You Are Loved
“We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.” Hebrews 12:2
At the cross, you can know that you are loved. There is not a single event or action in the history of the world that shouts this truth more clearly than the cross of Jesus Christ.
Jesus endured the pain of the cross. In his book, The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel examines the medical evidence of the crucifixion and puts you in the middle of the unthinkable pain that Jesus suffered on the cross for you. Crucifixion was the most painful, humiliating and degrading form of public death ever devised.
Jesus not only endured the pain of the cross, he endured the shame of the cross. Crucifixion was considered worse than decapitation, being killed by wild animals, or being burnt alive. Before crucifying their victims, the Romans tortured them. The victim would then have to walk to the site of crucifixion, carrying either the crosspiece, or the entire cross. He was then stripped and crucified. In an attempt to deter would-be criminals, crucifixion normally took place next to a busy road. This was certainly the case for Jesus, as John 19:20 tells us, “the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city.”
And yet Hebrews 12:2 says,“because of the joy awaiting Him, Jesus endured the cross, disregarding its shame. And now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.” What could possibly motivate Jesus to endure such pain and disregard such shame? What was the joy awaiting Him? To sit in the place of honor beside God’s throne? No. The joy awaiting Him was you and it was me. The fact that you and I would no longer be separated from Him by our sins, that now you and I can have fellowship with Him, that we are seated with Him in the heavenly places, that we were crucified with Him and yet we live.
For God SO LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten Son despite the pain, despite the shame. No one has ever loved you this much. At the cross, you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are loved.