Inquisitiveness is a mark of human nature. Our minds, even from an early age, would seek to ask the question “why?” of the things of life. In today’s Remembrance Service, we met with some thoughts that would aim to satisfy our curiosity of the things of Christ, Who is our life (Colossians 3:4).
We considered figuratively why Christ’s hands were pierced and His life given up for us; why Jesus wept; and why we ought to give thanks.
Psalm 95 tells us, “In His hands are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.” These beautiful hands that created the universe, forming the earth and all that is therein – these Divine hands that hold the whole world – are also the hands that were cruelly pierced with nails to a tree when Jesus Christ shed His precious blood for us unto death.
Only through such sacrifice was the wrath of God satisfied, such that we now have the great privilege, as God’s ransomed flock, to be held secure in these very same nail-pierced hands – never to be forsaken or forgotten. Once “sin’s curse has lost its grip on” us, we can be sure its grip is tightly replaced by the hands of Christ (In Christ Alone).
Though some of our curiosity may be abated through our human understanding of these truths of God, other instances appear to remain a mystery. In the Bible’s shortest verse, John 11:35, following the death of Lazarus, we read, “Jesus wept”. Most dictionary definitions describe weeping as a deep expression of emotion that necessitates the shedding of tears; it is the outpouring of great personal distress, grief, or anguish. The question then surfaces, why would Jesus have wept?
Some speculate Jesus wept out of empathy for Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha, as they grieved the loss of their beloved brother. Others say Jesus wept out of anger at the unbelief of those present, that He, being the ‘resurrection and the life’, could restore life to Lazarus at that very moment, should He so choose (John 11:25). Certainly, speculations as to exactly ‘why’ Jesus wept continue, yet, some amount of mystery still shrouds the event.
Is it not enough simply to know that Jesus wept for us? That He shed tears of anguish for humanity? That He, the most Divine of beings, expressed the most human of emotions – and that so unselfishly? As the hymn writer would say, “He had no tears for His own griefs, but sweat drops of blood for mine” (I Stand Amazed [How Marvelous!]). Surely, this very fact is sufficient for us to burst out with thanksgiving, which leads us to our next point.
Why ought we to give thanks? Psalm 89 continually reminds us that God’s faithfulness is reason for thanksgiving. Of note, verse 5 states: “And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.” We saw earlier that God’s creative hand is also the scarred hand that faithfully holds us and will guide us to our eternal home with Him in heaven. This way, opened up for us through Christ’s death and glorious resurrection, is paved with love and mercy; the same passage states, “Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face” (Psalm 89:13-14).
The Bible rightly states, “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8). In time past, Sodom and Gomorrah were not spared, which begs the question, ‘why’ me? The answer is simple: just as sure as God punishes sin, He is faithful to spare the righteous, who hope in His mercy – mercy that extends to the heights of heaven, and faithfulness that reaches unto the clouds (Psalm 36:5).
“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). The tree upon which Christ died became unto us, in a sense, the ‘tree of life’; though we strive to understand this gift that is ours, we will ever come up short with a satisfying response, but let us rest in the words of that well-known hymn:
When this passing world is done,
When has sunk yon glaring sun,
When we stand with Christ in glory,
Looking o’er life’s finished story,
Then, Lord, shall I fully know –
Not till then – how much I owe.
All our ‘why’ questions will never be answered, to the full, this side of heaven, but, praise God, the veil that now clouds our understanding will one day be removed when we see Him face to face! For the time, however, let us continue to give thanks to God for the indescribable gift of His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to Whom we are ever indebted.
~*~
Susan Renu Abraham