Costly Grace

Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. They divided his clothes and threw dice to decide who would get each piece. It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him. A sign announced the charge against him. It read, "The King of the Jews." Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left....  At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o'clock. Then at three o'clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"... Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, "This man truly was the Son of God!"

–Mark 15:21-27, 33-34, 37-39

The Boston Trinity Community entered a darkened Chapel and sat in silence awaiting the beginning of the Maundy Thursday morning service.

After a short period of contemplation, Mrs. Ingrid Hill spoke, relating last year's Bible class' journey through part of the Old Testament; students read about war, violence, evil, and God's judgment on the Israelites for their wicked behavior. After all of this the class jumped to the New Testament, reading of Jesus' birth, His miracles, and finally, His death on the cross. One student who had never before read the Bible asked from the depth of her heart, "What kind of father kills his own son?" What kind, indeed? "Why would God ordain this gruesome death for His Son?" Mrs. Hill asked her audience.

To answer, Mrs. Hill told a story. She requested that no one try to analyze her analogy or pick it apart, but that all just set aside intellect and listen. "Suppose," she said, "that there was a family. A large, loving family...."

Now something has gone terribly wrong for this family and they are fleeing from danger, fleeing for their very lives. The road ahead is rough and rocky, behind is approaching danger. On they press, exhausted, but they must continue... until they come to the precipice of a deep chasm. It is too wide to jump. To go forward would mean falling to certain death, to remain where they were also meant certain death. On the other side of the chasm is safety, but there is no way to get there, no way to save themselves.

However, the oldest son, who was very tall, thought he might just be able to fall across and so become a human bridge. He decides to attempt it. The mother cries in agony, for this is the favorite son, the beloved son.

Somehow, miraculously, the son is able to grasp the other edge of the chasm, and one by one, the rest of the family crosses on the back of the son. Finally, the parents cross, but their weight takes its toll, breaking the back of the son. His feet give way, his hands lose their grip, and as he falls, he calls out "Mommmm!" In unbearable agony, the mother turns her face away.

"The cost and pain to the Father was unbearable agony," Mrs. Hill continued. "What kind of father comes up with that plan? A father who loves not only his son, but many others as well. Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. (1Peter 3:18) There was no other way for us to be saved. Jesus was the only one who could take the sins of the world because He is the only one who doesn't have any sin of his own."

"We are the people under God's righteous judgment," Mrs. Hill said in closing. "We are created in the image of God. We have gone very far astray, but are still very deeply loved."

The service ended with a time of reflection on the significance of what Christ has done for us by dying on the cross.