Holy Saturday

Let's take a moment to talk about what I did for you last night....  I gave my life so you might have life more abundantly.  The Roman guard put this crown of thorns on my head and pressed it in so it would hurt.  I was beat to the verge of death.  I carried a friggin' cross made from a tree through town for everyone to see and laugh about.  Then I was nailed to that cross by my wrists and ankles.    Finally, my side was pierced to drain any and all remaining life from my body.

I took on your sins as my own, giving you a better life.  All I ask is you accept me as your lord and savior, ask for forgiveness of your sins and you get the promise of my movement once you are indoctrinated into our little club.  All the suffering I did for you is quite beautiful when I think about it.  I took one for the team.  I look around today and wonder what I was thinking.

The cross is a symbol of the pain I endured for you.  Someone came up with the idea of making a cross some kind of ornament to be worn and proudly displayed....  All the pain and suffering is an ornament.  I have a problem with that.  The cross isn't some status symbol for people to publicly flash as a badge of honor proving your membership in our club.

The cross is a painful memory of what I did for you.  If you want to know what it is like and have a little reminder or momento of the event, have yourself branded with the sign of the cross like a  cow.  Feel the searing pain as the heat from hell burns the sign of the cross onto your Earthly flesh.  Wear the scar forever as a reminder of the suffering I did for you.  Then and only then can you even begin to understand what I went through all in the name of love for you.  The pain you would feel is a drop in the bucket to the pain I took on for you.

I guess some say the cross is a gift; it's really not - it's a painful memory.

What happened on the cross is a gift.

I was crucified for you.  Wanna know what it was like?  Endure the pain.  Maybe then you'll understand the significance of what I did.

Instead of wearing the cross as some ornamental trophy proclaiming to the world you are a member of my little club, live as I lived.  Forgive those who trespass against you.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  Turn the other cheek.  Do something for someone else because you know it is the right thing to do.  Be a uniter instead of a fighter.  Spread love throughout the world.  Make the world a better place - not just for yourself but for those who follow.

I did it - why don't you?

Love, Jesus