The little boy looked up at his mother in amazement while a pool of tears started to form in his eyes as he barely could mutter, “for me, for us?” His mother gently pulled him on her lap and cradled him, not fully understanding why he was so affected. Not understanding why Jesus’ crucifixion and the events involved—the torture that he suffered, affected him in the way it did. He suddenly pulled away from her embrace and looked up at her with a slight smile on his face, and eyes that reflected hope, said, ” I am happy that they did not get him, I am happy that was not the end of Jesus mommy”. With that, he got up and happily skipped away.
This event is one of short sadness but a lasting impact. An impact that is eternal for those who believe and accept this momentum event in history. The death and resurrection of Jesus are two of the fundamental pieces of our puzzle as Christians. Pieces of the puzzle that we cannot afford to lose, and if lost, would in turn, make us lost.
We can never de-value or gloss over this life-changing event. We must keep it at the fore of our thoughts, as this is what gives us the eternal salvation that we need. So while we are sad about Jesus’ death, let us look at the situation through the eyes of this little boy who teaches us to not focus too much on the death of Jesus. We appreciate his suffering, and his death makes us sad, but his death is not our focus, but his resurrection is!
He did it not for himself, but he did it for us. We must not be like Peter, who, bless his heart, wanted to will away Jesus’ purpose here on earth. (In Mark 8:32, he talked about it quite frankly with them, so Peter took him aside and chided him. “You shouldn’t say things like that,” he told Jesus.)
We accept that Jesus had to fulfill his purpose, or we would be lost forever; his death was our only hope of being saved. So we must rejoice because our weeping over his death endures for just a night, and our joy through his resurrection comes in the morning—a priceless gift. We, like the little boy, can skip happily through life knowing the truth that while Jesus endured unimaginable pain going to the cross, we have a chance at eternal life. We are only required to follow his teachings and accept him as our Lord and Savior. That is the only way to receive the eternal life and the reconciliation to God that He provides and the very thing we need to get to heaven.
God bless all of us, and I encourage you if you are reading this to continue your reading in Mark chapters 15 and 16.
If you have not accepted Christ in your life, do so now, so you too can skip happily knowing that we are heading towards eternal life. Remember, as Christians, if we die here on this earth, we will be alive with God and Jesus in heaven. Have a blessed time reflecting on the crucifixion and resurrection.
