The cross: Jesus decided that you were worth it

Today I’m thinking about Easter in a new way. Jesus never fails to meet me in new ways and in whatever place I might be at the time. I have heard over and over that Jesus died on a cross for me, was tortured for me, but for some reason, this Easter, those words have taken on a whole new meaning.

            Jesus went through the absolute worst pain imaginable for me. He CHOSE to go through that pain, and He didn’t have to. He counted me worthy enough, valuable enough to say YES to torture and humiliation.

            Jesus was not only hung on a cross, He was disgraced in every way possible. He was treated unfairly, they took him in secret, in the middle of the night, and He got no sleep all night. They called Him names, He was mercilessly mocked.

Jesus was bloody, bruised, and broken for me, for you.

HIS OWN PEOPLE betrayed him. He was treated like an object; they took His clothing and made a joke of Him by casting lots for them.

He was disgraced, humiliated, to make us clean.

Nails in His hands, nails in His feet, He hung on a cross near the city, for all to see His shame.

            As I was manuscripting John 19, I suddenly realized that there is not a single hurt I have that Jesus Christ cannot identify with. Jesus died to guarantee me salvation and a life of freedom and complete joy in Him.

            But I was struck by the fact that by dying on the cross, Jesus also did so much more for me.

I feel connection with Him because He knows what it is like to hurt. He knows the pain and shame and disgrace that we feel in our world and our lives. He KNOWS. He gets it. Jesus has felt it. Never are we alone in our sorrow and our suffering because Jesus has lived it.

Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Jesus cried out for rescue, and He wasn’t saved. No one came to help Him.

            All of our sins and the sins committed against us, Jesus has bore them all. Jesus has CHOSEN to bear them all. He could have stopped it in a second, but he chose to stay silent.  Jesus became sin for us. He became murder, adultery, rape, a liar, a thief, because He decided that you were worth it.

Not just the people we decided are worth it, Jesus decides the murderer, the liar, the thief, the rapist; they’re worth it too.

Sometimes I forget my worth, but on days like this when I remember all He did to buy me back, everything else going on seems so insignificant. All the worries, cares, fears of this world fade away when I remember that I have a father in heaven who loves me so much that He gave up everything so that we might be together.

As I sat with the passages and saw the ways Jesus was disgraced and devalued and abused, I started to cry.

When Jesus holds us in our pain, He holds us as one who has been there, who has seen and felt and suffered. Our hurts are His hurts.

I just love Him. I’m so glad that He intimately knows me, I’m so glad that He intimately knows my hurts. He completely knows and understands the words that hurt too much to even say.

I’m so glad that He knows me so well. Though God is faithful, and will always be faithful, humans aren’t always like that. He cares enough to want to make sure that there isn’t a single doubt in my mind about how much He loves me.

Jesus said, “I love you,” and then He proved it.