When I was growing up, my sisters and I had these audio cassette tapes of dramatized Bible stories. Our favorite tape was the story of Jonah. (This was mostly because of the awesome sound effects). The sound of Jonah being spit up on dry land was hysterical! It was this great burp/vomit noise, and we thought it was just awesome. We used to rewind the tape over and over just to hear that noise!

We had several of these tapes, and we listened to them for hours and hours growing up. But the one that I remember the most was about the death and resurrection of Jesus. As a child, I never really liked this tape–It was kind of scary, unsettling, and even disturbing.

I had a hard time grasping why Jesus would allow this to happen. I knew that Jesus was the Son of God, and that he had the power to do whatever he pleased. So why didn’t Jesus stop Judas from betraying him? Why didn’t Jesus let Peter continue his assault on the soldiers who came to arrest him? Why didn’t he defend himself better at his trial? Why didn’t he stop the beatings? Why didn’t he stop the cruelty and mocking? Why didn’t he stop them from hammering nails into his hands and feet? Why? These questions were disturbing to me as a kid.

And to be honest, these questions are still disturbing to me. The cross was designed to be disturbing; it was a horrific and painful means of execution. The Romans used it to illicit fear, obedience, and intimidation. It was a brutal, bloody, and drawn-out way to kill someone. There is nothing more disturbing than the cross.

But the primary reason the cross is so disturbing is because of the ugliness of sin. As Christians I think we sometimes forget just how much God hates sin. But God hates sin so much that he sent his one and only Son to die a horrific and disturbing death on a cross–a death sentence that you and I deserve! The cross is disturbing, because our sins are disturbing. In Isaiah 53 it says,

He was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

I hope that on this Good Friday, you stop and reflect on the disturbing nature of sin and the cross, as well as the goodness, grace, and mercy of Jesus Christ.

tim