Larger Catechism – Day 25 of Lent
Question 49: How
did Christ humble himself in his death?
Answer: Christ humbled himself in his death by being betrayed by Judas, forsaken
by his disciples, scorned and rejected by the world, condemned by Pilate, and
tormented with physical persecution. He struggled with the terrors of death and
the powers of darkness; he felt and bore the weight of God’s anger. Finally,
enduring the painful, shameful, and cursed death on the cross, he laid down his
life as an offering for sin.
The depth of Jesus’ love for us is most clearly demonstrated in
his death; not in that he died (as horrible as that is) but in what he “did” in
his dying. Every human (with the
exception of two) will die—that is one of the consequences of the fall. Jesus was fully human and fully divine so he
had to experience human death. What is
ultimately profound is that Jesus not only died but that he experience the
weight of God’s wrath and judgment because of our sin. The powers of darkness must have rejoice at
Jesus’ death thinking that they had won—that darkness and sin had triumphed of
light and sinlessness. Satan must have
rejoiced as he watched Jesus suffer a death and judgment that he did not
deserve.
Death on a cross was meant to be humiliating and a deterrent to
crime. The crucified person was only
about a foot off the ground. The Romans
want people to look at the crucified person and see how horrible is was to die
by crucifixion. The Romans wanted people
to spit on the person as he/she was dying on the cross. Death on a cross was meant to be the ultimate
humiliation.
It moves me deeply when I think of what Jesus was willing to go
through in order that people could be reconciled to God. It grieves me to think that it was my sin
that caused Jesus to become the sin offering, my disobedience led to the death
of the innocent one, my sin caused people to spit on Jesus, my sin caused
people watch Jesus die.
And then I remember, Jesus willingly allowed those things to
happen to him so that you and I can be reconciled to God. In the end—Jesus won!
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