Exodus 20 v 2 “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery”
You will no doubt recall the amazing way in which God rescued the Israelites from Egypt. We can think of this great act of rescue in two different ways.
First, it was a STRANGE deliverance. What does that mean? Well think of it as if you were there living in the sandals of an Israelite person. You would have witnessed incredible signs and wonders. Plague after plague falls upon Egypt which highlighted the hardness of the Pharaoh. Finally comes the dreadful night of the Passover. It was a judgement that fell upon the land and only those whose houses were marked with the blood of a sacrificial lamb were saved. Do you think anybody could have thought up a story like this? Most definitely not. Its strangeness lies in its unexpectedness. We would have thought of rescuing Israel by using more powerful armies – but here God’s rescue finally focuses on the blood of a sacrificial lamb.
Now when we look at Christ dying on the Cross for our sins, do we not have to agree that this too was a strange way to effect our salvation? The story of the Cross is too strange for human minds to invent. Of course many crucifixions took place in those early days, so it was not the act of execution itself that was strange or unusual. Instead it is what that act means as it concerned Jesus. God Himself was sending His Son to be our substitute.
Now all who come to Him find salvation because he was slain for us. We are safe now from the coming Day of Judgement because of what Jesus did for us.
When the events surrounding the death of Jesus are thought through we can see how amazing it was for it met every judicial need for us to be saved. So some people shouted at him to come down from the Cross. They could see nothing but His total failure for landing there. But we know He stayed on the Cross for us. Foolishness to the world, wisdom and salvation for us. Strange, isn’t it?
Prayer: Almighty God, we praise you for your great wisdom in planning such a great salvation for us. It is still strange to many but we pray you will open the eyes of many others to see the truth of what you accomplished for us on the Cross. Amen