Originally published Friday, 29 March 2013.
So cute, right?!
“This would be so cute to hang on my front door or place on my mantle!”
As I sat in my bed this morning and looked at a decorative cross hanging in my room, my eyes welled up with tears.
I started thinking about how so often we see the cross as a decoration and Jesus as a way of salvation rather than a way of life.
He becomes a commodity.
And we consume Him.
Being that it is Good Friday, I, in some way, was hit in the face with and forced to think about the crucifixion of Jesus.
I do not mean that I never think about the sacrifice Jesus made for me/us, but rather I think I often sugar-coat what actually happened.
How much pain He was in.
The fact that the nails pushed through actual flesh on his hands.
His blood was shed and there was much of it. It was real and it was the greatest pain felt that this world will ever see.
Because Good Friday is considered a “holiday”; some people are out of school and others are off work, it can be celebrated like any other holiday.
A day to sleep in, watch Live with Kelly and Michael (maybe I did this), and run some overdue errands.
However, today hit me like a ton of bricks.
I imagined my own father, the one I was blessed with and undeserving of to have on this Earth, getting up on a cross and performing the greatest act of love there is possible.
I couldn’t stop crying.
I no longer was imagining flowery, fun decorated crosses. I was seeing this.
I saw him walking up the long, barren mountain, stepping on sharp bristles while barefoot and carrying the harshly cut wooden cross on his back.
I imagined people yelling at Him, scorning Him, celebrating that he was going to be killed and him continuing to place one foot in front of the other.
I thought about each nail as it was hammered into his hands as he remained still, perfectly aware that this was His will according to His father.
For some reason, imagining it this way allowed my heart to begin to comprehend the love that Jesus displayed for us on the cross.
Although we will never comprehend such love or sacrifice, or pain for that matter, it is necessary that we try.
Jesus wore a crown of thorns so that we may soon wear a crown upon our heads.
He was bruised, beaten and persecuted so that we may experience freedom.
Because He did, we are.
Because of the cross- not the one hanging on your wall or your car mirror- but the cross that bore the body of the one who rescued us, we must remember that.
I do not mean to be all somber or depressing but rather realistic and aware.
His pain was great because His love is greater.
So today, on Good Friday, I say TGIF- Thank God, It’s Friday and Thank God I’m forgiven!
No, literally, thank You God that it is Friday because today is the day that you sent your son, Jesus, to save us all.
And because of that, I am forgiven.
An uncanny, undeniable, crazy, radical, passionate and unwavering sign of love is something that deserves our attention every day of the week.
Happy Good Friday, everyone!
I say the only appropriate response to such a day is to sit at His feet in awe and say TGIF!
“He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.” -Ephesians 1:7
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