The Grace of Christ

While the category that this is placed in (Political) may be up for debate, it doesn't change how I feel about this piece.

The truth is, that God put his son on a cross for humanity to either accept and follow, or ignore. He gave the world that choice - and he's provided plenty of reasons for you to accept and follow, but most just shrug them off as "circumstantial" or "inconsequential". It just doesn't work that way. Human beings were programmed to worship and to be glorifiers of God. The act of having Roman guards flog you with a Cat of Nine Tails (Leather straps, stuck in a tar type substance and covered in glass, rocks, pottery pieces, etc) 39 times (40 they believed, would kill you). Having a crown of thorns pushed into your head (not just set on his head, but pushed and hammered in), and then, on top of your swollen, nearly skinless back carrying a cross. Now, these crosses were not light. If you know the story, Jesus required help because of the extensive beatings he had suffered - any 33 year old man would have needed help at this point. Jesus, upon reaching Golgotha, was nailed and tied to the cross from which he would take his last breath. One nail was driven through each palm, and each wrist bound to the crosses top bar (Otherwise the nail would rip through the skin of the hand and break the bones, doing no more than disabling the hands). To get the hands to span as far as the cross was designed to, the arms were dislocated from the shoulders, making it even more difficult to breath. And while Roman crosses had a little ledge you could set your feet on, they were nailed there. Breathing on one of these crosses was difficult - and the lack of that breath is what killed you.

While hanging on this cross, one of the two theives crucified beside Jesus called out to those who were yelling for Jesus to be on his cross. He called out to them, recognizing Jesus as an innocent man. He had broken no law, had done no crime, and had commited no sin. That man became the first Christian. He became the first to be forgiven my Jesus' blood when he died. The act of becoming a Christian is that simple, but very few are even willing to do that. It's the "rules" and the "controlling" being that they view Jesus and God as, usually, that keeps them away in this society. Besides, sinning is just more fun, right?

The last thing that Jesus said before he died was "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" Meaning "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" A very human thing to ask, no? Many Christians ask this time and time again - forgetting what Jesus did for them. The sad thing is? Jesus did more than many of us would ever be willing to do for him - he gave his life. Of course, there are few Christians like Paul who, even in prison where he didn't know if he would live and die, his concern was spreading the word of God through many letters to many churches and groups of people. Continuing on.

Three days later (which, if you didn't know, would put this timeline starting on Good Friday and this third day would be Easter), Jesus disappeared from the tomb in which he was encased. There had been a large stone in front of it that took more than one deceased man to move (more than one living man, for that matter). Upon the arrival of Mary, Jesus' mother, and Mary Magdalene (remember that line "He who is without sin, cast the first stone?" that comes from her story) they discover that Jesus' is not there. The cloths with which he had been wrapped were still there, but he himself was not. What does that mean? Christ rose again. Jesus was not just some man. Jesus could return life to a person, and he did, but he could not return it to himself. But he was raised again by God, as promised. Finding any of this hard to swallow? Good.

He met his disciples again (11 this time, not 12, Judas had hung himself after turning Jesus in to the Pharisees - the religious leaders of the day). They did not, initially believe it was him. I mean, what would you have done? What would I have done? I probably wouldn't have believed him either. But he showed them the holes in his palms, the the piercing in his side (Roman guards would pierce the sides of those on crosses to be sure they were dead before lowering their bodies), and they believed him. Is that what it would take for you? Would you need to see the scars in his hands and the piercing in his side? I'm sure many of you are saying "yes" but why? Society in this era has a "if I can't see it, it can't be true" kind of outlook on things. But what about all of the things that you take for granted? There are things you believe in that you've never seen. If you believe that in 1969 3 American astronauts successfully manned a mission to the moon, did you see that event occur? Sure you've seen videos of it - but those could be fake. You don't know that their not - but you still believe they are, right? Why does everything you believe have to be seen first?

(Thank you for your time - especially if you got this far. Not much to say on the image - yay.)