Holy Week Meditations

This morning we find ourselves standing near a Roman Cross on the hill of Golgotha.  Our Redeemer is hanging there dying for our sin.  Two thieves are hanging with Him, and the crowd passing by is reviling Him, and shouting, "If thou be the Son of God, come down from the Cross!"  The chief priests, scribes and elders mocking Him, said -- "He saved others; Himself he cannot save."

Kenneth Osbeck has written:  "Death by crucifixion was one of the worst forms of dying.  No Roman citizen was ever crucified; this horrible death was reserved only for Rome's enemies.  The Roman scourge was a most dreadful instrument of torture and suffering.  It was made of sinews of oxen, and sharp bones were inter-twisted among the sinews so that every time the lash came down upon a body, these pieces of bone inflicted fearful lacerations and literally tore off chunks of flesh from the person's bones.  This is what Christ endured in accomplishing our Redemption.  But the physical suffering was not the worst.  Rather, the weight of human sin and the separation from God the Father because of His wrath against sin were the real causes of the Saviour's death."

I think it is impossible to fully realize the depth of love for you and me that the death of Christ on the Cross revealed on that Good Friday so long ago.  When I meditate upon this deeply moving and amazing love, I think about this magnificent hymn by Isaac Watts:

     "When I survey the wondrous Cross on which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.
      Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ, my God;
All the vain things that charm me most -- I sacrifice them to His blood.

      See, from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?
      Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small:
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all."

              "Thank you, dear Jesus, for dying that I might live"!