I do not understand nor can I begin to comprehend “Why?”
Why would Jesus do what He did?
Why would He make the choice to give His life for mine?
Sure, I know what the Bible says and I believe what the Bible says.
But I don’t understand it?
What could drive Him to leave His home in Heaven and come to earth?
Why would the Creator subject Himself to the abuse and torture of His creation?
Why would He do that?
Why would He go to the cross?
Sure, I know WHAT is taught in the Church.
I know what every teacher I have ever had at every age has taught me about the cross.
They have all told me the same thing.
And I believe they were telling the truth of WHAT happened but I want to know WHY.
My curious mind ponders such things.
My inquisitive brain wants answers to my queries.
But I have found in all of my questioning and pondering that I have to fully grasp the WHAT before I can comprehend the WHY.
SO WHAT?
What is it that held Jesus to the cross?
Was it the soldiers?
After all, they were strong, trained warriors who knew the art of combat and had learned the skills needed to attain victory.
Their training taught them not to give in and not to back down.
Defeat only came to them when they no longer had breath in their body.
Surely this One Man was no match for their skill and training.
No matter how strong Jesus was physically there is no way He could possibly defeat a trained Roman guard detachment carrying out their orders.
Or could He?
Wait!
Yes, He could!
I remember! On the night He was arrested Jesus told His disciples, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”
No matter how strong or trained or skilled a Roman soldier was they could not stand up against just one angel much less 12 legions of angels.
So it was not the soldiers that held Jesus on the cross.
What was it?
It must be the nails.
After all the nails did go through His wrist and His feet and deep into the wood.
Once they pierced His flesh and severed nerves and muscles and scraped bones and ruptured blood vessels then they must be WHAT held Jesus to the cross!
Each minor movement Jesus made would have caused excruciating pain that would have run throughout His entire body catching His breath and stopping any motion.
And yet He spoke from the cross.
HE SPOKE!
In order to speak Jesus had to move.
There was no way around it.
Jesus said things like, “Father, forgive them.” And, “It is finished!”
While the nails caused pain they were not the instruments used to hold Jesus on the cross.
Nails cannot hold God on a cross.
Then what was it?
Maybe it was His weakness that held Him there.
He had been beaten so severely before being nailed to the cross it is logical to say that He was too weak to help Himself.
The flogging was so brutal that He was not recognizable even by those who knew Him the best.
The more than 39 lashes Jesus received before his crucifixion left His body torn and dehydrated and His blood volume depleted.
No one in His condition could possibly save themselves.
Yet, Jesus was not just some nobody.
He turned water into wine, fed thousands, healed the blind and paralyzed, and raised the dead.
If He could do that for everyone else He could definitely heal Himself and take Himself off the cross.
He may have been beaten but Jesus was not defeated.
Whipped? Yes. Weak? Not a chance!
If it was nothing physical that Held Jesus to the cross then it must have been something else.
Something spiritual maybe?
I wonder if it was my sins?
The Bible tells us that Jesus died for our sins.
He died for your sins.
He died for my sins.
It must have been my sins that held Jesus on the cross!
I did it!
It was me!
But wait – if it was my sins that held Jesus on the cross then there is no way He would be the Son of God because that would make me more powerful than Him.
How could He be my Savior if He cannot overcome my sin?
My sin and your sin is what put Jesus ON the cross but our sin is not what HELD Him there.
No. It must be something else.
If it wasn’t soldiers or nails or weakness or our sins that held Him there then what was it?
Do we have any clues?
What did Jesus say?
How did it go?
What did He tell His disciples?
“Greater love has no man than this that He lay down His life for His friends.”
Love! That’s it!
It was not some object or some person that held Jesus on the cross.
It was His love for me that held Him there.
He knew I couldn’t do it!
He knew I could not pay for my own sins.
He knew that I could never be good enough or do enough or say “I’m sorry” enough to pay for my sins.
He knew that only One could ever redeem me.
He knew that the only hope we have to be reconciled to our Heavenly Father would be through a perfect, sinless sacrifice.
He knew that He was the only One who could save us!
Now I understand!
The WHAT that held Jesus to the cross is also the WHY that He went to the cross.
LOVE!!
Its love!
He loves us!
He loves you!
He even loves me!
How many kings step down from their thrones? How many lords have abandoned their homes? How many greats have become the least for me? And how many gods have poured out their hearts To romance a world that is torn all apart How many fathers gave up their sons for me? (Downhere – How Many Kings)
All for you!
All for me!
Only because of His love for us all!
A South Alabama Paraphrase 