He Came Back
Our Response To The Cross
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most pivotal moment in human history. One man, a carpenter's son who never journeyed more than 100 miles from his home, polarized all of humanity into believers and non-believers. Not because He died, but because He Came Back. Why? I mean, we did not treat Him particularly well. We scarcely believed Him and who He claimed to be. He endured humiliation and unimaginable suffering, although he had committed no crime. And, when the pagan governor attempted to acquit him, we cried out for a convicted murderer instead. When He hung His head and died, He said, “It is finished,” (John 19:30). His suffering, His indignity, His humiliation was finally at an end. And yet, three days later... He Came Back. Why? Why would He do that? I know I wouldn't— why did He?
He Came Back Because He Had To.
It was not an option. To give His story meaning, to give us
hope, Jesus told us, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he
that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:”
(John 11:25), “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me,” (John 14:6). For Him to die,
for that to be the end of His story, robs those words of their
power, and makes a liar of the cross. Matthew Henry said, “Had
He remained under the power of death, how could he have
delivered us from its power? And how vain a thing would faith in
him be.”
If there were no life after death, if all we are ends the day we
breathe our last, we would be free of any responsibility or
obligation. Why should we live our lives with any consciousness
of self, any obligation to God or to each other, if everything
we are amounts to ashes? In this argument, I tend to view
atheism and agnosticism as intellectual cowardice. It is far
easier to NOT believe in God, takes less effort and less courage
to deny God than to accept Him. The legalistic notion of
nothingness after death frees us from the obligation of
nobility, compassion, art, and spirituality. If there is no
resurrection of the dead, then we certainly have no
responsibility beyond the tip of our own noses, “And if Christ
be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also
vain,” (I Corinthians 15:14).
But, wait— He Came Back. And, because He did, now we have to
make some decisions about ourselves. About who we are and who we
want to be. He Came Back, and now we understand life as we know
it is but the smallest part of an infinite eternity. He Came
Back and now our thinking must be elevated beyond all the
pageantry of the coming Sunday. Tradition and fellowship are
valuable and important but the lesson of the cross must never be
obscured by our busy devotion to the dizzying rush of Holy
Hoopla. In all our doing this week, shame on us if we lose sight
of the most important part of the story: He Came Back.
He Came Back Because He Loves Us
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language
defines passion as, “The sufferings of Jesus in the period
following the Last Supper and including the Crucifixion, as
related in the New Testament.” Acts Chapter 1 Verse 3
characterizes Christ's suffering as passion. Not simply His cruciation and His death but His knowledge of
His destiny to be
tortured, without cause, without crime, for the wrongdoing of
others. His death was His sacrifice for our sake. His victorious
return was His declaration of love. Love that now demands a
response.
If you have any conscience or compassion, true love shown to you
will compel you to respond. Not repay— it is impossible to ever
completely or truly repay true love, and real love does not
demand reciprocation— but love does compel and implore us, by
our nature, to respond to kindness shown us, and love shared
with us.
I submit that the greater sacrifice Jesus made was not going to
the cross, but in coming back to us after it. To revisit people
who scorned and hated him, who lied to Him and lied ON Him. Who
tortured and abused Him, falsely convicted Him and hammered
spikes through Him.
I'm so glad that He died, but I'm even happier that He Came Back.
So what is our response to the cross?
To an unfathomable act of generosity and immeasurable grace?
This is, certainly, a gift we are wholly incapable of repaying,
but love should compel us to want to. This is a favor we could
never return, but we should certainly aspire to.
Our response to the cross should be a heightened awareness of
our worth and value, our importance in the world. That we are
greater than the sum of our failures. That we can transcend our
shortcomings.
Our response to the cross should be to practice forgiveness and
have increased patience with each other. To feed His sheep.
Our response to the cross should be to become more like Him. To
become servants. To serve as He served. To give as He gave.
Without reservation, or respect of person. Without hesitation.
To not dwell in the valley of the shadow of His death but come
to terms with the fact that He Lives. That He Came Back.
Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments,” “Feed my
sheep,” “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Most of us will never go to a cross or endure even a fraction of
what Jesus did on Calvary. But, thanks to Him and His divine
sacrifice, we'll all be back.
Christopher J. Priest
30 March 2002
editor@praisenet.org
TOP OF PAGE
