New Thoughts on Jesus' Sacrifice

Today's service at church was very moving for me. In observance of Palm Sunday, my church decided to show a scene from The Passion of the Christ. It was the crucifixion scene where they were nailing Jesus to the cross and hanging Him to die. Even though I have seen that scene before, today it took on special meaning for me.

You see, today Sydney decided she wanted to go to "big church" with Mommy. Todd was working, so it was just the two of us, and we were running late to church. I figured I would let her go with me to "big church" rather than putting her in the nursery because I would get to the sanctuary quicker.

When they were getting ready to show the scene from The Passion, Pastor Rick told the parents that if they had small children with them they might want to take them out of the sanctuary because the scene might scare them. I decided to let Sydney stay, but I turned her toward me, put her head on my shoulder, and covered her ears (it was kind of loud for her little ears).

As I was holding my own child during the crucifixion scene, I couldn't help but think of how God must have felt when He saw HIS Child being nailed to the cross and being hung to die for our sins. As the nails were being driven into Jesus' hands and feet, I held Sydney tight, and tears streamed down my face. I had to ask myself if I could sacrifice MY child for someone else. In all honesty, I could not. I cannot even imagine what that would do to me. I thought about how God's heart must have broken to see His Son on the cross. To have a child suffer or even die is, in my opinion, the worst thing a parent could ever experience. To think that God WILLINGLY sent His Son to die for us is beyond my comprehension. I cannot imagine sacrificing my child for someone else!!

Another thing I thought about as I watched the scene from The Passion was how much Jesus loved us all. To be WILLING to die for someone else is the highest form of love ("Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13), and Jesus was WILLING to die for us. God did not force this on Him. It was his CHOICE. That just blows me away!! Jesus' love for us was so strong that He did not hesitate to lay down His life for us. Was it difficult? Sure!! But, He did it despite this. I am humbled and in awe of Jesus' love for us!!

The last thing I thought about as I watched the crucifixion scene was how my love for Sydney PALES in comparison to God's love for her. My love for her does not even begin to come close to God's love for her, and I just hope as Sydney gets older she will grow to realize and appreciate God's love and the sacrifice of His Son for her. I pray that she will develop a strong love for God in her heart and that she will accept Him as her Lord and Savior when the time is right. THAT would be the GREATEST thing I could ever hope for my precious daughter!!

(To see today's service, please go here)