Amazing Scandalous Grace

image credit: www.mintordinary.com

It is true that once you see something, you can never unsee it.

I saw Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ when it first came out in 2004.  I went with two friends, and I remember walking out of the theater in complete silence.

I had seen something that I could never unsee.

What we had just witnessed and experienced had overwhelmed my senses and I needed time to process what Jesus had done for me.

His Amazing Scandalous Grace.

And knowing that it should have been me marked for death.

My flesh should be torn for the lies I have told.
My bones should be broken for the gossip I have participated in.
My head should be dripping blood for the hurtful words I have said.
My hands should be nailed to the cross for the items I have stolen.
My ankles should be crushed by the spike for my cruel thoughts and intentions.

Only I should bear the weight of my choices - my sins - my iniquities.

But my Father could not bear the thought of me this way.  He loved me too much.  He loved me to death.

He had a plan - one way - to prevent my eternal suffering for my sins.

The Father - the Creator of all things - sent His Perfect and Only Son into the brokenness to save us all from ourselves.

Jesus, pure and holy, was found "guilty" of blasphemy, and sentenced a criminal's death  - Crucifixion - "A slow, tormenting death on a cross was reserved for murderers, thieves, and the like.  Crucifixion was the most shameful, while way to die and was unparalleled for brutality and humiliation." (Angie Smith, Seamless, page 132.)

In his book, Behold the King of Glory, Russ Ramsey writes, "That cross was the reason the Son of God had come, and His place as our atoning sacrifice was one only He could occupy.  It was Jesus' presence on the cross, not His ability to come down from it, that would prove His divinity."

Jesus Christ hung on that cross for six hours.  Jesus bore His humanity in His suffering as He bore our humanity as the sacrifice.

He was bloodied and marred and disfigured and broken and crushed (Isaiah 52:14 & 53:4).
He was mocked and exposed and humiliated and misunderstood and rejected (Matthew 27:1-50).

He was the ultimate sacrifice - the final sacrifice.

And through His death we have eternal life.

Good Friday is devastating.  We are right to mourn our sins and confess our sinful ways.  It is good to spend time today and tomorrow reflecting on why Jesus died and the gruesome way He died and who He tenderly died for.  We need to remember these things - to humble ourselves at the feet of the cross.

But, we also know that His death was temporary.  His days in the tomb were numbered.  And Sunday is coming!

Our Lord and Savior conquered death on our behalf and is alive in heaven.

Scandal of Grace - Hillsong United

Grace, what have you done?
Murdered for me on that cross
Accused in absence of wrong
My sin washed away in your blood

Too much to make sense of it all
I know that your love breaks my fall
The scandal of grace, you died in my place
So my soul will live

Oh to be like you
Give all I have just to know you
Jesus, there's no one besides you
Forever the hope in my heart

Death, where is your sting?
Your power is as dead as my sin
The cross has taught me to live
In mercy, my heart now to sing

The day and its trouble shall come
I know that your strength is enough
The scandal of grace, you died in my place
So my soul will live

Oh to be like you
Give all I have just to know you
Jesus, there's no one besides you
Forever the hope in my heart

Oh to be like you
Give all I have just to know you
Jesus, there's no one besides you
Forever the hope in my heart

And it's all because of you, Jesus
It's all because of you, Jesus
It's all because of your love
And my soul will live

Oh to be like you
Give all I have just to know you
Jesus, there's no one besides you
Forever the hope in my heart

Oh to be like you
Give all I have just to know you
Jesus, there's no one besides you
Forever the hope in my heart

Songwriters
JOEL HOUSTON, MATT CROCKER

Published by
Lyrics © CAPITOL CMG GENESIS