Luke 23:44-49

Luke 23:44-49

There comes to all men a moment of profound and absolute clarity. The goal and objective of the enemy of our soul is to keep that moment of clarity delayed as long as possible. In his diabolical plan that moment of clarity will come when we have died and it is everlastingly too late. The Cross brings that moment of clarity to us when we look at it. The powers of darkness would have us distracted or in some way never look to the cross. In seeing the cross we have the moment of clarity, in it we see all we need to see.

We see the darkness of our world, our lives, our sin, our own soul. This literal darkness at the cross is a profound picture of the hopeless despair under which we live. We see that our best efforts to reach God need a radical rejection. It is God Himself Who tore open the temple veil that separated Him from us. The prescriptions of the Old Testament worship offered the best options but even that could never bring us into God's presence. From our position outside and below we could only get so close and we could never get there. When we look at the cross we realize that Jesus was innocent. The Roman Centurion was most likely no saint. He was a pagan who offered sacrifices to Caesar and various other gods. He would have been a man of bloodshed, a man brutally cruel and vile behaviors. We must not imagine him as some paragon of virtue. But in the moment of the Cross he has the clarity to see Jesus was innocent.

Finally, the frenzy of blood lust has passed and the object of their fury is dead and clarity descends on the people. Luke makes a note to distinguish the crowd as a whole from Jesus's followers. Luke points out that all the crowds of spectators began to return beating their breasts. The guiltiest would have asked, “What is this horrible thing I have done”. The least guilty saying “I too am part of this great evil”.

The cross gives us clarity, our condition is dark and hopeless. I cannot reach God. But He has opened the way for me.  Jesus was innocent and as such could bear my sin. I am guilty, truly guilty of great evil. There is great clarity when we look at the cross. That is why the enemy would have us distracted by any and every trinket. This becomes a tool to tell if something is evil and if evil how deeply evil. To the degree that prevents us from the clarity of the cross to that degree it is evil.

“Lord, give me clarity of the cross.  AMEN