How far would you go to save a life? This has been a question for many of us during the Coronavirus pandemic. When things started to become public about just how dangerous this could be, there were still many who chose to go about life as usual. Many defiantly. Others too set in their routine to change.
As of today, there have been over 465,000 confirmed cases of the virus in the United States, and over 16,000 deaths from a disease that had its first confirmed case on January 21, and it’s first confirmed death on February 28th.
In March, the call was to avoid public gatherings as it might save lives, especially those who are high risk, yet many waited. There are still those struggling to stay at home as a precaution to save not only their own lives, but the lives of their loved ones and others who might be at risk.
Jesus, on the other hand, chose to take on the human condition, a condition that causes death in 100% of its people. Not only did He choose to take on our humanity, but instead of living as a king or rich person, He chose to live like most of us do.
He came because He loves us.
For anyone who reads the Old Testament, what we see is that people, no matter how hard they tried, couldn’t live holy lives, and God, in His divine love, continued to give them chances to make things right.
But He did more than that.
He set in a sacrificial system with the cross in mind. Knowing that we couldn’t get it right, He chose to be the sacrificial Lamb for us. And because He is God, He can be the sacrificial Lamb for everyone.
But it didn’t come without a cost. He had to live as one of us, except without sin (something we have been unable to do). And He had to willingly die for us.
This wasn’t a call to stay in our homes and watch TV.
- Jesus was beaten and flogged… for us!
- He was mocked and ridiculed… for us!
- He was spit on and abandoned… for us!
- And ultimately He was crucified… for us!
The worst way to die. Jesus did it for us!
If you have been reading through the Bible in two years with us, then you just finished Leviticus. Leviticus is a bloody book. It is bloody because the cost of our sin is the loss of sinless life.
Because He was a sinless man, His death can pay the price of our sin. Because He is God, His death pays the price for all of our sin.
On Sunday, we rejoice because Jesus proved that He is God, and that He could pay the debt that we owed.
Today, however, we should remember that our rejoicing on Sunday came with a cost. God incarnate (in the flesh), willingly gave His life as a payment for my sin (to say “ours” just lets us off the hook).
Since He was willing to do this for us, because He loves us, what are we willing to do to love Him back? John 15:12-13 states:
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
John 15:12-13 NIV
Along the Multicolored Road 
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