{"id":4666,"date":"2013-04-22T22:08:53","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T04:08:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/?p=4666"},"modified":"2013-04-22T22:16:26","modified_gmt":"2013-04-23T04:16:26","slug":"jesus-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/22\/jesus-cross\/","title":{"rendered":"24, Crazy Love, and Why Jesus Didn’t Come Down Off the Cross"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"jesus-cross\"<\/a>My instant reaction to reading the crucifixion narrative should be both sadness and grief.<\/p>\n

But today it was different.\u00a0My reaction was, \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n

In Mark\u2019s gospel, it says the passersby and the Jewish leaders mocked him as he hung on the cross. They said:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the Kind of Isreal, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.\u201d Mark 15:31-32.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There’s several places where it says\u00a0he could do it. He makes reference to legions of angels that could fight at his command…if he wanted them to.<\/p>\n

He tells Pilate he has no power except what the Father gives him. I take that to mean Pilate has\u00a0power merely to complete this event. Everything is in Jesus\u2019 control.<\/p>\n

He did so many miracles. He even controlled the weather. Surely, he could do this.<\/p>\n

And yet, he doesn\u2019t. He does nothing. He goes through the whole torture and dies. Now there\u2019s an image–God dies at the hands of murderers.<\/p>\n

How do you make sense of that? I think, for a lot of people, it just doesn\u2019t make sense. And, at the same time, it does.
\n<\/p>\n

24 and the power of crazy love<\/h2>\n

I’ve been watching the first season of 24.<\/p>\n

I know, I\u2019m way behind on television. Cut me some slack.<\/p>\n

Anyway, Teri (the wife of Special Agent Jack Bauer, the main character) and her daughter Kim are being held by terrorists as bargaining chips to get Jack to cooperate in their plot to kill a presidential candidate.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Of course, one of the terrorists decides he\u2019d like to have a little fun and rape the daughter. Why not? They’ll be dead soon anyway.<\/p>\n

So, out of deep, deep love, Teri offers herself to the terrorist in place of her daughter. That\u2019s heavy duty love. Crazy love. Self-sacrificing love.<\/p>\n

That kind of love is a powerful thing. It can’t be destroyed or overcome. It’s what keeps life moving forward even after terrible tragedy. \u00a0It\u2019s what drives societies to rebuild and start over after years under dictators like Hitler or Stalin.<\/p>\n

This is the principle of life within the Trinity<\/h2>\n

That is the same kind of love Jesus poured out on the cross for you and me.<\/p>\n

That self-sacrificing courses through the union of Trinitarian Persons. It\u2019s the love, the power, that created the universe. It\u2019s also the power that re-created it after disfigurement by sin.<\/p>\n

When I need to make sense of Christianity, I always turn the fundamental principle of life within the Trinity–self-sacrificing love.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the central mystery of the Christian Faith. It\u2019s the core, foundational truth that explains everything. When you\u2019re confused, just turn there.<\/p>\n

Faith takeaway<\/h2>\n

Why does God get tortured and die?<\/p>\n

Because it wasn’t a show of power that could save mankind or make them\u00a0believe. It was a show of love that could penetrate, heal, and renew our fallen nature.<\/p>\n

Then, when that was done, the Holy Spirit could enter our hearts and transform our minds to think, judge, and act like God. That was Christ’s mission. Not to make the haters\u00a0believe. They will never\u00a0believe. They’ll always find an excuse why it\u00a0couldn’t be real.<\/p>\n

But faith…that’s a different thing altogether.<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: Creativity+ Timothy K Hamilton<\/a> via Compfight<\/a> cc<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My instant reaction to reading the crucifixion narrative should be both sadness and grief. But today it was different.\u00a0My reaction was, \u201cWhy?\u201d In Mark\u2019s gospel, it says the passersby and the Jewish leaders mocked him as he hung on the cross. They said: \u201cHe saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the Kind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"yoast_head":"\n24, Crazy Love, and Why Jesus Didn't Come Down Off the Cross - Marc Cardaronella<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/22\/jesus-cross\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"24, Crazy Love, and Why Jesus Didn't Come Down Off the Cross - Marc Cardaronella\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My instant reaction to reading the crucifixion narrative should be both sadness and grief. 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