I invite you to think
carefully about the supreme test Jesus faced in the race. Hebrews 12:2 offers this intriguing statement: “[Jesus]
endured the cross, despising the shame.” Shame is a feeling of
disgrace, embarrassment, humiliation. Forgive me for stirring the memory, but
don’t you have a shameful moment in your history? Can you imagine the horror
you would feel if everyone knew about it? What if a video camera of that event
were played before your family and friends? How would you feel?
That is exactly what Jesus
felt. Why? You ask. He never did
anything worthy of shame. No, but we did. And since on the cross God made Him
became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), Jesus was covered with shame. He was
shamed before His family. Stripped naked before His own mother and loved ones.
Shamed before His fellow men. Forced to carry a cross until the weight caused
Him to stumble. Shamed before His church. The pastors and elders of His day
mocked Him, calling Him names. Shamed before the city of Jerusalem. Condemned
to die a criminal’s death. Parents likely pointed to Him from a distance and
told their children, “That’s what they do
to evil men.”
But the shame before men
didn’t compare with the shame Jesus felt before His Father. Our individual
shame seems too much to bear. Can you imagine bearing the collective shame of
all humanity? One wave of shame after another was dumped on Jesus. Though He
never cheated, He was convicted as a cheat. Though He never stole, heaven
regarded Him as a thief. Though He never lied, He was considered a liar. Though
He never lusted, He bore the shame of an adulterer. Though He always believed,
He endured the disgrace of an infidel.
[Taken from Just Like Jesus by Max Lucado]
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
No comments:
Post a Comment