wc090704

I don't like it when anyone hurts my children. It is a parent thing. We think our children are the best and brightest, and to us they are. That is how it should be. But when somebody messes with kids, it gets my ire up. It doesn't matter if it is verbal, emotional or physical. If it is a "justified" attack, that is hard enough, but if it is not justified, that is really it.

In her most recent video, "Have I Got a Story For You", Christian comedian Chonda Pierce relates when her 13-year-old son had to get braces. She watched as the Dr. and nurses in the orthodontist office strapped her baby (Yes, even at 13. It's a mother thing.) in to the chair and proceed to shove all kinds of hardware into his mouth. Afterward, they were ushered into a room to watch a video on how to care for the braces, etc.. Of course this little boy was stoic and did not let anyone see him cry or anything like that. Only when everyone except his mom and dad had left the room, did he drop his face into his hands and sob. It hurt! When a mother sees her child in pain, she is ready to stop the world, if need be, to fix it and make it all better. Later, at home, that 13-year-old set his head in his mother's lap and she rubbed his head as he finally went to sleep through the pain.

The point of relating that story was to bring out the incredible sacrifice that Jesus made for us, and also the incredible sacrifice and pain that His parents went through. How did Mary do it? How did the Father do it? Chonda states, and I agree with her, that if it were up to her, redemption would have never taken place..."we would all be toast." We would have put a stop to the pain and suffering of our child. I suppose Mary did try to intervene, but she was a woman in a circumstance and situation that had no use for women. How did God the Father cope with the brutal crucifixion of His only Son? In the midst of the horrible event, the sun became dark in the middle of the day, the earth shook, and the Father turned away from the Son. ( See Matt. 27: 45-46; 51 , Mark 15:33-34 , Luke 23:44-45) Some theologians and commentators will say that God the Father turned away because He can not look upon sin, and at that moment in time, Jesus had all of the sin of the entire world upon Him.

We can understand, perhaps, a little, why Jesus did not call for the legions of angels to stop the plan of redemption. (Matt.26:53-54) As children (even adult children) we desire to please our parents, to honor them, and to receive their approval and blessing. (John 18:11) Jesus loved the Father and did it for Him. The Bible also states that Jesus did it for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2). He knew that His suffering would mean the hope of the entire world in salvation. His death secured the redemption of His creation.

I am not a theologian, and I am quite sure that they know more than I do, but I think (and this is my opinion, so don't get nervous) that God the Father looked away from the whole situation because seeing His child in such a horrid situation was too much for Him to handle without intervening Himself, and sending those heavenly hosts to Earth to rescue Jesus. Forget about Chonda's son's swollen and bloody lips... Jesus' entire body was bruised, bloody and swollen! Perhaps I try to put too much humanity on the Divine Creator of the universe, but we are made in His image, so maybe He relates to us more than we realize.

The fact remains that Jesus gave His life for us. He endured all of the anguish of that suffering, and the Father allowed the plan of redemption to be completed. It culminated in Jesus' wonderful resurrection and later ascension to His rightful place at the right hand of God the Father.

So the question is... What will you do with Jesus? How can we ignore all that He went through...for US? How will we respond to the Father for all He went through in allowing His Son to be our sacrifice? Will we sacrifice our self for Him? Will we put aside our selves to follow Him?