Most of us leave places when it's made clear that we're not welcome. Have you ever been at someone's house past dinner and you've suddenly noticed they are becoming less and less subtle that it's time to go? Or maybe you were at a restaurant and you looked up and noticed they were stacking chairs on tables. It might be easy to miss the signs at first, but once they become clear, we usually head out.
Jesus stayed.
How hard it must have been. He didn't have to hang there on that cross. He could have left. He could have noted that it was clear he was unwelcome and left us behind. Humanity rejected him, but such was his love, such was his heartbreak, that he stayed. He stayed because he knew we didn't fully realize the treasure we were giving up. He stayed because he knew how broken we were, how powerful sin is, and so he stayed, because his beloved children were held under death's power, and he was unwilling to give us up.
And so he stayed until the end, until it was finished, because there was work to be done, and he was unwilling to lose a single lost sheep.
Thanks be to God.
No comments:
Post a Comment