“They crucified him” (Mark 15:24).
Every tool has its purpose. I cut with a knife, eat with a fork, and write with a pen. And a nail? A nail is used to fasten. Though the crucifixion accounts don’t mention nails by name, Thomas would tell us they were there. He saw their imprint on his risen Savior’s limbs.
The gospels simply record, “They crucified him.” But there was nothing simple about it. Splintery wood and sharp nails, torn flesh and screaming nerve endings, constant pain and slow death, and more were involved in this form of execution. Far worse were the tortures of hell. All of hell’s acid waves that were the wages for the world’s sins washed over God’s Son. I can only guess at what this involved for Jesus as he hung fastened by those nails to that cross.
There’s no guessing, though, as to who pounded those nails through his hands and feet. Calloused soldiers, a spineless judge, a turncoat disciple, hateful countrymen, all took a swing at the nails with sin’s hammer. So did I! This Lenten season is not going to be what it should until I change the “they” to “I” crucified him. I and my many sins did it!
This Lenten season won’t be what it should until I also realize why Jesus let my sins nail him to the tree. It was because he loves me. One of his disciples, after standing beneath Jesus’ cross, wrote later, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16). How Jesus must love me! How strong must be the love that held him to that cross for me!
Prayer:
“O all-atoning Sacrifice, You died to make me free.”
Thank you, Jesus. Amen. (Christian Worship: Hymnal 431:5)
From Beside Quiet Waters: Daily Devotions for a Year, by Richard Lauersdorf. All rights reserved.
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