God’s grace, love and power – Day 11

Someone once pointed out that Jesus, in some sense, did not come to our world to live, but to die. Jesus did not die a natural death – he was executed on a hill called Golgotha, just outside Jerusalem.

His death was a grievous bodily suffering. It was also emotionally and mentally unbearable because everyone left him. The worst was that it became dark and his Father left him. He was totally alone – no contact with his disciples and followers, and no contact with heaven. The relationship with the Father, who said of Jesus, “This is my beloved Son,” was broken. Jesus often declared that he and the Father are one. On the cross, he was alone.

Jesus was truly godforsaken. It was so bad; someone points out that, on the cross, Jesus did not address his Father as “Father”, but with the distant “my God”.

Why did all this take place? The heavenly Father left his Son on Golgotha, as we left God through our sinful lives. But God left his Son, so that in the end, we may become his children again. At Golgotha, the roles were reversed. We should have hung on the cross, but Jesus did. He was left alone and pushed into the darkness. We, on the other hand, were taken back as the children of God. Jesus paid the penalty for our sins and we came out unscathed.

You and I know that God is with us and that we can never truly be so lonely or abandoned. Through Jesus, the door to God was opened. And the most amazing of all? – the entrance is free. Pure grace!