I’ll Never Know!

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. — Isaiah 53:4-5 NLT

I recently attended my church’s monthly prayer meeting where we sang the song ‘Light of the World’ by Tim Hughes. I have sung this song many times before. But on this occasion, while singing the bridge, “I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross”, I began to reflect on what Christ must have gone through to provide atonement for mine and the world’s sin.

Anyone who’s seen Mel Gibson’s film, ‘The Passion of the Christ’ will have an idea of the extent of what Jesus went through to bear our sin on Himself.

In anticipation of the enormity of what He was about to do, Jesus asked the Father if there was another way they could explore to achieve the same goal.

He said, “‘My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.’ Then Jesus …prayed, ‘My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.’” Matthew 26:39, 42 (NLT)

It was not the impending suffering that made Jesus pray to the Father to take the cup from Him. It was not the horrible shredding of His skin from scourging, or the blows He received. It was not the crown of thorns or the humiliation of being stripped naked. It was not the betrayal of His disciples who deserted Him.

In fact, He could have done something about the suffering and humiliation if He wanted to, considering He voluntarily gave Himself up to be arrested. The power to say no to the impending sacrifice was in His hand. If I was at the scene that night, I would have screamed for Him to run when they came to arrest Him. But He had to go through with the divine plan for salvation.

There was, however, a greater cost to Jesus than the physical suffering He experienced. The greater cost was the reality of facing separation from the Father as the sinless Son of God bears the sins of the world.

Once He was nailed to the cross and hung on it, there was nothing He could do at that point to change the situation. At that point, He no longer had the backing of the Father and the Host of Heaven. The Father had turned His face away from the Son because God in His holiness, cannot behold sin.

The aloneness He felt under the weight of all our sins made Him cry out, “… ‘My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me?’” Matthew 27:46 (NLT)

The truth is, we may never know how much it cost Jesus to see the sin of the world upon the cross! But we can be grateful that, “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:17 (NLT)

Stay blessed,

LaraLex