April 2012
When we were kids in grade school, some of my friends were on their way to go squirrel hunting with their 22’s on the weekend. They stopped by the school to play some basketball before heading into the woods. As they put their jackets on and picked up their rifles, the trigger of one of the guy’s rifles hooked on his pocket and fired the gun. The bullet ricocheted off the blacktop and hit one of my friends in the chest. Fortunately for the boy, it did not hit his heart and he lived.
In our small town, rumors abounded. Some said the boy with the gun was mad about something and intentionally shot the other at point blank range. But it was a terrible accident. No one – NO ONE – intended for such a thing to happen.
Sometimes when we read the gospels, we read about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ with the same human attitude. Because crucifixion is such a repugnant, ghastly form of execution, we think it must have been an accident. We share the same flawed thinking as Simon Peter, when he rebuked Jesus who said He had to be crucified, “Far be it from You, Lord! This shall never happen to You” (Matthew 16:22).
In our modern day thinking, if the crucifixion is an accident, then we are free to explore and find another way to God, an easier, less violent way. But the truth is, the cross is the only way to the resurrection. Without the death of Jesus there is no new life! And what’s more, the cross, the death of Jesus Christ of Nazareth was planned by God even before He created the world! That plan was in place all along!
The death and resurrection of Jesus is not an accident. It is God’s plan for eternal life for all who believe in Jesus Christ. This is the very gospel, the good news that was preached by the first generation of Christians. Read the words Simon Peter preached to Cornelius and his companions in Acts 10:38-43.
“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all that He did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree, but God raised Him on the third day and made Him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”
PRAISE THE LORD! JESUS IS ALIVE! HALLELUJAH!