The Cross That Brings Life and Hope

Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves. It's not dismissive. It's not cold. It's a warning spoken out of love. Because if this is what the world does to the green tree, if this is how humanity treats innocence itself, if this is what happens when God himself is in their midst, then what will happen when the world is dry, when judgment comes? Jesus is saying, don't weep for me. Weep for the world that is so sick with sin, it doesn't even recognize its own Savior. [00:25:51] (62 seconds)  #WeepForTheWorld

People will sometimes go to astonishing lengths to cut someone down, to discredit, to gossip, to oppose, to wound. Not because the servant of Christ is guilty of something terrible, but because the human heart is tangled with fear, pride, jealousy, and sin. The violence, whether it comes through words, judgment, coldness, or hostility, is never proportional to the supposed offense. It reveals far more about what is broken in the attacker than what is lacking in the one being attacked. [00:28:42] (47 seconds)  #SinRevealsBrokenness

And if even the innocent son of God was mocked, mistreated, misrepresented, humiliated, and opposed while doing nothing but good, we should not be surprised when those who follow him sometimes face similar versions, smaller versions, of the same thing. But, and here is the comfort, our wounds in discipleship never compare to his, and they are never wasted. Christ knows them. Christ carries them. Christ redeems them. [00:29:28] (51 seconds)  #WoundsCarriedByChrist

Their hearts had hardened to the point where the suffering of Christ himself no longer stirred lament. And when we stop lamenting evil, when we become spectators instead of mourners, sin gains a terrifying foothold. This is what sin does. It looks at innocence and spits. It looks at God and sneers. It looks at holiness and rejects it. [00:31:08] (35 seconds)  #GraceInTheMidst

``And yet on the other side of Christ, hung a man who saw that moment clearly. He wasn't even asking to come down from the cross. He wasn't demanding rescue. He wasn't bartering or bargaining. He simply acknowledged the truth. We are getting what we deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. It's as though the thief looked at Jesus and finally understood, my sin belongs here. Yours does not, but you are taking it anyway. [00:31:43] (47 seconds)  #PromiseOfParadise

And then with nothing left but hope, he breathes out the simplest prayer. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus answers him with the greatest promise the world has ever heard. Today, you will be with me in paradise. Not someday. Not after a long waiting period. Not once you've done enough to death. Imagine right in the midst of suffering. Right in the middle of pain. Right there on the cross, Jesus is still rescuing sinners. [00:32:30] (58 seconds)  #FaithMeetsSuffering

But Jesus doesn't promise his people a life free from hurt. He doesn't say that faith means freedom from suffering. Instead, he shows us always that he meets us there and he reigns in the middle of it. The cross didn't look like victory. It didn't look like a throne. It didn't look like a kingdom. But that is exactly what it was. [00:34:10] (32 seconds)  #GodEnteredOurPain

At the cross, Christ was not powerless. He was reigning. He was conquering. He was setting captives free. He was rescuing a thief. He was defeating the darkness. And he was doing the one thing that watching from heaven could never accomplish. [00:34:42] (28 seconds)  #LoveMeansAction

Which brings us back to where we started. Watching someone suffer is unbearable. Watching from a distance is agony. So God didn't watch. God didn't remain in heaven observing our pain from far away. He didn't simply look down and weep. He came down. He took on flesh. He entered a broken world. He stepped into our suffering. He carried our burdens. He took our place because watching wasn't enough. [00:35:09] (49 seconds)  #WeepForSin

So Jesus says, don't weep for me. Not because the cross isn't terrible. Not because the suffering wasn't real. But because he chose it. Because it is through his suffering and only through his suffering that we are healed. So weep instead for sin. Weep for a world that rejects its savior. Weep for the dry places inside each of us that still need his mercy. [00:36:26] (44 seconds)