A Saviour’s battalion’s armaments forged not out of durable steel, but with pacifistic peace (John 18:36).
A King Who rides not atop of a mighty horse, but that of a lowly donkey (John12:15).
An Aristocrat Who lived not with earthly riches, but as a modest carpenter (Mark 6:3).
A Puritan Who seeks not to admonish and lord over sinners, but to cherish and serve them (Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 13:1-17).
A Role Model of no desirous form and without majesty in His countenance (Isaiah 53:2), but yet is nonetheless fairer than the children of men (Psalm 45:2).
The Son of God Who is the Son of Man – He Who is Life Everlasting and Redemption Forevermore.
Our thirst quenched by the Living Water, our hunger appeased by the Bread of Life from Heaven.
Christ Jesus, the First and the Last and the Greatest of them all the same.
By constant subverting expectations pertaining to the tropes associated with those of a royal stature, the Lord in reality was demonstrating His Awesome Power and Almighty Nature by being ‘poor in spirit’ – in His meekness and in His humility.
There are some amongst us who may claim that it is abominable to revere and worship or even hold in high regard the ‘murder weapon’ of Christ Jesus; an outward gesture which they perceive to be a brazen expression of glorification of the Messiah’s most humiliating and agonising moment in His earthly life, in addition to doing so being akin to that of alleged idolatry.
They claim that ‘tis much better suited for us to focus on the gifts of Eternal Life and Salvation which are brought about in His Resurrection, than the gruesomeness of the Self-Sacrifice made to atone for our transgressions by the Lamb of God Himself.
In response, I can only hope and pray ardently and fervently for the sake of such staunch denialists that they may come to discern and realise for themselves the actual truth and profound meaning which lie on that very Cross that He was nailed on to. To paraphrase the esteemed words of former United States president Ronald Reagan, ‘the trouble with our Cross-denying brethren is not so much that they are ignorant, but rather because they know so much that is not so.’
For by the Cross of His Death, He had turned an instrument of excruciating pain and torture into an instrument of soothing solace and joyful pleasure.
By the Cross of His Death, He had converted a symbol of utter hopelessness into a symbol of nigh-optimism.
By the Cross of His Death, He had made His Bondage by the shackles and weight of our sins our Gateway to Infinite Freedom and Salvation in Him and Him alone.
By having His Death be offered as wages for our sins – past, present and future, was Life Eternal made possible to be gifted to us as a reward in recognition of repentance for our wrongdoings and accepting Him as our Lord and God.
Alleluia! Praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns now and forever – Amen.
Take up your Cross and go with God, brethren
