The death penalty is serious. (that's a picture of "sparky" an electric chair which was once used in Huntsville) When it is carried out there are witnesses to the event. One of the things the witnesses see and hear is a description of what crimes have warranted this ultimate punishment.
This is not a new practice. It just makes sense that when punishment is carried out that the offense is made known. This goes back through American history and all the way back to ancient history.
The Romans put the charges of the criminals being punished in plain sight. When Jesus was nailed to the cross the Romans affixed the charges against him. “King of the Jews”.
There were other charges affixed to the cross of Jesus Christ. These charges were not the ones trumped up and fabricated by the Pharisees. These charges were not petty ones which merited a lesser punishment. In fact, these charges were so serious, so comprehensive, so grievous that Jesus was the only one capable of paying for them. And to pay for them he had to die – the death penalty.
What were these charges that were affixed to the cross?
Colossians 2:13-14 says “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross.”
The nails that pierced the wrists and feet of Jesus Christ were not just holding him to a tree, they were holding the record of our debt, the guilty charges of the crimes we had committed.
It wasn’t for His own crimes that He suffered and died, it was for yours and mine. The guilty notice that is the cross, was ours, and He took it upon Himself. What a deed!
The law was clear that we are all breakers of the law. That is the definition of sin – lawlessness(1 John 3:4). The law of God stood against us because we failed to keep it, we failed and fell short of the glory of God. The wages, the price, the penalty was serious. It was not a small fine, or a few years in jail, it was death. The price for such egregious rebellion against a Holy God, who has done nothing but give us life and grace, is death! Our sin is a capital offense.
But, “The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him.” (Isaiah 53:5)
The record of our sins, the charges against us were cancelled. Not because they were just overlooked – God being Just could not overlook sin. So, He paid the price in full on our behalf and in our place.
What should we do? Whatever He says! Anyone who would go to such lengths to love me in that way deserves more than just a token recognition. He deserves my entire life, devotion, commitment, and surrender. Anything other than complete surrender is a lessening of what Jesus did on that cross. May I never take the cross of Jesus Christ for granted.
This is not a new practice. It just makes sense that when punishment is carried out that the offense is made known. This goes back through American history and all the way back to ancient history.
The Romans put the charges of the criminals being punished in plain sight. When Jesus was nailed to the cross the Romans affixed the charges against him. “King of the Jews”.
There were other charges affixed to the cross of Jesus Christ. These charges were not the ones trumped up and fabricated by the Pharisees. These charges were not petty ones which merited a lesser punishment. In fact, these charges were so serious, so comprehensive, so grievous that Jesus was the only one capable of paying for them. And to pay for them he had to die – the death penalty.
What were these charges that were affixed to the cross?
Colossians 2:13-14 says “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross.”
The nails that pierced the wrists and feet of Jesus Christ were not just holding him to a tree, they were holding the record of our debt, the guilty charges of the crimes we had committed.
It wasn’t for His own crimes that He suffered and died, it was for yours and mine. The guilty notice that is the cross, was ours, and He took it upon Himself. What a deed!
The law was clear that we are all breakers of the law. That is the definition of sin – lawlessness(1 John 3:4). The law of God stood against us because we failed to keep it, we failed and fell short of the glory of God. The wages, the price, the penalty was serious. It was not a small fine, or a few years in jail, it was death. The price for such egregious rebellion against a Holy God, who has done nothing but give us life and grace, is death! Our sin is a capital offense.
But, “The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him.” (Isaiah 53:5)
The record of our sins, the charges against us were cancelled. Not because they were just overlooked – God being Just could not overlook sin. So, He paid the price in full on our behalf and in our place.
What should we do? Whatever He says! Anyone who would go to such lengths to love me in that way deserves more than just a token recognition. He deserves my entire life, devotion, commitment, and surrender. Anything other than complete surrender is a lessening of what Jesus did on that cross. May I never take the cross of Jesus Christ for granted.
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