Take a look at Christ and change this Easter

A wooden curving of Jesus Christ on the cross at St Joseph's Cathedral, Nyeri. PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL| NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • There lies Jesus, flat on the ground.

  • He has fallen while carrying the cross to the top of Calvary.

  • His flesh is one enormous wound, still raw and bleeding.

“LOOK AT HIM, look at him slowly.” I remember being in church one day many years ago and hearing those words. I was still a boy at the time. The words struck me deeply.

The one preaching the sermon had no idea that I was listening. But God used those words to touch my heart with sorrow for my sins. And so I use them for you today. Perhaps the same words will also affect you deeply: “Look at him, look at him slowly.”

There lies Jesus, flat on the ground. He has fallen while carrying the cross to the top of Calvary. He has been scourged. His flesh is one enormous wound, still raw and bleeding. His shoulders are covered with blood dripping from the crown of thorns. People everywhere are screaming at him, calling him a criminal.

The Pharisees are mocking him. He can barely move. He needs someone to cover his wounds. He needs a place, away from the crowd, where he can rest.

PUSHING HIM

Instead, the soldiers force him to stand on his feet once again, whipping him and pushing him. He has to carry his cross up the hill and let himself be nailed to it.

 “Look at him, look at him slowly.” Take time to sit down today and look at everything Jesus did for you.

After looking at him, the hard part comes when you look at yourself. So many times you refused to be sorry for your sins. Perhaps now you are finally ready to repent. But you know that this has not always been true. There were times when you were lukewarm. There were times when you refused to pray. There were times when you were no better than those people in Jerusalem, who laughed at Jesus while he was lying on the ground crushed by the weight of the cross.

REBELLIOUS MOODS

 One of the saint’s describes our rebellious moods by comparing us with the mob standing in front of Pontius Pilate. The Roman governor offered them a choice between Barabbas and Jesus. One was a thief, guilty of murder. The other was the Good Shepherd who had worked thousands of miracles for the people of Israel.

 “It is hard to read in the holy Gospel that question from Pilate: ‘Whom do you wish that I release to you, Barabbas or Jesus, who is called the Christ?’ But it is more painful to hear the answer: ‘Barabbas!’ And it is more terrible still when I realize that very often—when I have wandered away—I, too, have said, ‘Barabbas!’ And I’ve added, ‘Christ? Crucify him!’”

Now is the time to change. I am going to look at Jesus, and look at him slowly. I am going to promise him: “No more rebellion, Lord! No more sin!”