“‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but He can’t save Himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him.’” (Matthew 27:42).
On this day God died and it was GOOD. It was – in fact – so good that even until the end of time we shall commemorate the death of God because by that death the whole of humanity was saved…
And today, I have not been thinking of the whole of Christ. I have not been thinking about the wounds on His hands and feet made by the nails. I have not been thinking about the scores of marks on His Blessed Back caused by the lashing of the whip that shred His flesh to ribbons. I have not been thinking about the wounds on His head that were caused by His crown of thorns. I have not been thinking about the bruises and the stings and the blisters upon His Blessed Feet as He walked carrying His cross to the death. I have not been thinking about the wound on His Shoulder from the weight of the Cross. I have not even been thinking about the indignity of the wound of the spear on His dead side.
No. Today, I have been thinking about His Finger.
You see, today – twenty centuries ago – we are told, “Two rebels were crucified with Him, one on His right and one on His left. Those who passed by hurled insults at Him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!’ In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked Him. ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but He can’t save Himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue Him now if He wants Him, for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’’ In the same way the rebels who were crucified with Him also heaped insults on Him.” (Matthew 27:38-44).
And surrounded by that mockery and in the midst of that pain, God – King of the Universe – did NOT come down from the cross.
And to me – today – this truly seems like the most astonishing thing.
You see, if I place my finger into the hinge of my car door and I know that the door is going to close on my finger and jam it in the door (causing me pain), there is quite literally nothing that anyone could do to make me keep my finger in that car door waiting for it to become jammed. I will literally flinch away from the potential pain and move myself out of harm’s way as quickly as possible.
And it would be the same if there were a fire that could burn my finger. If I felt the heat, I would very quickly move my finger out of reach of the flame so that I would not injure it or harm myself. It would be quite impossible for me to willingly hold my finger in harm’s way because I would do almost anything to avoid the pain that such harm could cause.
And today I consider Christ. You see, not only did He remain on that Cross, but He remained on that Cross in the same way that my finger might have remained in the hinge of the car door or in the heat of the flame. He COULD come down from the Cross. He is GOD OF THE UNIVERSE after all. And NOTHING is impossible to God. And there He hung – in AGONY – actively resisting the temptation to pull Himself free of the Cross even in the midst of that pain.
And today I am marvelling at that. For how could a soul such as mine ever give thanks to a soul such as His, when my Beloved WILLINGLY hung on the Cross for love of me. And He did that to show me that I have not even the willpower in my little finger to hold myself to pain, and He willingly suffered to DEATH without moving so much as His little finger away from the pain.
And when I think about that today I raise my face to my God. For I cannot imagine a more astounding miracle than that!
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.