In a world of great compromise of Truth, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ holds all the more credence. The world is looking for authentic witnesses of all sorts. Not just for any sake are they looking for these witnesses, however, but of those that are totally vilifying and worthy of following. The world needs a true leader, a leader that gives hope of a brighter future, a real person, as it were.
Gazing upon the crucifixion, it is easy to be ashamed, intimidated, edified, and inspired by the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made for sinners, of which we are all contributers to His wounds. What must have His Heart been to go to such an extent as death for others? True Love, the kind of truth that is pure and deep as is His Heart.
In each opportunity to change His mind, Jesus persevered into that tragic execution that He knew beforehand would happen. His whole life and before in His eternal mind, He was fully aware of the kind of death He would undergo. What a scary reflection He must have had more than once upon reflection of this reality. What kept Him moving forward, when He knew about the betrayals and abandonments of his apostles and friends?
That particular motivating thing above all else that might have driven Him when he counted the blows and the breaths closing upon him to his last moments. As the hatred swelled upon him, a truly great thing must have driven and sustained him. Deeper, truer and fully magnanimous must have been his True Love of souls and His Father’s Will. This True Love, a bond of trust that even in his last breaths, must have been far greater inside His Heart. An overarching generosity of love, so rich and overflowing that He could let Himself be bludgeoned, publically executed falsely, horrifically treated, indignified in nakedness, debased by slanderers and lose all credibility by many. If He didn’t have all that love inside Him, He couldn’t have gone to that extreme of a sacrifice. That Love in His Heart was so true it could withstand all that hurt without breaking the trust that it was His Father’s Will.
Crucifixion is seen when you see Jesus on a crucifix, but it is His Love that withstood and continues to speak of how He did it. This love is the love that we can participate in, follow and surrender to as a standard held high of how to live faithfully and true. Without breaking trust in God, we can go even to death on a cross, withstand brutal torture and not be discouraged, but hopeful that a resurrection and victory await us.
May all choose the cross as the way to heaven, a tree hiding True Love for all, a sacred and intimately abounding heart, ready to love and not count the cost!