He was dying a slow and painful death hanging between two criminals. With nails driven through His hands and feet, a crown of thorns piercing His head, blood dripping from His scourged body, and a sign mocking Him above His head, He looked down from the cross and with compassion in His eyes, He forgave the very people who were taking His life from Him.
Almost 2000 years ago they hung a man on a cross. This wasn’t just any man. This was a special man. This man’s life would change the world forever. This man’s death and resurrection would change the world forever. Even in the secular world, the impact of the life of this man would set the benchmark upon which mankind would measure time.
The man was Jesus of Nazareth. This Sunday we celebrate Easter and His resurrection. What can be learned from His death on the cross?
As an attorney I deal with many people who are going through a lot of pain. Some of these people don’t think they can handle the pain they are experiencing. Many of these people can’t sleep at night. Because of the trauma they are going through they lose weight or are unable to focus on work. There are many, many hurting people in this world.
Besides this, there have been times in my life that I have had to walk the valley and experience pain myself. When I counsel with hurting people or when I ask the question, “Why me?” or “How can I handle this?” I need to look no further than into Jesus’ compassionate eyes on the cross. I use what happened on the cross as a backdrop to measure the pain that I and others experience and I always realize our pain is really not as substantial as we think it is.
How much baggage do each of us carry every step of our life resulting from ill feelings we have towards others in this world? Or ill feelings others have about us. Baggage prevents us from meeting our potential. It takes so much extra energy to flap our wings and fly high or even to leave the ground if we are carrying the extra and unnecessary weight that comes from hatred or jealousy within us. If we spend our time and energy holding someone down, we will be unable to fly high ourselves. Our inability to let go poisons our own world dramatically.
I think of the burdens we all carry in the year 2023. At times our burdens seem overwhelming. And they continue to grow if we let them, even to the point where we can become ineffective in the lives we live. But we need look no further than to the cross. We are able to place our burdens at the foot of the cross and to leave them with the man who gave His life for every one of us.
We are told in Luke 23:34 that Jesus looked down from the cross and said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” What a lesson in forgiveness!
We justify our thoughts regularly. And without intentionally knowing it, we are unable to forgive small acts or words another has done. We hold such behavior up as a torch and we carry it with pride. I hear people regularly make comments like, “There is no way that I can forgive him for what he did,” or “I am unable to get past what she did.”
I don’t know if I could be filled with love and compassion for those taking life from me if I were in excruciating pain and dying a slow death. I don’t know if I could look into their eyes and ask God to forgive them for killing me. I don’t know if I wouldn’t be filled with anger towards those whose acts are unjust. But I know Jesus was able to overcome such feelings and He has set an example for my life.
I think of how often I hear the phrase, “It isn’t fair.” But when I hear these words I think of the cross. There was nothing fair about the cross. Did Jesus look down from the cross and talk to the murderers about fairness? Is the unfairness I experience really something I should dwell on when I place it against the backdrop of the cross?
I’m not sure who was the original writer of the “One Solitary Life” story, but in just a few short paragraphs it sets forth for us the significance of the life and death and life of the man we celebrate at Easter. “He was born in an obscure village the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village where he worked in a carpenter’s shop until he was 30. And then for three years he was an itinerant preacher. He never had a family or owned a home.
“He never set foot inside a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He never wrote a book, or held an office. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. While he was still a young man the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends deserted him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying his executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had, his robe. When he was dead he was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave.
“Three days later he appeared before his disciples. A new faith was born. Nineteen centuries have come and gone and today he is the central figure for much of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as this one solitary life.”
There are many lessons to be learned at the cross, these are but a few.
My challenge to you on this Easter is to learn from the man who endured a cross unjustly. Use what happened on the cross as a backdrop for your life. When you think your pain is unbearable remember the example Jesus set for you. In His dying, He showed us how to live. When you don’t think you can forgive another, remember the man who asked forgiveness for the very individuals who were killing him.
When you are bogged down in a “life isn’t fair” mentality, remember there was nothing fair about the cross. When placed against the backdrop of the cross, are the difficulties we experience really as bad as we make them? Aren’t we truly able to forgive others who have harmed us in much lesser ways?
Just a thought...
Rick Kraft is a motivational speaker, a syndicated columnist, a published author, and an attorney. To submit comments, contributions, or ideas, e-mail to rkraft@kraftlawfirm.org or write to P.O. Box 850, Roswell, New Mexico, 88202 - 0850.
