SIL Sisters in Christ: Reversing the Biggest Fail

Well hey, lovely sisters of mine! We've come to a part of the Gospel of John which is more gruesome and hurtful than others - but it's this horrible moment in time that actually brought the greatest victory of all. It's this horrible time which gave us a relationship with our Heavenly Father - and it's these very moments that gave us the option for new life.

It was God in the person of Jesus Christ who amazed the people of His day with His miracles and teachings. It was God in the person of Jesus Christ who lived a perfect life and then allowed Himself to be put to death on the cross for our sins. It was God who three days after He died broke the bonds of death and came out of the tomb alive. It is God who still lives today... who walks by our side, who knows our paths, who is greater than every storm and challenge we face. 

This week we're looking at John 19 (and please do click that link or grab your Bible and read through it first!) and here we find Jesus beaten, sentenced, crucified and dead all within one rather short chapter.

There is never anything pleasant or attractive about an execution, however, in Jesus's days, execution was designed to be public and painful. I don't know about you, but the story of Jesus's crucifixion always makes me cringe. Not because it's poorly written, but because I imagine my Lord, my saviour, my God up there on the cross - helpless, weak, in pain - dying - and I remember that He did just that for our sins. 

You might be like me whenever I watch or read Romeo and Juliet (I always yell at Romeo when he comes in and finds Juliet "dead") and read this passage and think NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Jesus! You're innocent! You don't have to die!

But Jesus's death wasn't a cruel mistake. 

Jesus's life was not taken from Him.

Jesus laid down His life willingly. It was all a part of His plan - a plan that included you and me. 

Jesus took to the cross with a crown of thorns on His head - but that crown is actually quite symbolic. Let's go back riggggggght to the very start - where we first learn about thorns and thistles.

When God is telling Adam and Eve about the punishment of mankind He says; 

"It will produce thorns and thistles for you" Genesis 3:18

It being the ground (the earth) and you being mankind as a whole. Thorns and thistles came up as a result of sin - and Jesus bore the sins of the world. Here we see God reversing the work of the Fall of Mankind through Jesus.

The crown of thorns and the cross of death met their match in Jesus - and Jesus tells us; 

"Come to me, all you who are weary and 

burdened and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am gentle and humble in heart 

and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light"

Matthew 11:28-30

So I want you to remember something as you read through John 19. Like all good stories, this one has a happy ending. Jesus's death on the cross wasn't a mistake, in fact, it was a gift for us. 

Here Jesus gives us the greatest gift of all; true life in Him.

God didn't just reverse the very first fail (Adam & Eve taking that apple in the Garden of Eden) - he gave us the choice to reverse all of our fails - regardless of how big or how small. That's definitely something to be thankful for!