...there’s a cross

…“Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”

They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”

He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” Daniel 3:24-25

Have you heard the song “Another in the Fire” yet?  Several months ago our worship leaders sang it at church and I was swept up in the words and the truth.  I had heard it before and loved it then but it was a completely different thing to be standing there in my time of worship, arms held high, ready to be moved, ready to feel the power of the Holy Spirit and to be swept away.  I’m standing there hands out, probably singing too loud and tears just streaming down my face.  I was overcome by the honesty and simplicity of the words and what they meant to me. I was overcome with love for Jesus but first by the love Jesus has for me.   And every time I’ve heard it since then, I probably sing too loud and get a little teary eyed and today was no different.  But today, I ruminated over the lyrics and I went back to Daniel to study the verses.    I thought of the three.  I thought of their honesty.  I thought of their steadfast belief in the one true God.  They stood up to the king and told him that they would not serve the king’s false gods.  And when threatened with the death in the fiery furnace, without hesitation they responded, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”—Daniel 3:17-18.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew that their God could deliver them from the fire but if he didn’t they would still worship their God.   There was either going to be a divine intervention and a miracle that would save their lives or they were going to die but either way they were still going to worship God and refused to give in.  When we were in the hospital, I wrestled with even the thought that Gideon may not live.  I prayed heavily that God would save him but even then, I knew if he died it didn’t change who my God was.  I’ve heard people say that you shouldn’t speak things into existence, you should only pray for supernatural healing, pray for life but right here, we see these three speak it plainly.  “I know God can deliver us through this but if he does not he is still God and we will still follow him.”  He is God and he can’t be manipulated.  We can’t trick him into getting our way. 

     

Being Good Friday, we had already talked a great deal about what today meant for Jesus and what today meant for us.  I was already feeling the anguish and the heaviness of what his beating may have looked like.  I always break down when I think of the scourging and after our Good Friday service where it was discussed in detail, it was all too heavy.  I had talked to Gabe a lot about it and about the tremendous amount of suffering Jesus had to endure before even being placed on the cross.   Yesterday, I used a charcoal mask again.  The kids were in the bath behind me as I began pulling it off.  It hurt.  My breathing became heavy, my heart rate increased.  I started to sweat as I became flushed.  I made little painful sounds as I would slowly peel it away.  They both asked me several times if I was okay.  In the best way I could, I compared that slow agony to the scourging of Jesus.  Except of course we talked about how much worse it was for him.  We talked about the whips lashing across the skin causing cuts across his body.  We talked about the hooks on the end of the whips that would grab onto the skin and pull at the skin and rip it away when the enforcer was going back for another swing.  He felt it.  He could have ended it.  But he stood there, feeling every ounce of pain.  Every stripe was felt in real agony.  My heart breaks knowing that my sin did that.  I can’t help but fall on my face when I think about that beating he took when he could have ended it all but instead he chose to save me, to save us.  

Today’s circumstances are no different than the times of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  We still have struggles. We still have to make hard choices. Our sin is no different than what was going on at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.  Our world is facing this pandemic together.  Some are experiencing sickness and death.   Some are hit with financial loss and wondering how they are going to pay the mortgage, put food on the table.  Some are struggling through home-schooling and some juggling this new homeschooling situation while still working full-time.  And many are just plain struggling with fear.  But guess what?  The same Jesus that was in the fiery furnace with the three is the same Jesus who suffered an excruciating death for our sin and he is the same Jesus who lives for us today.  He is alive.  He is risen.  Whatever tomorrow will look like, I will praise him and I will worship him.  As I look at the cross, I see the burden of my sin.  When I think of the empty tomb, I think of the hell that has no victory.  Thank God he first loved me.