I try to never eavesdrop, but sometimes we’re close enough to others to hear the conversation they’re having. It was during one of these moments when one man said to the other, “Well, for the love of Jesus….”
Now, it wasn’t a theological discussion they were having.
But it gave me pause to think, really think, about what that gentleman said. And perhaps it was appropriate that I overheard this expression on this, one of Christianity’s most sacred weeks. Indeed, it is the week that, without it, there would be no Christianity.
So on this journey to Easter Sunday, I gave serious consideration to the love of Jesus. Granted, it wasn’t exactly what the men’s conversation was about. But I do know that God often provides a springboard for our thoughts. The following are what I assembled:
For the love of Jesus, I was not arrested and taken before a judge.
For the love of Jesus, I was not found guilty for my sins.
For the love of Jesus, I was not beaten by soldiers.
For the love of Jesus, I did not endure a brutal scourging where my skin and muscles were torn away from my bones.
For the love of Jesus, I was not stripped bare and humiliated in public.
For the love of Jesus, I did not have to stagger and stumble under the weight of the cross.
For the love of Jesus, I’ll never need a ‘Simon of Cyrene’ to help me carry the cross.
For the love of Jesus, I did not have to have a crown of thorns pushed into my scalp.
For the love of Jesus, I was not nailed to the cross and raised up between two guilty men.
For the love of Jesus, I did not have a soldier pierce my side with his spear.
For the love of Jesus, I did not have to die.
Perhaps you can think of other things that could be included in this list. Right now, midway through Easter week, this is my list. As I read and reread it, the weight of Jesus’ love for me is crushing. All the more so when I realize that I did nothing to deserve this love.
And that message is perhaps the message that we should share with all others we meet and talk with this week. Let us renew our commitment to share the gospel with all others. It is our great commission.
“And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned'” (Mark 16:15-16, NASB).
Ed Merkel