why it had to be a cross

Thank God for the brilliant minds of the people in His Church. In sharing a message the other day on sexuality, a guy came up to me afterward and said, "you've answered a question for me that i've always struggled with" ...I was afraid of what he was going to say, given the topic of the weekend.

But then he said this, "i've always wondered, if God can do anything, why did he choose to send Jesus to a cross to die in order to reconcile us?"

I admit i've had that question too. I've heard a lot of answers given about why Jesus had to be a man, why he had to be the sacrifice, why it had to be on passover, etc. But all of this stuff makes it sound like the whole Bible is the nothing but an extravagant process of God painting himself into a corner and then thinking, "uh-oh how am i gonna get out of this one? oh, i know, i'll send my son!" That's always been weird for me. I don't think Jesus had to go to the cross and i don't think God had to send him, not in the way we often think about it at least because God is God he plays by his own rules. Besides all of the Old Testament sacrificial stuff, all the commandments, all of the standards that God sets and we fall short of, all of that stuff flows out of what Christ WOULD be/do rather than dictating what he had to do.... he's the thesis statement, they are the supporting points.

So at this point in the conversation, i'm riveted, because i didn't recall saying anything that would help answer this age-old question. And after a long and dramatic pause [maybe this guy should start speaking on weekends!] the man finished his statement, "God chose to go that way to show us what love really looks like."

I agree completely. God could've waved his hand and forgiven our sins, but that would not have let us see how serious God is about his love for us. It wouldn't let us see how destructive our sins are to our relationship with him. And it wouldn't give US the example of what real love looks like.

Real love is sacrifice, pouring yourself out for the sake of another, laying down your life. The cross is not the answer to some math problem that God struggled with for centuries, it's the stuff of Shakespeare or great poetry. It's a stunning display of God's over-the-top love that he had been building up to for centuries. It's also a very specific measuring-stick for any of us who desire to be lovers.

please, the next time you see a cross, don't think about all the intricacies of the atonement, not first at least. First, please think about how much God must love us to do something so cruel, yet beautiful.