WERE YOU THERE?
(Background Scripture: 2 Matthew 26-28: Mark 15-16; Luke 23-24; John 16-21; Acts 1)
IMAGINE.....for a moment that we are standing in the shadow of the cross, where that very real and necessary EXCHANGE must take place for everyone who becomes a child of God.
There is an OLD SPIRITUAL HYMN called......... "WERE YOU THERE?" It goes.....
"Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
OHHHHH, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble...
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?"
Well... I WAS THERE...
No...my feet did not touch the dirt that was scooped out of the ground where the CROSS was thrust. But, I was there... MY SIN WAS THERE.
I was there, just as surely as if I had been the one who received that revealing morsel of bread, dipped in wine…My CORRUPTION and HYPOCRISY were there.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who sold that priceless life for a mere 30 pieces of silver... My GREED and DISHONOR were there.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who was to watch and pray in the garden that night... My need for an INTERCESSOR and ADVOCATE was there. As He knelt there in the Garden asking the Father..."if it is possible, let this cup be taken from me," ... my face flashed across the window of His mind and He remembered a little girl, named Debbie, and He knew that little girl would have no hope if He did not go up on that CROSS to die. He knew that the only way I could be reconciled to God was by dying on that CROSS... so He submitted and said, "Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done"... for a little girl named Debbie.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who had fallen asleep at my post... The WEAKNESS OF MY FLESH was there.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who betrayed Him with a Kiss... All my BETRAYALS and PRETENTIOUS AFFECTIONS were there.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who came to arrest Him... All my DISPLACED LOYALTIES to UNGODLY AUTHORITIES was there.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who slashed off the ear of the Servant... All my ZEAL and BEST INTENTIONS were there.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who denied Him three times... All my SELF-PRESERVATION and FEAR OF PERSECUTION was there.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who blindfolded, cursed, and beat Him... All my HIDDEN SINS and PROFANITY were there.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who had given the false testimony that convicted the Sinless One... All my LIES, GOSSIP and all the FRUIT OF MY UNCLEAN LIPS was there.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who was given a temporary reprieve like Barabbas... A FALSE SENSE OF SALVATION was there.
I was there... just as if I had been one of the crowd who shouted... CRUCIFY...CRUCIFY!!... All my CRUELTY, MALICE and REPROACH was there.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who yielded that hideous scourge that ripped the flesh off His bones... All my SICKNESS and INFIRMITIES was there.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who thrust that Crown of Thorns down on His brow... All my SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS was there.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who spat in His face as He carried the burden of His Cross up Golgotha... All my EARTHLY TRIALS and BURDENS were there.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who nailed His hands and feet to the Cross... All my MURDEROUS THOUGHTS and INHUMANITY was there.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who cast lots for His garments and left Him naked on the Cross... All my SHAME, HUMILIATION and DISGRACE was there.
I was there... just as if I had been one of the priests and elders who said, "He saved others, Let Him save Himself"... All my PRIDE and ARROGANCE was there.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who had heard Him cry "My God, My God...Why hast Thou forsaken Me?"... All my REJECTION and LONELINESS was there.
I was there... just as if I had been the one who thrust that sour sponge up to His thirsty lips... All my HATRED, UNFORGIVENESS and BITTERNESS was there.
And as I looked up and dared to steal a glimpse of His face, while the Light of the World still shone forth from His eyes.... He pleaded, “FATHER, forgive her for she knows not what she does..."
And do you know what I saw when I dared to glimpse at those tear-stained eyes?... LOVE. Despite my participation in every part of His ignominious death... I saw LOVE. Even as I was thrusting bitter gall to His mouth, His lips repaid that hateful gesture with words of Love and Forgiveness.
And I was there as He uttered those last words... "It is finished. " ... The PIERCING CONVICTION of my HEART was there.
And as I stood there, looking up at that Cross, I was offended. I was offended not just by the sight of a Human Body... bloody and shredded beyond recognition... not even as much by a GOD who would allow such a thing to happen to a human being, especially one who claimed to be His Son.
All of these things made me more than uncomfortable to think about... but, as I stood there staring at that hideous sight, my very soul became aware that it should have been ME on that Cross. The thing that offended me most was the sight of my own SIN represented on that Cross. And to look at my own SIN was much more hideous and offensive than the sight of His mangled body.
That He became Sin on that cross... MY SIN... offended my pride and self-righteous nature to the very quick. And my heart could not bear it.
And I was there when He closed His eyes and the Light of the World went out... The REALIZATION of the DARKNESS of my own Soul was there... and the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of my sin deserving of its own Death was there.
And I was there even as if I had been the Centurion who finally acknowledged, "Truly, truly, this is the Son of God." At that moment... I believed. I believed that this is the Messiah... My FORGIVENESS and my SALVATION was there.
Even as I stood beneath that Cross with the bloodguilt of Christ still dripping on my hands... MY SALVATION WAS THERE!!
Even as His Blood continued to pour over me... I began to feel...clean? Yes... CLEAN... as if I had been WASHED... Whiter than snow!
And I was there... during those three dark days... dark as ever the World has seen... because the Light of the World had died... But, my HOPE WAS THERE!
And I was there... even as if I was one of the captive saints when He marched in to demand the keys to Death and Hades... My FREEDOM was there!
And I was there... as if I were one of those who peered into that empty tomb on the morning of the third day... My RESURRECTION was there! I, too, had been resurrected with Him!
I was there even as if I had been one of the disciples who heard Him say... "GO YE, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations... baptizing them in the name of the FATHER, the SON and the HOLY SPIRIT... teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you, and LO, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age... My PURPOSE and my COMMISSION was there.
You see... THAT IS MY TESTIMONY!! That is all I can testify about. What I have witnessed in my heart and through the written Word OF GOD. Like Paul said, "As for me, God forbid that I should boast in anything except the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
THAT IS MY TESTIMONY... THE CROSS AND CHRIST CRUCIFIED!
I don't think it will edify you to hear all the details of my sinful past. I acknowledge that I am a sinner. But, I hope it will edify you to hear about Jesus Christ who died for my sin.
I don't think it will edify you to know when I got saved... only that I did when I confessed that Jesus died on that Cross for my sin and I made the decision to repent of my sins.
And, I don't think it will edify you to know about all my trials and tribulations. There have been plenty of those. But, I hope it will edify you to know that my testimony bears the scars of that OLD RUGGED CROSS... and all the power of that Cross to overcome all of those trials.
You see, all I can testify about is the Cross and Christ crucified. I cannot boast about my good works, my righteousness, my education, my Baptism, my doctrine or theology or my denomination. All I can boast about and glory in is the thing Jesus Christ accomplished on that Cross.
Some people have called me a fool for believing in Jesus Christ and the power of the Cross. Well, that may very well be. I may very well be a FOOL for believing in things I don't fully understand.... and who can fully understand the enigmatic exchange that took place at the Cross?
I don't understand how this man named JESUS could be GOD and could love me enough to be willing to suffer that hideous death on the cross. Not just the hideous physical death, which was necessary since He was as fully man as anyone here... but harder to understand was the spiritual death as fully GOD... the Son of God separated from God the Father when He became sin... MY SIN.....on that Cross. And that death was all that was needed to reconcile me with God. Nothing needed to be added to that.
I don't understand it..... BUT I BELIEVE IT! I believe that He is all that was needed to pay the penalty for my sin on that Cross and I also believe that He is all I need in the power of His resurrection to do all that He commanded me to do... THAT IS WHO HE IS!... fully man and fully God... being found in fashion as a man... who suffered an ignominious death on a Cross... For ME!
What blessed foolishness, then... to believe in the Cross. But, what else do I have to believe in if not the Cross... and Christ crucified?
Yes... I WAS THERE! I cannot share in the Glory of the Cross, today, if I had not shared in the guilt of the Cross.
I cannot share in the power of the Cross, today, without sharing in the burden of the Cross.
I cannot depend on the power of the Cross to call forth the dead to life, today, if the source of Life, Himself had not succumbed to death on that cross. But now I have that power.
And that is my Commission... to call forth the dead to life. In fact, I am compelled by the Cross to call forth the dead to life.
I am compelled by the Cross to.....
Tell the HUNGRY that He is the BREAD OF LIFE.
Tell the THIRSTY that He is STREAMS OF LIVING WATER.
Tell the POOR that He is a HIDDEN TREASURE.
Tell the BLIND that He RESTORES SIGHT
I am compelled by the Cross to......
Tell WIDOWS and SINGLE WOMEN that He is a HUSBAND.
Tell ORPHANS and the FATHERLESS that He is a FATHER.
Tell PRISONERS and the OPPRESSED that He is the one who sets the CAPTIVES FREE.
Tell the SICK and AFFLICTED that He is the GREAT PHYSICIAN.
Tell those who are MOURNING that He is a COMFORTER.
Tell the LONELY that He is a FRIEND WHO STICKS CLOSER THAN A BROTHER.
Tell those SEEKING TRUTH that HE is TRUTH.
Tell those who are WEAK that He is the Power of God.
I am compelled by the CROSS to tell those who are "DEAD IN SIN" that He is EVERLASTING LIFE!
This is my testimony. All I can testify about is the Cross and Christ Crucified... and Christ Resurrected... and ME...resurrected with Him.
And because I was there... at the Cross with Him, He is here with me, now, and together we walk in Newness of Life.
And there, Beloved... is my PEACE... and my HOPE.
MAY THE PEACE AND LOVE OF CHRIST FILL YOUR HEARTS ALWAYS!
Copyright 1992
Deborah Harrell
