Wednesday 11 May 2016

The Cross: Where it all started

Cross on a Hill, Spectral-Design, Shutterstock.com


Matthew 27:15-26 talks about moments before Jesus' crucifixion. Pilate asked the crowd to choose which one did they want to set free from the terrible punishment of crucifixion, Jesus the innocent Man or Barabbas the well-known prisoner.
Have you ever wondered why Barabbas, a horrible criminal, was there side by side with Jesus moments before His crucifixion? And why did the crowd choose Barabbas instead of Jesus to be released from the crucifixion? And why did Jesus let Barabbas free, instead of saving Himself...

Why did Barabbas worth the mention in the Bible? Wasn't he the prisoner who didn't even thank Jesus for sparing his life and dying on the cross instead of him? 

The answer is found in this amazing 8-minute video by Ps Judah Smith which I received from my brother, he explained that actually the figure Barabbas depicts us, all of us. We are the undeserving group of people who have committed so many wrongs, we should be on the cross, but we are blinded by our ego, we think that we are better than the rest (Jesus in this case) and we deserve all the goodness of life because we earn it.
But no, we didn't receive all the blessings in life because of our good works, but because of Jesus' perfect work on that Cross when He took our place. Even during His last hours here on Earth, Jesus made His love towards us clear and His main purpose of coming down to the world is to start a loving relationship with us and effectively to bring forth reconciliation between us and the Lord. He became Barabbas and received our punishment so that we can become Jesus and receive the Lord's love and blessings in this life.


Why did the crowd choose Barabbas knowing that He was a criminal?

Few weeks ago I learned from my mentor this sad but true concept that our world is corrupted and we have to understand and accept this fact to understand the things that are happening here on earth. Immediately after Adam and Eve fell into sin and were cast out from Eden, the world is corrupted with sin. People are blinded by sin and ego, thus separated from the Lord. This is why Jesus came down to earth as a full human, to be able to connect personally with mankind and bring in restoration between us and the Lord. However, because the world was corrupted with sin, some didn't like the idea that they are not perfect and unable to save themselves, they didn't like having a full human yet without sin among them who was sent to deliver them (Matthew 27:18) hence the crowd chose Barabbas instead of Jesus. Someone whom they knew and were able to conform with, despite all his criminality.

And the ultimate question is, why did Jesus let them do that? Why did He let the crowd have Barabbas? Why did He not safe Himself?

The Cross is a beautiful and powerful illustration of the Lord's love and compassion towards us, mankind. Many people say that the horizontal aspect of the cross is for us to love our neighbours just as how Jesus loves us, while the vertical aspect is our relationship with God. Jesus was all human capable of feeling all the emotions that we humans can feel, which means that when He was there at the crucifixion, I'm sure He felt sorrowful, hurt and painful too (Matthew 27:46) but He didn't lose focus of His main purpose here in this earth. He didn't let His human nature to get the better of Him. Jesus didn't suddenly decide that it was too painful and mankind was too arrogant to receive a Saviour and took a chance to save Himself. He didn't do that, but rather, again for the countless time, He showed His unconditional love to mankind. He showed us how to love our neighbours selflessly when He let Barabbas have that sweet-tasting escape from crucifixion despite him fully deserving it. Jesus died on the Cross leaving us the perfect demonstration of love and relationship, both with the Lord and with our fellow neighbours.

Truly nothing happens by accident. Someone whom we may think to be an insignificant figure in the Bible is not there for no reason. God can use anyone to communicate His love towards us, even someone like Barabbas.

Moving forward, each time we look to the Cross, remember not only the vertical aspect of relationship with God, but also the horizontal aspect of selfless love that we should pour on our neighbours just as how Jesus did it.

May you be blessed by the love of the Cross.

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