Amazing Grace

Grace: being pulled over by a police officer for going 52 in a 30 and driving away without a ticket.

In case you're wondering, that's exactly what happened to me tonight. Actually, my husband was driving, but neither one of us had any idea that we had crossed some kind of imaginary line between the interstate and my parent's neighborhood. Instead of a 45 mph speed limit, we were now in the 35 mph zone! (Yes, I realize that we would have been guilty of speeding in either case, but 52 in a 45 sounds much more reasonable.) Anyway, this little mishap got me thinking on a deeper level. Scary. I know.

Today is Good Friday and a lot of us are probably considering the death of Jesus on the cross. At this point in history we are able to see how gracious and loving his act was- we have been saved from death; we have received the gift of life. But, I can't help wondering how this event might have been perceived by people (even believers) while it was in progress.

Imagine the gruesomeness of a death by hanging, not to mention the embarrassment and shame of it all. We know from scripture that many people were already thinking Jesus must be a fraud. Surely a king wouldn't die with such disgrace. I don't know if any of you are like me, but I'm telling you right now, I would have been devastated to see anyone suffering to such an extent. And I can't even begin to think what that grief would have felt like had I thought this man was supposed to be my Savior- the Son of God- the promised King. I'm not trying to tell on myself here, but I would have been the first one to say, "What are you doing? This is wrong; this isn't how it's supposed to be! Show them who you are! Save yourself and us!"

Think about it. If the crucifixion happened today, most of us would have been trying to talk Jesus down from the cross!

It makes sense now, but at the time it was tragic. Looking back we might all agree that it was worth it. We are saved- free. But nothing could have been darker for humanity than the hours between Friday night and Sunday morning. The hope was gone. The Savior was dead. Heaven and Earth literally shook with grief. Perhaps we could consider this idea the next time we are trapped between unspeakable tragedy and unbelievable joy. Maybe one day we will look back on these hours of life and see that the very thing that saved us was the thing that made the least sense- the thing that brought the most pain. We probably wouldn't have chosen the road that Jesus walked down, but none of us could have saved mankind either!

Maybe the true definition of grace is a Savior who knows enough NOT to give us what we ask for and instead provides us with the one thing we never knew we always needed.