I saw it clearly. Jesus was hanging on the cross with all the sins of mankind desperately clinging on to Him. Each sin anxiously tried to secure a place on this man – who at that point, single-handedly created a magnetic field that had all the factors needed to host sins of every nature. He was properly enclosed by an incredible mass of sin, making it virtually difficult for me to get an accurate visual of his frame. There was so much sin that some decided to hang off others in the front. They dragged his body down, adding more and more weight to His now exhausted muscles.
But yet he persevered. He knew that this was part of what He came to do; this was all a part of the blueprint God had originally shown Him, finally, after hours of enduring, the proverbial straw designed to break the camel’s back, found its way to Jesus. The one being to whom He had committed Himself, the one who had been by His side all His life could no longer look upon Him because of the sins of Man. Even if the Father wanted to look on His son, He would not be able to see Him; the sin was too gruesome to gaze at. He was Holy and could not tolerate such impurity; not even from His own Son.
So He had to turn away. At that moment I could see the despair of Jesus as He realized, for the first time in His entire earthly life; He was alone. I could only imagine what He was possibly thinking. “Why have you forsaken Me? What will I do now without your presence, without your direction? I need you to speak to me, tell me how to respond.”
Then suddenly, Jesus’ mind brought up data that was in His archived files. “My God, I know why I am here. All this is a part of my purpose and destiny for my life, even if I can’t sense your presence. I will hold on to all the words you have told me in the past until the time comes again when we can talk. I will follow through on this section of the blueprint you gave to me. And I will trust you to reveal the other pieces as I obey you. Lord, I commit my spirit to you.” with that I saw him die.
As I pondered on what I saw, I wondered what would make a man endure such pain, abuse, and the ultimate loneliness. What was motivating Him to go on even when the closest person to him could no longer support him? LOVE! It’s got to be love.
Greater Love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Without love, we will crumble when the test of life comes. Our love must be first directed to God and then to those God has placed us amongst. In John 15, Jesus speaks of remaining in His love. It is clear that the only way we can do this is to obey his commandments. From the beginning of time, God continually urged the children of Israel to be careful to do all that He commands. God is calling us to love through obedience. That is the only way we will be able to go on when all else fails.
Our love for Him should be our motivation to persevere. DO YOU REALLY LOVE HIM?
