Tags
1 Peter 3:18, Death of Jesus, Faithfulness, Mercy, Reconciliation, Repentance, Sacrifice, Sacrificial love
Day 39
Wednesday in the Sixth week of Lent
1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God.
Once. For all. The author of Hebrews writes a detailed essay on this notion that Christ is the perfect high priest, and his sacrifice one that need never be repeated, but the thought is expressed perfectly well here. Christ also suffered for sins. Once. For all. To bring you to God.
We keep repeating the torturing, the shaming, the killing. There are sacrifices on our highways to alcohol. There are sacrifices on our streets to violence. There are sacrifices in our homes to drugs. Innocents die, are maimed, are brutalized. Wealth and power pressure us to bend our wills and silence conscience. We sacrifice honor and integrity. We sacrifice health and heart. But such sacrifices bring no healing. You would think that the killing of children or the murder of minorities or the death of seniors would lead us to repentance, but all these lie in the grave and the lies that put them there continue to thrive.
But there was one sacrifice that needs no repeating. One sacrifice offered once, for all. One sacrifice for all the others sacrificed on altars false and cruel. One sacrifice for the crucifiers. One sacrifice for the crucified. One sacrifice for the taunting crowd. One sacrifice for the silent crowd. One sacrifice laid at the feet of God that opens the heart of God to us. One sacrifice laid at the feet of humanity that opens the human heart to God. One sacrifice to carry us beyond all the killing. One perfect love to carry us beyond our self-love. One supreme faithfulness that never turned to hate and bitterness, doubt or despair. One priceless mercy. One sacrifice for all.
Fearful Love, Daring Mercy,
walk with us
that we may walk with you.
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Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Krzy%C5%BC_w_lesie_-_Grabarka.jpg; Kornelia Głowacka, CC BY-SA 3.0 PL <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/pl/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons
Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
© David K Bonde, 2021, All rights reserved