The air was rife with excitement. It was a feast of massive proportions. Death and the grave were having one “hell” pardon the pun of a feast. In the center of it all was a man… one who had made spurious claims of Deity.
He was no son of Zeus neither was he as Nimrod the mighty hunter. He was a mere carpenter’s son certainly not as illustrious as the prince of Egypt yet he had drawn the attention of the demon lords.
They were clothed in their full regalia. They tried as much as possible to hide their battle scars. Anubis still had the boils and scars from his battle with the one drawn from the river, the same one whose rod had split the Nile.
Baal stood the corner, gnawing on a piece of bone. One of his hands was scarred, burnt beyond recognition – it was a reminder to him and the others of the dangers of the prayers of a righteous man. He scoffed.
This man, hung on a cross was supposed to be the Promised Seed?
Hera winked at Sango who had just arrived. She pointed with her gnarled fingers. Behold the bastard son of a lowly servant girl?
His arms were stretched wide… suspended by two nails on either end of the wooden cross.
Some say they were held up by a single nail that tore through his skin and bones…
EITHER WAY!
The one who put the clouds in the skies was seemingly at the mercy of ignorant men who cursed and pointed their fingers arrogantly at the skies, in defiance to the Creator.
It was said that by the power of His word He held the universe in delicate balance but today he was nothing more than a mass of mangled man-tissue on a tree. Sadly they believed they were sent of God to crush such a venomous liar who had laid claim to Divine sonship.
Yet… as his breathe failed Him, he who caused the earth to swirl about the sun, he who caused the oceans to sweep and surge in intimate romance with the moon … He whispered…
They felt he was about to request for another drink after Loki’s antics of suggesting they give him vinegar! They hollered – He called himself the vine, why don’t you turn your sweat to nectar?
It was a faint stirring but the wind heard, the stars turned in shock,
He whispered… It was the silent crushing of a judge’s gavel as He sentenced the guilty to jail or set free an innocent man…
It was as triumphant hoot of a French horn as the Calvary rushed in to save the day, but there was no rushing calvary today… there was only silence atop the hill of calvary and his three words broke the silence… they were mere words to the demons that gathered, and merely served to incite the crowd…
but those words echoed through eternity past and eternity future and as they swirled and surged through the darkness that pervaded the earth and hearts of men A LIGHT EMERGED... a light no one but the THREE saw... He said … FATHER FORGIVE THEM
…
The gamblers looked up. CONFUSED! Confusion etched on their faces… the winner of the bet held in his hands the seamless robe, it was a worthy price… but he didn’t look excited anymore…
There was something grievous about this execution. The skies knew. The sun turned away in disgust as the spite and spittle of Abraham’s children tore at the Carpenter’s frame…
Even those who had touched him couldn’t resist the bloodlust. He was known as healer but no one really believed he was Saviour or even if they did… they hadn’t expected him to speak such arrant nonsense like
“if a Roman asks you to walk a mile with his load, walk two miles instead”
“if you are slapped on one cheek, turn the other cheek”
Two ladies in the crowd muttered to themselves… “how dare he forgive us?” “who does he think he is?”. The priest right behind them shook his hands frantically, his frock threatening to come off, “you are the insolent fool who needs forgiveness!”
Hera danced… her breasts dripping with the blood of a thousand sacrifices. Thor tossed his Mjolnir in obvious excitement as the itinerant preacher bowed his head in what they believed to be surrender. The Father had rejected the one he swore would be their undoing. He had turned his back on the chosen one… Baal licked his lips as he beheld the mocking multitude. He would finally get his revenge for his embarrassment at Mount Carmel. Surely now there would be no respite for humanity!
After all the one who was supposed to be the Leader of a new generation, the so- called Lion of the tribe of Judah had just bowed out with a pussy-cat whimper of “Father Forgive Them”
If only they knew! That the extent and excellency of Grace is this … the remedy to sin is not holiness but FORGIVENESS…
If only the kings of this earth in their wartime meetings and secret counsels had opened their eyes to the divine mysterion and seen that IT WOULD BE THAT WHISPER that would whip Satan, sin, sickness and strife into submission.
If only they knew! That it would take more than a hammer and nails to silence the Lion’s roar! That the blessed assurance of Eternal Life could only be gleaned from the death of the one given to die! That …
That on a hill far away, in a time before time… The Lamb of God was slain, long before the foundation of the world, long before sin and sadness existed, long before the devil was in diapers. He was slain to take away the SIN of the world!
But they didn’t know! … for how could they? both human and demon … Blind as bats… for if they had known, they would not have slain the Lord of Glory and we would be here with a different kind of story…
But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have … If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ….
But this is the story written in blood. It is a timeless tale splattered all through the Word.
From the tree of Life in the garden of the East to the wedding at Cana! oh what a feast! It is a narrative of Hosea and his bride, the one called a wench, nasty and wild!
Do you want to understand the extent of this grace? Ask Him… The one who watched as friend and family flayed him with their insults! The The one whose teachers handed over as a traitor, an enemy of the state. The one who healed the lame yet endured the agony of his own bones broken.
The one who turned water into wine but now was offered vinegar to quench his thirst. Did He not call himself the Living water? Those were the words of the High Priest!
You would ask him and this is what He would say … IT IS ALL HE WOULD SAY… "I HAVE COME THAT YOU MAY HAVE LIFE... AND HAVE IT ABUNDANTLY...“
So you ask… “how far can Grace go?” and I tell you to look no further than the cross! when at the height of agony, the Man in the center raised no rallying cry of curses but rather trudged the narrow path of Love and released forgiveness for all men! This is the extent of Grace!