Day 44

Exodus 35:10–36:38; Matthew 27:32-66; Psalm 34:1-10; Proverbs 9:7-8

“AFTER THEY HAD nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice,” we read in Matthew today (Matthew 27:35).

Can we pause for a second here? “After they had nailed him to the cross . . .”

It’s the story of stories, and we’ve probably heard it a thousand times, and perhaps even watched movies depicting the scene, but can we contemplate for a moment what it would be like to have a very sharp-tipped spike, about six inches in length, that widened as it got closer to the spike’s head, hammered by force all the way through your foot to attach you to a beam of wood? Can you imagine the agony? And when one limb was complete, there would be three others. This is what Jesus was suffering in today’s reading, and there was only one reason: us. This is not a picture of the awful price of rebelling against Rome or, for that matter, breaking Mosaic law. This is the awful price of our sin.

We witnessed how sin became a part of our story in Genesis. We saw the devastation it wrought on the earth and the human species. We watched God take a long view toward redemption with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and we must understand that Jesus hanging from a cross, in an absolutely horrifying condition, is all part of the same story.

From the moment humankind fell from grace, God put the dream of the total redemption of humanity into motion. When we read the Bible, this is the story we are reading. It’s easy to get lost in the details or individual stories and forget that the STORY of the Bible is made up of many stories —just like our lives. When we read of the Crucifixion, we are reading of the culmination of God’s plan —a plan that took thousands of years.

But the story isn’t over.

The story concludes when all things are made new again and Eden is restored. You are part of that story. Jesus hung with nails driven through His hands and feet to include you in the story. Jesus’ death and resurrection are the turning point in the story that changed everything.

Although we still have quite the adventure ahead of us in the Scriptures this year, we now see the larger story. Can you imagine what would have become of the world (and humanity) had God simply said, “Fine. You don’t want me, so I don’t want you either”? We would have destroyed ourselves long ago. You and I wouldn’t be here. Because of the Bible, we have an anchor. It is not only the story of many people who lived a long time ago. It is our story —the story of all of us.

Contemplate these things with a grateful heart today. Sin was eating us alive —and it still does, when we allow it to. But sin met its death today in Matthew, and it was all because God would not surrender to the darkness what He loved so dearly: you.

WORSHIP:

Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Fear the LORD, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need.