Jesus, Naked

Today is Good Friday and it's weird to call such a day good.

The day we shamed him....

We mocked him.

We spit on him.

We stripped him naked. Completely naked, people, there was no loincloth. 

We whipped him.

We shouted, "crucify him!"

And then we went and did it. 

We crucified the King of Glory.

The Perfect, Holy Lamb of God.

Naked. Sacrificed.

Nakedness in the Bible, after the Fall, is associated with shame.

He went, naked, to the cross, to take on our shame.

Faithfully fulfilling His Father's will, "obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2.8).

Ransoming His Bride, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. (Ephesians 1.7)

This is serious, somber stuff, to be sure. Get me at the right moment and it'll get me weeping in sorrow. And that's ok. That's good. It's good for me to feel the seriousness of the situation, the intensity of his determined love.

But there's something amiss if I stay in that sorrow. If I don't press on until the Easter morning sun rises in my heart and I suddenly hear the Risen Lord say,

"Woman. Why are you crying?" (John 20.15)

"Who is it you are looking for?" (v15)

"Take courage. It is I. Don't be afraid." (Mt.14.27)

"Mary." (v16)

"Eve."

"Your Name Here..."

 "It is finished." (19.30)

Hebrews 12.2: let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

My course, Your Shame, Crucified, expands on all of this and more. 

If your actual sin and guilt has been crucified with Christ, then there is no longer any need for you to sit in the feeling of shame.