The Cross by Janel Raab

Jesus,
I look upon the cross and think.

WHY?

WHY did the Son of God become man?

WHY did He come to this earth?

WHY did He die for us?

Then it became clear as I looked upon the cross.

God had given us a perfect world;

Where a lion and sheep played together;

Where the fruit was plentiful;

Where the water was sweet.

NO sin; NO pain; NO want; NO need; NO death; NO suffering

It was all there, everything our hearts would desire.

BUT NO!

Human want, human need, human pride, human weakness got in the way.

Our ancestors, Adam and Eve, gave in to him, SATAN!

They disobeyed God by letting Satan trick them into eating the apple.

Bringing SIN; DEATH; HATERED; PAIN; SUFFERING

Back into the world.

Because of them the gates to heaven were closed.

Then You came into the world, Jesus.

You showed us how to act, talk, and to pray.

You told us what God wanted of us.

But, our sins still had to be paid for.

You showed the people love, but they unjustly took you to Pilot.

You were whipped and crowned with thorns.

They mocked You and spat upon Your face.

Then You were brought to a crowd who called for Your death

“CRUCIFY HIM, CRUCIFY HIM”

A cross was placed upon Your shoulders, and You carried it to a hill.

Nails were driven into Your hands and feet, and then You were raised on that cross.

They were still mocking You, placing a sign above You that said, “This is Jesus, the king of the Jews,” They also yelled at You, “If You are the Savior sent by God, then save Yourself.”

You died giving Your soul to God.

I was mad at the people; didn’t they know that they were killing an innocent man?

I was angered; if only they knew that You were the Son of God, they wouldn’t had killed You, or spat in Your face.

But then I look back to the cross and realized;

That it was not the people long ago who crucified You.

No, oh No.

IT WAS I

It was my sins which spat at Your face, which cut Your flesh, which forced You to carry that cross. It was my sins which made the cross so heavy upon Your shoulders. It was my sins that were driven into Your hands and feet.

It was my sins which caused You to die.

Now I look at the cross and think that if You could go through being made fun of, at Your time of death, and be mocked and spat upon; I can go through my rough times too; and offer them to You.

THAT IS WHY YOU CAME, JESUS.

To free us from sin

To open the gates of heaven

Because You loved us, You gave up everything for us, even Your life.

So, please forgive me for causing You so much pain and help me to try harder to carry my small cross just like You carried Yours to the hill of Golgotha to be crucified.