“Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have.” John 24:39
Why the cross? Why is it that God chose this means for the sacrifice of His Son, to save sinful and lost man? The first part of the answer lies in the terrible spectacle of the sight, one so demonstrably cruel and abhorrent, cloaked in the dark clouds of judgment, that there was no comparison on earth to its magnitude and effect. This One on Calvary, this spotless Lamb, taking upon Himself the sin of the entire world, and bearing the full brunt of the righteous indignation of God, proclaimed a love so pure, spotless, and without parallel in the whole of creation, was calling first for the attention of men, for all men to look, ponder, and believe. Jesus had told his disciples: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.” (Jn.12:32) There was no other way to reach the multitudes of the world with the message that His crucifixion proclaimed. If the full effect of that work on Calvary would be realized in the hearts and lives of men, but they must first stop, look, ponder, and come in faith alone to Him who would save them. It was Charles Wesley who wrote the following in his great hymn, “O Love Divine, What Hast Thou Done:” “Behold Him, all ye that pass by, The bleeding Prince of life and peace! Come, sinners, see your Saviour die, And Say, ‘Was ever grief life His?’ Come, feel with me His blood applied: My Lord, my Love, is crucified.” The spectacle of the Cross, with the sinless, innocent Lamb dying upon it for sinful men, by the hands of sinful men, was first intended to capture the attention of all men.
The second part of the answer to the question of God’s choice of the cross is found in the call that He gives to every individual on the face of the earth. Again, John writes the Lord’s words to His disciples: “And as Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (Jn. 3:14) The sight of this One on Calvary, the manner in which He died, and all that preceded His death as proclaimed in the Scriptures, had for its decisive objective, to save men, to deliver them from their perishing condition, and know something that only the eternal God could give them, Christ’s life. There was no other way to breach the wall of unbelief and the rejection by sinful men from all ages, than to take upon Himself the unfathomable weight and filth of sin’s wretchedness, its judgment of suffering, its hopelessness and shame. The cross was God’s declared, inevitable judgment of sin. However, in that terrible scene, there were glimpses of hope and compassion for the men whom Christ came to save. One was the tender care that Christ showed to his mother, who was experiencing the reality of Simeon’s words: “Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul.” (Luke 2:35) Then there was Christ’s dealing with the thief on the cross, who had but one hope, and it was in this One hanging beside him on another cross. Christ’s words of comfort in a time like that were unparalleled: “Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.” (Lk. 23:43) But it was in the communication of the Son with the Father, that hope, love, and the certainty of a perfect work accomplished, unveiled the matchless, incomparable love of God, without parallel in eternity, and certainly not of this world. Upon finishing the work that the Father had given Him to do, He cried out with a loud voice, piercing the darkness of pain, suffering, incomprehension, and rejection, the darkness of hopelessness and death, His words rising to the very heights of heaven, before the throne of God, reaching the loving heart of the Father: “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” (Lk. 23:46)
Dear Father, Anoint our eyes to see Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.