Whose Sins Did Jesus Bear on the Cross A Thought for Lent

A Thought for 8 March 2015
This blog post by Mary Katherine May

When Jesus the Messiah died on the cross He bore the weight of all sin for all time and that includes the sins of the worst enemies of humanity. God is all love and cannot hate as we do--God's wrath is about justice which is not the same as hate. 

If God can love these evil people who have no humanity left can I do any less? Life is only a brief moment but eternity in Hell is torment without respite for all time. Though but a foretaste of what is to come salvation brings those who believe into the Kingdom of God now, and this is our peace. 

It is a lot easier to hate and be angry than it is to understand and have sorrow for the most evil humanity in the world.  Only through God's love in us are we able to say at any time what Christ said as He hung on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:22 tells us that anger without just cause is the same as murder, and so it is essential for the Christian what a just cause, or a righteous anger is.  For this I would refer to those more knowledgeable than myself, but I would note that anger which boils over into an out of control, consuming outrage is unhealthy and self-destructive, turning the bearer of such anger into that which the outrage is directed.

Grant me, Lord, a heart not consumed by hate but instead that I may have a heart filled with sorrow for the lost and justice for those who have been wronged. In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One God. Amen.