Last night, a group of my friends and I went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (AKA: LACMA) and I saw a piece called, "Decent fron the Cross" by Daniel Mauch. The piece captivated me as soon as I saw it. I had to take a look and see what was going on. In the piece, there is a man taking Jesus Christ down from the cross right after his crucifixion. It was like watching what could only be described as holy horror. As I looked upon the piece, I thought, "God died."
It was not part of the story, "Jesus died, and then He rose again! Yay!" This is a reality. The almighty creator of Heaven and Earth came to literally die for our sins. As I looked at the man who was holding Jesus, I pictured what must have been going through his mind. He was holding his creator. He was holding God. He was holding a dead Jesus Christ. It must have been heart breaking. He must have been waiting for Jesus to open His eyes again and breath life; but He didn't.
One of my friends who was with me came over and asked, "are they just ripping Him off of the cross?" Another friend commented saying, "Of course." I thought about it for a second. Of course they were just ripping Him off of the cross. They had no idea that He was going to rise again in three days. He must have looked like a normal man, dead and being taken down from the cross just like everyone else that had ever been crucified. He looked no more glorious than any other man on the cross, so why would they treat Him differently? Why would they treat Him better? They had no idea who they were putting up on the cross.
It was not the piece itself that made me realize that Jesus died for us. I knew that already; but to see an image of what it must have looked like hammered the final nail into the coffin. Jesus Christ literally came into a human body and died for us. No figurative language at all. Jesus literally died. For three days He was dead and in the tomb.
Now, what lifts my heart with joy is what happened at the end of those three days. He rose again! He did not stay dead. He might have come in the form of a man, but when He died He came back with all authority and all power! He made the ultimate sacrifice for us. There is nothing greater that could have been done. He was the top guy in charge, there was no position above Him. Then He went down to the bottom. There was literally no position below Him. He did not have money or a job or a place to live. He went from the king who rules over every king, to a homeless man sent to death for a crime that He did not commit. The glorious part is that He did not stay as a lowly man. He picked up His authority and His power in death and triumphed. Jesus Christ was not beaten. In fact, He gave us victory!
Jesus said, "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father." (John 10:18) It was Jesus Christ alone who had the authority to give up His life and pick it back up. What man takes back his life from death? None but Jesus.
This is the powerful part, guys! He didn't just die and rise again to prove that He was God. He could have forced us to our knees in worship if He wanted to do that. He has authority over all, even us considering He gave us life. This is not what He did. He died and rose again, not for Himself or any gain to Him because He has all; but He did the most painful thing for the most worthless people. He took the punishment that we deserved. He died on the cross for you! He rose again for you! He did it all for you! So the next time that you see a cross, remember that it should have been you, but God stepped in and loved you enough to take the punishment for you. Now, it's your turn if you want to accept this free gift that He has offered you. This is your call to His action.
-D
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