My wife and I attended a retreat this past weekend filled with many great God experiences. At the end of the retreat we ended with a time of worship, sharing, then everyone took communion. This was the most memorable part of my weekend, remembering Jesus and his ultimate sacrifice. His blood that was shed. His body that was broken. All for us. For you and for me. How many times do we participate in this ritual at church once a month or during special events? How often have we held the cracker and cup of grape juice while never truly understanding the power and importance that we are remembering. Do we truly remember what he did for us? Do we truly acknowledge the significance of what we're doing? The significance of what he did? The Lord and Master of all the universe sacrificing himself for me. For you. Knowing that he was going to die for you. Knowing that he was going to be beaten for you. For you sins and for mine.
I had this vision when I took communion. As I held the elements in my hands and thought about Jesus hanging on the cross. I really tried to picture what it was like that day on that hill. At first I saw the sign that was posted above his head on the cross, THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. The King of the Jews. He was a king. He was The King. He had the power to make all of this stop. To make all of the pain go away. He knew he had a choice to save himself but he didn’t. Despite all of the people mocking him. Despite all of the people offering help and freedom. He did nothing. He said “Not My will, but Your will be done (referring to God’s plan).” Not what he wanted but what His father wanted. God’s perfect plan for all of mankind. A king in full submission. All for you and me. What king ever in history has done anything like that for their people? Jesus did.
Then I saw this image of Jesus hanging there beaten and bloody. Something similar to The Passion of The Christ Jesus (from the 2004 Mel Gibson movie). I'm standing there looking up at him taking his last few breaths and he looks down at me. He looks me directly in the eyes with blood flowing down his face. Of all the things that could have caught his eye, he sees me. He looks at me and he smiles. He sees me standing there and he smiles, at me. It was as if I gave him comfort or peace. It was like ‘oh, there you are, I’m doing this for you’. As Jesus and I are making eye contact and he is looking directly at me, smiling, all I can see is the compassion and love in his eyes. It was like nothing else around him mattered. The two men on the other crosses didn’t matter. The soldiers stabbing him with the spear didn’t matter. The thought of death didn’t matter. It’s like the only thing to Jesus that mattered was me. Me. A sinner. A liar. A cheater. He knows all of my imperfections and all of my sins. But none of that mattered because he loves me so much. So much that he died for me. So much that he let people beat him and kill him. Then in the end, right before he dies, he looks at me and smiles. It’s because I’m worth it. He doesn’t see me as a sinner or a liar or a cheater. He sees someone who is precious and priceless in his eyes. He sees somebody who is worthy of redemption.
So the next time you’re taking communion or even drinking grape juice and eating crackers, think of how much you mean to him. That you’re not just an average person with not much or nothing to offer. You’re not someone who is unworthy of forgiveness because your sins are so great. You are someone that The King over everything willingly died for without regret. You are someone that is worthy of forgiveness. You are precious and priceless in his eyes.
