And Can It Be?

Last night at the 3rd New Bible Study we discussed Christ's death, and the full impact and significance of it. Okay, we didn't manage to full discuss it, but we did touch on a few topics.



One of the biggest questions that we are faced with is "Why did Jesus have to die?" The answer to that question ends up seeming rather obvious after over a decade of Sunday School. Jesus died so that our sins could be forgiven. But somehow I don't feel like that does it justice. In one of my classes we discussed Calvinism recently, and one of the main points of Calvinism is the total depravity of men - we are all so hopelessly wicked and sinful that we cannot possibly even hope of saving ourselves. While I'm not sure exactly what I think about Calvinism or the Reformed movement, it is a rather serious point. And I have been convinced more and more over the past few weeks of how hopeless my state is without Christ. I keep finding myself falling at His feet, begging for mercy. The phrase that keeps coming to mind is "Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison" (Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy).



In his book "Jesus No Equal", Barry St. Clair puts it this way :

"A tremendous gap stands between God and us, between His holiness and our selfishness. If we could see that holiness and absolute purity of God, we would understand how sinful we are and the difficulty involved in bridging the gap. We would understand why it's impossible for us to bridge the gap on our own.

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah saw in a vision a glimpse of God sitting on His throne in heaven. Just a glimpse was all Isaiah needed to realize how single he was. 'Woe to me!' he cried, 'I am ruined!' (Isaiah 6:5)



When Simon Peter realized that Jesus was God's Son, he said almost the same thing: 'Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!' (Luke 5:8)"





We are sinners, without hope of saving ourselves, and we are the ones who Christ died for. But to think that the Son of God would subject Himself to such torture and agony on our behalf - it just blows my mind! I can hardly comprehend it.



Here's what C.S. Lewis has to say about it:



"We believe that the death of Christ is just that point in history at which something absolutely unimaginable from outside shows through into our own world. And if we cannot picture even the atoms of which our own world is built, of course we are not going to be able to picture this. Indeed, if we found that we could fully understand it, that very fact would show it was not what it professes to be--the inconceivable, the uncreated, the thing from beyond nature, striking down into nature like lightning. You may ask what good it will be to us if we do not understand it. But that is easily answered. A man can eat his dinner without understanding exactly how food nourishes him. A man can accept what Christ has done without knowing how it works: indeed, he certainly would not know how it works until he has accepted it." (Mere Christianity)



That is a great comfort to me. As any of my friends will tell you, I can discuss philosophical questions and whatnot - but only up to a certain point. When you reach that point, I say to myself "What is the use of it all? We're not actually going to figure anything out". So the mere fact that I don't have to fully understand Christ's death is a great reminder.



But while we don't have to fully understand it, I think we do need to take time to fully appreciate it. So often when we go through our own trials and sufferings we sit through a church service and listen to the pastor say "Jesus Himself was tempted, He suffered, He lived on this earth, He knows what you are going through" and silently tune him out. We think to ourselves "Jesus was the Son of God! He could put up with all of that stuff because he was God! It was not nearly as hard for Him as it is for me!" Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm sure almost everyone has had those thoughts at one point or another.



To once again borrow an explanation from C.S. Lewis:



"I have heard some people complain that if Jesus was God as well as man, then His sufferings and death lose all value in their eyes, 'because it must have been so easy for Him'. Other may (very rightly) rebuke the in gratitude and ungraciousness of this objection; what staggers me is the misunderstanding it betrays. In one sense,, of course, those who make it are right. They have even understated their own case. The perfect submission, the perfect suffering, the perfect death were not only easier to Jesus because He was God, but were possible only because He was God. But surely that is a very odd reason for not accepting them? The teacher is able to form the letters for the child because the teacher is grown-up and knows how to write. That, of course, makes it easier for the teacher and only because it is easier for him can he help the child. If it rejected him because 'it's easy for grown-ups' and waited to learn writing from another child who could not write itself (and so have no 'unfair' advantage), it would not get on very quickly. If I am drowning in a rapid river, a man who still has one foot on the bank may give me a hand which saves my life. Ought I to shout back (between my gasps) 'Not, it's not fair! You have an advantage! You're keeping one food on the bank'? That advantage--call it 'unfair' if you like--is the only reason why he can be of any use to me. To what will you look for help if you will not to that which is stronger than yourself?" (Mere Christianity)



There is one part of Christ's suffering that never ceases to amaze me. And that is the moment of God-forsakenness.



"What was the struggle, exactly? Fear of pain and death? Of course. Jesus no more relished the prospects than you or I do. But there was more at work as well; a new experience for Jesus that can only be called God-forsakenness. At its core Gethsemane depicts, after all, the story of an unanswered prayer. The cup of suffering was not removed" - Philip Yancey



"The might of the world, the most sophisticated religious system of its time allied with the most powerful political empire, arrays itself against a solitary figure, the only perfect man who has ever lived. Though he is mocked by the power..the Gospels give the strong, ironic sense that he himself is overseeing the whole, long process...Now, as death nears. he calls the shots" - Philip Yancey



"I have marveled at, and sometimes openly questioned, the self-restraint God has shown throughout history, allowing the Genghis Khans, and the Hitlers and the Stalins to have their way. But nothing-nothing-compares to the self-restraint shown that dark Friday in Jerusalem." - Philip Yancey



For me, that moment on the Cross is one of the most powerful moments in the Passion story. Jesus had lived the life of a human, and now, He more fully took on His humanity. After an eternity spent with His Father, always having His presence, He felt the pain of separation that we have suffered under since the Fall. How incredible is that?



.
And can it be that I should gain

An interest in the Savior's blood?

Died He for me, who caused His pain

For me, who Him to death pursued?



Amazing love! How can it be,

That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?


Amazing love! How can it be,T

hat Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?


'Tis mystery all: th'Immortal dies:

Who can explore His strange design?

In vain the firstborn seraph tries

To sound the depths of love divine.



'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,

Let angel minds inquire no more.


He left His Father's throne above

So free, so infinite His grace

Emptied Himself of all but love,

And bled for Adam's helpless race:



'Tis mercy all, immense and free,

For O my God, it found out me!

Still the small inward voice I hear,

That whispers all my sins forgiven;

Still the atoning blood is near,

That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.



I feel the life His wounds impart;

I feel the Savior in my heart.

No condemnation now I read;

Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;

Alive in Him, my living Head,

And clothed in righteousness divine,



Bold I approach th'eternal throne,

And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Refrain