Hello Barnabas Ladies! I am getting later and later with these emails,
sorry about that! My Tuesdays have become pretty busy, and I am still
getting used to juggling everything I'm supposed to be doing. :P
Last
week's lesson in the ladies class book had an interesting question, one
that made me think about things a little differently than I had in the
past. The question asked you to describe the might and power you see
displayed on the cross. We all know that Christ's death on the cross was
a great triumph over sin and Satan, but I hadn't considered how it
showed his might and power. Then it dawned on me. We know that Jesus was
nailed to the cross, for that was the way the Romans did things. But the nails weren't what held him there. The soldiers kept watch over him
until he died, but their presence wasn't why he stayed. The only power
or authority sufficient to keep Jesus on the cross was his own will. He
could have been like Superman, and when they tried to put in the nails,
they bent. But he permitted them to penetrate his skin. He could have
simply vanished off the cross right in front of the soldiers, as he had disappeared through the crowds
before. But he stayed and endured the shame they heaped on him. There
was no earthly means of binding him or causing him to do something he
didn't want to do--he who spoke the universe into existence
could come or go as he pleased. He allowed himself to be nailed to the
cross, and to remain there until he died because it was his will to do
so.
Feel that chill? Me too. :)
In Christ alone--
Elena
