Sunday, March 1, 2009

Lenten Perspective #1

Lent, more than any other time, causes me to think long and hard about what Jesus did for us.

For example, all too often, I hear and say the phrase "Jesus died for our sins". And most of the time I accept that at face value - He died a horrible death on the cross so that we can enjoy peace with God.

But Lent gives me a reason to meditate on that more deeply ... to try and "feel" what that means.

Today's second reading - The First Letter of Peter 3:18-22 - gives us the following:

Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous

In other words, Christ, who had no sin, died for all of us sinners.

Sometimes I find that easy to accept because Jesus is God. His love far exceeds any love here on Earth. But in an attempt to really understand what that love is like, I came up with the following exercise.

Imagine the person you like least in this world. Maybe its someone you know or maybe its a criminal you saw on the news. (For this exercise it can even be a made-up "villain") Really think hard about how much you dislike them or the things they did.

Now imagine you are in a room with that person, and one of you has to die.

Would you give up your life for that person? After all the terrible things they did?

Imagine if you were perfect, and never did a single thing wrong here on Earth. Would you die for them?

To be honest, I don't think I would. (Ok lets face it, I know I wouldn't) But Jesus did. He died for me and for you and for all the other sinners out there until the end of time. He died for those that steal from the dollar store and for those that commit murders and abortions, so that one day, everyone has a chance to meet Him in Heaven.

I know that isn't a perfect comparison, but it's my attempt to really try and feel how awesome Jesus' gift to us is.

Thank you Jesus, for loving us that much.

God Bless.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Michael I loved your heart felt post. I can see you put a lot of thought into it. What Jesus did for us was so awesome ♥ Like you say it's hard to imagine... We hear the words and try to understand the magnitude of it but it really is impossible. Jesus was so good and so pure. I hope you have a wonderful week. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.

the booklady said...

Thank you for this post Michael; it is a very powerful. I can easily imagine the person (who has hurt me most) and I dare say I'm not the only one. Could I have done -- or do now -- what Jesus did for that person? I keep trying to bring myself to the place where I'll be willing to love as Jesus does, but I've such a long way to go!

Yes, Jesus's gift is awesome and I am SO very grateful! Thanks again Michael!

Anne said...

What a wonderful post Michael. You really had me thinking about that. What a awesome comparison. I love how you ended your post. Your right. We must always thank our Lord.

Michael said...

Thank you - all three of you - for taking the time to write comments here. They are very motivational and very much appreciated.