Six hours, one Friday. To the casual observer the six hours are mundane. A shepherd with his sheep, a housewife with her thoughts, a doctor with his patients. But to the handful of awestruck witnesses, the most maddening of miracles is occurring. God is on a cross. The creator of the universe is being executed. Spit and blood are caked to his cheeks, and his lips are cracked and swollen. Thorns rip his scalp. His lungs scream with pain. His legs knot with cramps. Taut nerves threaten to snap as pain twangs her morbid melody. Yet, death is not ready. And there is no one to save him, for he is sacrificing himself. It is no normal six hours. . . . it is no normal Friday. Far worse than the breaking of his body is the shredding of his heart. His own countrymen clamored for his death. His own disciple planted the kiss of betrayal. His own friends ran for cover. And now his own father is beginning to turn his back on him, leaving him alone. "In its sweep and scope, atonement takes on the aspect of one of the grand constants in nature—omnipresent, unalterable, such as gravity or the speed of light. Like them, it is always there, easily ignored, hard to explain, and hard to believe in without an explanation. Also, we are constantly exposed to its effects whether we are aware of them or not." “The Meaning of the Atonement,” CWHN 9:603 Nibley
Posted on: Sun, 08 Sep 2013 14:48:29 +0000
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