We’re going through the New Testament and we’re looking for clues of the Trinity. We have commented on the crucifixion in Matthew already and when looking at it from the Markan perspective, I’d simply like to note some thoughts that I’ve recently had on the crucifixion.
There’s a story that says that when the king Clovis was hearing about the life of Christ for the first time, that when they got to the crucifixion account, he reached for his sword and remarked that if he had been there, that wouldn’t have happened.
Now we can all look and say that we’re thankful ultimately Clovis wasn’t there since that is the event that brought about our salvation, but on another level, I think we should all be ready to cheer Clovis on. Do any of us react that way to the crucifixion? Has thinking about the good that came about from it not allowed us to see it for the heinous evil it was?
Now there can be no doubt that God used it for good, but that does not mean because God uses something for good that that thing is good. The crucifixion was an evil action that was done by evil men for evil means. There was nothing good about it in their motivation, in their intended desire, and in the action itself.
If any action was ever evil, it was the crucifixion.
It takes on a whole new magnitude when you consider that this was their God who was on the cross. This was the one who had brought them out of Egypt and they actually thought that a service was being done to YHWH in crucifying this one.
Rest assured also friends that we cannot place the blame on Jews for all time. It was only the ones that were alive at the time who are responsible in the official sense for the death of Christ. In the sense of sin putting him on the cross, all of us are indeed responsible and no one is singled out.
The crucifixion should anger us and it should anger us when we see our sin and how it took the crucifixion to pay for it. How the ultimate sacrifice was given should make us look with animosity of the worst kind on the evil that we see in the world today. The crucifixion should impel us to live holy lives.
Why doesn’t it?
Could it be we’ve lost sight of the God who is there? Consider how the Jehovah’s Witness publication of “Should You Believe In The Trinity?” even states that if Jesus was God, the price paid for sin would be too much!
As if there was a limit on the treason we’ve committed against a holy God. It is either a low view of God, a low view of Christ, a low view of sin, or some combination thereof. From that perspective, I’d actually say it’s all three.
And I’d say when we are not aware of the reality of what happened, it is all three for us.
Yes. We can still say good came from it. That happens with any evil in the world, but that doesn’t mean we don’t see that evil as evil. Yes. It was the will of God from the foundation of the world, but it was his will to use evil men to bring about a good result. It doesn’t mean the actions of those evil men was good.
Maybe tonight, you should really ponder the crucifixion. Of course, I should also. Has it really sunk into us what happened?
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