The Ultimate Burden

During dinner with Abe, we had been talking about how Jesus died on the cross for us. Growing up Catholic, I had always believed this. It is the fundamental belief on which Christianity is built upon. Part of the Nicene creed says

"We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and died and was buried."

Growing up, I had always appreciated Jesus for doing this for us. For dying on the cross so that all sins may be forgiven. But just being "appreciative" of what Jesus did for us is almost an insult to Him. When I truly began my walk with God (which was less than a year ago) and devoted myself completely to Him, I developed a personal relationship with Jesus. To me, Jesus did not just suffer and die for us so that all of our sins can be forgiven. He sufferred and died for me so that my sins can be forgiven. For this I can now say that I love Him, that I am in love with Him.

Talking about His suffering and really thinking about what He went through made me fall in love with Him even more. Being crucified is in and of itself a very unpleasant way to go out. But Jesus wasn't just crucified. Before His crucifixion, He suffered so much. The weight of all past and future sins for all of man was on Him. Think about that. The weight of eternal sin was on Him! Now one great thing about God is that He will never give us more than what we can bear. But Jesus was essentially God (the Son) so God (the Father) pushed Him to His maximum and gave Him the burden of eternal sin. In the garden of Gethsemene, right before he was to be captured and taken away, He was in so much pain. So much pain in fact that he suffered from a rare medical condition called hemohedrosis that causes the sweating of blood. This condition is caused from mental anguish and high anxiety. Can you imagine being so distraught that you sweat blood? To add to the pain, He was mocked and beat by the very people He loved so much and was dying for. Can you imagine your own family beating you, mocking you, and putting you to death? When He was crucififed He yelled out to God, "why have you forsaken me?" As He was nailed to the cross and dying, His own Father turned His back on Him.

Really thinking about Jesus' suffering for my sins just deepens my love for him even more. Really thinking about what He did for me, for us, makes it that much easier to do what Jesus said is the greatest commandment of all. "Love the Lord with all of your heart, mind, and soul." Matthew 22:37