Three Quotes about the Cross to Consider Today

On this Good Friday, consider these thoughts:

Christianity is the only religious faith that says that God himself actually suffered, actually cried out in suffering. Now what good is that? To Jesus’s followers assembled around the cross, it certainly seemed senseless: that there was no good in it at all. But in fact, they came to realize that Jesus’s suffering was of immense good to them, as can we. Why? Because they would eventually see that they had been looking right at the greatest act of God’s love, power, and justice in history. God came into the world and suffered and died on the cross in order to save us. It is the ultimate proof of his love for us.

Timothy Keller, Jesus the King (pp. 206-207). Kindle Edition.

———

So then, although he knew he must die, it was not because he was the helpless victim either of evil forces arrayed against him, or of any inflexible fate decreed for him, but because he freely embraced the purpose of his Father for the salvation of sinners, as it had been revealed in Scripture. This was the perspective of Jesus on his death. Despite the great importance of his teaching, his example, and his works of compassion and power, none of these was central to his mission. What dominated his mind was not the living but the giving of his life. This final self-sacrifice was his ‘hour’, for which he had come into the world.

John R. W. Stott, The Cross of Christ (p. 35). Kindle Edition.

———-

God didn’t overlook your sins, lest he endorse them. He didn’t punish you, lest he destroy you. He instead found a way to punish the sin and preserve the sinner. Jesus took your punishment, and God gave you credit for Jesus’ perfection.

Max Lucado, Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine (p. 36). Kindle Edition.