A LENTEN ADVENTURE for 2024 - Monday March 18

 

Meditations on the Cross of Christ

HE CHOSE THE NAILS: What God Did To Win Your Heart

INTRODUCTION: YOU DID THIS FOR ME?

(Book by Max Lucado, Reflections by Beverly Ramirez)

 

In the next several days of Lent we will reflect on the book He Chose the Nails by Max Lucado – a very appropriate book to read and study just before the week of Easter.  Each day will have some quotes from the book (identified as: ML) as well as some of my own thoughts and comments.  Accompany me on the journey to Calvary’s hill  to see everything that God did for us there to gain our hearts …

For starters, let’s ask ourselves a titanic question: What is God like?  Among many other things that can be said of Him, God is love. 

And since God is love, what does He do? He gives. The one who loves, gives: he gives of himself, of everything he is and everything he has.

John 3:16 says precisely this: “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

“… We are most like God when we are giving. Have you ever wondered why God gives so much? We could exist on far less.  He could have left the world flat and gray; we wouldn’t have known the difference. But he didn’t.” (ML)

Let’s ask ourselves another question: Why do we give gifts?  Obviously to express our affection and appreciation for the person to whom we give the gift. 

“If we give gifts to show our love, how much more would He?  If we – speckled with foibles and greed – love to give gifts, how much more does God, pure and perfect God, enjoy giving gifts to us?  Jesus asked, “If you hardhearted, sinful men know how to give good gifts to your children, won’t your Father in heaven even more certainly give good gifts to those who ask him for them? (Matt. 7:11, TLB)” (ML)

And what do we think about when we give a gift?  How do we give the gift?  Don’t we think of giving the recipient something that is useful to him or her, something he or she will like, or something he or she has always needed or wanted?  Don’t we wrap it up in the most beautiful way possible with paper and ribbon, with care and delight?

“God’s gifts shed light on God’s heart, God’s good and generous heart … Every gift reveals God’s love … but no gift reveals his love more than the gifts of the cross. They came, not wrapped in paper, but in passion.  Not placed around a tree, but a cross.  And not covered with ribbons, but sprinkled with blood.” (ML)

The following Biblical passages related to the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus speak of the different gifts that He left for us around the cross:

Matthew 27:29 = a woven crown of thorns

Luke 23:33 = some nails

John 19:19-22 = a sign placed over the cross

John 19:23 y 24 = Jesus’ tunic

John 19:28 y 29 = a sponge soaked in vinegar

Matthew 27:51 = the ripped veil of the Temple

John 19:38-40 = the burial clothing

“Much has been said about the gift of the cross itself, but what of the other gifts?  What of the nails, the crown of thorns?  The garments taken by the soldiers.  The garments given for the burial.  Have you ever taken time to open these gifts?  He didn’t have to give them, you know.  The only act, the only required act for our salvation was the shedding of blood, yet He did much more.  So much more … Could it be that the hill of the cross is rich with God’s gifts?  Let’s examine them, shall we?  Let’s unwrap these gifts of grace as if – or perhaps, indeed – for the first time … Perchance you will hear him whisper:  “I did it just for you.” (ML)

+ REFLECTIONS