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Jesus Carried the Cross
(Jn19:17-22, 28-30)
God is righteous (Ps145:17).
His word, His works and Himself are all righteous (Ps119:137, 172).
He judges and executes according to His righteousness.
Faith is believing acknowledging this and
The life of this faith is carrying one's own cross to follow Him.
The cross is the greatest burden since
It is the worse punishment for those who committed evil acts as
It causes the most pain and the greatest shame as a form of public execution.
While those who break the law in the world are punished with death of their flesh,
Those who break the law of God are punished with the death of their souls and
This is because God said to Adam the living being that
If he eats of the tee of the knowledge of good and evil he would surely die (Ge2:17).
The Law that God gave to Israel through Moses consisted of
Statutes (commandments) and ordinances (regulations regarding worship) (Ex21:1; He9:1):
1) Commandments ” revealed sin ” sinner must pay the price of sin, death (Rm7:9);
2) Worship regulations ” man's sin was laid on animal ” the animal carried the sin
(Lev16:21-22) ” the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on the front of the
atonement cover inside the sanctuary (Lev16:14-19).
As the sacrifice was repeated year after year, however
They lost their purity and fear (He10:1; Mal1:6), because of which
God refused to accept their sacrifice (Is1:10-13).
When it was time, according to the prophecy (Is53:3-5; Jn1:29)
Jesus the Lamb of God who would take away sin of the world came and
He said, "Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days (Jn2:19), because
Through the death and the resurrection of the temple of His body,
He would carry the sins of men on His body.
While Moses resented God for putting the burden of the people of Israel on him (Nu11:11-15),
Jesus came as the Son of Man willing to carry the burden in place of men (Mt11:28-30).
As He carried the cross and died on Golgotha
Jesus said, "It is finished (Jn19:30), declaring that:
1) Through the death of the Son the Father judged sin and executed according to the righteousness (Rm3:25; 1Pe2:23);
2) Condemned the devil, the origin of sin (1Jn3:8); and
3) Absorbed sin onto His body and died, carrying the burden of the sin of men (1Pe2:24).
The Father raised Him from the death and lifted Him up to the heavenly throne, and
Jesus became the righteous judge who would judge the living and the dead (2Ti4:1, 8).
The Holy Spirit lets believers know that
Jesus carried on His body the burden of their weaknesses, sadness and sin (Is53:4-5; 1Co2:12).
The man of the Spirit is determined
To put himself to death (Lk9:23-24) and
To carry the burden of others and goes out to the world for
He longs to receive the crown of righteousness when
The righteous judge appears (2Ti4:8)
O Lord,
Though a man cannot carry the sin of another (Eze18:20) but only an animal,
How could God Himself carry it for man?
How can we proclaim this amazing grace?
Let us be ready to lay down our life to run into the world to proclaim this news!
Amen.