Who I Am and How I Am to Live: JuxtaPositions

One of the biggest tragedies of American Christianity is that we don't understand the Cross and all that our "Good Friday" meant to the one who was sacrificed for our sins. As someone who has grown up in a Christian family and been a part of our Good Friday services at my church, I am very well acquainted with the story, but am calloused to what it means and what it meant. Tonight, after being in the hospital all day, I went to a friend's house in the evening and a group of us watched Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." I have seen it before, but I found that this time, some new things struck me about all that happened:

Who I Am.

How I Am To Live.

The first is Who I Am. There are only two responses & positions to this question and they were portrayed by the thieves on the crosses next to Jesus. The first thief saw Jesus and did not see himself for who he was. There was no sorrow, no agony in his life as he saw the man who was "God come down to man" die on the cross. He saw God and said "Are you not God? Save yourself and us!" He echoed all what the others around him were saying, which was essentially "If you are God, prove it to me!" "If you really are God, show me that you are God! I need something more that what you have already revealed! Show me or I won't believe!" The sad part is that this is prevalent in society. John Mayer sings "Is there a God? Why is he waiting? Don't you think of it odd when he knows my address?" "JESUS SHOW ME YOU ARE GOD!" This man was unrepentant and wanted more than Jesus would give him. "I'll believe when you do _____! Not until" Who is this man to question God? Who are we to make demands of God?

The second thief saw Jesus and responded as we all should, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of out deeds: but this man has done nothing wrong." This in and of itself would have been amazing. He sees who he is. He sees who Jesus is. He sees that it isn't God needed to prove anything, but that He has already shown all He needed to by Jesus' death on the cross. BUT. BUT. BUT then he continues, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." This is an outrageous request to be made. If you really think about it, you'll realize it is one of the most absurd requests ever made. A man who has done wrong, completely realizes it, is being punished for it, and then asks God to bring him into his eternal kingdom. This clearly is NOT based on his merit, on his efforts to please God, or anything other than grace & mercy. What is more absurd is Jesus' response, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

When honestly pondered, it makes no sense. How could a filthy, sin-stained man come before a holy, righteous, truly awesome God? How can he even ask to enter his presence? Without the blood of Jesus, this is impossible. But we need to see that we are one of those two thieves on the cross. Neither deserve grace & mercy. One asks God to prove himself. The other sees God for who He is, sees himself for who he is, and throws himself at the feet of the only one who can make him clean. For those of us who are Christians, we need to realize that we have no "rights" to God's grace, but that it comes to the most, not only un-deserving, ill-deserving of sinners. Once we realize that, we have a correct view of our relationship with Him and can truly worship Him.

Who am I? Who is Jesus? Who I am in light of Jesus? Who am I now because of Jesus?

The second thing that I saw was Barabbas. God actually first showed this to me my Freshman year, but I thought about it again tonight. When Pilate asks who he should release to the people, Jesus or Barabbas, we know the answer. They ask for Barabbas, he goes free, and Jesus gets crucified, but there is something deeper and relates to the two thieves who hung next to Jesus. We all know that Jesus died for us. He died so that we might have life. In the words of Driscoll, "He lived the life we couldn't live, died the death we should have died, then rose from the grave, claiming victory of Satan, sin and death." We know these things, but what about the man who He literally died in the place of?

Barabbas was thrown in prison for being a murderer and starting a violent uprising against the government; a terrorist. He was a sinner. He deserved death. He would have died had Jesus not been the substitute for him. He would have eventually been executed, but was let go at Jesus' expense. We know nothing other than what is recorded us in the Gospels, but I have always wondered what happened to Barabbas after. We think of what he did before and then we see him released, but the writers are silent are that. We have our presuppositions, but we don't truly know.

After Barabbas was released, like everyone else, had two positions he could have taken. He could have continued to live the life he had before Jesus' substitution, or he could have repented and changed. What if the man who had once led political uprisings, turned and led sinners in repentance? Once again, I want to point out that we don't know, but I want you to think about it. Jesus literally died for him, so how did he live in response to that? How do we live knowing that Jesus died for us? We can live two ways, exemplified in the thieves. Once we see who we are, do we ask for more or do we seek His grace and mercy?

How are we to live in light the life that Jesus lived and the death that Jesus died? Do we come before Jesus and ask Him to prove himself, or do we fall down at Jesus' feet and plead His precious, cleansing blood? How do we respond? How do you respond?

Do you know who you are? Do you know who He is? If you do, how do you live your life? How is this to affect your life?