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into
his home. [1]
Please do not overlook the
significance of the cross. All four
gospel writers mention this event. God
spoke of this throughout the Old Testament.
The Cross on which Jesus died was no accident. It was all part of God’s plan … which means
it had a purpose. Actually, God says the
crucifixion of Jesus is a good thing. He
says that in the end, Jesus will be satisfied by what He accomplished on the
cross (Isaiah 53:11).
700 years before it even happened,
Isaiah used words like “pierced” and “crushed” to describe the Messiah (Isaiah
53:5). Isaiah says the Lord’s Servant
would be “scourged”; that He would be killed at a young age – the prime of His
life (verse 8). Isaiah says this Servant
would be executed as some common criminal
but would be buried as a rich man (verse
9). However, it is Isaiah 53:6 that
really grips my heart. This “suffering
Servant” would be “punished for all the evil we have done”[2];
for all the evil I had done.
The Crucifixion of Jesus was not
an accident. He was not taken against
His will. Jesus was not overpowered by a
group of bad men. He allowed Himself to be killed so our sin
could be forgiven. Therefore, Jesus gave
up His spirit on April 3, 33 A.D., at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.[3] He allowed Himself to be nailed to the cross
so we would be given an opportunity to have our sin forgiven.
And he did this 1,927 years before
I was even born; before you or I had the opportunity to make a mess of our
life.
Have you ever read the words of
Paul in Romans 5:8? “But God showed his
great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners,”[4]
which means that God planned to
forgive our sins – to take those who are tattered and torn and make them whole
again.
God knew we were utterly
helpless. He knew we could not repair the damage. He knew we would mess up our
lives. But at just the right time, Jesus
died for us (Romans 5:6).
Could it be that there is hope for
sinners like you and me? Is it possible
that God would forgive all the careless words spoken and selfish deeds?
Absolutely!
“So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; what is old has passed away—look, what is new has come!”[5]
(2 Corinthians 5:17). Paul also exclaims
“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no
longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by
trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” [6]
(Galatians 2:20).
This is what His crucifixion
accomplished. By His death, we are made
whole. We now have the opportunity to
start a new life, to become someone different; someone who no longer makes the
same mistakes or says the same careless words.
By His crucifixion, Jesus grants us a “do over.” He erases the debt of our
past sins, cleanses us – washing us whiter than snow – and grants us a life no longer marked by sin and
death.
Unfortunately, we live with the consequences
of our actions in this life. We can’t
take away the hurt and pain caused by our deeds and words, but the penalty for
them has been lifted from us and carried to the cross by Jesus. We must work hard to regain trust or mend
broken relationships caused by our sin, but the good news is that Christ has
provided this opportunity in the first place all because of His
Crucifixion. He lets us start over
again.
And that is really good news.
[1] Tyndale House Publishers.
(2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed., Jn 19:17–27).
Carol Stream, IL.
[4] Tyndale House Publishers.
(2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed., Ro 5:8). Carol
Stream, IL.
[5] Biblical Studies Press.
(2005). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The
NET Bible
(2 Co 5:17).
[6] Tyndale House Publishers.
(2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed., Ga 2:20). Carol
Stream, IL.
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