Confronted by Christ Crucified

 

The visceral reality of what our Lord Jesus endured in his scourging and crucifixion can make people faint. I remember seeing Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ for the first time in theaters and I was overwhelmed by the gore and suffering on screen. Like most Protestants I was not exposed to such imagery commonplace in the Stations of the Cross which is commemorated on Good Friday. And honestly most of those paintings and crucifixes are tame, and sanitized to have very little blood trickling down Jesus’ brow. The Passion of the Christ on the other hand allow us a glimpse into gritty reality of Jesus’ Body being broken for us. It is claimed that Our Lord was nude when nailed to the cross and that likely areas I will not even utter was mutilated or scarred by the Romans during the flogging… 

The meat carcass image of Christ, with his ribs showing, and his body crimson with blood makes us uncomfortable. The surface level reason is that most of us, except for horror fans, medical personal, and gothic folk shirk from blood and gruesome scenes because it turns our stomachs. We have a built in revulsuon to the images of people looking like they were in a meat grinder, and I think this is because all humans are in the image of God, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27). The tearing apart of a face, limbs and drenching it in blood unnerves us because it us mutilation of God’s Image. The second reason we recoil from such imagery is that we know our sins tore The Son of God into a living meat carcass. While this actually should be flipped and we marvel at the love of God and that He willingly shed his blood, and was struck down for us to save us like a bride that was doomed; we still feel that gnawing aspect of frightful ownership, that our actions of disobedience carved his flesh and drew His blood. The Crucified Christ confronts our conscience.  For the Christian it makes us weep that our Lord had to be torn to repair the gulf and gap between God and Man; that His broken flesh and scared hands are our bridge to the Father and Eternal Life. Again I believe Jesus would not want us to wallow in this feeling, because it was his joy, “joy set before him He endured the cross..,” (Hebrews 12:2), that despite the excruciating pain Jesus was thrilled to reconcile us to the Holy Trinity, and save us. And yet I think that sting we feel in our integrity, that we are responsible for such a gruesome sacrifice of our Savior is a good thing, it can lead you to repent, turn away from sins that yes are covered by Jesus’ blood and sacrifice; to transform your behavior even though Christ died to cover all your sins and failings. 

For the unbeliever the image of Jesus filleted and fasten to two wood beams is a tragedy. Their sins are still outstanding, for they refuse to reach out to Christ, repent, and ask His forgiveness for all their sins. In essence, the blood guilt of Jesus resides on them, for He died for all, but you must accept His gift: that is believe in Him and His Atoning Work. 

I find it a shame that Good Friday in many Protestant Churches is not celebrated, and The Crucifixion barely contemplated. Most Evangelical, Non-Denominational, Inter-Denominational, Baptists of all sorts and others are on a rush to the Empty Tomb on Resurrection Sunday (Easter). They want their Jesus well dressed, handsome, clean, and Risen, and yes “He is Risen. Amen.” But to skip the blood and gore for the Garden Tomb, to make haste past Golgotha for The Upper Room is a mistake. The Church needs to confront their conscious with The Crucified Christ as much as rejoice in the Resurrected Christ. It doesn’t have to be all tears of sorrow, if you wish to rejoice and shout “It is Finished!” (John 19:30) Then do that! The point is we need embrace both Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

If you have not taken Jesus as your Lord and Savior, now is the time! 

Pray:  I confess you Jesus as Lord God (Romans 10:9) and as Son of God (1 John 4:15), I repent of my sins and believe you paid for all my sins, bad deeds, and wicked actions on the cross. I believe you rose from the dead on the third day, and that I will have eternal life in and through you and be raised from dead (John 6:40) too. I believe you are One God in Three Persons: Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19, John 20:20-23). Amen. 

Next Steps: 

1) Get a NLT (New Living Translation) Bible and read The Gospel of John. 

 

2) Then read Galatians, Philippians, Romans, Colossians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and rest of the New Testament. 

3) Memorize The New Testament

4) Avoid the Old Testament: Genesis to Malachi till you mature in faith, The Old Testament is useful to see how Jesus fulfills prophecies Isaiah 14:7 with Luke 2, and to see what leads up to the New Covenant, but the Old Covenant in the Old Testament is obsolete, Jesus mediates a better covenant:

 “But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises. If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. But when God found fault with the people, he said “The day is coming, says the LORD when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the oneI made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says the LORD. But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,c says the LORD: I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the LORD.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already. And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.” (Hebrews 8:6-18)

5) Find A Church. 

The Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Churches like Greek Orthodox, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons/ Church of Latter Day Saints, Nazarenes, Church of Christ, Lutheran Church of America, Presbyterian Church in America, Emergent Church, Emerging Churches, and most Methodists are not true churches, stay away from them for they will impart wrong standards, false beliefs, and crush you with their demands. 

I recommend Evangelical Churches, Non-Denominational Churches, Calvary Churches, Spirit Filled Churches that balance Charisma with Scripture, and other churches which stick to the Scriptures (Sola Scriptura) for theology, doctrine, and Christian living. 

6) Get Baptized with Water and make your confession of faith in Christ public

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7) Get Baptized in Holy Spirit Power, 

“ Now there are distinctive varieties and distributions of endowments (gifts, extraordinary powers) and they vary, but the [Holy] Spirit remains the same. And there are distinctive varieties of service and administration, but it is the same Lord [Who is served]. And there are distinctive varieties of operation [of working to accomplish things], but it is the same God Who inspires and energizes them all in all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the [Holy] Spirit [the evidence, the spiritual illumination of the Spirit] for good and profit. To one is given in and through the [Holy] Spirit [the power to speak] a message of wisdom, and to another [the power to express] a word of knowledge and understanding according to the same [Holy] Spirit;

To another wonder-working] faith by the same [Holy] Spirit, to another the extraordinary powers of healing by the one Spirit; To another the working of miracles, to another prophetic insight the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose); to another the ability to discern and distinguish between [the utterances of true] spirits [and false ones], to another various kinds of [unknown] tongues, to another the ability to interpret [such] tongues.

All these [gifts, achievements, abilities] are inspired and brought to pass by one and the same [Holy] Spirit, Who apportions to each person individually [exactly] as He chooses.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-11 AMPC)

While I recommend you get baptized in The Holy Spirit Power sooner so as to have the ability to sense false spirits and teachings (1 John 4:1), getting Baptized in Water will require someone of spiritual authority, a pastor or brother or sister in Christ. 

Welcome to the Family! Amen.