March 21, 2008

He remembered hammering the nails into the wood as he helped his father, Joseph, in the carpentry shop.  He was careful to not hit his hand while placing the nail so that it would go smoothly into the wood.  His mother would be so proud of her little boy. Now many years later, nails were being driven into his hands and feet. The pain was excruciating. The Romans were experts in knowing how to inflict the greatest pain upon their prisoners. They had succeeded in taking torture to a new level.

After the nails were in place, the rough hewn cross was lifted up and dropped into a hole in the ground. The thud of the wood riveted throughout his entire body. The pain was so unbearable that he could not even scream. Gasping for air, he pulled his body upward to fill his lungs.

Blood mingled with sweat from the crown of thorns pushed down into His skull by the soldiers ran down His face into his eyes, making it difficult to see.  Yet, He still tried to find His friends in the jeering crowd that now taunted him. The ones whom he had handpicked to share the good news of the kingdom of God were no where to be seen.  They were all gone, except for John and Jesus’ mother, Mary. If He squinted hard enough, he could see off in the distance a group of women with Mary Magdalene. The women had come, but where were the men?

Abandoned by his disciples, he took comfort in the continual Presence of His Father God. The crowd jeered with every sign of pain he made. They cried out, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’”

Then it happened. Something occurred that was even more awful than the horrible agony that every part of His body was suffering. There was a lifting in His Spirit, followed by an emptiness in His soul that He had never before felt. His Father God had abandoned Him.  He cried out from the depths of His soul, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Suddenly it seemed as though the very weight of the world was pressed upon Him. Within His Spirit, He saw all of the horrific and cruel things that humans had done and would do to one another.  The sins of the world became His grief to bear.  The words of the prophet Isaiah were fulfilled. “Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. ⁵But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. ⁶All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Once again, he was back in the carpentry shop of long ago. His father, Joseph, looked at him with admiring eyes. He was proud of his young son, who tried to do all things well. The project was completed. It would make a fine wedding present. The new door would be picked up later by their neighbor Samuel for his son’s new home.

Joseph in one swoop, bent down, picking up his young son and hugging him. “It is finished, Jesus. Good job! Let’s go get something to drink.”  Jesus tried to hug his father, but something held him back.  The Nazareth of long ago faded away and the reality of the moment seized him.  His body writhed in pain. An incredible thirst came over him. Then Jesus said, “I am thirsty!” A sponge soaked in wine was pressed against his lips. After letting the wine moisten his cracked lips, Jesus uttered his last words, “It is finished.”

His task was completed. He had preached the good news, brought healing to the sick, raised the dead, and now through his suffering the sins of all were paid. John writes, “Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Because in the end, Jesus had to bear our sins, the Father God had to turn His back on His only Begotten Son.  The Father God cannot even look upon sin. So Jesus had to bear our sins alone on a cruel cross. It was for us that Jesus died. Through His death, humanity was pardoned and set free from the bondage that enslaved us.

Only the Son of God could do this for us. Only Jesus, the carpenter’s son, could take on the sins of the world upon a wooden cross. Only Jesus could set us free. The gift of salvation to humanity was completed with Jesus’ words, “It is finished.”