On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

 

I’m old enough to remember singing this hymn in church as a child.  I sang the words without realizing the depth of their meaning. Have you ever done that; sung the words by habit without hearing what they meant?  It was years later when I began to understand the gravity and the hope this hymn represents.  My meditations for Lent last year centered on Jesus’ final hours on the cross after reading Timothy Keller’s The King’s Cross.  This moment in time is one of the most dramatic three hours recorded in scripture and this is my visual image of that moment.

 

The sky dramatically darkened in the middle of the day as divine wrath fell on Christ.  He voluntarily sacrificed Himself for me and for you.  To say this was easy is a lie.  This abandonment of the Son by His Father was excruciating, indicated by His crying out:  My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far?!  He had never been deserted by His Father before. His human soul departed and his body was left a limp and breathless mass of clay. 

 

Do you ever ask the question, why? Sometimes I feel abandoned, unhelped, unheard and ask why.   Why is this delayed?  Why am I sick? Why did you allow this tragedy?    Though I know God is sovereign and everything is under His control, I still sometimes wonder why He withholds an answer.  

 

Because of his obedience, Jesus’ question had an answer!  Hope burst forth in the temple at the very moment of his last breath; the heavy, thick curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. It was a divine action.  This event opened a new and living way into the most Holy Place by Jesus’ shed blood. The old was gone and the new entered in.  No longer could only the high priest enter the Holy of Holies to atone for sin; Jesus became the final sacrificial lamb for my sin and for yours.

 

So the answer to Jesus’ question, why? is that it was the only way to alter my path to judgment.  In the end, it’s a mystery and I can only walk on with the truth that He loves me so deeply He gave everything. . . .His life. . .. and that is enough.

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.